Bill

I need to start with the fact that I have had trouble putting down both books in this series. They are “page turners” for me.

But ...

I am finding myself more fascinated by plot and action than characters. It feels like I am reading a novelization of a sci-fi action flick. I want to care about these characters more or understand them better and I just don't.

There is plenty to sift through in this book. Like a typical business/self-help book, it is full of stories of people turning their lives around 765%! Many of the examples center around sales. For a lot of us, it is a snapshot of a world we don't live in.

That being said, there are plenty of things to potentially adopt in here that actually boil down to a straight-forward and simple system, which gives me hope.

This was an very entertaining read with enough plot twists to keep it interesting, but many of the “punches” were telegraphed, so the plot twists were not always surprises. That being said, it was an entertaining read I would recommend to anyone who finds the idea of “gifted” people intriguing. (The Mutants in X-Men, Ender in Ender's Game, etc.)

It was a good enough book, but I personally need to get some space from dystopian future where children/young adults need to overthrow/reform a corrupt system. This wasn't a copy cat, at all, but it wasn't earth shattering either.

Good read, fun read ... I'd read this before Divergent, after Hunger Games, instead of Maze Runner ...

Not a memorably written nor complex book. It reminds me of the allegorical business books that have short chapters. At the same time, it is such a phenomenal kick in the pants. Honest “tell it like it is” observation from mentor-like voice, with plenty of room to draw your own conclusion and make your own application.

A good companion for chasing down dreams.

Picked this up to distract myself and succeeded. Read it cover to cover in one sitting.

If I were rating this on pure enjoyment, this would have been a 4/4.5. It kept me turning pages and kept me engaged. That being said, as dystopian fiction/science-fiction, it doesn't bring many new ideas to the table - a little bit Hunger Games (the government is trying to control you by dividing you) meets Harry Potter (you're special & different, but didn't know until now). There are opportunities to explore deeper ideas that are missed (or saved for future books). People who are completely unfamiliar with a certain way of life are trained in a matter of weeks.

Still, it's a good read, and as long as you aren't looking for the deeper things that drive books like Ender's Game, or the Hunger Games, you should enjoy this just fine. Can't help but root for the heroine.

Entertaining and certainly has a certain Douglas Adams flair, but gets a little bogged down with pop culture and music industry references. 2.5 decades after I first read Hitchhiker's, I could recommend it to my son, knowing that he would find it funny. In 25 years, this book will be far less funny to someone not familiar with the current music scene.

An excellent blend of cinematic sequences (action and otherwise) and “hard science” science fiction. There is absolutely some hand-wavy technology and science, but there is respect for the scale of space and the realities of inter-planetary travel and that makes my nerd heart happy.

Great series so far.