Review: A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Genre: Young-Adult Sci-Fi Dystopian

Published: 8/9/11 | Candlewick

Format: ebook | Library Book 

It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone-- and her future full of peril.

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose-- hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire-- is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes-- or be left without any future at all.

I was very surprised when I read A Long Long Sleep.  I actually read a review on this book while blog hopping (I forgot which blog it was) and I thought the blurb sounded very interesting.  When the ebook was available at the library, I immediately checked it out and promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to three days before the book was due and I received an email from the library that the book was due.  I started reading it that same day and I enjoyed it. 

The story is that Rosalinda, daughter of one of the most powerful families/rich corporate CEO's of the day, is woken up from a 62 year sleep by Brendan, a grandson of the current CEO of Rose's company.  She wakes up to a world after the Dark Times, which I compare to the Dark Ages.  In fact, it is like the Dark Ages, where the Beubonic Plague and Tuberculosis outbreak resurface.  Naturally, everyone Rose loves, even her boyfriend Xavier, are long gone.  Add in a Plastine (a robot with a human corpse for a body that is programmed to be an assasin) who tries to track and kill Rose, and a dark secret that ultimately transforms Rose into a stong young woman, and you have a recipe for a really awsome book.

As much as I liked this book, I had a few problems with it.  One was the non sci-fi element of the book.  Sure, it was set in the future and there were future tech stuff that were mentioned (e.g. hover cars that travel over water, a techie notepad/tablet) and future slang like "this is so sky", "coit", "noid", and "I comm",  it didn't feel like a true sci-fi novel.  The book also lacked description.  I wanted to see what the world looked like post Dark Times.  For a sci-fi novel, this lacked a lot of description.

Another thing that I did not like about it was that this book was basically about Rose moping about, trying to navigate the futuristic high school, developing her art, and falling for Brendan.  I expected to read about how Rose would investigate the dilemma that is the reason why she had a long stasis sleep.  I expected to read about her taking over her parent's company that was under the influence of a slimy CEO.  If Rose did not redeem herself by the end of the book and stood up against her attacker and destroyed her stasis tube, I would have given this a 2!  Oh, and Rose's voice sounded like a little girl.  I really had problems with that.    For a 16 year old, she seemed pretty immature to me.  A

What was iffy about this was when it was revealed in the end that Ron, Brendan's grandfather and CEO of the corporation is in fact Xavier, Rose's boyfriend!  Ick!  Although I was expecting this to be the case, I still thought it was very, very, very weird.  Plus, Rose demands that he becomes her guardian!

What I did like about this, however was how the author showed us the emotional abuse that Rose went through - the detachment of how her parents treated her.  I actually liked that the author hinted at the abuse and how we were gradually introduced as to Rose's actual age.  Apparently, Rose has been in and out of stass all through childhood.  In fact, Rose practically raised Xavier since she was about 7 when he was a toddler.

Another surprising character that I liked was Otto, the blue alien/human that has powers but is unable to speak.  Rose and Otto have a very interesting relationship via the web where they have long conversations between each other.  The only thing I had problems with was that Otto had a girlfriend that he broke up with probably because he was falling for Rose.

All in all, this was a quick read for me that I recommend to those who love non sci-fi YA sort of romance.

My Rating

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Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA Dystopian

Series: Lunar Chronicles #1

Published 1/3/12 | Feiwel & Friends

Format: ebook | purchased

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

This is a story about a cyborg named Cinder who lives with her "stepmother" and two "stepsisters.  They are not technically her step anything since she was adopted.  Now, this cyborg is a mechanic and lives in a Dystopian earth in a city called New Beijing.  She meets Prince Kai when he seeks her out to fix his old android.  There is also a plague going on called letumosis and I assume that it is like the Beubonic Plague that hit the world back in the middle ages.  The story pretty much revolves around the ball that everyone is invited.  This ball becomes Prince Kai's coronation ball due to the passing of the current Emperor due to letumosis.  Cinder also becomes a "test subject" when her stepmother/guardian volunteers her against her will to submit to the letumosis research when her sister Peony gets the disease.  During the testing, it is then discovered that she is in fact not a human but a Lunar (or someone who is from the moon) and that she is immune to the disease as all Lunar's are.  The scientist also discovers that she is the long lost princess and heir to the throne of Luna.

 

Once the king dies, the current Lunar Queen, Lavena comes to Earth in the guise of paying her respects when in fact she is bent on war and is interrested in becoming the Empress of New Beijing by marrying Kai.  At the palace, she spots Cinder and discovers that she is a Luna and is threatening war unless Kai looks for her.

 

Cinder crashes the ball (even though she was invited) to let Kai know that Queen Levana has plans for war and plans to become Empress so she can start the war.  This doesn't go as smoothly as she hopes because Cinder is discovered and is also exposed as a Lunar and a cyborg, both of which Kai does not know.  The story ends with a cliffhanger, with Cinder locked in jail.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  Although I enjoyed it, I had problems with most of the plot.  This was a pretty quick read for me but I expected more from reading the blurb.

 

I'll start with the cons first.

1. Dystopian theme - The story takes place in a dystopian Earth after World War IV in a place called New Beijing.  Supposedly, this country arrose in the same location of Beijing, China. 
   However, there was lack of references to the Chinese culture.  True, the name Kai sounded Asian but his whole name Kaito didn't sound Chinese but Japanese.  There was a mention of chopsticks used but that was it!  I thought the author lacked in the aspect of incorporating the Chinese culture in the story.  Also, I thought the character Kai was not Asian, based on the description of the character.
2. Lunar People - There was also a mention of Lunar people.  However, I feel that the author lacked description about the race e.g. how did they get there, why do they have powers, etc.  After readin the whole book, I am still looking for the answer to this.
3. Descriptions - Another thing that I thought was lacking was the descriptions of the places.  I didn't get the feel of New Beijing.  I wasn't transported to New Beijing.  Since this is a futuristic/dystopian theme, I would have expected the author to take us to the city/country.  I expected there to be vivid descriptions that can aid mu imagination build my own New Beijing in my mind but this never happened.  I picture New Beijing as a dump, overcrowded city, akin to the middle ages.  Now with my thoughts of the middle ages, I cannot picture having hovercrafts and other highly advanced machinery in the city.
4. Cyborg - With the heroine a cyborg, i would have expected more from her.  I mean, she was cyborg.  Don't cyborgs have increased strength or something?  In this case, I see her as a teen with disabilites.  I guess this was what the author wanted the cyborg to be protrayed as but still, I felt it was unbelievable.  Cinder also did not meet any other cyborgs in the story.  I would have assumed that with the advancement in technology, there would have been others at least mentioned.  I get that the cyborgs were descriminated in that world but still...
5. Romance - I thought the romance between Cinder and Kai was very underdeveloped.  I did not see how Cinder could fall in love with Kai and vice versa.  I thought the romance was pretty shallow.  Granting that Cinder was only 16, I would think that a love that can change the course of their world would have to be developed further in the story.  As it was, it just felt shallow and reminiscent to tween attraction.  Even the kissing was meh.

Now, on the pros.

I have to tell you that the premise of the whole thing is freaking awesome.  I give props to the author for thinking about it.  I mean, a cyborg Cinderella? An alien race living on the moon out to start war on earth? A beubonic like plague in a dystopian world?  Come on, don't tell me that wasn't an amazing idea?!  I had a "I wish I thought about this" moment.  I thought the android Iko, was funny and was an awesome minor character, although a bit of an airhead. 

 

I enjoyed reading about this futuristic tale of Cinderella and hated the cliffhanger in the end.  I am looking at reading the next book Scarlet to see what would happen next. 

 

My Rating

 

Heat Level