Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Ward by Jordana Frankel

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

Pages: 384pgs

The Story

Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.

However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface.

Jordana Frankel’s ambitious debut novel and the first in a two-book series, The Ward is arresting, cinematic, and thrilling—perfect for fans of Scott Westerfeld or Ann Aguirre.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on Edelweiss for accepting my request in reading this book early!

I was very eager to read this book. I really was! It had racing, tough characters and an overall great concept, but unfortunately this book was only a 'meh' type of read for me.

At the beginning of the book, I actually thought the storyline and the characters had a lot of great potential to go some place in this amazing dystopian world of Jordana Frankel's creation, but there was just something missing. I don't know what it was exactly but there was definitely something missing in this one to make this story amazing, amazing, you know? Sure I still believe it was a nice little read, but the only thing that had affected me on a whole and what I had actually thought about the book itself was how confusing it was. In a general sense at least. I just had a lot of questions by the time I finished this book and I just wished there was something else to explain it all to me. So it was an okay read but I wanted more from it, and not even the two hot main boys, Callum and Derek, could help me here. Unfortunate for me considering I wanted some romance to improve my mood a little bit.

Still, what I did manage to like was the whole racing element! It was definitely a bonus for me cause it was awesome (obviously) and it added this really cool edge to the book, even one that is yet again joining the ranks of the dystopian book trend that is taking the world by storm lately. But I also loved Ren's character as well! She's not perfect but she did kind of reminded me of Rose Hathaway from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series in terms of her strength and personality, and like any other reader that's got to appeal to someone, right? Yup I think so. Ren, I found, was just so kick-ass and not too over-the-top with her kick-ass ways, and while some may think she's too whiny in the book but . . . that's called being human and after all . . . Ren has a lot going on in her life so it's completely understandable why she is set in that way. So in the end I loved her for being well . . . her!

Overall, THE WARD was a good book and it's definitely a great start for a new potential YA series, but it just didn't live up to my high expectations.

The Rating
3/5 stars

2 comments:

  1. Before I comment on your review: ERIN!!!! You're back! Oh how I've missed your reviews, and YOU! The world just became a better place.

    Anyways, hehe, my expectations have definitely been lowered for this book. There have honestly been so many mixed reviews for this book. It kind of seems like your typical dystopian, and it's a shame that the world-building was a bit lacking (it's a dystopian, for goodness sake!). At least the main character Ren was redeemable. I'll still pick this one up but with, again, lowered expectations. Thanks for the brilliantly honest-written review, Erin!

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    Replies
    1. Haha thank you, Jen! It's good to be back.

      I've read plenty of mixed reviews too which is a shame cause I really wanted to LOVE this book. But I guess it depends on the reader. Thank you! :)

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