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Devolve #1
Devolve: The Wolf
== Synopsis ==
Spending your life underground isn’t living, it’s surviving.
But with the surface of the earth left ravaged from war, those surviving in the Burrows might be all that’s left, and their lives come at a cost.
As an orphan born in the depths of the Burrows, Foren has spent his life dreaming of this day. Amongst a group of unlikely friends, he’ll step foot on the Surface for the very first time. Together, they’ll pay their dues to the Burrows as they search for what’s needed to keep the human race alive.
They don’t exactly know what they’re looking for, what they do find … will change them forever.
== About ==
'Devolve; The Wolf' is the the first novel in the Devolve young-adult adventure series, written by New Zealand based author, Mike Hooper. It is a thought provoking post-apocalyptic coming-of-age story of a boy who ventures to the Surface of the earth, for the very first time.
== Reviews ==
“Nicely told, with moments of action and a good succession of unexpected twists.” – NZ Herald
“…It’s satisfying to see a New Zealand book of this worth coming from the local publishing sector.” – NZ Herald
Spending your life underground isn’t living, it’s surviving.
But with the surface of the earth left ravaged from war, those surviving in the Burrows might be all that’s left, and their lives come at a cost.
As an orphan born in the depths of the Burrows, Foren has spent his life dreaming of this day. Amongst a group of unlikely friends, he’ll step foot on the Surface for the very first time. Together, they’ll pay their dues to the Burrows as they search for what’s needed to keep the human race alive.
They don’t exactly know what they’re looking for, what they do find … will change them forever.
== About ==
'Devolve; The Wolf' is the the first novel in the Devolve young-adult adventure series, written by New Zealand based author, Mike Hooper. It is a thought provoking post-apocalyptic coming-of-age story of a boy who ventures to the Surface of the earth, for the very first time.
== Reviews ==
“Nicely told, with moments of action and a good succession of unexpected twists.” – NZ Herald
“…It’s satisfying to see a New Zealand book of this worth coming from the local publishing sector.” – NZ Herald
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2016
27 people want to read
About the author
Mike Hooper
1 bookMike Hooper is an exciting new young-adult author from Christchurch, New Zealand. His first novel, Devolve; The Wolf, is a thought-provoking coming of age story of an orphan who sets foot on the surface of a post-apocalyptic earth for the very first time.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 16, 2016
thank you to the author for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
i was very intrigued by the summary of this book. yes, it sounds like every other post apocalypse novel, but i found it different at the same time. they live underground and go to the surface to collect things so they can survive in their cave-like home. the plot twist (which i won't spoil) at the end was very smart and well thought of. i thoroughly enjoyed it.
so, this book has some similarities to the 100 (both books and tv show). i kinda feel the need to mention this mostly because the similarities actually annoyed me. in the 100, they live in space and come to earth because their supplies are running low. in devolve, they live underground and go to the surface because their supplies are running low. they both meet people on the ground that shouldn't be alive. not to mention, in season 2 of the 100 there was the people of mount weather who live inside the mountain/underground due to the outside world being poisonous to the people inside (very similar to the situation of the characters in devolve.) it's probably nothing, but i felt this comparable.
the start of this novel is very slow. at first it's okay and bearable, but it only gets worse as it drags out. nothing happens until the second half when they go to the surface. it's a short book so holding out through the boring bits isn't so bad, but i felt something else could've been going on here to make it more interesting or the characters had spent more time on the surface.
gonna throw in a really positive comment here -- i really love the naming system. everyone's name is 2 letters (or numbers) long. the main character's name is Foren, which is 4N. i found this really original and quite cool. throughout the whole book, as a new character was introduced i "tried" (not really trying if it isn't hard to figure out) to discover the letters that make up the names. other characters are: casey, geo and vici.
no spoilers here-- but i disagreed with some of foren's decisions at the end of the book. like i understand why he did it, but it was so stupid and is going to cause problems later.
there were a couple of sexist jokes throughout this book, and every time one was said it was dismissed like it's nothing - like with an eye roll or something. i hate sexist jokes. they're pointless to the story and demeaning to the female audience. it affected my enjoyment of the novel, thats for sure.
there was this scene when they were on the surface and i felt it was kind of thriller/horror (or something, i don't tend to read those sorts of books), and i really liked it because i couldn't stop reading. i wish there were more parts like this throughout the rest of the book, it was intense af.
there were a couple of issues with the editing. there were moments when someone was talking and there was no closing speech mark, or at the end of a paragraph when no one was talking and there was one. a couple other grammatical errors too, but this didn't impact my overall reading experience and is easily overlooked.
i felt the romance in this book didn't work out at all. there was no build up. even the friendships - the characters are best friends even though they've just met ?? walking around, holding hands and you don't even know them. a bit weird. doesn't make me dislike the story, but i felt like pointing it out as it was kinda annoying. i just wish there was more development of the characters and their relationships.
i rated this book 4/5 stars, but thinking back it's probably more of a 3.5. i really did enjoy the second half of this book in terms of action and whatnot, and found the surface adventures fun. and yes, i do recommend this book to others. i look forward to the sequel and i know it'll be way better based off what's been set up for it!!
check out my blog for more reivews!
i was very intrigued by the summary of this book. yes, it sounds like every other post apocalypse novel, but i found it different at the same time. they live underground and go to the surface to collect things so they can survive in their cave-like home. the plot twist (which i won't spoil) at the end was very smart and well thought of. i thoroughly enjoyed it.
so, this book has some similarities to the 100 (both books and tv show). i kinda feel the need to mention this mostly because the similarities actually annoyed me. in the 100, they live in space and come to earth because their supplies are running low. in devolve, they live underground and go to the surface because their supplies are running low. they both meet people on the ground that shouldn't be alive. not to mention, in season 2 of the 100 there was the people of mount weather who live inside the mountain/underground due to the outside world being poisonous to the people inside (very similar to the situation of the characters in devolve.) it's probably nothing, but i felt this comparable.
the start of this novel is very slow. at first it's okay and bearable, but it only gets worse as it drags out. nothing happens until the second half when they go to the surface. it's a short book so holding out through the boring bits isn't so bad, but i felt something else could've been going on here to make it more interesting or the characters had spent more time on the surface.
gonna throw in a really positive comment here -- i really love the naming system. everyone's name is 2 letters (or numbers) long. the main character's name is Foren, which is 4N. i found this really original and quite cool. throughout the whole book, as a new character was introduced i "tried" (not really trying if it isn't hard to figure out) to discover the letters that make up the names. other characters are: casey, geo and vici.
no spoilers here-- but i disagreed with some of foren's decisions at the end of the book. like i understand why he did it, but it was so stupid and is going to cause problems later.
there were a couple of sexist jokes throughout this book, and every time one was said it was dismissed like it's nothing - like with an eye roll or something. i hate sexist jokes. they're pointless to the story and demeaning to the female audience. it affected my enjoyment of the novel, thats for sure.
there was this scene when they were on the surface and i felt it was kind of thriller/horror (or something, i don't tend to read those sorts of books), and i really liked it because i couldn't stop reading. i wish there were more parts like this throughout the rest of the book, it was intense af.
there were a couple of issues with the editing. there were moments when someone was talking and there was no closing speech mark, or at the end of a paragraph when no one was talking and there was one. a couple other grammatical errors too, but this didn't impact my overall reading experience and is easily overlooked.
i felt the romance in this book didn't work out at all. there was no build up. even the friendships - the characters are best friends even though they've just met ?? walking around, holding hands and you don't even know them. a bit weird. doesn't make me dislike the story, but i felt like pointing it out as it was kinda annoying. i just wish there was more development of the characters and their relationships.
i rated this book 4/5 stars, but thinking back it's probably more of a 3.5. i really did enjoy the second half of this book in terms of action and whatnot, and found the surface adventures fun. and yes, i do recommend this book to others. i look forward to the sequel and i know it'll be way better based off what's been set up for it!!
check out my blog for more reivews!
June 1, 2019
2.5 Stars
December 4, 2016
I received a copy of Devolve; The Wolf from the author to review. I always love to find New Zealand young adult authors.
I found this a very fast read and I was definitely hooked from the beginning. It had great world building and characters I really liked. I was really curious about why everyone was living underground and what had happened in the war and to the surface of Earth.
There were a couple of twists that I really liked and didn’t see coming. I figured something was going on but didn’t click to what. I know I’ve mentioned this in other reviews but I love books that can take me by surprise because not a lot of them can.
Devolve; The Wolf isn’t a very long book, only 200+ pages, but I felt like so much happened. One thing that was a little weird for me was how close Foren was to people he’d only just started talking to. And they were really close/emotional friendships too. Obviously there are only so many people living in the Burrows so Foren would know of most of them but at the start of the book he mentioned that he’d never spoken to two of girls and he got really close to them really fast. But maybe that’s just me. Like I said, this book isn’t very long and it’s really fast so that might be why.. It wasn’t a bad thing though, I just found it weird.
Anyway, I liked most of the characters in this book. There were a couple I didn’t like but they definitely added to the story and I am looking forward to seeing what they’ll do in the next book.
I mentioned that there were some good twists in this book and one of the best ones was at the end. I cannot wait to find out what Foren and the others do next, especially with everything they went through to get where they are now. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves dystopian/post-apocalyptic books.
I found this a very fast read and I was definitely hooked from the beginning. It had great world building and characters I really liked. I was really curious about why everyone was living underground and what had happened in the war and to the surface of Earth.
There were a couple of twists that I really liked and didn’t see coming. I figured something was going on but didn’t click to what. I know I’ve mentioned this in other reviews but I love books that can take me by surprise because not a lot of them can.
Devolve; The Wolf isn’t a very long book, only 200+ pages, but I felt like so much happened. One thing that was a little weird for me was how close Foren was to people he’d only just started talking to. And they were really close/emotional friendships too. Obviously there are only so many people living in the Burrows so Foren would know of most of them but at the start of the book he mentioned that he’d never spoken to two of girls and he got really close to them really fast. But maybe that’s just me. Like I said, this book isn’t very long and it’s really fast so that might be why.. It wasn’t a bad thing though, I just found it weird.
Anyway, I liked most of the characters in this book. There were a couple I didn’t like but they definitely added to the story and I am looking forward to seeing what they’ll do in the next book.
I mentioned that there were some good twists in this book and one of the best ones was at the end. I cannot wait to find out what Foren and the others do next, especially with everything they went through to get where they are now. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves dystopian/post-apocalyptic books.
March 20, 2016
"Devolve" is the first in a series by a local author and is independently published. The design is competent and professional, and the story matches. It is a dystopia/post apocalyptic setting, where the people have been forced, by war, to live underground. Here they are ruled over by the amicable King Brown, who desires, above all, to be liked and admired by his subjects. Our main character is 4N, or Foren, and all of the characters follow a similar naming system. We have KC (Casey), an intelligent and caring girl; GO (Geo), belligerent and thorny; VC (Vici), kind, secretive and naive and many others, all students in Professor Will's class. All students who are hoping to be chosen as part of the team that will venture upon to the surface in search of relics.
Foren is an orphan, and his greatest desire is to be a Cat - a surface explorer that seeks relics - like his mother. Although he is chosen for the team, it is instead as a Wolf, a protector and guardian. Together with five of his class-mates, he must breach the hostile surface, where the earth is poisoned and the water polluted, where merely breathing the air can kill.
Or does it?
Foren and his friends uncover not only a dangerous conspiracy, but enter into a deadly and violent game of survival. This is not a light read - there is a bloody body count and a few moments where I feared Hooper was channeling his inner George RR Martin. Filled with twists, turns and some rather unexpected surprises. A competent, and relatively easy read, with barely a dull moment.
I look forward to reading more.
Foren is an orphan, and his greatest desire is to be a Cat - a surface explorer that seeks relics - like his mother. Although he is chosen for the team, it is instead as a Wolf, a protector and guardian. Together with five of his class-mates, he must breach the hostile surface, where the earth is poisoned and the water polluted, where merely breathing the air can kill.
Or does it?
Foren and his friends uncover not only a dangerous conspiracy, but enter into a deadly and violent game of survival. This is not a light read - there is a bloody body count and a few moments where I feared Hooper was channeling his inner George RR Martin. Filled with twists, turns and some rather unexpected surprises. A competent, and relatively easy read, with barely a dull moment.
I look forward to reading more.
February 18, 2016
A very easy read with a gripping story and lots of little twists. Love the world and the people in it. Can't wait for the next one!!@# <3
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews