Tag: diane krauss

Books I've Read

BOOK REVIEW: It’s Our Time

Denise @ Life With No Plot1 Comment

It's Our TimeTitle: It’s Our Time

Author: Diane Krauss

Pages: 222

Genre: YA/New Adult/Dystopian

Series: none

Edition: eBook ARC from NetGalley

Pub. Date: July 9, 2019

Blurb: There are new founding fathers, and America is led by President Torrent and her council.

The Elites live in the opulent Villages beyond the walls while the rest of the civilians live in the war-torn Divisions.

All goods come from the all-powerful government. Private enterprise is unsanctioned and illegal.

If the gangs within the Divisions aren’t killing each other, then the Torrent Regime or the chemically infected people known as Night Terrors are.

In Brooklyn’s Division 12, a young nurse named El, has had enough. Joined by her best friend Kai, and a mysterious new friend, Pratt, El sets out to help those in her community.

Along the way, it becomes a movement that sweeps the nation.

You wouldn’t think so much could change in a mere 25 years, and that is what the administration was counting on.

It’s Our Time.

Review:  This book started out really strong, it really did, but then sort of petered out a bit towards the end. I hate saying that, because y’all know I love a good dystopian tale. This one wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t quite great.

First, let’s talk about our characters. Our main character is El, short for Elisha, a young nurse living in the “Divisons.” Think sort of like the Districts in The Hunger Games, only instead of there being one large Capitol, there are smaller settlements called Villages where the upper class, or Elites, live. It means the common folk get to interact a bit more with the Elites, which helps a bit. El is a very kind person who sincerely wants to help everyone, so when the gas attack hits and a large portion of the population basically become zombie-like, she is ready to try and break some of their strict societal rules to try and help as many people as possible.

This is all well and good, and the first half of this book sort of works with this idea. Between El’s family, her friend Kai, and the people in her neighborhood, she is able to help as many of the sick people as possible. They also set up a barter system so as not to be too dependent on the government Rations Centers. The story gets a bit weird towards the middle and the end when somehow El becomes a candidate for president, trying to fight President Torrent and her corrupt, power-hungry government. It was never completely believable that El made a good candidate. She seemed much more suited for a behind-the-scenes sort of character. The other thing that made the second half drag some much is that Torrent is a very one dimensional villain. There’s really not much there except for her hunger for power and enjoying having more than the others do.

There’s also a bit of a love triangle, sort of, between El, Kai, and El’s friend Pratt, who is not part of their community at first, but comes in to help them. He’s a bit of a renegade. I didn’t feel a strong tie between El and either one of her suitors, so it just ended up weird.

I did really like the story world a lot, but that is partially because I like dystopian settings. Their system worked, for what it was. It was unfair, but no one suffered unduly unless they stepped out of line or questioned anything. Having the Elites so close by made a lot of the conflict seem more real because the people of the Divisions could see exactly what they were up against.

I did enjoy this story, but I thought there were some parts that could have been a bit stronger. The epilogue at the end does leave room for a sequel, but I don’t see one listed on GoodReads yet. It would be interesting to see what happens in another book, since a lot of things were pretty much tied up at the end of this one.

GoodReads rating: 3 stars

Teaser Tuesday · Top Ten Tuesdays

Teasers & Top Tens – 7/2/19

Denise @ Life With No Plot12 Comments

tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Purple Booker. Here are the rules if you want to play along:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

These truths are part of the reason why I am running for my life right now. But the people chasing me aren’t your everyday criminals. This isn’t a mugging, which in Brooklyn, let’s be honest, is quite common to see.

Damn.

I could kick myself for being so naive.

~ It’s Our Time by Diane Krauss

This is my next NetGalley ARC and so far, it’s different from what I was expecting. Which is good! I love being surprised!

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TTT-NEW

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

Oh my heart! There were so many it might be hard to even think of them all! Let’s start with my top favorites and work my way down.

  1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White – One of my absolute, all-time favorites. I doubt there were many kids my age back then who didn’t read this one. I loved the cartoon too!
  2. Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White – Same author as Charlotte’s Web, but didn’t get nearly as much attention. And I think I enjoyed it even more?
  3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell – One of the first books that completely broke my heart as a kid. And yet, I couldn’t stop reading it over and over again.
  4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – The first time I was introduced to Narnia was during 3rd grade story time, when my teacher would read us a chapter each day.
  5. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley – I went through a very brief horse phase, as I think most girls of my generation did, and this book was a big part of that.
  6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle – Loved this book then, love it even more now. I love that it is still so popular after all these years.
  7. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder – I remember finding this in my school library and thinking it looked really creepy. I also was fascinated with the author’s name, and who can blame me, really.
  8. Bunnicula by James Howe – These books were so funny and cute! How can you be scared of a vampire bunny? He killed all the veggies!
  9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst – My mom used to read this one to me and I could so relate to Alexander. But some days are like that. Even in Australia.
  10. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz – Another one that I picked up in my school library, had nightmares about, then kept reading because I couldn’t stop. Why did I keep doing that to myself?

Please leave your teasers and top tens in comments!