Marcus and his three friends ditch school that day to play an online game, Harajuku Fun House. The city is then bombed and in a fight to get back to school they are caught in a mob in the underground bus tunnel, where Marcus’s best friend Darryl is harmed. Trying to flag down help, Marcus is pulled off the street by the Department of Homeland Security and held against his will. Thinking Marcus had something to do with the attack he is harassed until he gives the DHS access to his technology. After the bombing, the government goes into lock down mode on the people of San Francisco. Controlling all of their rights, abandoning their privacy, tracking their every move and forcing them to suffer if not cooperative. Once released Marcus starts a revolution to get back the rights of the people. Through Marcus's journey we see him go though many things including fear, fight, intelligence, realization, rebellion and young love.
I really enjoyed this book. It sprung so many emotions from me. It makes me feel irritated when reading about how stubborn Marcus is. It makes me feel scared to think about our rights being taken from us. Hopeless and hopeful when fighting the government. Excited for the take down on the government. Nervous when hope is lost and for what problems may lie ahead in our future, and paranoid, because I felt as though I was being watched, just as Marcus was. My every step was being tracked and I had no privacy. This book generated a lot of different thoughts and brought up many issues with our government we presently deal with or have dealt with in the past. Such as the civil rights movement or The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Although this book is at times exaggerated in many ways, it is a compelling book that I suggest people of all ages read.
I give this book *** and a half *
I would elaborate more on your intro.. its wizz's by pretty fast ;)
ReplyDeletealso run on sentances.. (although I dont' wanna be a hypocrite)
I wouldn't use I when opening your closing paragraph another word would be fabulous darling.
I like the personal tone of your review, and I thought your synopsis was good for the most part. If it's intended for people who haven't read the book, I might avoid giving away too many details ("beaten and starved") right away. I liked when you brought your emotions into it, but maybe you could tell us which aspects of the book made you feel which emotions?
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you summarized the events of the book, but I feel like the summary is longer than the review itself haha. In your next iteration I would probably add a couple of specific things that you liked about the book, so as to make it seem more like a review and less like a book report.
ReplyDeleteI like the summary that you give, it's detailed but doesn't contain a bunch of spoilers, which is important when writing for people who haven't read the book yet. I think that your analysis section of the review needs to be expanded on. For instance, you mention that the book generated a lot of different thoughts. What thoughts did it generate? You also mention that it addresses current issues with the government, and I think it's worth explaining which issues you mean.
ReplyDeleteThat is all!
Hi Miranda.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your approach of not wanting to give too much info about the content of the book since your target audience is those who have not read it. I find, however, that your review thus far mostly contains just that -- info about the book. The final paragraph is the part that I would most want to read (if I were something thinking of purchasing the book) since I'm interested in the emotions it brought up for you and the following sentence in particular:
"This book generated a lot of different thoughts and brought up many issues with our government we presently deal with or have dealt with in the past. Although at time exaggerated in many ways."
If your goal is to write for those who haven't read it, I'd suggest going with this sentence and building from there. What about the book brought up emotional reactions for you? Why? Was it the writing, the characters, the plot? What issues does the book raise?
Finally, this sentence is an example of a place you can do some editing on your sentences... "Although at times exaggerated..." isn't a complete sentence as there is no subject (what's being exaggerated?) You could either make it a new sentence by adding a subject (the characters? the events? the technology?) or hooking it up to the previous sentence in some way. Look for other places in the review where you have sentences that aren't complete.
Amanda
I feel that the description of the story is a little bit long winded and leaves little to the imagination. I suggest cutting it down a bit to give a little curiosity and allure. Even if this is meant for people who have yet to have read the book, I think you should still go into further detail about why you liked it and would recommend to others. There are ways of doing so that don't give away the plot. I'd like to see more of your explanation/experiances rather then plot summery, but at this point if feels lopsided. I'd like to see how you go wit a serious informally direct approach.
ReplyDelete