Reviews by Category: Science Fiction

Teen Review
Aurora Burning by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising

By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Rated by
Abigail R. from MO YA Lit Council
Jul 29, 2019

The action is intense and the storyline is fast-paced; there is always something going on. The setting in intergalactic space and the unforgettable characters make for a perfect storm of events that draws you in deeper the more you read. The writing style is beautiful and the slang feels so natural it's like the culmination of 7 people's autobiographies thrown backward in time.

Staff Review

Munmun

By Jesse Andrews
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Jul 23, 2019

Whoa! Now here's an exercise in extended metaphor. Andrews has taken an idea that could have been a simple allegory and turned it into a fully developed novel. Imagine, if you will, an alternate reality in which physical size is literally determined by wealth. A standard person is middlescale. The middlerich are those larger than that up two doublescale and the middlepoor extend to halfscale. Smaller than that are the littlepoors: quarterscale, eighthscale, and tenthscale--about the size of a rat. The bigrich just get bigger and bigger to hundreds of feet tall.

Teen Review
Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston

Queen's Shadow

By E.K. Johnston

Rated by
Joan D. from MO YA Lit Council
Jun 3, 2019

This book is a lovely, in depth look at Padmé's transition between Queen and Senator. It delves into the the inner workings of the galactic Senate and how Padmé finds her place there. I loved the cover! The art was gorgeous and it did a good job of conveying the theme of the book. I also loved how Padmé's handmaidens were their own characters, and how the author fleshes out characters that were only present for seconds in the movies. It's as compelling as some of the best fics I've read, which is truly the highest compliment I can give a novel.

Teen Review
Girls With Sharp Sticks by Susanne Young

Girls With Sharp Sticks

By Suzanne Young

Rated by
Kennedy E from Monticello YAAC
Apr 15, 2019

Mena, a girl at the Innovations Academy, has her eyes opened and wants more out of life than to be stuck being a possession. She and her friends meet a boy named Jackson while out, and come up with a plan to escape from the perfection and obedience of the Academy. I love the cover because it goes to show that under a mask of perfection there is always another side hidden underneath.

Teen Review
The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

The Similars

By Rebecca Hanover

Rated by
Lauren F from Blue Valley YAAC
Feb 1, 2019

The Similars is a fantastic literary tale of understanding actions and feelings of others while simultaneously exploring the concept of clones that may be a future reality. Emma is dealing with the aftermath of a friend's suicide when six clones, dubbed 'The Similars', begin attending her high school. One of them wears the face of her recently deceased friend, but she is quick to understand that he is not Oliver and will never be Oliver. 

Teen Review

The Giver

By Lois Lowery

Rated by
Olivia from Leawood Pioneer Library YAAC
Jun 13, 2018

Twelve year old Jonas lives in what seems like an ideal world. Everything is chosen for you, where you live, who your spouse is, what your job is, because, according to the community leader, when people have the opportunity to choose, they choose wrong. But Jonas never expected his life assignment to be the Receiver. He is assigned to learn from the Giver, but not what he thinks he is going to learn. With the help of the Giver, he begins to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.

Teen Review

The Beast of Cretacea

By Todd Strasser

Rated by
Olivia from Leawood Pioneer Library YAAC
Apr 10, 2018

When Ishmael wakes up from stasis aboard the Pequod, he is amazed at how different this faraway planet is from the dying Earth he left behind. He is here to work, risking his life to hunt down enormous ocean-dwelling creatures to harvest and send back to the resource depleted Earth so he can save enough money to get his foster parents off Earth before it is too late. But time and again the chase boats are ordered to leave easy prey behind so they can pursue a dangerous and elusive monster, few people who have seen it have lived to tell the tale.

Teen Review

The Prisoner of Cell 25

By Richard Paul Evans

Rated by
Beth
Apr 4, 2018

So .. it's about this 15 year old boy named Michael Vey and he has electric powers,he has had it his whole life. his mom knows it too so they try to keep it hidden and that is a bit hard for him since he was born with Tourette's Syndrome, and is always picked on. one day a bunch of bullies were hitting him and he got so mad he "pulsed' them and they were terrified of him after that day, the bad thing was someone saw electricity come out of his hands when he did it. it was his crush Taylor the head cheerleader and the prettiest girl in the high school, she saw what had happened.

Staff Review

Railhead

By Philip Reeve
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Mar 2, 2018

Wonderfully exciting action that maintains just the right amount of suspense and energy from start to finish. At heart, this is a heist story; it just happens to be set in a universe of wonder: under the adrenaline are fascinating world-building and intriguing characters--of all shapes and sizes, far beyond human. And lurking somewhere in the background are enthralling science fiction considerations that keep simmering into awareness. It's not just action, but intelligent action. With excellently adept, unobtrusive writing. This is a universe I hope to visit again soon.

Staff Review

Landscape with Invisible Hand

By M. T. Anderson
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Oct 18, 2017

Well, that was cheerful and uplifting.

Er, no, that's not quite right. More like bleak, biting, and darkly satirical.

And far too real.

Though science fiction set in a near future, this is all about living at the lowest levels of the global economy, subject to extremes of imperialism, inequality, ethnocentrism, co-option, and poverty. It's an exploration of the dark sides of economic and cultural power. It's just that in this case it's the humans of Earth who have been colonized.

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