Truth (XVI, #2)

Oct 24, 2011 Teri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, aroundworldtours, for-review

The Truth will set you free...
Nina has had great changes since her appearance in XVI where we unraveled her past and she found her future. In this second installment of this amazing new dystopian series, Julia Karr asks us, how far will we go for the truth? For not only within our owns truths that we hold, but in the truths that others hold for us and the truths that society itself is hiding from.

Nina has so much thrown at her in Truth and she wades through it and triumphs. New beginnings arise...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's been a long time, years, since I was so enthralled by a book that I couldn't put it down. Yesterday, however, this changed when I opened my ARC of TRUTH, the eagerly awaited sequel to XVI. (I was up until nearly 5:00 am finishing it!)

I remember being haunted by Nina's plight (and Sandy's and many more)in the first novel and intensely curious about what would happen in the next book. TRUTH is even more intense and satisfying. The characters are so well developed, and Nina faces challenges b...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I felt this book had a lot of potential, but I just really struggled to get through it. The beginning was dragged down by the textbook-like description of the political situation, and the whole book felt like a wordy build up of what happens at the end. I liked the last quarter or so when I started to see some action, but I was so close to not getting that far several times. I think the only thing that kept me going was I was really curious to see why Sal was gone for so much of the book or what...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Gecky Boz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Timely Truth

* ARC read via Around The World ARC Tours
* Book will be released January 19, 2012

4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

This was a great sequel, I liked it even more then the first book. The characters grow a lot and there are more dire choices made.

Nina has some hard decisions to make and more to learn about the world. She knows that the government is corrupt and full of lies but in this book she finds out how far the corruption goes.

Nina is trying to become more proactive and self-reliant, which...more Timely Truth

* ARC read via Around The World ARC Tours
* Book will be released January 19, 2012

4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

This was a great sequel, I liked it even more then the first book. The characters grow a lot and there are more dire choices made.

Nina has some hard decisions to make and more to learn about the world. She knows that the government is corrupt and full of lies but in this book she finds out how far the corruption goes.

Nina is trying to become more proactive and self-reliant, which is great to see. She's moving forward and wants to make a difference. It's hard to do this though being only sixteen and the known daughter of the person who was probably the biggest threat that the government has known.

I like her sister Dee more in this book. She becomes a much more capable and strong character. Her bad decisions are made mostly due to the fact that no one lets her know the whole truth. That's the part that really drove me crazy, it feels like she could handle the truth but nobody will tell it to her. In this way she's kind of like Nina was in the first book. I don't like how in the end she's still the character who's the most in the dark about their situation. Since the title of the book is Truth, I wish more characters had learned the truth.

This story does have a love triangle but it actually works very well. I don't think I've ever been so happy to have a love triangle in a book. Having one lets Nina explore her feelings more and lets her see all her options. I personally hope she ends up with the new love interest, he just seems more well rounded and better suited to what she's looking for.

There are even more problems for Nina to overcome as she tries to keep what's left of her family together. I figured out one of the mysteries early but it was still a strong twist. The final twist is crazy though, I didn't think it would end like it does. The ending sets up what should be a very promising finale because you're left wondering if this society can truly change for the better.(less)

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Apr 23, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tour

Truth is the companion novel to one of my favorite dystopians this year, XVI. The Governing Council has everyone convinced that teenage girls are sex-crazed, and they are the mastermind behind a sex-slavery ring. A world like this, where women have no rights, is truly terrifying. Rape goes unpunished, and women are pushed back to medieval stereotypes.

Karr did an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere. Even after I put the book down to take a break, there was a lingering paranoia left over. N...more

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Aug 23, 2012 FicTalk Blog rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-in-2012

Reviewed by Meg

WARNING: This review is considered spoilery for the first book in the series.

Truth by Julia Karr is the sequel to XVI, a fast paced dystopian novel about a world where media rules all and women have no power. Men definitely hold the power, as girls are raised to look forward to the day they turn 16 and are given a tattoo of the Roman numerals XVI to symbolize to them, and the public, that they are legally of the age of sexual consent. Media plays up the clothing industry, and girl...more Reviewed by Meg

WARNING: This review is considered spoilery for the first book in the series.

Truth by Julia Karr is the sequel to XVI, a fast paced dystopian novel about a world where media rules all and women have no power. Men definitely hold the power, as girls are raised to look forward to the day they turn 16 and are given a tattoo of the Roman numerals XVI to symbolize to them, and the public, that they are legally of the age of sexual consent. Media plays up the clothing industry, and girls are dressed provocatively, and given incentives to be as “hot” as possible. What most girls don’t understand, though, is that when they receive that tattoo at 16, they are basically labeled as free game to the men of society. It is way too common for a freshly turned 16 year old to be cornered and raped, often by multiple men, and then killed, simply because she was labeled as a “sex-teen” by the tattoo on her wrist. The media, and most of society would brush these occurrences off as “well, she was asking for it by the way she dressed.”

As a result of the media control and the current state of the government, an underground movement had risen and Nina Oberon, the daughter of one of the resistance’s leaders, has found herself in the middle of it. The first book was centered around the death of Nina’s mother, a suspected resistance member, and Nina’s life prior to her 16th birthday. In Truth, Nina is 16, orphaned with her little sister, Dee, and living with their grandparents, and essentially, as a result of the insanity that happens in the first book, all hell breaks lose. The government and head media moguls are watching Nina very closely, watching and waiting to see if she’s a part of the resistance. Her step father, who she killed in the first book after he brutally rapes and kills her friend Sandy, is considered missing by the government and her deceased mother is the prime suspect. Nina’s been given her tattoo, and though she has a steady boyfriend (Sal, gag me. Not a fan of him) she clearly doesn’t want to be sexually intimate with him. As things go downhill, the plot gets a little more confusing, and more characters are introduced and a lot of the dystopian feel that I liked in the first book is dissolved into love triangle drama and questions that are never answered.

This plot has some pretty big holes in it that became more apparent to me in this book than they were in the first book. I don’t understand why, in a technology driven world, these girls don’t attempt to call the police for some type of help when attacked. Why, in a world where rape is so prevalent, aren’t the citizens given a panic button on their PAV’s? I just don’t get it. There’s many other plot holes, but that’s the one that really stuck with me.

Also, characters? Nina was a pretty strong character in the first book, but this one? She had a billion questions that she never actively sought to answer, she just let Sal dictate every turn of their relationship, “Oh, I’m sorry Nina. You’re awesome, and I love you, but I’m gonna go run off with this hot girl who’s on the resistance with me for a few weeks on a top secret mission that I can’t tell you about. By the way, don’t call me, I’ll call you.” Um, no. Just because you’re a member of the resistance and you’re intent on saving the world doesn’t mean you can be a dick to your girlfriend. All the time. And love triangles? WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO BE IN LOVE TRIANGLE NOW? It’s a trend in books that I’m okay with not having. Anyway, back on the topic of characters, lets discuss the ones I can appreciate. Dee, Nina’s little sister, has come a pretty long way since the first book. She’s stronger, she’s a lot more prepared to face the challenges of their world, but no one will let her! I’m sorry, I know you want to protect your little sister, but there’s no way to really protect her if you leave her blind to the way the world works. And then there’s Wei, I like her. She’s pretty ballsy and very much a powerful force to be reckoned with. I’d love to see Nina try to emulate Wei more.

As far as writing goes, I think Karr is a superb writer. You can see the world clearly, picture the characters and their actions easily through her words, it’s just that unfortunately, despite how lovely the words are, the plot and characters fell short for me in comparison to where they were in the last book. (less)

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Aug 08, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Truth is the second book in the XVI series about a dystopia set in 2150. In XVI, we learned that when a girl turns sixteen (or “sex-teen” as it is known), she gets "XVI" tattooed on her wrist. This means she is now legal sex bait for anyone who can get to her. Unfortunately, the result of having the tattoo often translates into a legal license to rape girls, and/or impress them into service as prostitutes.

Nina Oberon has just turned sixteen, and now has her tattoo. She comes from a family of “no...more Truth is the second book in the XVI series about a dystopia set in 2150. In XVI, we learned that when a girl turns sixteen (or “sex-teen” as it is known), she gets "XVI" tattooed on her wrist. This means she is now legal sex bait for anyone who can get to her. Unfortunately, the result of having the tattoo often translates into a legal license to rape girls, and/or impress them into service as prostitutes.

Nina Oberon has just turned sixteen, and now has her tattoo. She comes from a family of “nonconformists” however: those who are opposed to governmental tyranny and especially the abuse of women. As the story begins, Nina and her younger sister Dee have just been evicted after Nina’s grandpa was arrested for subversive activities and her grandmother is hospitalized for a heart attack. The two girls move in with Nina’s good friend Wei, whose family is also part of the underground movement.

While at Wei’s, Nina grows closer to Wei’s older brother Chris, especially because her boyfriend Sal is always off doing “noncon” work. But this is not a book that focuses on the triangle. Rather, it seems to be included more to elucidate different aspects of gender relationships. And indeed, Nina is increasingly conflicted over her growing feminism and her feelings about boys. Is it loving and nurturing if they want to protect her, or is it an insult to the capabilities of females? Can a need for love go with a desire for independence?

Nina manages to get herself and her adoptive family into serious danger when she refuses the advances of an older and very powerful man. None of them are safe anymore, so they are forced to take drastic action that changes the lives of all of them.

Evaluation: Yay, a second book in a trilogy that is actually better than the first book! Love when that happens! For those of you who like something more from your dystopia trilogies than just love and violence, this one definitely fits the bill. It offers plenty to think about in terms of relationships between males and females, bringing up issues that sadly are not just relevant to fictional dystopias. I do think, however, that this is not easily a standalone book; you probably have to start with XVI, but it is not as sophisticated as Truth.

Note: As an extra bonus, the author has a blog for Nina, in which she writes (as Nina) about her life after the end of this book. Fun or what?

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Jun 20, 2012 Kayt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-apocalyptic

For a futuristic dystopian let's-all-work-to-bring-down-the-evil-government I-am-strong-female-hear-me-roar book, why does almost nothing happen? And even when things happen, it feels like nothing is happening.

Probably because the main character is very, very dumb. And because the entire world and environment that this story is based on makes no freaking sense whatsoever.

So let's discuss this in-depth. First, remember all the problems I had with the first book? Notice how those aren't necessaril...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books

My take: Well, first and foremost – it took my going back to my review of the first book to refresh myself on what exactly happened. I knew from the time I’d finished the first I wanted to read the second, so when the opportunity came about, I jumped on it!

The continuation of the story was not hard to follow at all, and getting to see Nina grow more throughout this book was fantastic. From turning 16, or SEXteen, to being the rebellious one who didn’t want to follow what the Governing Council be...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Samantha Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nina remains a strong character, although sometimes its pure naiveity (BOSS headquarters and Lessig - jeeze how could she not catch on?!). In this book, she is stuck making more choices than in XVI where she is swept away with the flood of her parents' choices. Faced with the same choice as her father, what will she choose - the Resistance or family? With Sal away on more NonCon missions, will their love prove true? Or is there another love in store for her?

Dee's character is seriously develope...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-esque

My first issue with this novel is that it is labelled the "companion" novel to Kerr's novel XVI. This is absolutely a sequel, not a companion, having picked up right where XVI left off. Had I not read XVI, I would have been absolutely, hopelessly lost. As it was there were details I had forgotten which made some parts early in the novel confusing for me. Do not wait long between reading the two novels. Since neither is particularly memorable, reading this one will be difficult following a long b...more My first issue with this novel is that it is labelled the "companion" novel to Kerr's novel XVI. This is absolutely a sequel, not a companion, having picked up right where XVI left off. Had I not read XVI, I would have been absolutely, hopelessly lost. As it was there were details I had forgotten which made some parts early in the novel confusing for me. Do not wait long between reading the two novels. Since neither is particularly memorable, reading this one will be difficult following a long break after the first.

The main character, Nina, seems to have almost nothing going for her. Almost everything that can go wrong in her life, does. I won't go into detail as it'd spoil it but her life is quite depressing. However I didn't feel for her as much as I would have liked to, often because of her attitude. She is constantly jealous and upset with her boyfriend, Sal, for basically everything he does, yet as soon as he returns she doesn't say a word about it. I do, however, like Nina's conviction in her belief that girls and just as strong and capable as boys are (and that she was clearly labelled as being influenced by feminism. No trying to hide the fact, which was appreciated). That conviction is what leads to the one and only time she stands up against Sal (finally).

I did enjoy the character of Martin, Nina's boss at the Art institute. He seemed to be the most genuine and realistic in character. I also enjoyed how Kerr portrayed the ignorance of the upper-tiers towards the lifestyles and feelings of the lower-tiers, showing that they couldn't truly empathize with something they had never experienced.

The general society frustrated me. The "sex-teen" idea, while in no way appealing, is not a terrible one for the basis of a novel (although it is not the basis of this one; it just seems to really come up when convenient). However, the fact that the entire society takes zero action against anyone assaulting (or worse) young "sex-teens" because of their age is utterly repulsive (although I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, with some politicians' words nowadays...). Another aspect that bothered me was that the term "sex-teen" wasn't just a nickname the teens had for it, it was what the president of the "Governing Council" referred to them as in a news interview. Hearing the president call teenage girls "sex-teens" is pretty disgusting. The majority of the culture of the novel was something I had trouble getting past.

Kerr's foreshadowing is in no way subtle. It was not difficult to call what was going to happen before it did, which made the novel lack the intrigue and interest-piquing qualities it needed. Miss Maldovar's character, for example, was too obvious. The clear clues about something being off made me speculate wildly throughout the novel, which made the big reveal about her at the end very unsurprising and anti-climactic. I also wish she had chosen a different word for the vehicles than "trannie". There MUST have been something better she could have used. Which leads to my mixed feelings about the vocabulary used in the novel. While there were some sophisticated words that sixteen year-olds often wouldn't use, they were mixed in amongst awful "future" teen slang that almost made me ashamed to be a teenager. Even more unfortunate: it's not very different from the teen "future slang" other authors today are using. That left me disappointed.

The ending was also disappointing. Again, I will not spoil anything except for the fact that it left hanging just about every loose end possible. I found the loose end with the Paulette drama the most frustrating, simply because it annoyed me throughout the book. I had figured there would be some sort of resolution.

All in all, I hoped for more from this novel, hence the 2-star rating.(less)

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Mar 28, 2013 Vilma Garcia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Julia Karr's book, Truth, was an amazing book. Her purpose for writing this book was to entertain readers and open their eyes to current issues. This book talks about things that teenagers think of now and how media plays a big part in teenager’s lives. This book takes place in the future and the author's way of writing it kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. This book contains truth to what is going on nowadays, like teens thinking about sex and boys, in a future sense.
This book expos...more Julia Karr's book, Truth, was an amazing book. Her purpose for writing this book was to entertain readers and open their eyes to current issues. This book talks about things that teenagers think of now and how media plays a big part in teenager’s lives. This book takes place in the future and the author's way of writing it kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. This book contains truth to what is going on nowadays, like teens thinking about sex and boys, in a future sense.
This book exposes the truth about media and the role that it plays in the lives of teenagers in the future. In this book, the media and the government had a big part in telling girls how they should dress and how they should act. One of the things is the XVI tattoo. “What is the importance of the XVI tattoo?” This tattoo lets any guy know that they girl is a sex-teen and that she’s ready to have sex at any given moment; this is what the media lets the people believe. It also opens the eyes of the readers to the class situation in the real world. In the book, each person or family belongs to a tier, which is another way of saying class. Most people were treated a certain way, depending on their tier. The events in this book can be compared to the real world so that the reader recognizes that this book can be a glimpse to the future.
This book is well written. The words can be easily understood, as well as the events that occur throughout the book. The author uses descriptive language in order to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. “Chris glanced in the rearview, raising his eyebrows. I looked away, not planning ever to admit how terrified I’d been.” This one simple sentence can paint a clear picture in the mind of the person who is reading the book. You can picture the expression that she had when Chris looked at her through the mirror. Emotion is also created by the way the author writes. Her words are descriptive enough that it makes the reader feel like they’re there, in that setting, in the book. “I looked at the screen of his PAV. It was Pops in the transchair, those same tubes pumping liquid into his arms… he looked so weak, sick” The way the author describes Pops in this part of the book, creates an emotion of sadness in picturing the way he looks, so defenseless.
This book was very intriguing. Some of the parts were action filled or dramatic, and other parts were romantic and funny; it’s kind of like a movie playing in your head. This book is packed with love triangles and relationships that are falling apart, that only the reader can see. This book has a little bit of everything, which made it interesting enough for me to continue reading for hours without getting bored. Anyone can relate to any character in the book. All the characters have something that everyone has gone through or that they know someone who has gone through it. We can all relate to the tier levels because in the present time, we are silently judged by others because of our position in the class system. The author wrote this book in a way that anyone who reads it can relate to it in some way.
The greatest strength of this book is the way the author describes the situation and the character’s feelings. The way that the author keeps the reader engaged in the reading is also a great strength. A weakness would be all the future words like “ultra” and “skivs” that are used throughout the book. It would’ve been a good idea to explain some of the future lingo so that the readers are not confused in what it means. Overall, this book was a fantastic book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because the situations in the book are similar to things that are happening now. This is a very good book to read. Whether you like dystopia books or not, this is a really interesting book packed with various genres into one; it’s amazing.

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Feb 08, 2012 Anna (AnnaReads.com) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I reviewed the first book to this series, XVI, earlier this year, calling it "unselling" but "entertaining." You just know I love a good sci-fi read!

I’m going to try not to be spoilery here but, as many of you know, love stories are my favorite part of a book. I get attached to them. So when Julie Karr TOTALLY changed my mind about this book’s love story, I was wowed. Truly, it’s impossible for me to “change teams,” so to speak, but I was 100% on board with it in Truth.

I love where she took the...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Dolores rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I really enjoy about this series is the world that she has created here. Pardon the pun, but there is a great deal of "Truth" her social commentary. We are a society far too wrapped up in media messages. Politicians find it far too easy to manipulate us by using meaningless sound bites that sound good instead of real information. And the media messages for girls do treat them as mindless bodies. Bodies who's purpose is to attract and entertain men. It makes it only too easy to believe in th...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Jeepster rated it 3 of 5 stars

Review to follow after I've stewed about it.

**I thought the first book was amazing and original so I had high hopes and expectations for the sequel. I'm not sure if it is because I had unrealistic wants from this book or if it is just the way the book was written but I have to say that I'm a little disappointed.
Don't get me wrong. It's still a good book. Truth had so much more potential to be more powerful. Instead, parts of the book were quite slow and I could have done without entirely and par...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, teen

I really liked XVI and was looking forward to this. Nina is now a tattooed sex-teen. That means, according to the future world in which she lives, she is available to any man at any time.. and she's ready and willing. She learned in the last book that her mother and assumed-deceased father are part of the resistance movement and she herself becomes part of that movement. In this book, her grandfather is taken away by the government and her grandmother is ill. Nina wants to be more of a part of t...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What we have here is a bog-standard dystopia novel, perhaps a smidgen better than that, but nothing more. It is well written, has a tight plot, and fair character development. The backstory and framework is what is most particularly well done; you can trace a development directly from what we currently have a couple of centuries into the future and get exactly what is described. Is it weird that what I am anticipating most about the next book (probably the last...does anyone do anything but tril...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just finished Truth, and now I am dying to read XVI...Yes, I did read them out of order.

I found that understood everything, and maybe if I had read the first book before this the second, I would've seem more character development and underlying themes, but this book was great on it's own.

Everything was amazing. The plot moved along at just the right pace with good questions, sketchy answers and lots of supsense.

The characters were explained quite well, and even some of the more minor ones wer...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Mike Mullin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even better than XVI, which I loved.

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Dec 19, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ARC copy.

Nina Oberon's life has changed immensely since her mother died in XVI. She now lives with her grandparents, and is friends with NonCons (and just about everyone who she meets is a NonCon, or at least is sympathetic to them).

She and Sal are still together - on the outside. When she no longer can stay with her grandparents, she moves in with her friend Wei's family and starts spending more time with Wei's brother, Chris. (Those names didn't make any sense to me. Why was Wei the only one...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: with-reviews, read-in-2011, teen-dystopian-future, 2012-teen-book-reviews

Nina Oberon is back in this sequel to Karr's XVI. Truth takes place immediately after XVI ends. Nina and her sister are still attending school, and living with their grandparents. When Child Protective Services issue a writ declaring Nina's grandparents unsuitable guardians, and Pops finds himself arrested by B.O.S.S. Nina and her sister find themselves in a whole lot of trouble. What will happen to them, how will they elude the government this time?

Something about Karr's writing style just draw...more Nina Oberon is back in this sequel to Karr's XVI. Truth takes place immediately after XVI ends. Nina and her sister are still attending school, and living with their grandparents. When Child Protective Services issue a writ declaring Nina's grandparents unsuitable guardians, and Pops finds himself arrested by B.O.S.S. Nina and her sister find themselves in a whole lot of trouble. What will happen to them, how will they elude the government this time?

Something about Karr's writing style just draws me into her novels. I don't know what it is about the way she writes, but it is so accessible and inviting even when I am tired after a day of work. A couple of times I was so tired when I got home I didn't want to read until I picked up Truth then I became so engrossed that I didn't want to put it down.

This novel is definitely a continuation of the first. Which means, you really must read the first to understand the situations in this novel.

That being said, I really enjoyed this sequel. Although not as thoroughly terrifying as the first novel, this one definitely had you on the edge of your seat as you watched Nina try to navigate the system once more.

Karr's dystopia is very involved and heavily regulated. It is a world where the media runs the nation, and because of their antifeminist tendencies, they have created a world where it is dangerous to be a woman. Once again sex is a central topic in this novel, but it is only really talked about.

Nina Oberon is becoming more and more of an adult as these novels progress, and it is refreshing to see a character change and grow. She is a strong female character who wants to do the right thing, and seeks to make her world a better place.

Overall this is a wonderful continuation of the series. In many ways, this book was even better than the first. Karr knows how to build tension and keep the reader engaged. Her writing just keeps getting better. I love these novels and can't wait to read more.

Cautions for sensitive readers: While there is no explicit sex in this novel there is discussion of sex slavery and an attempted rape. There is definitely some violence in this novel.(less)

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Jul 07, 2011 Riv marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 2nd-of-series

*falls over* Awesome cover! And a summary! Woot!
"The TRUTH always comes out..." (A bit cheesy, but who cares?)

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Nov 27, 2012 sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was skeptical about this book because I only sort of liked the first one, but the sequel blew me away. Where XVI fell short, Truth succeeded. I devoured this book in about twice the time of the first and was left feeling thoroughly satisfied. I've started disliking dystopian novels because I think they're all the same, but I absolutely adore the concept of this story. I really enjoyed Nina and her friends rebelling against the government, no matter to costs. The only thing I wasn't fond of was...more

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May 19, 2012 Rachael Woohoo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, abc-author-challenge, dystopia, romance, tbr-challenge-2012, dystopia-challenge-2012, book, readthemonth-bealtaine, 2012-challenge-books-challenge, may-2012, reviewed

3.5 Stars (Or specifically, 3.47522579999….)

For me, Truth is hard to review, mainly because I liked the general plot, although the writing style didn’t exactly suit me. Instead of a 16 year old, Nina sounded more like 13 year old to me. Moreover, Dee seems more like an 8 year old than an almost pre-teen. The voices in which the author used for them seemed rather immature. Moreover, Nina’s reaction to Paulette in the beginning was understandable, but her reaction towards her during/after the New...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Midnight Sapp marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: book-format-paperback

Yes, a second book!!!

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May 15, 2013 Chelsea Groves rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-bought-in-2013

Nina lives in a dystopian world. In this world, if spoken any word against the Governing Council, you unexpectedly disappear. The world Nina once knew is no longer how it is. She discovers her dad is alive and well and happens to be the person that is the Governing Council's public enemy number one. And her mother died for the cause, she found evidence about the truth behind the FeLS program. A program that allows tier one's and tier two's girl to go to a training sight in Mars, to earn a notch...more

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May 12, 2012 Kristin Lundgren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, science-fiction, ya-sci-fi, ya-teen

The sequel to XVI, this book opens with our heroine having her XVI (read sex-teen) tattoo, which is governmentally mandated. It shows that she is able to participate in sexual encounters. The media dominated culture works hard to convince women , who previously ruled the country, that now they should merely be objects of desire, and dress and act accordingly. But Nina's mother raised her differently, and she resists becoming a sex-teen. Her mother and father had been members of an underground re...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Imani ♥ ☮ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, chi-town, disappointing, itwasjustalrightshrug, nice-covers, pg-13, scifi-dystopia-nerdalert, series-trilogy, almost-3-stars, dystopia, excusemewhileiyawn

When I finished this book about twenty minutes ago, the only thing I could think, "and the point of that was...?"

To be frank, the first part of the book was pretty good. And then midway through, everything started to suck. It seemed like such a rush of a book. I disliked Nina even more than I did in the first book. Instead of not caring ENOUGH about protecting herself and her sister (like in the first book), in this sequel, she was too paranoid. If ever there was some secret, the first thing she...more When I finished this book about twenty minutes ago, the only thing I could think, "and the point of that was...?"

To be frank, the first part of the book was pretty good. And then midway through, everything started to suck. It seemed like such a rush of a book. I disliked Nina even more than I did in the first book. Instead of not caring ENOUGH about protecting herself and her sister (like in the first book), in this sequel, she was too paranoid. If ever there was some secret, the first thing she would say is, "Oh No. I can't tell Dee. I have to protect her" Blah blah. The whole thing was pretty pointless to me.

So we meet up with Nina again after a few months(I think). She's still with Sal and now she's sixteen. And, like always, she doesn't want to be a "sex-teen" or whatever. Her friend, Sandy is dead and so is her Mom and her boyfriend. She now lives with her grandparents and her little sister (you know, the one she never tells anything to). Nina is now best friends with this Wei girl whom initiates her into this all-girl rebellion group (even though they barely do anything). And so, Nina navigates through her semi-interesting life as a non sex-teen and blardy blarh.

I just didn't like Nina anymore. Nina was way more tolerable in the first book than in this one. I also didn't like the fact that Sal was barely in this. It was like this was a TV show and he was taking a month long break and the TV writers had to write him out. I didn't understand the purpose of that. And then this stupid Chris guy comes in...eww. Basically, everything felt rushed. The last two pages were separated into small paragraphs that explained what the book failed to go through in the last 200 pages (or so). It was just ridiculous.

However, I can't say that I was disappointed. I kind of knew that the second book in this trilogy (it IS a trilogy, right?) would suck. I can only hope that the next, and hopefully, final book improves upon its successors.

Oh...and one more thing: Is 'speeded' a word? Isn't it sped?(less)

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Apr 14, 2012 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dystopia

Ok, so after finishing the 2nd book in the series, I still have problems with the premise. The story is interesting enough for me to keep reading, but I can't ever fully enjoy a story like this until I know when, where, why, how, and who's responsible for how things got the way they are.
I sort of have a feel for alot of it, but I can't seem to forget the whole XVI tattoo. What possible benefit could this idea have(obviously lied about) to get everyone to accept it and not completely revolt? All...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Disappointed. I thought the first one was pretty good. Kinda cool propaganda lit. It was kinda a guilty pleasure and kinda spooky because I could certainly see a lot of the attitudes in the book in evidence today.
This one...bleh.
Whiney and as it is a sequal it has the required random love triangle.
Picking up where the first one left off Nina is trying to stay true to herself in sex crazy world. She is now has her tatoo identifying her officially as a sexteen. That's all great and all...but real...more Disappointed. I thought the first one was pretty good. Kinda cool propaganda lit. It was kinda a guilty pleasure and kinda spooky because I could certainly see a lot of the attitudes in the book in evidence today.
This one...bleh.
Whiney and as it is a sequal it has the required random love triangle.
Picking up where the first one left off Nina is trying to stay true to herself in sex crazy world. She is now has her tatoo identifying her officially as a sexteen. That's all great and all...but really this book got annoying. I felt like it didn't go anywhere. She's trying to get away from being identified as a sexteen yet she is allowing all of her value to be determined by the men in her life. Sal begins to completely ignore her and this sends her into a tailspin. But she begins to feel better when Chris starts to like her. She is identified as her fathers daughter and that is what gets her support and community. Even though as a girl she does have qualities she actually can contribute- it is her relationship with the men in her life that define her. This would be an very sad and interesting irony except that I don't think it was intentional.
There were so many story lines that were either ignored or not fully resolved.
I was sad to see the author allow Nina's relationship with Sal to fail. In so many of these books the thought that a couple can't be involved in a cause and stay together prevails. Yes Sal wanted to protect her- but as an equal participant in the relationship she should be able to expect and demand attention and confidence.
In the end where are they really? Nina is with her (sorry) deadbeat dad, Sal has dropped off the earth and everyone else thinks she is dead. Not a good ending.
That's another problem. Nina's father. He is married to his cause and sacrificing his daughters on it's alter. Dee is allowed to think a murderer/rapist is her father and Nina is abandoned to her own devices. Most girls who act is a sex mad way are that way because of their relationships with their fathers. With his behavior in the book it would be very likely for Nina or Dee to act like whores to compensate for the lack of positive male attention in their lives. I was glad to see Nina start to snap at her father over it. How he allows his daughters to live undermines his stance on the sexteen craze.
So I hope there is a conclusion and I hope it is more like the first one.
ps- The other thing besides love triangles sequals always have- brand new gay characters. It's like the authors desperately declare their liberalmindedness to appeal to a broader range of teens.

nina sal chris dee sandy wei(less)

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Uch...Stupid Chris.	6	27	Dec 28, 2012 12:46am
Question	7	21	Aug 19, 2012 09:36am
I want to know what happens next!	2	14	Aug 08, 2012 05:27pm

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Truth (XVI #2)

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