FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR MIKE KILROY AND PERFECT FOR FANS OF THE HUNGER GAMES AND THE MAZE RUNNER COMES ... ... THE 17 Zack Earnest will die today. That's okay. He'll be back from the dead tomorrow. You Only Live Once? Not here. Here the rules of life and death don't apply.
"HIGHLY ORIGINAL AND EXTREMELY ENGAGING" -- New York Book Pundit
Whisked away from his home, his only friend and his mother's scrumptious eggs, 17-year-old outcast Zack finds himself a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by other teens from his world and many others, held hostage and thrust into barbaric games by an ancient species known only as the Ankhs. The Ankhs are in their death throes and seek a "Spark" to survive. Zack and sixteen others just like him may possess it.
"FULL OF INGENIOUS PLOT TWISTS AND UNEXPECTED EVENTS" -- Readers & Writers Journal
Along the way Zack develops a romance with the girl (in the solar system) next door, and they soon discover the Ankhs are not what they seem.
"THE ENDING IS SO. INCREDIBLY. AWESOME" -- Amazon reviewer
From the best-selling author of the award-winning Nine Meals comes an epic action-adventure, coming-of-age story of hope and redemption, patience and understanding, acceptance and belonging and that, even in the center of the universe, love is a constant.
Quote: "On the platters were hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos and other assorted dishes representing all the nations of his world. There was even a plate full of Hot Pockets, which made him cringe. His planet's eating habits were horrid compared to some of the other worlds. We're the trailer trash of the universe."
Hate to say it, BUT AMERICA IS NOT THE WHOLE WORLD. Literally nobody else but a few western countries eat this kind of crap. We're the trailer trash? I'm sorry my man, maybe you are, but why are you lumping the rest of us in?
The book's *fine* and I'm pretty sure I got it as a freebie somewhere, maybe for review, yada yada, clearly hasn't affected my opition. But seriously, the American whiteness of this guy and trying to be understanding of race and multiculturality is not the strongest part of this book. All the teenagers are also so stereotypical, a thing we don't do anymore in media so much - I was truly and fully transported back into the 2010s. The aliens lack creativity - yeah, sure they are all this color or that color, scales or whiskers, but they're all bipedal, they're all humanoid, they all live in a similar way. There is a little bit of leeway as to why that is - - but it still found it very limited. The story is also not very consistent, but hey, the guy knows how to write an adventure, and it is a good read in terms of pace and storytelling. The end message and main storyline ended satisfyingly and did seem to have a deep meaning, although .
Now all he has to do is peek his nose out of his back yard and go explore the the rest of the world so he stops saying we're trailer trash.
This book took me almost all the way to the end before I liked it. I'm not impressed with to much emo in books and most of this seemed way to much emotional and not enough thinking and doing but in the end I did end up enjoying the characters and the story
I was captivated from the very first page and couldn’t stop reading. Like the character Jenai, I am constantly searching for books that transport me to another world, and Kilroy has mastered the art.
When I opened up The 17 I was thrilled to be sucked right into the intense new world that Zack, a lonely boy from Maine has been transported into. The reader feels like part of the 17 as Zack struggles to adapt and understand the new world he has been thrust into and to master the group dynamics, including standing up against the group leader Harness.
If you like playing video games this book is for you! Kilroy has created a world with a brand new set of rules. Rules that the characters are struggling to learn as they face one challenge after another.
Kilroy writes in an engaging, easy to read manner, that isn’t just for teens. His writing style makes his characters come alive! When you reach the last page, you will wish there was more (in a good way)!
While I did enjoy the book, I still felt it left a lot to be desired. I liked how the characters were put into their different situations and how they tried to adapt to each scenario, however the reasons for subjecting them to their "tests" and the eventual outcome of the needs of these tests weren't justified. I was also left feeling a bit empty at the end of the book. I wanted to know what happened to the characters once they returned. I felt there was no closure.
The last thing I had an issue with was all of the teenage slang. I get it. They are teens and this book is geared towards young adults, but it seemed so excessive to me. It was as if when talking to each other they were speaking in "text speak." It was enough to make me roll my eyes.
I almost put this book down after the first few chapters, getting annoyed that I was just reading an alien version of The Maze Runner. Am I glad I decided to read on! This story turned out to be very creative and moving. I was so into it that when I reached the next to last scene of the book-the culmination of the story-I almost stood up and yelled. And by the way, this is much, much better than The Maze Runner, first few chapters not withstanding.
I've never been a fan of alien books but since I loved Nine Meals I wanted to see what this one was all about. I wasn't disappointed. The story was unique and very gripping. Like nothing I've ever read before! Can't wait for the next book!
While this wasn't a terrible book to read, I felt like there wasn't a good answer for why things happened the way they did. Maybe I just didn't read deep enough, but it was lost on me. Kinda a little too much like The Hunger Games at points too. Oh well, still kind of fun.