3 1/2 stars
Ever since I was about eight years old, I've had the same recurring nightmare that can be pretty much summed up by this picture:



Needless to say, over the years I have developed a rather intense fear of deep water, waves, the ocean in general and drowning. I know this latter fear is probably shared by all remotely sane human beings but I'm talking about an irrational fear of it. Basically, I tend to avoid watery situations altogether. Now, let's ask: what is good dystopian fiction? Is More...

Another one to bite the dust.

I haven't had the best of luck with dystopians lately. It may just be that I'm burnt out from them in general, though I'm likely just tired of the same formula in every single one. Sure this one had a slightly original premise with the world being in water etc, but it's unfortunate that this wasn't used in a more appealing way; except for a few words here and there about the world going to hell and high water, we don't get any explanation at all on how this world ca More...

The Ward was one of my most anticipated 2013 reads. I liked parts of it, but the more I think about it, the more problems I have. First of all, you should know that I had a completely different expectation of what this book was going to be about. Which was totally my fault by the way, but it doesn't really matter because that's not why I rated it down anyway. I just thought it needed to be stated. I guess I didn't read the blurb closely enough and saw the awe-inducing cover and just jumped up an More...

At a Glance:

The Ward was a high adrenaline story that had all the elements that make you feel things in books. There were car races and chases, government conspiracies, cities covered in undrinkable water, loves that rival any I've read about, and huge surprise that completely changes what you thought this book was going to be. Though bits were confusing, overall I really enjoyed this book a lot.

The Audiobook:

This was one of the best audiobooks I've listened to in awhile. The reader Merritt Hick More...

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

3.5 out of 5

The Ward was a fun read. It was a breath of fresh air in the post-apoc/dystopia genre that seems to retread and reuse the same ideas and themes over and over again. Catastrophes hitting the US with dire consequences are not uncommon, but the "Wash Out" event that left New York and Jersey underwater is. This is a fun, fast-paced, fresh and creative; Jordana Frankel has hit the ground running with her debut novel. Full of adventure, intrig More...

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: A fantastic dystopian similar to Mad Max. On the search for fresh water, the main character discovers much more than the truth.

Opening Sentence: This is no ordinary flea-bitten day — not for me, it ain’t.

The Review:

When The Ward by Jordana Frankel was first brought to my attention, they told me it was about a dystopian society searching for freshwater. If you have read the synopsis, you might get the same message out of it. But let me tell More...

I wanted to love this book, I really did. The girl is pretty kickass - I mean, she races a bunch of guys and wins every time. Not to mention, risks her life every time she does one of these races. But even with some characters, who I really liked, it just wasn't enough to make me all that excited about. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it and would recommend but it's just not one I'm gonna tell all my friends they need to drop everything to read, you know?

The cover is very fitting for the boo More...

I really didn't expect much when I started reading this novel. I just saw some positive reviews around the blogosphere and wanted to read it soon. But hey, I liked it a lot! The Ward is an amazing piece of Young Adult Dystopian literature and I'd recommend it to everyone who's into this genre.

The novel is set somewhere around 2110. New York has been destroyed by the Wash Out. A meteor who collided with the Earth caused a global rise in sea level. Now, about 60 years afterwards, people still try More...

I was confused about the how’s and the where’s… the where’s especially. So. yes.. I was confused, and yet, I liked it! Mainly because Ren and her inner voice made me like it. She’s funny and doesn’t see things as others do. Her main thing is being there for a sister who’s not her sister. And it’s that which makes for a sweet connection because now we know why she does whatever she does. And this girl? She does plenty of crazy things here.

Still, there’s a lot to take in minus the details that cou More...

4.5 stars

First off, thank you to the Firstreads giveaways for sending me this advance copy.

So, like many Goodreads frequenters, I always seem to come across those people who have received around seventy or so ARCs of books, and I have found myself becoming very jealous of them for getting to read books early. I now see that, upon receiving my first ARC, jealousy was a very reasonable response. This book was AMAZING.

Jordana Frankel's novel is a dystopia about a flooded Manhattan featuring Ren (ak More...

*3.25*

I've never seen or heard of a dystopian story like this one. The concept of a flooded Manhattan is very unique and intriguing, which was a definite plus for this book. On the other hand, it was also a major downfall because it was not described or developed enough. I got confused at some points how this world is set up and how it functions. Another great aspect are the characters Ren and Aven, their relationship is very beautiful, but they also are great by themselves. Ren is so strong and More...

Posted on Dark Faerie Tales.

When The Ward by Jordana Frankel was first brought to my attention, they told me it was about a dystopian society searching for freshwater. If you have read the synopsis, you might get the same message out of it. But let me tell you, it is so much more than that. I was excited to read The Ward, only for the promise of infinite possibilities where Frankel could have taken me. She not only exceeded my expectations, but she managed to make a lasting impression. Now let m More...

Check out more of my reviews at ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***!

Completely original, The Ward by Jordana Frankel is a water-based dystopian setting stricken with disease, action, and one girl's desperate attempt to save everything she's ever known.

Our main character Ren is an extremely imposing figure, being the only girl racer that usually comes to her mobile racing events. She wasn't just extremely persistent and tough-as-nails, she also had really awesome morals in place. Ren was, for l More...

I received this eARC from HarperTeen via Edelweiss.

Originally posted at Gypsy Reviews

The Ward’s premise stands out amongst YA dystopia novel with it’s unique concept of our world becoming overflooded with water and the difficulty of procuring water which was once so easy to get. However, the story-telling was unclear, the world-building failed to impress and too many details, making it a forgettable debut novel that failed to make an impact and interest me.

Here we have Ren, who is an independent More...

I don't know what it is with me and review books lately, but we're just not getting along. I haven't read one review title that blew me away. The Ward is yet another example of a stunning cover with a premise that has huge potential, but unfortunately the execution fails to impress.

As far as the characters go, I didn't have a huge issue with them. The main character Ren is actually quite likable. She was headstrong, fearless and wasn't afraid to endanger her own life in order to protect those th More...

This book faced-off in the Genre Book Showdown against Taken here. See more reviews like this at BadassBookReviews.com!

3.5 stars - Overall an interesting new dystopian. I plan to read the next book.

The main character: The main character of The Ward was Ren. She was the only female racer and had to put up with a lot of crap because of it. She is also taking care of her foster-sister who has been infected with HBNC virus and has a tumor. Ren is working secretly for the government in order to keep More...

See more of my reviews on Birth of a New Witch! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher via Edelweiss.

As much as I dislike Divergent, I respect it a little because it's now successful enough for me to say stuff like "fans of Divergent will love it" or call a book a rip-off of it. Fans looking for something to enjoy while waiting for the final book in Veronica Roth's hit dystopian series? Meet The Ward, which will be your new best friend.

It takes The Ward a little while to get to the mea More...

You can read this and many other reviews on my YA book blog The White Unicorn!

I have so many feelings about this book. I honestly didn't know what it was about going into it. I had heard a few good things floating around about it and the cover grabbed my attention, but I still had almost no clue when I opened the book about what I was going to read. But I loved what I got.

Jordana Frankel has created a new and interesting world for her dystopian novel. Taking a place that many people know (New Y More...

The Ward by Jordana Frankel, the first half of The Ward Series, was something I had been looking forward to for months.

The premise, synopsis, even the cover had gripped my attention. It’s too bad the book was unable to deliver on any of it.

Picture New York City after sea levels rise somewhere around 150 feet. Hundreds of years after the ocean took over you find Ren. She’s a teenage daredevil with a passion for survival and sick little sister she would do anything to protect.

Warning: Spoilers!

(view spoiler)[ I’ (hide spoiler)] More...

If you're like me at all and feel compelled to finish a book once you've started it, don't start this one! As I sit here trying to decide what word best describes this story and writing, sloppy is what I come up with. I get what she was trying to do, but it just fell flat. There was something about the main character, Ren, that was annoying and you never really got to know any of the other characters that well. I felt compelled to finish this even though I was not enjoying it and then found myse More...

Full disclosure: I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

The Ward is an interesting, and unique, dystopian book. Set in the future after much of Manhattan is under water, we find ourselves in a world where...well, much of Manhattan is underwater. Really, that's about the extent of the world building. We find out nothing about the rest of the world (except the rest of New York, which is briefly mentioned as having split off) and the 100% mortality rate, cancer-causing disease called the Blig More...

I had a lot of mixed feelings about The Ward. Feels like the concepts in the book are hard to imagine as its written. There is a lot going on between the pages of this book. I had a really difficult time with this book. I think I read the first couple of pages at least three times before I felt like I could get into the story. I really liked the premise and baseline of The Ward, but found that the world and characters fell flat.

The Ward is set after a meteor hit the earth causing the sea level t More...

Review first appeared on my blog: Book Addict 24-7

I received a copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

Jordana Frankel's The Ward is a young adult novel that sits on the edge between dystopian fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction, simply because there is a new, oppressive government, as well as a destroyed and unfamiliar world. The reason why I bring this up first is because this flirtation between the two genres gives Frankel's novel an advantage: originality in a sea of similar dys More...

I really liked this book, but I just couldn't get into the setting or characters. The Ward is supposed to take place in a future NYC. I live an hour away from NYC and I just couldn't place where this book takes place. Things just weren't explained enough for me. The mobiles they drive, how the mobiles get from building to building, what the buildings look like, even what the characters look like. What I did love though, was the dedication Renata had for her "sister" Aven. Ren risked her life ove More...

For this review and more, visit my blog: Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl

This book was very good and enjoyable but I had some major issues with it that I just can't ignore.

Well... Let's start with the good things. First of all, I think that Ren was a fantastic main character. She was exactly how I like female main characters to be - strong and kick-ass. She didn't need anyone to save her. The opposite - she saved everybody eventually...
Ren didn't have any friends who are girls. She was surrounded b More...

Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..

As a mobile racer, Ren puts her life on the line each time she gets into her craft. But racing is the only way she has to make money she needs to take care of her dying sister. The seawater covered Manhatten, known as the Ward, isn't exactly the most forgiving place. Fresh water is more precious than gold as they are completely dependent on rainwater for drinking. So when the government caught her doing something she shouldn't have, she quic More...

The Ward got off to a rough start, and while I didn't hate it, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. At first Ren is not very likable, the pacing is a little off, and the plot seems dull. However, as the book progresses, everything gets better. Frankel hits her stride at around the 25% mark and the ending is unbelievably good. Dystopian fans are going to eat this book up!

Ren comes across as super selfish and not very personable in the first few chapters, but as the book progresses, her More...

This book is like a dystopian Speed Racer meets American folklore and it is AWESOME. I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up and it literally blew me away. The synopsis made it sound interesting but guys it's so much more than it describes. Something really clicked with me for this one. Like in the way that Insignia, Ender's Game and Ready Player One clicked for me. Really I loved it. It's a fast paced fresh story, with great characters, great conflict, action and unexpected twists.

I d More...

3.5 stars

It has been far too long since I put on my old review shoes but it’s time to catch up! This epic catch up starts with The Ward! I have very mixed feelings with this book, which is yet another example of post-apocalyptic dystopia that left me wanting more. With that being said I still think there are a lot of good things about this one in particular as well!

The Ward is basically about Ren a mobile racer who races to support herself and her sister Aven. The world is based off the idea More...

"The Ward" is Jordana Frankel's debut novel and it's an action-packed, imaginative page turner. Set in flood ravaged Manhattan called the Ward, a disease born of years of pollution is decimating the population. One of the victims is fourteen year old Aven bound to Renata (Ren) Dane, a fearless mobile racer through love and friendship. In this story the disease has begun spreading to the Upper Islets and the governor has coerced Ren into finding a legendary freshwater stream that may provide a cu More...