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IGIST
According to the one teacher on Earth who believed in her, Emi hadn't a chance. The space academy of her dreams was more than a reach. The Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology hadn't admitted an Earthling for decades. The bygones left on Earth would lead a boring existence if, and only if, they were lucky enough to evade the plague.
Emi always thought she was different, not because her only friend growing up in Rockland was a drone named Sadee, but because she was very determined, albeit obstinately, to become a revered scientist like her late mother. But even a passion for science and good old-fashioned grit could not prepare Emi for the challenges that await in a wide, strange galaxy under the auspices of the Star League.
IGIST is also available as an Immersive Novel. You can download the app for free on iOS or Android. Sheer fantasy and delight await those who scroll through the world’s first Immersive Novel: IGIST (the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology). The journey’s medium is an innovative app that combines the essential elements of an e-reader with gamified techniques you might find in Angry Birds or your favorite filter on TikTok. The real power of the experience stems from the compelling story that is elegantly enhanced by all the capabilities of your smartphone. Marrying technology and art, the IGIST app immerses the reader in an extraordinary Sci-Fi universe in a way that traditional books and e-readers can’t match.
Learn more about IGIST at www.igist.com
Emi always thought she was different, not because her only friend growing up in Rockland was a drone named Sadee, but because she was very determined, albeit obstinately, to become a revered scientist like her late mother. But even a passion for science and good old-fashioned grit could not prepare Emi for the challenges that await in a wide, strange galaxy under the auspices of the Star League.
IGIST is also available as an Immersive Novel. You can download the app for free on iOS or Android. Sheer fantasy and delight await those who scroll through the world’s first Immersive Novel: IGIST (the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology). The journey’s medium is an innovative app that combines the essential elements of an e-reader with gamified techniques you might find in Angry Birds or your favorite filter on TikTok. The real power of the experience stems from the compelling story that is elegantly enhanced by all the capabilities of your smartphone. Marrying technology and art, the IGIST app immerses the reader in an extraordinary Sci-Fi universe in a way that traditional books and e-readers can’t match.
Learn more about IGIST at www.igist.com
296 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2019
11 people are currently reading
2299 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 15, 2019
I won this book as a Goodreads giveaway. As you can probably tell from my rating, I had some major issues with this book...
Let's start off with the biggest reason why I rated this book so low. In the letter from the author that accompanied the book when I received it it stated that the author set out to write a book with a 'strong, smart female version of Tom Swift'. While I haven't read the Tom Swift books, my main argument is with the first half of this statement, namely the strong and smart part. In short, almost EVERYTHING that Emi did in order to solve the problem was, in fact, so incredibly stupid (not in terms of intellect, perhaps, but more in terms of being incredibly irresponsible). I'll get into this a little later in the spoilers portion of this review. For now I'm just going to go through my non-spoiler notes point by point.
First off, there were FAR too many big words for the age range this book is aimed for. Million dollar words were used when the 2 cent word would have been just as sufficient, if not better suited, to the situation. Similar to this is the slang used throughout... it felt contrived... there was absolutely no need to try to be cute and come up with all this short-form slang. In virtually every case, it was both unnecessary and slowed the story down.
Far too much of the book was telling, and not enough showing.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Spacefaring Era is hardly important enough to supplant A.D. Not only that, you'd think it would have conformed to the Latin we currently use...
All the characters are just so stereotypical and completely one dimensional... AND I just couldn't deal with all the overt intolerance everyone had to everyone else.
Now this is something I HATE to have to comment on, but the science throughout was just so bad... It's hard to say you wanted to write a book to encourage girls to get into STEM when all the science-y stuff in the book is questionable. Oh, and along these lines is something I'm going to throw out here... You can't 'swim' in a zero-g atmosphere... think about it (and maybe watch some spacewalk footage).
And now on to the spoilers section:
And finally (and I REALLY hate having to point this out), but it looks as through the author has gone and petitioned friends and family to make Goodreads accounts to artificially bolster the rating of this book. The majority of the 5-star ratings for this book are all accounts that have exactly ONE book rated -- this one -- joined in January 2019 (ironically, when this book was published), with no other activity since... I get it that this is a thing, but it's such a dishonest thing at the same time... Going to mark this author as one to avoid in the future.
Let's start off with the biggest reason why I rated this book so low. In the letter from the author that accompanied the book when I received it it stated that the author set out to write a book with a 'strong, smart female version of Tom Swift'. While I haven't read the Tom Swift books, my main argument is with the first half of this statement, namely the strong and smart part. In short, almost EVERYTHING that Emi did in order to solve the problem was, in fact, so incredibly stupid (not in terms of intellect, perhaps, but more in terms of being incredibly irresponsible). I'll get into this a little later in the spoilers portion of this review. For now I'm just going to go through my non-spoiler notes point by point.
First off, there were FAR too many big words for the age range this book is aimed for. Million dollar words were used when the 2 cent word would have been just as sufficient, if not better suited, to the situation. Similar to this is the slang used throughout... it felt contrived... there was absolutely no need to try to be cute and come up with all this short-form slang. In virtually every case, it was both unnecessary and slowed the story down.
Far too much of the book was telling, and not enough showing.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Spacefaring Era is hardly important enough to supplant A.D. Not only that, you'd think it would have conformed to the Latin we currently use...
All the characters are just so stereotypical and completely one dimensional... AND I just couldn't deal with all the overt intolerance everyone had to everyone else.
Now this is something I HATE to have to comment on, but the science throughout was just so bad... It's hard to say you wanted to write a book to encourage girls to get into STEM when all the science-y stuff in the book is questionable. Oh, and along these lines is something I'm going to throw out here... You can't 'swim' in a zero-g atmosphere... think about it (and maybe watch some spacewalk footage).
And now on to the spoilers section:
And finally (and I REALLY hate having to point this out), but it looks as through the author has gone and petitioned friends and family to make Goodreads accounts to artificially bolster the rating of this book. The majority of the 5-star ratings for this book are all accounts that have exactly ONE book rated -- this one -- joined in January 2019 (ironically, when this book was published), with no other activity since... I get it that this is a thing, but it's such a dishonest thing at the same time... Going to mark this author as one to avoid in the future.
January 16, 2019
Igist is a futuristic inspirational journey! What a fun way to
Challenge young adults to be brave, creative and use their talents for the good of others. The story is refreshing as it expands the mind and raises the status quote at every level. Well done L.S.Larson for creating entertainment that influences us all to be our very best! Aim Far!
Challenge young adults to be brave, creative and use their talents for the good of others. The story is refreshing as it expands the mind and raises the status quote at every level. Well done L.S.Larson for creating entertainment that influences us all to be our very best! Aim Far!
April 17, 2019
IGIST’s premise alone was enough to grab my attention, but more than just a good story and characters, this book has a one-of-a-kind feature…It has an accompanying AR app. That’s right. You can watch this book come to life with Augmented Reality (like SnapChat filters) and turn your black and white illustrations into moving, colorful images on your phone!
I’m not going to lie, tech and gadgets are some of my favorite things and if I was rating the book on how well done and cool the app is alone…It would get a solid 5 out of 5 stars before I even opened the book! The graphics are absolutely incredible, the fun “sputniks” that jump out at you while you’re reading, and the holographic features genuinely make this book an immersive novel. There are many more features that I could list here, but my recommendation to you, is just jump on the IGIST bandwagon (they have merch too!)!
As for the book itself, I’ll start off by saying it will receive 4 out of 5 stars. The storyline is certainly interesting to say the very least, and there are plenty of characters to get to know, both good and bad, and it is void of any cursing and sexual content. All things that really pleased me. However, it seems to teeter on the line between middle grade fiction and young adult fiction very often, and what I mean by that is a lot of the story seems a little too young for advanced readers, but the content and vocabulary is incredibly advanced for middle graders. I think IGIST has many things to please both audiences, but there is that chance that some middle graders won’t understand the tech/science scenes at all (some went over my head to be completely honest), and some young adult readers won’t be impressed with the shorter scenes and less descriptive details.
There is some action present and mentions of blood, as well as a character that partakes in gambling and some activity that is considered “illegal” in the world of IGIST.
Overall, IGIST is a universe that is worthy of a fanclub, and believe me when I say that it has so, so much potential! I do plan on following this up and rising immersive novel and if you have a science fiction nut in your family, they definitely need to give this experience a shot! (The book is available to read in the free app 😉 )
I received this book from the author via Reedsy for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.
I’m not going to lie, tech and gadgets are some of my favorite things and if I was rating the book on how well done and cool the app is alone…It would get a solid 5 out of 5 stars before I even opened the book! The graphics are absolutely incredible, the fun “sputniks” that jump out at you while you’re reading, and the holographic features genuinely make this book an immersive novel. There are many more features that I could list here, but my recommendation to you, is just jump on the IGIST bandwagon (they have merch too!)!
As for the book itself, I’ll start off by saying it will receive 4 out of 5 stars. The storyline is certainly interesting to say the very least, and there are plenty of characters to get to know, both good and bad, and it is void of any cursing and sexual content. All things that really pleased me. However, it seems to teeter on the line between middle grade fiction and young adult fiction very often, and what I mean by that is a lot of the story seems a little too young for advanced readers, but the content and vocabulary is incredibly advanced for middle graders. I think IGIST has many things to please both audiences, but there is that chance that some middle graders won’t understand the tech/science scenes at all (some went over my head to be completely honest), and some young adult readers won’t be impressed with the shorter scenes and less descriptive details.
There is some action present and mentions of blood, as well as a character that partakes in gambling and some activity that is considered “illegal” in the world of IGIST.
Overall, IGIST is a universe that is worthy of a fanclub, and believe me when I say that it has so, so much potential! I do plan on following this up and rising immersive novel and if you have a science fiction nut in your family, they definitely need to give this experience a shot! (The book is available to read in the free app 😉 )
I received this book from the author via Reedsy for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.
January 16, 2019
Amazing! I love the igist universe, the story and characters are amazing and really come to life.
Very inspirational, will be recommending to friends and family.
Very inspirational, will be recommending to friends and family.
June 2, 2019
Won this book from Goodreads, great book, what a great read, I could not put this book down. loved it.
February 4, 2022
Imagine High School being blasted into space, fuelled by chasing your dreams!
________________________________________
A Imagine High School being blasted into space, fuelled by chasing your dreams!
How did the book make me feel/think?
Imagine if someone had blasted your High School into space filled with a diverse mixture of rich, colourful characters who are vying to improve the Universe instead of struggling with the crippling realities of who likes whom?
IGIST is not your run-of-the-mill YA Novel. It’s not about romance and petty crushes and feuds. Instead, what it is about is screaming out a powerful message of chasing your dreams + never giving up. It’s about overcoming the most enormous obstacles and the importance of learning to work together for a life much more considerable than self. It is a nuanced dive back into school, teaching valuable lessons about love, family, + friendship along the way. It is about taking accountability for whom you will be.
It reads like the DaVinci Code.
Because it tackles deeper issues, IGIST tackles the trials of adolescence with a rare authenticity—it is a YA novel challenging the obstacles of youth with something intelligent to say. It is chock-full of competition, deception, compassion, teamwork, and love. It is a story about what adversaries can accomplish when they come together to achieve a common goal. It is a nuanced coming-of-age story. It’s vibrant, moving, and beautiful.
I don’t fit the demographic for this book—I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of that fact. IGIST builds to a crescendo with twists along the way. It reads like the DaVinci Code because its fast-paced short chapters make it hard to stop turning the pages. The last 50 pages are gripping, with the main character, Emi, growing by leaps and bounds.
IGIST surprised me. I’m glad it did!
________________________________________
A Imagine High School being blasted into space, fuelled by chasing your dreams!
How did the book make me feel/think?
Imagine if someone had blasted your High School into space filled with a diverse mixture of rich, colourful characters who are vying to improve the Universe instead of struggling with the crippling realities of who likes whom?
IGIST is not your run-of-the-mill YA Novel. It’s not about romance and petty crushes and feuds. Instead, what it is about is screaming out a powerful message of chasing your dreams + never giving up. It’s about overcoming the most enormous obstacles and the importance of learning to work together for a life much more considerable than self. It is a nuanced dive back into school, teaching valuable lessons about love, family, + friendship along the way. It is about taking accountability for whom you will be.
It reads like the DaVinci Code.
Because it tackles deeper issues, IGIST tackles the trials of adolescence with a rare authenticity—it is a YA novel challenging the obstacles of youth with something intelligent to say. It is chock-full of competition, deception, compassion, teamwork, and love. It is a story about what adversaries can accomplish when they come together to achieve a common goal. It is a nuanced coming-of-age story. It’s vibrant, moving, and beautiful.
I don’t fit the demographic for this book—I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of that fact. IGIST builds to a crescendo with twists along the way. It reads like the DaVinci Code because its fast-paced short chapters make it hard to stop turning the pages. The last 50 pages are gripping, with the main character, Emi, growing by leaps and bounds.
IGIST surprised me. I’m glad it did!
April 19, 2019
This was a great book. I loved reading it and I truly felt the characters pain. But throughout the story there were times I wanted to smack her upside the head. I guess that's how most people feel with kids in any situation. But otherwise... great story!
May 24, 2019
Igist is a quick reading book that keeps the reader's attention. I kept wanting to cheer on Emi and L. S. Larson made it was to relate to the other characters. Igist always keeps you wanting to see what will happen next, especially when reading in the app!
April 5, 2019
**I received a physical copy of this book for free from the marketing team for this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
IGIST was such a fun experience! I received the physical copy, but I actually read most of the book on the app that accompanies the book. There was interactive parts of the books that made it a reading experience that I've never had before. It was super cute!
This book is such an inspiring story for young girls today interesting in STEM. Emi is 14, but she is determined, smart, and strong, and she goes after what she wants. She was challenged in so many ways in this book, and overcame them all. She was such a strong female lead, which I really appreciated. Even though I couldn't 100% relate to Emi due to the age difference, I still fully enjoyed reading her thought processes and reading her grow as a character.
Highly recommend this one for any young girls interested in science, or really any middle grade/YA sci-fi fan!
Full review here: https://katelynpdickinson.wordpress.c...
IGIST was such a fun experience! I received the physical copy, but I actually read most of the book on the app that accompanies the book. There was interactive parts of the books that made it a reading experience that I've never had before. It was super cute!
This book is such an inspiring story for young girls today interesting in STEM. Emi is 14, but she is determined, smart, and strong, and she goes after what she wants. She was challenged in so many ways in this book, and overcame them all. She was such a strong female lead, which I really appreciated. Even though I couldn't 100% relate to Emi due to the age difference, I still fully enjoyed reading her thought processes and reading her grow as a character.
Highly recommend this one for any young girls interested in science, or really any middle grade/YA sci-fi fan!
Full review here: https://katelynpdickinson.wordpress.c...
April 6, 2019
I won this paperback book and my 15 year old daughter read it before I had a chance. I encourage my children to read. It is a very easy task to get a child to read when an author like L.S. Larson uses talents to write this story. This is what my daughter had to write short and to the point
"I really liked the book. The characters were really interesting. I would definitely recommend this to another person.
"I really liked the book. The characters were really interesting. I would definitely recommend this to another person.
January 26, 2019
Amazing story I loved it! I checked it out twice at the library.
February 12, 2019
Excellent book!
April 15, 2019
Emi and her father live on Earth, where a plague is ravaging humanity, but Emi dreams of attending the elite IGIST school on the moon's space station, where she could fulfill her wish of making scientific breakthroughs to cure the plague.
This book comes with an app, available for iOS in the App store. You can read the entire book on the app, where you can earn coins for reading each chapter, and spend your coins to purchase special character bios, photo filters and stickers, and earn badges as you follow the character's stories. If you read on the app, the story is enhanced with graphics, videos, and illustrations that add to the reading experience.
I liked the main idea of the story, but the execution left me bored. The app is VERY cool! I loved the graphics and the badges and the special effects! But the writing is flat and awkward. The characters are one-dimensional, and I didn't care about any of them.
I didn't like the main character, Emi, and it was painful reading stiff scenes where she is supposed to be making connections with other characters. She could be making friends, making enemies, or connecting with a mentor, but there is no emotional attachment. The characters are made of cardboard with painted faces.
Emi herself is not a nice person. She completely ignores her health even when it could endanger other's health, takes very bad risks, disobeys her teachers, insists on doing everything alone, shows no wisdom or kindness or feeling, and barely even grieves when people die. I suppose at the end she DOES learn to ask others for help and work in a team, so there's a tiny bit of development there, but it's too little, too late. She is a danger to herself and others, and I grew to dislike her more and more throughout the book.
The plot was also disappointing, and the science elements in the story were not clearly explained, leaving me confused about how this fictional world is really structured. The world-building has a lot of potential with some imaginative ideas about the IGIST space station, and how the solar system has been colonized by humans, and how DNA is being manipulated to make humans faster and stronger, but ultimately, none of these ideas were explored to my satisfaction.
The writing style is strange and awkward. The writing "tells" instead of "showing", and gets bogged down in a lot of wordy description. Even though there aren't exactly grammatical errors, the sentence structure doesn't flow normally. It feels like it was translated from another language, or maybe English is not the author's first language.
Here are a few examples:
"Demanding and strict, Florin lacked any appreciation for creating a motivating environment." (misuse of the word "appreciation")
"She looked at the cracked glass. It would certainly break completely soon." (misplaced modifier)
"Her father tickled her at just the right time, and Emi smiled. His arm was around her, pointing in the distance." ( How is his arm pointing in the distance if his arm is also around her? Why would you point with the same arm that is hugging someone? Maybe a small point or gesture, but not a long distance point. Weird.)
" "It'll be fun," her father said. His bubbly tone and smile added a sense of excitement to life's mundanities." (This use of "mundanities" IS correct, but it just sounds awkward. It doesn't flow. Also using an adjective on the first of two nouns doesn't flow well. It would sound much better to say "His smile and bubbly tone..." )
I DNF'd this book after 124 pages, so I got to about 43% before I just couldn't anymore. I skimmed through some of the chapters to the end just to see what would happen in the plot. Not one time did I forget that I was reading a book. I was never captivated or immersed in the story enough to lose myself in it.
The basic story has potential, and the app is very cool with gorgeous graphics, but the writing and characters are bland.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
This book comes with an app, available for iOS in the App store. You can read the entire book on the app, where you can earn coins for reading each chapter, and spend your coins to purchase special character bios, photo filters and stickers, and earn badges as you follow the character's stories. If you read on the app, the story is enhanced with graphics, videos, and illustrations that add to the reading experience.
I liked the main idea of the story, but the execution left me bored. The app is VERY cool! I loved the graphics and the badges and the special effects! But the writing is flat and awkward. The characters are one-dimensional, and I didn't care about any of them.
I didn't like the main character, Emi, and it was painful reading stiff scenes where she is supposed to be making connections with other characters. She could be making friends, making enemies, or connecting with a mentor, but there is no emotional attachment. The characters are made of cardboard with painted faces.
Emi herself is not a nice person. She completely ignores her health even when it could endanger other's health, takes very bad risks, disobeys her teachers, insists on doing everything alone, shows no wisdom or kindness or feeling, and barely even grieves when people die. I suppose at the end she DOES learn to ask others for help and work in a team, so there's a tiny bit of development there, but it's too little, too late. She is a danger to herself and others, and I grew to dislike her more and more throughout the book.
The plot was also disappointing, and the science elements in the story were not clearly explained, leaving me confused about how this fictional world is really structured. The world-building has a lot of potential with some imaginative ideas about the IGIST space station, and how the solar system has been colonized by humans, and how DNA is being manipulated to make humans faster and stronger, but ultimately, none of these ideas were explored to my satisfaction.
The writing style is strange and awkward. The writing "tells" instead of "showing", and gets bogged down in a lot of wordy description. Even though there aren't exactly grammatical errors, the sentence structure doesn't flow normally. It feels like it was translated from another language, or maybe English is not the author's first language.
Here are a few examples:
"Demanding and strict, Florin lacked any appreciation for creating a motivating environment." (misuse of the word "appreciation")
"She looked at the cracked glass. It would certainly break completely soon." (misplaced modifier)
"Her father tickled her at just the right time, and Emi smiled. His arm was around her, pointing in the distance." ( How is his arm pointing in the distance if his arm is also around her? Why would you point with the same arm that is hugging someone? Maybe a small point or gesture, but not a long distance point. Weird.)
" "It'll be fun," her father said. His bubbly tone and smile added a sense of excitement to life's mundanities." (This use of "mundanities" IS correct, but it just sounds awkward. It doesn't flow. Also using an adjective on the first of two nouns doesn't flow well. It would sound much better to say "His smile and bubbly tone..." )
I DNF'd this book after 124 pages, so I got to about 43% before I just couldn't anymore. I skimmed through some of the chapters to the end just to see what would happen in the plot. Not one time did I forget that I was reading a book. I was never captivated or immersed in the story enough to lose myself in it.
The basic story has potential, and the app is very cool with gorgeous graphics, but the writing and characters are bland.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
April 17, 2019
Won a copy of IGIST through Goodreads and impressed with this offering. Had started
reading the book and it disappeared for a bit, my grand-daughter borrowed it and didn't
get it back until she had finished, she loved it and especially being able to interact with
the book, the app was fun for her.
Finally able to get reading it again, impressed with character "Emi" and her determination
to go after her goals and see them through. Her quest comes to life on the pages as one follows
her journey. An amazing story with strong character. Would recommend, my grand-daughter
sure recommends it.
reading the book and it disappeared for a bit, my grand-daughter borrowed it and didn't
get it back until she had finished, she loved it and especially being able to interact with
the book, the app was fun for her.
Finally able to get reading it again, impressed with character "Emi" and her determination
to go after her goals and see them through. Her quest comes to life on the pages as one follows
her journey. An amazing story with strong character. Would recommend, my grand-daughter
sure recommends it.
Want to read
April 15, 2019It was a interesting space story and I really enjoyed reading it.
May 20, 2019
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It took me quite awhile to get through due to a few factors.
One thing I liked is the emphasis on humans exploring the stars. There are no aliens in this book. This world is built on the premise of over two centuries of space exploration and terraforming by humans. The main character is fourteen-year-old Earthing Emi, who is painted as extremely smart and stubbornly independent. I admire her perseverance (although her methods and ethics are questionable) in the face of severe odds. Lots of future tech is described with interesting ideas (e.g. the microbiome in space, solar sailing).
There were a lot of things I didn’t like. From the beginning, the writing seemed extremely forced. Big words are thrown around unnecessarily. In other areas, adequate description is eschewed in favour of words like ‘stunning’ and ‘amazing’.
For example, a description of a light show: “The drones’ show consisted of several amazing shapes and formations. The final maneuver was to simulate the three significant historical rocket launches, with the drones lighting up a stunning image in space almost identical to the IGIST three grand arches”. What ARE these amazing shapes and formations??! Really no effort put into things like this. One phrasing that really bothered me (and caused me to put to book down for awhile at page 24): “[Her father’s] bubbly tone and smile added a sense of excitement to life’s mundanities”. SO AWKWARD.
So much telling, not enough showing. Entire chunks of lore are spoon-fed to the reader. Emi is horrifically orphaned within the first couple chapters of the book and she’s just like, ‘oh well, time to go to space’. There seems to be a gigantic mismatch between what Emi is doing and what she is learning in school. Her team is working on a complicated robot, she knows how to use an electron microscope and design simulations to change the molecular composition of an organism, but she is struggling with learning the phases of matter? She is being tested on physical and chemical changes (basic chemistry)? The reader is rarely given any real insight into what she is learning (she’s good with sections A and B, but not with sections C, D, E of the test – but we’re not told any of the content on this test, so I have zero interest).
She takes huge risks, starting with leaving Earth with a potentially infected eye (disregarding her health and the lives of everyone around her). Told that there is a fifty-fifty chance of her being infected, and that in twelve weeks, it could potentially “expand uncontrollably and very quickly, causing you to suddenly blow up”, what does she do? She leaves Earth and goes to space, with apparently no thought whatsoever for the consequences. Then later, she purposefully brings the plague to space with no apparent biosafety training.
I have so many issues with this plague storyline – how will a MASK stop something that eats carbon? We’re supposed to believe that ‘nobody cares’ enough to stop this plague that traps people in their houses, crashes ships and kills untold numbers of people, until a fourteen-year-old girl does it for a science fair project? Emi transports this super-dangerous plague from Earth to moon to IGIST without getting caught, and when she does tell a warden about it he HELPS her display it for the science fair. SPOILER – it gets out and kills people. Surprise!
Another issue I have is with the character Jack/Jilli. Jack is a ‘Misfit’ undergoing a genetic transition from human to human-tiger. Society (including her father) doesn’t understand her, they mock and ridicule her, and Misfits are so hated that other Earthlings go out of their way to terrorize a Misfit celebration by dropping in with the plague. This seemed like a really clumsy, ineptly drawn parallel to the trans community. Jack, like Emi, is a two-dimensional character and her story is not uplifting in the slightest.
In summary, there are some really cool ideas here. Unfortunately, I could never fully engage with the story because the execution is so poor that I was constantly questioning both the writing and the plot.
The prologue and epilogue make no sense in the context of the story presented here. I guess I will never find out what Venter is up to, because I don’t plan on reading any more of this series.
One thing I liked is the emphasis on humans exploring the stars. There are no aliens in this book. This world is built on the premise of over two centuries of space exploration and terraforming by humans. The main character is fourteen-year-old Earthing Emi, who is painted as extremely smart and stubbornly independent. I admire her perseverance (although her methods and ethics are questionable) in the face of severe odds. Lots of future tech is described with interesting ideas (e.g. the microbiome in space, solar sailing).
There were a lot of things I didn’t like. From the beginning, the writing seemed extremely forced. Big words are thrown around unnecessarily. In other areas, adequate description is eschewed in favour of words like ‘stunning’ and ‘amazing’.
For example, a description of a light show: “The drones’ show consisted of several amazing shapes and formations. The final maneuver was to simulate the three significant historical rocket launches, with the drones lighting up a stunning image in space almost identical to the IGIST three grand arches”. What ARE these amazing shapes and formations??! Really no effort put into things like this. One phrasing that really bothered me (and caused me to put to book down for awhile at page 24): “[Her father’s] bubbly tone and smile added a sense of excitement to life’s mundanities”. SO AWKWARD.
So much telling, not enough showing. Entire chunks of lore are spoon-fed to the reader. Emi is horrifically orphaned within the first couple chapters of the book and she’s just like, ‘oh well, time to go to space’. There seems to be a gigantic mismatch between what Emi is doing and what she is learning in school. Her team is working on a complicated robot, she knows how to use an electron microscope and design simulations to change the molecular composition of an organism, but she is struggling with learning the phases of matter? She is being tested on physical and chemical changes (basic chemistry)? The reader is rarely given any real insight into what she is learning (she’s good with sections A and B, but not with sections C, D, E of the test – but we’re not told any of the content on this test, so I have zero interest).
She takes huge risks, starting with leaving Earth with a potentially infected eye (disregarding her health and the lives of everyone around her). Told that there is a fifty-fifty chance of her being infected, and that in twelve weeks, it could potentially “expand uncontrollably and very quickly, causing you to suddenly blow up”, what does she do? She leaves Earth and goes to space, with apparently no thought whatsoever for the consequences. Then later, she purposefully brings the plague to space with no apparent biosafety training.
I have so many issues with this plague storyline – how will a MASK stop something that eats carbon? We’re supposed to believe that ‘nobody cares’ enough to stop this plague that traps people in their houses, crashes ships and kills untold numbers of people, until a fourteen-year-old girl does it for a science fair project? Emi transports this super-dangerous plague from Earth to moon to IGIST without getting caught, and when she does tell a warden about it he HELPS her display it for the science fair. SPOILER – it gets out and kills people. Surprise!
Another issue I have is with the character Jack/Jilli. Jack is a ‘Misfit’ undergoing a genetic transition from human to human-tiger. Society (including her father) doesn’t understand her, they mock and ridicule her, and Misfits are so hated that other Earthlings go out of their way to terrorize a Misfit celebration by dropping in with the plague. This seemed like a really clumsy, ineptly drawn parallel to the trans community. Jack, like Emi, is a two-dimensional character and her story is not uplifting in the slightest.
In summary, there are some really cool ideas here. Unfortunately, I could never fully engage with the story because the execution is so poor that I was constantly questioning both the writing and the plot.
The prologue and epilogue make no sense in the context of the story presented here. I guess I will never find out what Venter is up to, because I don’t plan on reading any more of this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2019
DNF... I could not force myself through this one anymore.
The writing was choppy (honestly I've seen better writing in fanfictions written by 12 year olds who have English as a second language), the characters were either flat, manic pixie dream girls/boys or absolute caricatures (and trust me, it wasn't on purpose) and the dialogue was so... strange. It felt like I was listening to a conversation between aliens who are trying to blend in but haven't quite grasped the way humans interact.
Do not recommend, but hey, I'm not the boss of you. All I'm saying is that if you trust my opinions on books, you're in for a world of pain with this one.
The writing was choppy (honestly I've seen better writing in fanfictions written by 12 year olds who have English as a second language), the characters were either flat, manic pixie dream girls/boys or absolute caricatures (and trust me, it wasn't on purpose) and the dialogue was so... strange. It felt like I was listening to a conversation between aliens who are trying to blend in but haven't quite grasped the way humans interact.
Do not recommend, but hey, I'm not the boss of you. All I'm saying is that if you trust my opinions on books, you're in for a world of pain with this one.
June 6, 2019
IGIST. An amazing book. The story is really well written the art work is phenomenal. Every aspect of this book is just really good and well thought of. You can also download the app and have an almost 4d experience with sounds and pictures that come alive. This book has an amazing and unique story and experience. You should definitely read this book! It’s worth it.
April 23, 2019
L.S. Larson sent this book to me in exchange for an honest review.
This book was fairly lukewarm for me. There were parts that I thoroughly enjoyed and parts where I seriously considered putting the book down for good. I rated it 3 stars on Goodreads because while it has a ton of great potential, it dropped the ball in some areas.
First, let’s discuss what I liked! Larson does a fantastic job of creating a very diverse cast in this book. There’s a great mix of males and females while also creating a mix of “races” by having them all come from different planets and space stations. He describes each student has having different physical and mental characteristics based on how they were raised from the beginning, but the reader is able to see how they are all the same through the plots of the book. Emi is an Earthling who latches on to Florin, the only Earthling professor. Emi becomes acquaintances with a Martian, a Scout, and a Misfit, all different races that are explained in the book. I admire the differences that are acknowledged but not pushed to the point of meeting an agenda.
I also liked the massive plot moving scenes. When Larson writes action, you can’t help but hang on for the ride! Without spoiling too much, the last few chapters of the book had me on my toes and I finished the final 50 pages within a half hour. I could not put it down! Larson does a phenomenal job of developing characters alongside the overarching plot. The reader is able to see how Emi grows and becomes more mature through her actions and consequences.
Despite liking a lot of this book, there was a lot that I didn’t like. For one, there seemed to be a language gap that even as a 23-year-old college graduate, I struggled with. There were times that a word would be used that made sense once I thought about it, but it didn’t quite flow with the story or even the characters. As a book written for middle schoolers, words need to be simple and understandable with at most 5-6 “vocabulary” words used repeatedly throughout the book. IGIST also had a push for phrases that seemed unnecessary and pulled me out of the story. I understand the need for, “As old stars die, new stars are born.” That’s a nice slogan and all schools have a slogan. My real problem was TPFS (This Place Flipping Sucks). There was no need for that catchphrase, nor the rapid increase in intensity from chapter 55 to the end. I am an adult, and when I read TPFS and translate it out of the acrynom, my mind does not say flipping. Call it a societal flaw, but it seemed incredibly inappropriate for a young woman who is supposed to be a role model living by this catchphrase. It could be removed from the book and have no effect on the plot.
I also had a problem with how successful Emi was despite always doing the wrong thing and making a bad decision. She has her redemption at the end, but for a book teaching about the importance of working with other people, Emi has a ton of success working alone. Based on the fact that Emi is looking for her next school, I put her age at around 13-14, getting ready to enter high school. For someone that young to make incredible scientific advances, there needs to be some amount of believability. A few flaws or a failed experiment would have sufficed, but despite Emi pushing everyone away and being stubborn, she still succeeded. I fear for the image that sets up for young, impressionable readers. What I’m hearing is its better to work with other people, but if you want to work alone and short-staff the people who want to help you, you can still be successful.
As I already noted, I have a degree in psychology. When reading, I am very focused on the humanity of the main character. The plot and actions are important, but I want to know the protagonist’s reactions and how they are changed. Emi lacks a lot of human qualities. For one, grief is nonexistent. SPOILERS. Her mother died, she watches her father die directly in front of her, she wants her best friend die via video chat right in front of her, and she watches her favorite professor die in front of her. And despite seeing so much death, we get maybe 4 paragraphs of grief. Emi does not react like a real teenager would to losing everyone she loves. Larson had a fantastic opportunity to show healthy grief and using grief as a motivator, and instead he just ignores basic human reactions to push his plot.
I’m very vocal about what I didn’t like, but notice how I still gave this book 3 stars. Overall, I enjoyed the plot and characters within this book. Sadee was easily my favorite and I want a little Sadee to follow me around and help me throughout my day. Larson set out to make a book that would inspire his young daughters to pursue their dreams. I see a book that successfully shows young girls that can succeed in the STEM world, so I would say Larson met his goal. I believe this book will only appeal to a very distinct population: young, highly literate females who are already inclined to the science field. I believes readers who can see Emi’s flaws and not see her actions as ones to mimic, but ones to learn from will be the most entertained by this novel.
This book was fairly lukewarm for me. There were parts that I thoroughly enjoyed and parts where I seriously considered putting the book down for good. I rated it 3 stars on Goodreads because while it has a ton of great potential, it dropped the ball in some areas.
First, let’s discuss what I liked! Larson does a fantastic job of creating a very diverse cast in this book. There’s a great mix of males and females while also creating a mix of “races” by having them all come from different planets and space stations. He describes each student has having different physical and mental characteristics based on how they were raised from the beginning, but the reader is able to see how they are all the same through the plots of the book. Emi is an Earthling who latches on to Florin, the only Earthling professor. Emi becomes acquaintances with a Martian, a Scout, and a Misfit, all different races that are explained in the book. I admire the differences that are acknowledged but not pushed to the point of meeting an agenda.
I also liked the massive plot moving scenes. When Larson writes action, you can’t help but hang on for the ride! Without spoiling too much, the last few chapters of the book had me on my toes and I finished the final 50 pages within a half hour. I could not put it down! Larson does a phenomenal job of developing characters alongside the overarching plot. The reader is able to see how Emi grows and becomes more mature through her actions and consequences.
Despite liking a lot of this book, there was a lot that I didn’t like. For one, there seemed to be a language gap that even as a 23-year-old college graduate, I struggled with. There were times that a word would be used that made sense once I thought about it, but it didn’t quite flow with the story or even the characters. As a book written for middle schoolers, words need to be simple and understandable with at most 5-6 “vocabulary” words used repeatedly throughout the book. IGIST also had a push for phrases that seemed unnecessary and pulled me out of the story. I understand the need for, “As old stars die, new stars are born.” That’s a nice slogan and all schools have a slogan. My real problem was TPFS (This Place Flipping Sucks). There was no need for that catchphrase, nor the rapid increase in intensity from chapter 55 to the end. I am an adult, and when I read TPFS and translate it out of the acrynom, my mind does not say flipping. Call it a societal flaw, but it seemed incredibly inappropriate for a young woman who is supposed to be a role model living by this catchphrase. It could be removed from the book and have no effect on the plot.
I also had a problem with how successful Emi was despite always doing the wrong thing and making a bad decision. She has her redemption at the end, but for a book teaching about the importance of working with other people, Emi has a ton of success working alone. Based on the fact that Emi is looking for her next school, I put her age at around 13-14, getting ready to enter high school. For someone that young to make incredible scientific advances, there needs to be some amount of believability. A few flaws or a failed experiment would have sufficed, but despite Emi pushing everyone away and being stubborn, she still succeeded. I fear for the image that sets up for young, impressionable readers. What I’m hearing is its better to work with other people, but if you want to work alone and short-staff the people who want to help you, you can still be successful.
As I already noted, I have a degree in psychology. When reading, I am very focused on the humanity of the main character. The plot and actions are important, but I want to know the protagonist’s reactions and how they are changed. Emi lacks a lot of human qualities. For one, grief is nonexistent. SPOILERS. Her mother died, she watches her father die directly in front of her, she wants her best friend die via video chat right in front of her, and she watches her favorite professor die in front of her. And despite seeing so much death, we get maybe 4 paragraphs of grief. Emi does not react like a real teenager would to losing everyone she loves. Larson had a fantastic opportunity to show healthy grief and using grief as a motivator, and instead he just ignores basic human reactions to push his plot.
I’m very vocal about what I didn’t like, but notice how I still gave this book 3 stars. Overall, I enjoyed the plot and characters within this book. Sadee was easily my favorite and I want a little Sadee to follow me around and help me throughout my day. Larson set out to make a book that would inspire his young daughters to pursue their dreams. I see a book that successfully shows young girls that can succeed in the STEM world, so I would say Larson met his goal. I believe this book will only appeal to a very distinct population: young, highly literate females who are already inclined to the science field. I believes readers who can see Emi’s flaws and not see her actions as ones to mimic, but ones to learn from will be the most entertained by this novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2019
«IGIST» by L.S. Larson is a new YA Science-fiction with the most unique reading experience!
You can read this book as a normal physical copy that contains a few images that can interact with the IGIST app (at least that’s what the book states in the beginning). Personally, I switched between my Kindle, as I got a copy from NetGalley, and the IGIST app, that is free for download for Android and IOS. The app is quite impressive and I don’t know why more people didn’t think about this concept before.
1 - The concept to involve the mobile gaming experience with the story through the app is fantastic! I’m not sure why no one else thought about this before!? Or maybe, this is a common practice now and I’m just behind on this trend. I really liked how interactive this makes the story, and also it will be more appealing to younger readers or even younger audience who doesn’t particularly like to read, as it combines something they all understand so well - technology.
Also, the book claims that if you buy the hardcover of the book, there will be black and white photorealistic illustrations that you can bring to life with AR (Augmented Reality) scanner through the IGIST app. I had no way to confirm this, as I don’t own the hardcover copy, but THIS SOUNDS UNREAL AND AMAZING! So if you have experiences that, please let me know!
2 - I love sci-fi in every shape and form, especially when it’s about a SCHOOL in SPACE with a lot of TRIALS! That to me is the most perfect concept for a book. So of course, IGIST immediately grabbed my attention. The execution wasn’t flawless and there were a lot of things that I didn’t like, but overall I loved reading about traveling through space, discovering new planets, seeing other races, like Martians, etc.
3 - My biggest complaint was the main character - Emi. I understood what the author was trying to do, show her as this headstrong, young scientist, who wouldn’t stop before achieving her goals, but also struck with uncertainty and fear of failure.
But the way the story was written, the way the other characters acted around her, and Emi’s responses to others’ critiques or concerns made me see her as a spoiled attention seeker, who wouldn’t or couldn’t think about anyone else’s well-being. Who was focused so fiercely on her idea that often forgot and neglected others.
She was constantly rude and pushing others away. There was a big emphasis on “doing things on my own”, which I didn’t understand the purpose of. I just didn’t like her.
4 - Another thing that I found weird was the human/animal transformations. I think the people who pursued that were called transhumans. Once again, I sort of understand the concept or the idea behind it, but it wasn’t executed well to pass the message to the reader. So the whole Jack / Jillie arc just felt awkward and out of place.
At first, when I began reading this book, I was sure this was middle-grade, but as the story progressed and got darker and darker, I don’t even know if I can classify it as YA or it should have some age restrictions. Jack’s arc was very maturely written, there were a lot of deaths and horrific events.
I still don’t know what audience exactly this story was directed at.
You can read this book as a normal physical copy that contains a few images that can interact with the IGIST app (at least that’s what the book states in the beginning). Personally, I switched between my Kindle, as I got a copy from NetGalley, and the IGIST app, that is free for download for Android and IOS. The app is quite impressive and I don’t know why more people didn’t think about this concept before.
1 - The concept to involve the mobile gaming experience with the story through the app is fantastic! I’m not sure why no one else thought about this before!? Or maybe, this is a common practice now and I’m just behind on this trend. I really liked how interactive this makes the story, and also it will be more appealing to younger readers or even younger audience who doesn’t particularly like to read, as it combines something they all understand so well - technology.
Also, the book claims that if you buy the hardcover of the book, there will be black and white photorealistic illustrations that you can bring to life with AR (Augmented Reality) scanner through the IGIST app. I had no way to confirm this, as I don’t own the hardcover copy, but THIS SOUNDS UNREAL AND AMAZING! So if you have experiences that, please let me know!
2 - I love sci-fi in every shape and form, especially when it’s about a SCHOOL in SPACE with a lot of TRIALS! That to me is the most perfect concept for a book. So of course, IGIST immediately grabbed my attention. The execution wasn’t flawless and there were a lot of things that I didn’t like, but overall I loved reading about traveling through space, discovering new planets, seeing other races, like Martians, etc.
3 - My biggest complaint was the main character - Emi. I understood what the author was trying to do, show her as this headstrong, young scientist, who wouldn’t stop before achieving her goals, but also struck with uncertainty and fear of failure.
But the way the story was written, the way the other characters acted around her, and Emi’s responses to others’ critiques or concerns made me see her as a spoiled attention seeker, who wouldn’t or couldn’t think about anyone else’s well-being. Who was focused so fiercely on her idea that often forgot and neglected others.
She was constantly rude and pushing others away. There was a big emphasis on “doing things on my own”, which I didn’t understand the purpose of. I just didn’t like her.
4 - Another thing that I found weird was the human/animal transformations. I think the people who pursued that were called transhumans. Once again, I sort of understand the concept or the idea behind it, but it wasn’t executed well to pass the message to the reader. So the whole Jack / Jillie arc just felt awkward and out of place.
At first, when I began reading this book, I was sure this was middle-grade, but as the story progressed and got darker and darker, I don’t even know if I can classify it as YA or it should have some age restrictions. Jack’s arc was very maturely written, there were a lot of deaths and horrific events.
I still don’t know what audience exactly this story was directed at.
November 18, 2019
I ...didn't love this book. I like it, in concept, but in practice, the narrative and characters had some pretty major bumps in it. I found that pretty much all the characters aside from Emi could have used some better characterization and development. Descriptions likening this book to Harry Potter are apt in the "teachers allowing students to do truly inappropriate things for their age" department, but the book does not have J. K. Rowling's knack for casually dropping threads throughout and then tying it all together in tidy little bow at the end.
I was intrigued by the tie-in app, as a way to gamify the reading experience, and maybe entice readers who have a hard time just sitting and reading. That said, because I don't really like reading on my phone screen, it was a bit of a no-go for me, and I didn't read more than a couple chapters on it. It did help to explain why the chapters were so short, though. I didn't love that the app did include some in-app purchases, which, considering this is meant for a younger audience, felt a little distasteful to me, despite the fact that the app itself is free, and allows for a reader to have full access to the book without purchasing, and without advertisements.
In terms of illustrations - I don't think that they translated well to the black and white in the book (and my phone couldn't do the "AR" experience, which I think is what they were designed for, rather than the printed version). I appreciate the talent and work that goes into hyperrealism, but it's not a style that resonates with me, personally.
I was intrigued by the tie-in app, as a way to gamify the reading experience, and maybe entice readers who have a hard time just sitting and reading. That said, because I don't really like reading on my phone screen, it was a bit of a no-go for me, and I didn't read more than a couple chapters on it. It did help to explain why the chapters were so short, though. I didn't love that the app did include some in-app purchases, which, considering this is meant for a younger audience, felt a little distasteful to me, despite the fact that the app itself is free, and allows for a reader to have full access to the book without purchasing, and without advertisements.
In terms of illustrations - I don't think that they translated well to the black and white in the book (and my phone couldn't do the "AR" experience, which I think is what they were designed for, rather than the printed version). I appreciate the talent and work that goes into hyperrealism, but it's not a style that resonates with me, personally.
September 3, 2019
IGIST by L.S. Larson is the perfect book for children who are aging out the Middle Grade reading section and quickly approaching that of YA. Not quite either, but a good bridge from one to the other. Emi wants desperately to go IGIST, a galactic academy for the intelligent and the up and coming innovators of the universe. Her father wants her to go there as well but when her acceptance correspondence never shows up, he resolves to get Emi into space by any means necessary. If I was 13 again, I would be completely obsessed everything this book has to offer, from the android best friend, to the goal of going to an academy that is essentially a space station in the form of a campus. I wish that I could have made better use of the interactive app that can be downloaded free, but the AR (Artificial Reality) affect only works on physical copies and this review is based on a digital copy provided via Netgalley. Despite that, the parts of the app that I could access were responsive and even included a section to buy IGIST merch!
***This review has been provided at no cost and is based on an arc copy made available by Netgalley.***
***This review has been provided at no cost and is based on an arc copy made available by Netgalley.***
April 23, 2020
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I let my 13 year old daughter read it first. She told me that she really enjoyed it. I recently read it and did not know there was an app that goes with it. The app is really neat. The pros include absolutely being able to read this book for free in the app. The cons are, really this book should be broken into at least 2 or somehow made larger; the small print literally hurt my eyes while I was reading and the word choices for this book are harder than a middle schooler age bracket. That being said, I have not seen a book engage this way before with an app and so it gets 5 stars from me because that really is an intriguing way to get children to become more engrossed with it. I would recommend this book be broken into a smaller reading level brackets and turned into a series of sorts for a younger reading age bracket. The app is really neat, but probably not engaging enough for teens and the book is a bit harder for tweens, and certainly for younger than that.
August 30, 2019
That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works! - My response to nearly everything in this book.
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. This is almost a DNF. Several times I kept reading to see what new absolutely wrong thing would be described. I got to page 192 and just could not take it anymore. I skimmed the remainder of the book.
My first clue that there is something amiss is that this is a self-published book. Not all self-published books are bad and there are a ton of Publisher books that are trash, but in general, I'm finding self-published books are not a good fit for me.
I played with the suggested app. It wasn't working in conjunction with the paperback novel. Initially I thought I'd just suggest reading the book through the free app. I don't think I'd even suggest that. Like another reviewer, I received a letter with my book saying the author wished she'd had a book series similar to one I'd never heard of. This book does have similarities to The Expanse with the descriptions of some of the races of people - and how this doesn't work in this book I'll get to. It has echoes of Ender's Game, which has some major issues and this book only compounds some of those issues.
The writing is not very good. There are a number of reviews on Goodreads that outline exactly how the writing is done poorly. I was bothered by the POV issues. For the most part, the story is told through the main character, Emi. Every once in awhile we slip off to another character, but that's so rarely done, it's confusing. The book also feels like it is a series of scenes rather than a story. The scenes are all very short, and feel almost like the author is writing with a move in mind.
I had a very hard time suspending my disbelief of the CEO of Tusk Enterprises would contact all the hires she wants to sign contracts. What CEO has time for that? If I were reading this book in the 1960s or 80s and was under 12 years old, I might be able to swallow that, but many of the interactions Tusk has with other characters are just not in any way believable. Furthermore, the timeframe is not believable. I'm supposed to believe there will be colonies and babies born in space in 40 years and that Earth will have reduced its population so drastically and humans would have evolved into different statures in 140 years? That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!
The author indicated she wanted to encourage young girls to take an interest in STEM. Did she at any point talk to a working scientist? Every single aspect of how to get science done is presented wrong in this book. I am a working scientist who's job it is to support other working scientists. I nearly threw the book off the bus when I read
That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!
Her mother did Emi a huge disservice because that's not how science works in the 21st century and it isn't likely to work that way going forward.
Moreover, Emi is a horrible person and takes on the worst traits of many famous but unethical scientists. She constantly has her drone eavesdrop on conversations. That's how Emi learns quite a few things. Emi uses insider trading to get her friend money, which is unethical. Emi steals Han's ideas and work for the masks and presents it as hers. She stands on the shoulders of Celeste Tusk and Volta but does not realize it and that she could have done none of her work without them. She constantly has to do things by herself it seems, except when she wants help from Jack/Jilli or her other "friends." It seems very hot/cold and like she is using them rather than it being a true friendship.
I also have a big problem with a book supposedly engaging kids in STEM when they get the science wrong. Again, talk to a chemist or a biochemist about your plague/cure plot-point. Because none of that made sense. Also, I find it very hard to believe there was a plague of this type and there weren't biochemists by the lab-fulls working to figure out that problem. There is a lot of outright incorrect science in this book. I tried hard to believe that these young high school were very advanced in their studies. Have you ever seen the teens in the Google science fair or the students who do the Chemistry Olympiad? These are amazing students with advanced knowledge. However, when Florin goes over the chemistry lesson, I realized that the coursework was middle school level, not even high school level.
I was also irritated by Emi's "focus" causing her to not sleep sometimes but being overcome by sleep others as well as her lack of eating. I wondered if the author read "Lab Girl," which presents science and focused scientists in the same way yet later reveals she has bipolar disorder. Extreme focus like that tends to be more a mental disorder than a trait of scientists. I don't like when mental health issues get conflated with the best way to science.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book. People seem to like the app. Maybe play with the app if you have any interest.
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. This is almost a DNF. Several times I kept reading to see what new absolutely wrong thing would be described. I got to page 192 and just could not take it anymore. I skimmed the remainder of the book.
My first clue that there is something amiss is that this is a self-published book. Not all self-published books are bad and there are a ton of Publisher books that are trash, but in general, I'm finding self-published books are not a good fit for me.
I played with the suggested app. It wasn't working in conjunction with the paperback novel. Initially I thought I'd just suggest reading the book through the free app. I don't think I'd even suggest that. Like another reviewer, I received a letter with my book saying the author wished she'd had a book series similar to one I'd never heard of. This book does have similarities to The Expanse with the descriptions of some of the races of people - and how this doesn't work in this book I'll get to. It has echoes of Ender's Game, which has some major issues and this book only compounds some of those issues.
The writing is not very good. There are a number of reviews on Goodreads that outline exactly how the writing is done poorly. I was bothered by the POV issues. For the most part, the story is told through the main character, Emi. Every once in awhile we slip off to another character, but that's so rarely done, it's confusing. The book also feels like it is a series of scenes rather than a story. The scenes are all very short, and feel almost like the author is writing with a move in mind.
I had a very hard time suspending my disbelief of the CEO of Tusk Enterprises would contact all the hires she wants to sign contracts. What CEO has time for that? If I were reading this book in the 1960s or 80s and was under 12 years old, I might be able to swallow that, but many of the interactions Tusk has with other characters are just not in any way believable. Furthermore, the timeframe is not believable. I'm supposed to believe there will be colonies and babies born in space in 40 years and that Earth will have reduced its population so drastically and humans would have evolved into different statures in 140 years? That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!
The author indicated she wanted to encourage young girls to take an interest in STEM. Did she at any point talk to a working scientist? Every single aspect of how to get science done is presented wrong in this book. I am a working scientist who's job it is to support other working scientists. I nearly threw the book off the bus when I read
And so Emi's mother planted the seed in Emi's heart that great scientists are solo heroes who toil away at tough technical problems, only to emerge through independent thought and resilient intellectual exertion with a brilliant insight that pushes the boundaries of what is possible.
That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!
Her mother did Emi a huge disservice because that's not how science works in the 21st century and it isn't likely to work that way going forward.
Moreover, Emi is a horrible person and takes on the worst traits of many famous but unethical scientists. She constantly has her drone eavesdrop on conversations. That's how Emi learns quite a few things. Emi uses insider trading to get her friend money, which is unethical. Emi steals Han's ideas and work for the masks and presents it as hers. She stands on the shoulders of Celeste Tusk and Volta but does not realize it and that she could have done none of her work without them. She constantly has to do things by herself it seems, except when she wants help from Jack/Jilli or her other "friends." It seems very hot/cold and like she is using them rather than it being a true friendship.
I also have a big problem with a book supposedly engaging kids in STEM when they get the science wrong. Again, talk to a chemist or a biochemist about your plague/cure plot-point. Because none of that made sense. Also, I find it very hard to believe there was a plague of this type and there weren't biochemists by the lab-fulls working to figure out that problem. There is a lot of outright incorrect science in this book. I tried hard to believe that these young high school were very advanced in their studies. Have you ever seen the teens in the Google science fair or the students who do the Chemistry Olympiad? These are amazing students with advanced knowledge. However, when Florin goes over the chemistry lesson, I realized that the coursework was middle school level, not even high school level.
I was also irritated by Emi's "focus" causing her to not sleep sometimes but being overcome by sleep others as well as her lack of eating. I wondered if the author read "Lab Girl," which presents science and focused scientists in the same way yet later reveals she has bipolar disorder. Extreme focus like that tends to be more a mental disorder than a trait of scientists. I don't like when mental health issues get conflated with the best way to science.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book. People seem to like the app. Maybe play with the app if you have any interest.
April 15, 2019
I won this book in a giveaway. So it pains me to give such a sad review... but:
I got 100 pages in and realized I didn't care about the characters or the story whatsoever. So.... there's that I guess. I appreciate what I imagine to be the author's intent with this book, but I need more than a good idea in a book. Full disclosure: I did not finish the book. I couldn't put myself through any more.
I got 100 pages in and realized I didn't care about the characters or the story whatsoever. So.... there's that I guess. I appreciate what I imagine to be the author's intent with this book, but I need more than a good idea in a book. Full disclosure: I did not finish the book. I couldn't put myself through any more.
January 15, 2021
I love the premise of the book, a space-exploring elite high school based from the moon but the main character was a little too narrowly-focused in her pursuit of excellence for Earthers in detriment to everyone and everything else around her. I am all for goals but, my goodness, can she still act like she is an actual human.
I do wonder what happens from here with her character?
I do wonder what happens from here with her character?
March 13, 2019
3 1/4 stars
March 13, 2019
Entertaining, but quite shallow: the story could easily be narrated with twice more pages and go in depth to make the universe concrete. Liked the motivation of the author, though.
July 11, 2019
Received an arc from netgalley. Really enjoyed this book. Definitely recommend it!
September 11, 2019
The premise of the series has potential, but the book itself was... mediocre? I'm hoping the series improves with future entries, but as a standalone entry, even 2 stars might be generous. I guess if I had to summarize my complaints, I'd say that the writing is... lazy? Spoiler warning now so that I don't have to mind what I say.
Anyway, I don't know what the author has planned... hopefully she wanted to get all of this out of the way in order get to "the good parts." If not, the book has terrible pacing. We burned through the protagonist's time on Earth, her time at "Science Boot Camp" and her first year at school when they could have easily been fleshed out into their own books. Instead, it felt like the author just had a whole bunch of different scenes in her mind, and she just used time skips to connect them.
Anyway, I don't know what the author has planned... hopefully she wanted to get all of this out of the way in order get to "the good parts." If not, the book has terrible pacing. We burned through the protagonist's time on Earth, her time at "Science Boot Camp" and her first year at school when they could have easily been fleshed out into their own books. Instead, it felt like the author just had a whole bunch of different scenes in her mind, and she just used time skips to connect them.
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