TL:DR?: A fantastic quick read (at least for me) with a rather soft, happy ending (not your typical dystopian/post-apocalyptic sort).
The Synapsis:
In a post-apocalyptic world, Hunters enslave folk from the Outer Zone for their own nefarious deeds. Jack finally decides to search for someone (a boy named Ryan) who was taken from him years ago and gets embroiled in something much bigger than he’d think.
The Hook:
The book starts out freaking fantastic. You are literally hooked right away. It’s immediate and gripping action that carries you through the rest of the story. The book is broken up into “scenes” versus chapters and the “set” is broken up into parts. You’ll go back and forth between current events and past ones; all of which are very clearly marked (not confusing in the least bit). There is some switching between a few characters, but not by much. It’s only just enough to give you a little sample of what’s to come or understand a situation better. Excellently written (in this respect).
The Meh:
Glynn James does a pretty good job of describing the setting, but not so much on characters. I honestly couldn’t tell you what eye, hair, skin color, etc. of any of the characters…except that Jagan has red hair. That’s the only detail that’s really repeated. It’s not necessarily a bad thing (hence the “meh) as I just filled in the details with my imagination, but it is something I did notice lacking in the book. However, oddly enough, it doesn’t seem to hinder the book at all. I honestly don’t know if I’d change that. Just something to be aware of, I suppose. There may have been a fleeting detail here or there once, but it’s nothing that just really sticks (like Jagan’s hair color for example).
The Price:
I feel like for $1.25 (what I paid for it), this was quite a good deal. Despite it being a box set of 7 books, it’s more like the length of an average book (maybe even somewhere between the two). While I know authors need to eat, I don’t think I’d pay more than 7 or 8 bucks for something like this. The “box set” can be a bit deceiving if you are thinking of a traditional box set in the store. Again, just something to be aware of. It took me about 4 days to read it, so I do feel like I got my money’s worth. However, if I did have to buy the parts individually, I don’t think I would feel so…enthusiastic.
The Favorites:
Ryan and Jack are favs (obviously). It’s actually pretty unusual for me to attach to main characters, but I found myself rooting for Jack in his search and even for Ryan in the end. That part about Ryan daydreaming about the drone in the end made me get all teary eyed assuming how it would effect the ending, but then the ending turned out quite different. I…honestly didn’t feel so super about the ending. A little neat. A little tidy. A little too clean. Most dystopian/post-apocalyptic books have some sort of crazy dramatic/sacrifice ending. This was like a My Little Pony kind of ending. It’s cool, um, just different. The book’s pretty dang clean which is impressive. I kind of hoped something would happen with Lisa in the end, but there’s literally no romance in that. Also good; different. At least it’s refreshingly unexpected? I saw the other day the Glynn James is going to be coming back to this series, so I’m excited about that. I like his writing. I’m going to buy more books of his.
The Ratings (blueprinted off parental film guides): MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS:
Content appropriateness range: Non-Existent (none; child friendly), Light (some usage; preteen), Moderate (quite a few occurrences; older teen), Mature (excess; adult only content)
Sex & Nudity: (Non-Existent)
No smut. No romance. Not even a reference to an attraction, a hug, kiss, etc. None of that. There is a very brief sentence of a character getting out of bed and there’s a young woman beside them, but there’s not a single word of her attire, what they were (or could have been) doing. Typically, when you see “female slave,” we get the drift, but nothing goes anywhere out of the G-rating zone. In fact “female slave” implies more than what was actually in the story. Pretty impressed by this. Way to go Glynn James. Non-Existent rating.
Violence & Gore: (Moderate)
I’m going to go ahead and say this is moderate. There’s an instance when someone gets his throat slit (pit fight), another when someone gets stabbed with a broken wooden bat in the throat (pit fight), and a few other sprinklings, but there descriptions are pretty short and not very detailed. Even when a character gets eaten, there’s literally no graphic description of the body afterward, so for the most part it’s clean. The only reason why I’m leaning more Moderate than Light is because there are a few sentences that talk about sputtering blood and such. There’s also enough incidents that makes it fight more in the Moderate range. That being said, there is a big push for no killing by the “good guys,” so it does have some good moral standing. Moderate rating.
Profanity: (Moderate):
I don’t recall the use of any “heavy” curse words but there are a few uses of, but are not limited to: one’s rump, the Christian underworld, and condemning someone. The first (one’s rump), is what puts it in the Moderate range. There are probably a half-dozen uses of the world at most. Not too bad, but still present enough to earn it a moderate rating.
Alcohol, Drugs, & Smoking: (Mature):
This is a tough category for me, because I feel like any use of it, particularly when it’s not described as being bad or shed in a bad light, is most definitely Mature. The main character smokes. Several do. It’s not necessarily portrayed as “cool,” but it is portrayed as the thing to do. It’s not shed in a bad light. It’s not portrayed as being bad for one’s health. It’s actually the most amazing thing to find cigarettes in the book, so that gives it a definite mature rating for me. The only drugs are tranquilizers used to kidnap people (and such) and I honestly don’t remember a single reference to alcohol. Mature rating for the smoking.
Frightening & Intense Scenes: (Moderate):
There are some harrowing bits, but not too terrible. There are giant bugs (Mr. Clicky) that can be a bit freaky. They are man-sized and try to eat/attack men. There also Night Ones which are kind of like zombies/are. We get just a few scenes with these. I think the “scariest” bit may actually be with the two escaped inmates. Crazies were kind of unexpected and there’s a lot of build up to the actual fight scene, which makes it more exciting. Moderate rating.
Overall, I really liked this book. It was hard to put down, but a fairly quick read and for the price I paid, I feel like I got my money’s worth. 4.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up to 5). The ending was good, just a touch/little more anti-climatic than what I'm used to/was expecting (however, I wouldn’t change a thing and it was kind of refreshing change of pace!).
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
- KaveyReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2020
A decent read, shorter than expected for 7 "books"
