For this next Friday Reads entry I have a book I was quite intrigued about, another debut book and one that counts for my Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014!
Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Landry Park was one of those books that I was quite looking forward to and that despite liking it well enough, I was disappointed that I didn't love it more.
As a dystopian it had a very interesting setting, with a plausible detonant for the drastic change in society and a very fitting return to Victorian values to showcase better the stratification of the society that came out of it all. I enjoyed the descriptions and the setting of the story, even if the frivolous society sometimes rubbed me the wrong way.
I liked Madeline quite a lot cause didn't want to conform entirely, she wanted to go to college and even though she loved Landry Park and wanted to do her duty, she also wanted to do it on her terms. What she didn't expect was to have everything that she had shaken so badly as she did. I also appreciated that she had many doubts about what road to take and though she wanted to do the right thing, it was a very hard choice to keep in mind when you return to the comfort you've always known.
The rest of the characters were quite interesting, with something more to them than what it seemed at first, the mean girl wasn't exactly as mean and as elite as she seemed at first, same with Madeline's father cause he was understanding, cruel and tyrannical in equal measures. The relationships might have been the one thing in the book that kept on getting on my nerves: all the hot and cold David, the juxtaposed love triangles to call them something, and all the deception going on... simply not my cup of tea.
The brewing revolution, the underlying social issues and the food for thought that Madeline's attitude and choices can provide, that was my favourite part of the book.
I enjoyed this book, I wanted to like it more but for some reason I failed to feel more involved with the characters and feel more for them. I'm giving it 3 to 3.5 stars and I plan to check the sequel, cause I want to see what happens next with the Landrys.
View all my reviews
Landry Park by Bethany HagenMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Landry Park was one of those books that I was quite looking forward to and that despite liking it well enough, I was disappointed that I didn't love it more.
As a dystopian it had a very interesting setting, with a plausible detonant for the drastic change in society and a very fitting return to Victorian values to showcase better the stratification of the society that came out of it all. I enjoyed the descriptions and the setting of the story, even if the frivolous society sometimes rubbed me the wrong way.
I liked Madeline quite a lot cause didn't want to conform entirely, she wanted to go to college and even though she loved Landry Park and wanted to do her duty, she also wanted to do it on her terms. What she didn't expect was to have everything that she had shaken so badly as she did. I also appreciated that she had many doubts about what road to take and though she wanted to do the right thing, it was a very hard choice to keep in mind when you return to the comfort you've always known.
The rest of the characters were quite interesting, with something more to them than what it seemed at first, the mean girl wasn't exactly as mean and as elite as she seemed at first, same with Madeline's father cause he was understanding, cruel and tyrannical in equal measures. The relationships might have been the one thing in the book that kept on getting on my nerves: all the hot and cold David, the juxtaposed love triangles to call them something, and all the deception going on... simply not my cup of tea.
The brewing revolution, the underlying social issues and the food for thought that Madeline's attitude and choices can provide, that was my favourite part of the book.
I enjoyed this book, I wanted to like it more but for some reason I failed to feel more involved with the characters and feel more for them. I'm giving it 3 to 3.5 stars and I plan to check the sequel, cause I want to see what happens next with the Landrys.
View all my reviews
