California in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 30, 2014 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, literary-schmiterary

Okay. So. There's no zombies. Let's get that out of the way first.

This was an Airport Read for me, and it's a good book for that sort of thing: spend an hour solid reading, then be interrupted every few minutes when you check if you're boarding, then spend another two hours reading, and so on. It's engaging enough to sweep you away every time you turn back to it, but not so engaging that you can't be interrupted. And in the moments that I wasn't reading, it got me thinking those interesting out Okay. So. There's no zombies. Let's get that out of the way first.

This was an Airport Read for me, and it's a good book for that sort of thing: spend an hour solid reading, then be interrupted every few minutes when you check if you're boarding, then spend another two hours reading, and so on. It's engaging enough to sweep you away every time you turn back to it, but not so engaging that you can't be interrupted. And in the moments that I wasn't reading, it got me thinking those interesting out hrs: what would I try to take with me, and what would I want, if society crumbled?

But, overall, this was really just ... depressing. And not all that great. Even though it was engaging, it still managed to be dull. I think it's because I just didn't identify with, or really care about or understand, ANY of the characters. That's always the kiss of death. I mean, I LIKE reading books that feature protagonists who are completely unlike me. It's horizon-expanding and all that. ... But. I don't LOVE those books.

***

So. I'm done. This was ... neither great nor awful. It was just ... there. It was okay. It didn't really begin or end, I felt like we were plunked down in the middle, and never had an ending. There was no story, no culmination of plot, no big reveal, no .... no point. I was really left wondering, "what was the point of that?"

The society described doesn't really make sense. I buy Gibson's society-living-on-the-Bay-Bridge future, but not this one. Not at all.

I got really sick of women in their FORTIES being described as old, too old to be interested in having sex or having babies. I'm 46. I'm not THAT old. Ms Lepucki needs to recalibrate herself. (Happily, the perfect antidote to this nonsense is reading anything - ANYTHING - by Sophie Littlefield, and that happens to be the next book I started: A Bad Day for Sorry. So, if you're looking for some quality dystopia about REAL people who aren't prissy missy selfish idiots, check out Aftertime.)

And it bugs me that we never find out what happened to Frida's parents. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 19, 2014 Jayme Pendergraft rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, src-fall-2014

Really enjoyed this book. Not super deep, but I definitely was excited to read it and kept the pages turning! I did figure out both the big surprises, but that was okay too. Really well thought out and I'm hoping there is room for a sequel. :) ...more

Like · see review

Sep 17, 2014 Laura (booksnob) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, audiobook, science-fiction

This book was just OK to me. I feel like this is the first book in a series that I didn't know about because the ending was anti-climatic and it just sort of ended and in my opinion, the book didn't really end, it just stopped. So frustrated with the ending. I listened on Audio and it was hard for me to focus on the story (not sure if it was because the story was slow or if it was trouble with the narrator, and so I had to keep rewinding. California and I just didn't quite connect. ...more

Like · see review

Nov 11, 2014 Jessica rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopia

While Lepucki's a gifted stylist, overall this just felt uneven and incomplete to me. There's a level of malevolence in the early going that ratchets up to an interesting place as Frida and Cal make their move, but around three-quarters of the way through it starts to become clear that the plot's losing steam. While the ending (such as it is) was close to what I anticipated, there's so much left unaddressed that you almost can't help but feel dissatisfied with it. I don't know whether Lepucki le ...more

Like · see review