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Outliers
A team of teens from all corners of the earth - statistical outliers in talents and intelligence - come together to fight against UNITEED, the warped world government that believes the norm is the ideal. UNITEED is suppressing environmental recovery and systematically reducing and controlling outside cultures. Only those young enough to be 'uncounseled' toward the norm can lead the way to change. They must thwart the ultimate goal of the Reverend Doctor: to bring all of humanity into genetically-manipulated communion.
Pan Espere selects the seven team members, each uniquely qualified due to their influence over pop culture - in sports, film, music, art, adventuring, technology, and opinion. But did she make the right choices? Her choices include the team leader, Senon Cormac, the son of the Reverend Doctor himself. But did she make the right choice? Abran Negasi isn't the one chosen to lead, but will he play a greater role than she planned? Especially since he's the one who leads her heart into places she'd rather not explore. Is Abran's own heart still with the love he lost when his Holdout village was destroyed? Will Senon be able to separate his hatred of his father from the goals of the team? And can he focus on the team and its mission when Pan is such an intriguing and attractive puzzle? Together, the Outliers must stop the Reverend Doctor before his plan succeeds.
Fans of the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Legend series will be as captivated by Outliers, the first book in the EOD series.
Pan Espere selects the seven team members, each uniquely qualified due to their influence over pop culture - in sports, film, music, art, adventuring, technology, and opinion. But did she make the right choices? Her choices include the team leader, Senon Cormac, the son of the Reverend Doctor himself. But did she make the right choice? Abran Negasi isn't the one chosen to lead, but will he play a greater role than she planned? Especially since he's the one who leads her heart into places she'd rather not explore. Is Abran's own heart still with the love he lost when his Holdout village was destroyed? Will Senon be able to separate his hatred of his father from the goals of the team? And can he focus on the team and its mission when Pan is such an intriguing and attractive puzzle? Together, the Outliers must stop the Reverend Doctor before his plan succeeds.
Fans of the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Legend series will be as captivated by Outliers, the first book in the EOD series.
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 27, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 9, 2014
*This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review*
I must begin by saying that I love the cover of Outliers. It's very eye-catching.
It took me a few chapters to fully understand what was going on, remember the character names, how they related with each other, etc. I did have to go back and re-read a few times, but with a story as intricately woven as Outliers, that's to be expected.
I enjoyed learning about Pan, Abran, The Revered Doctor, etc. Outliers is jam-packed with action and was an exciting new world. I've recently become fond of Dystopian themed novels, and Outliers delivered.
I'm interested to see where Outliers goes and how the rest plays out. Overall, a very detailed novel that I would recommend to fans of science fiction, YA, and Dystopian.
I must begin by saying that I love the cover of Outliers. It's very eye-catching.
It took me a few chapters to fully understand what was going on, remember the character names, how they related with each other, etc. I did have to go back and re-read a few times, but with a story as intricately woven as Outliers, that's to be expected.
I enjoyed learning about Pan, Abran, The Revered Doctor, etc. Outliers is jam-packed with action and was an exciting new world. I've recently become fond of Dystopian themed novels, and Outliers delivered.
I'm interested to see where Outliers goes and how the rest plays out. Overall, a very detailed novel that I would recommend to fans of science fiction, YA, and Dystopian.
June 9, 2015
Review by Shannon Vize for the Current
Regina Harvey, mother of Eckerd Junior Mikaela Roosa, published her first book, “Outliers,” last November. The book is a dystopian thriller following a team of outliers as they try to stop the powerful UNITEED from warping and controlling the minds of everyone left on Earth.
Fans of popular dystopian series like “The Hunger Games” or “Divergent” will love Harvey’s take on the genre and how she shapes it to make it her own. The story begins dramatically with Pan Espere, the main character, attempting to transport the outliers she has selected for her team to the safe house.
Each outlier has a strong influence over the public in a different area, which is why Pam selected them, but each outlier’s presence in the real world must be replaced with “gangers,” a creative take on the word doppelgangers, which are their engineered body doubles who will think and react the way they would have.
During their absence from the world UNITEED has constructed, the outliers, Senon, Magena, Abran, along with the others, learn the truth about the stabilizing and recovering environment of the earth, which has been hidden from the public by UNITEED. They also learn that UNITEED is systematically mass murdering villages, including Abran’s own village, in order to control population and keep UNITEED in power.
UNITEED is led by Senon’s Father, Reverend Doctor Cormac, a preacher obsessed with power and genetically manipulating the population, “counseling” as he calls it, in order to control the opinion and thoughts of each person.
UNITEED controls everything in this dystopic world after having come to power during a vulnerable time as the earth’s environment rapidly deteriorated and freak storms wiped out major sections of the planet, as we now know it.
The group uses religious ideology to scare the general population into believing this is the end of days and retribution for their sins. The outliers are the only ones who know the truth about UNITEED and their impending plans for attacking more of their own congregation. It is up to them to use their influence and abilities to stop Cormac from murdering their gangers and becoming pawns in his scheme to gain total control of the world.
Harvey’s new world comes to life through her invention of creative words and terms, like “okie” and “bee-cee,” along with entire new races of human beings with special gifts like Pan who is from Stri-rajya.
Environmental destruction, genocide, religion as a weapon, the ethics of genetic manipulation, loss and the importance and respect for life are all major themes in this book and are relevant and important topics in today’s culture.
The book cover, which Junior Mikaela Roosa designed, is striking. It depicts Pan in one of the tunics described in the book. The dark, ominous color scheme sets the stage for the dystopic and fatalistic world the reader is about to enter.
“I got started with the book cover because I’ve always been interested in the art. When I switched my major she asked if I was interested. Part of the inspiration was from my mom. It was mostly her idea. I just wanted to create something that would catch the reader’s eye,” Roosa said.
Overall, the book was interesting and surprising. At first, it was difficult to fully enter the world Harvey created due to the perspective of the narrator changing frequently, the amount of characters to keep track of, and trying to orient yourself in a new world where phrases like “damnation” and “The Second” are commonplace.
But, Harvey does a great job of elevating the tension and suspense towards the latter half of the book and maintains it until the very last page.
Harvey has asked for writers to submit stories in the same world to continue what she calls the EOD series. I am interested to see which direction the story takes when other author’s voices are interwoven into the story.
http://theonlinecurrent.com/students-...
Regina Harvey, mother of Eckerd Junior Mikaela Roosa, published her first book, “Outliers,” last November. The book is a dystopian thriller following a team of outliers as they try to stop the powerful UNITEED from warping and controlling the minds of everyone left on Earth.
Fans of popular dystopian series like “The Hunger Games” or “Divergent” will love Harvey’s take on the genre and how she shapes it to make it her own. The story begins dramatically with Pan Espere, the main character, attempting to transport the outliers she has selected for her team to the safe house.
Each outlier has a strong influence over the public in a different area, which is why Pam selected them, but each outlier’s presence in the real world must be replaced with “gangers,” a creative take on the word doppelgangers, which are their engineered body doubles who will think and react the way they would have.
During their absence from the world UNITEED has constructed, the outliers, Senon, Magena, Abran, along with the others, learn the truth about the stabilizing and recovering environment of the earth, which has been hidden from the public by UNITEED. They also learn that UNITEED is systematically mass murdering villages, including Abran’s own village, in order to control population and keep UNITEED in power.
UNITEED is led by Senon’s Father, Reverend Doctor Cormac, a preacher obsessed with power and genetically manipulating the population, “counseling” as he calls it, in order to control the opinion and thoughts of each person.
UNITEED controls everything in this dystopic world after having come to power during a vulnerable time as the earth’s environment rapidly deteriorated and freak storms wiped out major sections of the planet, as we now know it.
The group uses religious ideology to scare the general population into believing this is the end of days and retribution for their sins. The outliers are the only ones who know the truth about UNITEED and their impending plans for attacking more of their own congregation. It is up to them to use their influence and abilities to stop Cormac from murdering their gangers and becoming pawns in his scheme to gain total control of the world.
Harvey’s new world comes to life through her invention of creative words and terms, like “okie” and “bee-cee,” along with entire new races of human beings with special gifts like Pan who is from Stri-rajya.
Environmental destruction, genocide, religion as a weapon, the ethics of genetic manipulation, loss and the importance and respect for life are all major themes in this book and are relevant and important topics in today’s culture.
The book cover, which Junior Mikaela Roosa designed, is striking. It depicts Pan in one of the tunics described in the book. The dark, ominous color scheme sets the stage for the dystopic and fatalistic world the reader is about to enter.
“I got started with the book cover because I’ve always been interested in the art. When I switched my major she asked if I was interested. Part of the inspiration was from my mom. It was mostly her idea. I just wanted to create something that would catch the reader’s eye,” Roosa said.
Overall, the book was interesting and surprising. At first, it was difficult to fully enter the world Harvey created due to the perspective of the narrator changing frequently, the amount of characters to keep track of, and trying to orient yourself in a new world where phrases like “damnation” and “The Second” are commonplace.
But, Harvey does a great job of elevating the tension and suspense towards the latter half of the book and maintains it until the very last page.
Harvey has asked for writers to submit stories in the same world to continue what she calls the EOD series. I am interested to see which direction the story takes when other author’s voices are interwoven into the story.
http://theonlinecurrent.com/students-...
January 5, 2015
"Outliers" took me on a rollercoaster ride and left me plenty breathless. It was just so... epic.
Okay, let's start from the beginning.
When I read the first few pages, my heart sank. Here's why:
© xkcd
There was talk about "Oper" (that's the German word for Opera btw), "squinting the Launch Quadrant", "Outlier Core" and some more neologisms I wouldn't find in any dictionary (they are listed in the appendix though, I realized when I was finished and had figured out most of them on my own...).
As the tale continued I found myself drawn in. There seemed to be an author, finally, who knew how to create a whole new world. I soon realized the language actually catered to that. "Outliers" is a mixture of fantasy, with diverse communities of which some hold power out of the ordinary, and Utopia, with still distant technology like microsensors .
The leading characters Pan, Senon and Abran (love their names) don't feel constructed. One of my usual complaints is applicable to them as well though - namely, that they are just too good to be true: more than good looking, more than geniuses . That reminds me a lot of glossy magazines showing us only the famous and beautiful. I get that this is a story about brainiacs but it's just so unrealistic that at the same time almost all of them are lookers...
One more complaint: (supposedly clever) people withholding really important information for no reason are irritating.
There would be much more to say about "Outliers" but I find it almost impossible to describe accurately. If you like Utopias and/or Fantasy even remotely, read it. It's just so worth it.
I received the book for free in exchange for a review. That didn't influence it - "Outliers" was a hell of a book and deserves every star.
Okay, let's start from the beginning.
When I read the first few pages, my heart sank. Here's why:
© xkcdThere was talk about "Oper" (that's the German word for Opera btw), "squinting the Launch Quadrant", "Outlier Core" and some more neologisms I wouldn't find in any dictionary (they are listed in the appendix though, I realized when I was finished and had figured out most of them on my own...).
As the tale continued I found myself drawn in. There seemed to be an author, finally, who knew how to create a whole new world. I soon realized the language actually catered to that. "Outliers" is a mixture of fantasy, with diverse communities of which some hold power out of the ordinary, and Utopia, with still distant technology like microsensors .
The leading characters Pan, Senon and Abran (love their names) don't feel constructed. One of my usual complaints is applicable to them as well though - namely, that they are just too good to be true: more than good looking, more than geniuses . That reminds me a lot of glossy magazines showing us only the famous and beautiful. I get that this is a story about brainiacs but it's just so unrealistic that at the same time almost all of them are lookers...
One more complaint: (supposedly clever) people withholding really important information for no reason are irritating.
There would be much more to say about "Outliers" but I find it almost impossible to describe accurately. If you like Utopias and/or Fantasy even remotely, read it. It's just so worth it.
I received the book for free in exchange for a review. That didn't influence it - "Outliers" was a hell of a book and deserves every star.
June 28, 2014
** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
A team of teens from all corners of the earth - statistical outliers in talents and intelligence - come together to fight against UNITEED, the warped world government that believes the norm is the ideal. UNITEED is suppressing environmental recovery and systematically reducing and controlling outside cultures. Only those young enough to be 'uncounseled' toward the norm can lead the way to change. They must thwart the ultimate goal of the Reverend Doctor: to bring all of humanity into genetically-manipulated communion.
Pan Espere selects the seven team members, each uniquely qualified due to their influence over pop culture - in sports, film, music, art, adventuring, technology, and opinion. But did she make the right choices? Her choices include the team leader, Senon Cormac, the son of the Reverend Doctor himself. But did she make the right choice? Abran Negasi isn't the one chosen to lead, but will he play a greater role than she planned? Especially since he's the one who leads her heart into places she'd rather not explore. Is Abran's own heart still with the love he lost when his Holdout village was destroyed? Will Senon be able to separate his hatred of his father from the goals of the team? And can he focus on the team and its mission when Pan is such an intriguing and attractive puzzle? Together, the Outliers must stop the Reverend Doctor before his plan succeeds.
I give it 2.5 stars
Let me begin by saying that I love Dystopian novels. When I first read about this book I was really excited but unfortunately Outliers was not what I expected. The book was really creative with having a group named UNITEED. The main characters like Pan, Abran and Senon were really exciting. There was a lot of action but sometimes there were parts in the book which weren't necessary. The book was good but not great.
A team of teens from all corners of the earth - statistical outliers in talents and intelligence - come together to fight against UNITEED, the warped world government that believes the norm is the ideal. UNITEED is suppressing environmental recovery and systematically reducing and controlling outside cultures. Only those young enough to be 'uncounseled' toward the norm can lead the way to change. They must thwart the ultimate goal of the Reverend Doctor: to bring all of humanity into genetically-manipulated communion.
Pan Espere selects the seven team members, each uniquely qualified due to their influence over pop culture - in sports, film, music, art, adventuring, technology, and opinion. But did she make the right choices? Her choices include the team leader, Senon Cormac, the son of the Reverend Doctor himself. But did she make the right choice? Abran Negasi isn't the one chosen to lead, but will he play a greater role than she planned? Especially since he's the one who leads her heart into places she'd rather not explore. Is Abran's own heart still with the love he lost when his Holdout village was destroyed? Will Senon be able to separate his hatred of his father from the goals of the team? And can he focus on the team and its mission when Pan is such an intriguing and attractive puzzle? Together, the Outliers must stop the Reverend Doctor before his plan succeeds.
I give it 2.5 stars
Let me begin by saying that I love Dystopian novels. When I first read about this book I was really excited but unfortunately Outliers was not what I expected. The book was really creative with having a group named UNITEED. The main characters like Pan, Abran and Senon were really exciting. There was a lot of action but sometimes there were parts in the book which weren't necessary. The book was good but not great.
May 16, 2014
*I received a copy of this book for an honest review*
I really, REALLY, REALLY wanted to like this book! I received three books to write an honest review for and I was BY FAR the most excited about this one.
I liked the premise of the book a lot. I liked the overall story of the book. I liked Awan, Pan, Abran and Senon. I think the author has a lot she can do with these characters in the future.
Here is the honest part - if I had not agreed to give a review for this book I would have stopped reading it after chapter 5. That is usually my limit for books - I have to like it by the 5th chapter - if not, then I usually can not get into it. With that being said, I did finally begin to get interested in the book about chapter 10.
I did not like the slang the characters used - it was weird. I think the first couple of chapters are VERY confusing....I kept thinking, "ok, what is the point of this?". Another reviewer stated that they felt the author plopped you in the middle on purpose - what ever it was - I did not like it.
But, BUT....
Once I finally got into the book and into the characters it was good! I like the premise and the story, I just didn't like the beginning. I'm not sure if I will continue the series. I might give one more book a try because I did like the characters.
I really, REALLY, REALLY wanted to like this book! I received three books to write an honest review for and I was BY FAR the most excited about this one.
I liked the premise of the book a lot. I liked the overall story of the book. I liked Awan, Pan, Abran and Senon. I think the author has a lot she can do with these characters in the future.
Here is the honest part - if I had not agreed to give a review for this book I would have stopped reading it after chapter 5. That is usually my limit for books - I have to like it by the 5th chapter - if not, then I usually can not get into it. With that being said, I did finally begin to get interested in the book about chapter 10.
I did not like the slang the characters used - it was weird. I think the first couple of chapters are VERY confusing....I kept thinking, "ok, what is the point of this?". Another reviewer stated that they felt the author plopped you in the middle on purpose - what ever it was - I did not like it.
But, BUT....
Once I finally got into the book and into the characters it was good! I like the premise and the story, I just didn't like the beginning. I'm not sure if I will continue the series. I might give one more book a try because I did like the characters.
December 4, 2013
*I was given a free e copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review*
It's so hard for me to write a review when I didn't love a book. I have so much respect for authors and I always want to give the best rating possible. With that said, I didn't love this story. I had a hard time understanding what was even going on for about the first 30% of the book and I wasn't invested in the characters at all until about 60%. It got better after that, but not much. I started to like it a little and became a little invested in the plot. But I got hung up on some of the slang used in the book. And I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I don't know how to explain it but it was a bit off for me. I think its a matter of personal taste and this just wasn't a good style for me.
I liked the idea of this story. I feel it could have been better executed but I can sort of see what the author was invisioning. Interesting story.
It's so hard for me to write a review when I didn't love a book. I have so much respect for authors and I always want to give the best rating possible. With that said, I didn't love this story. I had a hard time understanding what was even going on for about the first 30% of the book and I wasn't invested in the characters at all until about 60%. It got better after that, but not much. I started to like it a little and became a little invested in the plot. But I got hung up on some of the slang used in the book. And I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I don't know how to explain it but it was a bit off for me. I think its a matter of personal taste and this just wasn't a good style for me.
I liked the idea of this story. I feel it could have been better executed but I can sort of see what the author was invisioning. Interesting story.
December 31, 2013
*Disclaimer: I was provided the book for free from the author for an honest review*
The idea of this book was one I liked and was interested in since I am a big fan of dystopian books. However, I am sad to say I had a difficult time getting through the book. My main issue was the language usage in the book, the characters used slang and abbreviations that felt jarring and I was never able to get used to. The plot was confusing at first, with not enough background to make me feel like I completely understood the situation. It did get better as the book progressed though. It took a while for me to feel interested in the characters, and even then I didn't feel like there was much development to make me feel connected to the characters.
Interesting story concept, but it was not for me.
The idea of this book was one I liked and was interested in since I am a big fan of dystopian books. However, I am sad to say I had a difficult time getting through the book. My main issue was the language usage in the book, the characters used slang and abbreviations that felt jarring and I was never able to get used to. The plot was confusing at first, with not enough background to make me feel like I completely understood the situation. It did get better as the book progressed though. It took a while for me to feel interested in the characters, and even then I didn't feel like there was much development to make me feel connected to the characters.
Interesting story concept, but it was not for me.
December 31, 2013
I won this book from a giveaway on goodreads and had been extremely excited to read it. I began the book a few days ago and it took me forever to really get into the book. It was hard to understand what was going on because not much information was given. The plot was interesting and I enjoyed the characters, but it wasn't something that I thoroughly enjoyed. I really liked the author's ideas she had, but they could have been executed better.
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March 4, 2014Excellent read. Really makes you think about some stuff from a new perspective.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews