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Banded
In dystopian Manhattan, society is divided into six zones, with each one representing a citizen’s benefit to society: Stalwart (strength), Astute (intelligence), Collusive (greed), Radiant (beauty), Quixotic (no life direction), and the Altruistic (willingness to help others). On a citizen’s sixteenth birthday, a computer suggests a new zone for them based on their inherent benefit to society. When Kalenna Slater is sorted out of her home zone Quixotic and into Altruistic, she thinks things can’t get worse. Life looks dismal until she meets Gavin, a boy also just sorted into Altruistic who becomes the light needed on her cloudy days.
During sorting she receives a device known as ‘The Band�. It’s a large watch-like device that never comes off, and it measures a citizen’s karma on a scale from one to one hundred. If a citizen does good, they gain points. If a citizen does bad, including breaking laws, they lose points. When your number reaches zero, the band acts as judge, jury, and executioner, and you are injected with toxins that kill you within minutes.
After sorting, recruits are taken to a three month long mandatory school named HQ. It’s at HQ she meets new friends from different zones, and finally begins to feel at ease. Everything goes well until a rare trip home makes her discover that her father, who has been missing for a decade, may have taken part in a terrible program that stands to shake the fabric of society.
During sorting she receives a device known as ‘The Band�. It’s a large watch-like device that never comes off, and it measures a citizen’s karma on a scale from one to one hundred. If a citizen does good, they gain points. If a citizen does bad, including breaking laws, they lose points. When your number reaches zero, the band acts as judge, jury, and executioner, and you are injected with toxins that kill you within minutes.
After sorting, recruits are taken to a three month long mandatory school named HQ. It’s at HQ she meets new friends from different zones, and finally begins to feel at ease. Everything goes well until a rare trip home makes her discover that her father, who has been missing for a decade, may have taken part in a terrible program that stands to shake the fabric of society.
342 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2014
263 people are currently reading
1,808 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
October 9, 2014
This is EXTREMELY similar to Divergent. It felt like it was practically the same book to me. The number of similarities between the two are endless. Had I read this before Divergent I would have liked it a lot more, but since I didn't I just felt like I was reading a copy-cat of an already popular story. I still liked it, but it's really hard to get past the similarities.
January 9, 2015
Chapter-by-chapter review on .
You cannot be serious. Read that synopsis. Just read it. Six zones, each named after a character trait. (And yes, characters are reduced to a single character trait related to their zone). Does this sound familiar? Well, that's the book in a nutshell.
Those zones, and the system that oppresses the people, exist because a revolt was struck down a hundred years ago. Does this sound familiar?
People are sorted into these zones by a hat. Does this sound familiar?
The protagonist, Kalenna, is sorted into the "selfless" zone. Does this—well, okay, strictly speaking it's more of a reverse Tris here. Still, she shows no signs of being altruistic in any way, making it an informed trait, and she displays the traits of other zones as well. Does this sound familiar?
Kalenna goes through initiation after being sorted, and most of the focus is given to her combat training (thought she actually does get other classes, too). Does this sound familiar?
Kalenna doesn't actually do anything to figure stuff out, yet ends up in the middle of the intrigue. Well, what little there is of it. Does this sound familiar?
Oh, but it doesn't stop there!
No, see, this book isn't just content with ripping off other books (with Divergent as the obvious biggest source of inspiration, which, if you go and read my review of that, you'll know that's already a bad start). It also fails to understand what makes a book work.
The world building is nonsensical. It goes back and forth between claiming that the government manipulated and forced people. Either way, people are now wearing bands that count their karma points, and once you run out, you're dead. Yeah, somehow I'm supposed to think a country lasted a hundred years while forcing its people to wear what is essentially a gun pointed at their head. And there isn't any guideline to how many points a crime costs you! The love interest's dark and troubled past is that his dad was killed after losing 62 out of a hundred points for standing up to thugs (who may or may not have been government agents). That…does not work.
Worse, Kalenna doesn't feel like she grew up in that world. I feel like the author saw the Divergent world and said "but Tris isn't aware of how sucky it is and that's bad", without realizing that that's not how totalitarian governments work. I quoted Yeon-mi Park during my snark of the book, and I stand by that: such a government cannot work if even the thought of insurrection is viewed as conceivable. Kalenna? She gleefully considers bringing down the government without even being prompted to do so. She just looked at the place and said "this sucks; I'll change the world". Oh, and she defies the guy in charge of the training center like it's no big deal. She's a teenager of our world who was sucked into the book, and I refuse to believe it.
She also completely lacks a character arc. She starts out seeing the world as it really is (fucked-up) and wanting to change it. She ends the book…resolving to do just that. That's literally the last sentence of the book. No movement, no evolution.
And of course, the common Mary Sue traits are all there. She's pretty! She's capable of fighting (unnaturally so, becoming an expert in two days of training), because "strong independent women" are in vogue, but when winning a fight might actually be relevant for the plot (earning her a chance to visit her mom, who knows about the Big Deal Conspiracy that her dad unveiled ten years ago), she loses, and her love interest has to hand her the prize instead. She befriends three boys within five minutes of meeting them and they're all the best at what they do! She doesn't associate with girls, though, even if she wished she did, so you know she totally doesn't have internalized misogyny (spoiler alert: she does. Not as much as Tris, but she does).
But enough about Kalenna. The plot? A mess, and in the end, barely existent anyway. We start with many plotlines that all converge by the power of contrivance:
*A black box full of her missing dad's mementos. Her dad totally uncovered a conspiracy, and the box is important. But Kalenna's mom won't tell her why, because then what little mystery there is is spoiled.
*"Suspicious" stuff happening at HQ. That's just an excuse for the protagonists to start investigating the government. Which they don't do anyway, and instead wait until Kalenna's Mary Sue black hole brings in the intel straight to them.
*A foreign spy, who's totally not Justine, Kalenna's roommate who is literally introduced by Kalenna going "are you from here" because of her accent. This is also a red herring—at least so far. It might come up in a sequel.
*A tournament to get Kalenna to talk to mom (which, again, she loses to her love interests who then hands her the prize). This is the only part where I felt like the book was interested in what it was telling us, and even then it ranged from terrible to mediocre.
Everything is basically solved by chapter seventeen out of nineteen, and the book then stutters to an end by confirming that the love interests totally are love interests, having Kalenna act like a bratty teenager towards the warden again and then her deciding to change the world without any real prompt to do so. A climax? What's that?
The rest of the cast is Gavin, the love interest who's perfect than even Kalenna is. He's also in Altruistic, though why is still a mystery to me. He has a dark past because his dad's dead and he resents the government for it. Also he's the best fighter with a staff because contrivances.
The rest are linear. Jericho is the strong guy who's infatuated with a girl solely because she can kick his ass, except she totally can't because womenfolk are just inferior, lmao. Ivan is the resident smart guy, and this book is really unlucky to have chosen computers as his area of expertise because they're my area of expertise and I can say for a fact that Ivan (and thus, the book) doesn't understand a thing about computers. Jasmine is said kickass girl, who's described and set up as a badass yet loses the one fight she's in (against Jericho). Trace is the rival/bully/Mean Girl archetype (except he's male), and the book completely forgets about him about two thirds of the way, in the middle of the tournament. Seriously, Kalenna opens the tournament thinking she hopes she can kick his ass, and then the book doesn't even mention him losing his fight, but he never faces her.
Out of thefactions zones, the book despises Radiant and Astute, the beautiful and the smart. The former are all Mean Girls archetypes, and literally every single one of them who gets speaking lines is dismissed by Kalenna as "beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside", because she's deep like that. The Astute are the smart guys, and the book hates them because intelligence apparently precludes an ability to fight and being able to beat people up with a staff is all that matters in life.
I could conclude this review. Or I could imitate the book and end it here after vowing to destroy all terrible books. Nothing changed, since that's what I've been doing for nearly two years now. A perfect waste of time.
You cannot be serious. Read that synopsis. Just read it. Six zones, each named after a character trait. (And yes, characters are reduced to a single character trait related to their zone). Does this sound familiar? Well, that's the book in a nutshell.
Those zones, and the system that oppresses the people, exist because a revolt was struck down a hundred years ago. Does this sound familiar?
People are sorted into these zones by a hat. Does this sound familiar?
The protagonist, Kalenna, is sorted into the "selfless" zone. Does this—well, okay, strictly speaking it's more of a reverse Tris here. Still, she shows no signs of being altruistic in any way, making it an informed trait, and she displays the traits of other zones as well. Does this sound familiar?
Kalenna goes through initiation after being sorted, and most of the focus is given to her combat training (thought she actually does get other classes, too). Does this sound familiar?
Kalenna doesn't actually do anything to figure stuff out, yet ends up in the middle of the intrigue. Well, what little there is of it. Does this sound familiar?
Oh, but it doesn't stop there!
No, see, this book isn't just content with ripping off other books (with Divergent as the obvious biggest source of inspiration, which, if you go and read my review of that, you'll know that's already a bad start). It also fails to understand what makes a book work.
The world building is nonsensical. It goes back and forth between claiming that the government manipulated and forced people. Either way, people are now wearing bands that count their karma points, and once you run out, you're dead. Yeah, somehow I'm supposed to think a country lasted a hundred years while forcing its people to wear what is essentially a gun pointed at their head. And there isn't any guideline to how many points a crime costs you! The love interest's dark and troubled past is that his dad was killed after losing 62 out of a hundred points for standing up to thugs (who may or may not have been government agents). That…does not work.
Worse, Kalenna doesn't feel like she grew up in that world. I feel like the author saw the Divergent world and said "but Tris isn't aware of how sucky it is and that's bad", without realizing that that's not how totalitarian governments work. I quoted Yeon-mi Park during my snark of the book, and I stand by that: such a government cannot work if even the thought of insurrection is viewed as conceivable. Kalenna? She gleefully considers bringing down the government without even being prompted to do so. She just looked at the place and said "this sucks; I'll change the world". Oh, and she defies the guy in charge of the training center like it's no big deal. She's a teenager of our world who was sucked into the book, and I refuse to believe it.
She also completely lacks a character arc. She starts out seeing the world as it really is (fucked-up) and wanting to change it. She ends the book…resolving to do just that. That's literally the last sentence of the book. No movement, no evolution.
And of course, the common Mary Sue traits are all there. She's pretty! She's capable of fighting (unnaturally so, becoming an expert in two days of training), because "strong independent women" are in vogue, but when winning a fight might actually be relevant for the plot (earning her a chance to visit her mom, who knows about the Big Deal Conspiracy that her dad unveiled ten years ago), she loses, and her love interest has to hand her the prize instead. She befriends three boys within five minutes of meeting them and they're all the best at what they do! She doesn't associate with girls, though, even if she wished she did, so you know she totally doesn't have internalized misogyny (spoiler alert: she does. Not as much as Tris, but she does).
But enough about Kalenna. The plot? A mess, and in the end, barely existent anyway. We start with many plotlines that all converge by the power of contrivance:
*A black box full of her missing dad's mementos. Her dad totally uncovered a conspiracy, and the box is important. But Kalenna's mom won't tell her why, because then what little mystery there is is spoiled.
*"Suspicious" stuff happening at HQ. That's just an excuse for the protagonists to start investigating the government. Which they don't do anyway, and instead wait until Kalenna's Mary Sue black hole brings in the intel straight to them.
*A foreign spy, who's totally not Justine, Kalenna's roommate who is literally introduced by Kalenna going "are you from here" because of her accent. This is also a red herring—at least so far. It might come up in a sequel.
*A tournament to get Kalenna to talk to mom (which, again, she loses to her love interests who then hands her the prize). This is the only part where I felt like the book was interested in what it was telling us, and even then it ranged from terrible to mediocre.
Everything is basically solved by chapter seventeen out of nineteen, and the book then stutters to an end by confirming that the love interests totally are love interests, having Kalenna act like a bratty teenager towards the warden again and then her deciding to change the world without any real prompt to do so. A climax? What's that?
The rest of the cast is Gavin, the love interest who's perfect than even Kalenna is. He's also in Altruistic, though why is still a mystery to me. He has a dark past because his dad's dead and he resents the government for it. Also he's the best fighter with a staff because contrivances.
The rest are linear. Jericho is the strong guy who's infatuated with a girl solely because she can kick his ass, except she totally can't because womenfolk are just inferior, lmao. Ivan is the resident smart guy, and this book is really unlucky to have chosen computers as his area of expertise because they're my area of expertise and I can say for a fact that Ivan (and thus, the book) doesn't understand a thing about computers. Jasmine is said kickass girl, who's described and set up as a badass yet loses the one fight she's in (against Jericho). Trace is the rival/bully/Mean Girl archetype (except he's male), and the book completely forgets about him about two thirds of the way, in the middle of the tournament. Seriously, Kalenna opens the tournament thinking she hopes she can kick his ass, and then the book doesn't even mention him losing his fight, but he never faces her.
Out of the
I could conclude this review. Or I could imitate the book and end it here after vowing to destroy all terrible books. Nothing changed, since that's what I've been doing for nearly two years now. A perfect waste of time.
November 25, 2015
In the cereal aisle of the grocery store, you have the name brand cereals all sitting up on the shelves. If you look below, you'll find the generic brand cereals in bags. That's what Banded is. Banded is the 'Marshmallow Mateys' to Divergent's 'Lucky Charms.'
No, that's not fully correct. Banded is more like if someone at the off-brand cereal production company wasn't paying attention when the bags were being filled and some 'Fruity O's' and 'Honey Nut Rings' also got into the bag. Also, this particular bag wasn't sealed correctly and all the pieces inside are stale and tasteless.
This book was an awful and poorly thrown together mess. The writing was all over the place and read like there was no advanced planning. Concepts and plot points were constantly brought up, promptly forgotten about, and then brought up again like they were brand new.
The characters were completely flat and the world building did constant jumps from nonexistent to unbelievable. Our protagonist only furthers this by constantly screaming about how awful the government is how they can't do this to her. When, if we're supposed to buy this world building, they can and she should know this seeing as she's grown up with this system.
Nearly every revelation in this book happens because our main character just knows that she's right. She just knows that the guards are watching her. She just knows that they're after her specifically. She just knows they out to get her. All of this knowledge just gifted to her because the author is lazy.
And don't let the fact that Kalenna is sorted into the 'selfless' zone fool you into thinking maybe this isn't bargain bin Divergent. The narrative still only focuses on fight class and don't worry Kalenna is an awesome fighter and so is her cardboard cut out love interest. He even performs a reach behind you and show you how to hold this weapon thing because of course he does.
I can see why I was able to get this free on Amazon. It's a sloppily put together mess that people should have to be paid to read.
No, that's not fully correct. Banded is more like if someone at the off-brand cereal production company wasn't paying attention when the bags were being filled and some 'Fruity O's' and 'Honey Nut Rings' also got into the bag. Also, this particular bag wasn't sealed correctly and all the pieces inside are stale and tasteless.
This book was an awful and poorly thrown together mess. The writing was all over the place and read like there was no advanced planning. Concepts and plot points were constantly brought up, promptly forgotten about, and then brought up again like they were brand new.
The characters were completely flat and the world building did constant jumps from nonexistent to unbelievable. Our protagonist only furthers this by constantly screaming about how awful the government is how they can't do this to her. When, if we're supposed to buy this world building, they can and she should know this seeing as she's grown up with this system.
Nearly every revelation in this book happens because our main character just knows that she's right. She just knows that the guards are watching her. She just knows that they're after her specifically. She just knows they out to get her. All of this knowledge just gifted to her because the author is lazy.
And don't let the fact that Kalenna is sorted into the 'selfless' zone fool you into thinking maybe this isn't bargain bin Divergent. The narrative still only focuses on fight class and don't worry Kalenna is an awesome fighter and so is her cardboard cut out love interest. He even performs a reach behind you and show you how to hold this weapon thing because of course he does.
I can see why I was able to get this free on Amazon. It's a sloppily put together mess that people should have to be paid to read.
May 21, 2014
Banded was a quick and easy light read but wasn't very satisfying. It felt like it was way too short and there wasn't try anything going on besides the Warden harassing Kaleena and her falling for it every time. As a main character Kaleena was flat in my opinion. There was never a point where I really felt anything for her but annoyance at her non ability to keep her mouth shut. The storyline was very rushed and I didnt understand why Kaleena was coming up with the conclusions she had most of time. She went from just trying to get through HQ training to conspiracy theories and wanting to change the government in like a week. I won't be reading the following stories in this series and give it a 1/5 rating. I recommend this for those who need a quick read and don't mind reading books with blatant similarities to other stories.
A more in depth review and more found at .
A more in depth review and more found at .
November 22, 2017
If you've read any of my content before, you know that I hate leaving a book unfinished. But I really wasn't enjoying reading this one, so, hell. But I did check the "About the Author" section and all it contained were links to Byrne's social media and a request to review the book, so I'm gonna review it for you! No worries mate.

So let's do this.

First unoriginal comment here: this book is Divergent. Seriously. People in a dystopian society (in only Manhattan, don't ask me what happened to the rest of New York) are divided up according to their personality. One single personality trait, which is of course all that we have. Or they could be put in a zone because of the fact that they're attractive? Which I don't ...? What if they're beautiful and have a desire to help others?

Basically, reading this book was like reading Divergent. And while I didn't love Divergent, it was way more entertaining than this book and far better constructed.

This book follows the training of Kalenna after she's put into Altruistic. The plot is stretched pretty thin. I have to be honest, I got over halfway through this book and I don't know if I can tell you what happens.

The plot itself has very little direction. Kalenna and her friends want to investigate the suspicious goings on in HQ while HQ are looking for a spy. (I'd also like to point out that the clues and foreshadowing in this book are atrocious and I knew that the spy was a spy before it was even announced that a spy was on the loose, if I've guessed right, which I think I have because wow.) But there's no structure to these events. They're just dropped in at random times with no flow. The plot isn't building, its meandering. Also, in Chapter 8 they introduce a tournament where the kids can fight for a chance to go home, which adds nothing to the already nothing plot, so this book is also lazily playing off The Hunger Games to boot.

The characterisation in this book is lazy too. It's not even like dividing people by personality has to make them one dimensional—it doesn't with Hogwarts houses—but it sure does in this book. Everyone has the one personality trait from their zone and that's it. People from Altruistic are, well, altruistic. The kid from Astute is literally just smart, and he's nothing else. People from Quixotic have no direction in life (so that'd be where I'd go, because self deprecating humour is just the funniest you guys please like me) and people from Radiant have no personality and also neither does anyone else. I don't remember any of the characters in this damn book.

You know what else is lazy? The world building. Not only was it mostly ripped from Divergent, but you can also tell that no effort was put into it because it doesn't make any sense. This is yet another book with no idea how a dictatorship operates and this society would quickly fall apart. Never mind that the bands would off them, if a society can't maintain itself then guess what? It can't maintain itself! You can't shove people into different walled off sections of a city based off personality and expect society to function.

The nice people become doctors? What if they're no good at that? I try to be a nice person but I'd be a terrible doctor with my flat C report card and inability to make eye contact or go near gross stuff. Plus the government has this whole "you can't know about other zones" policy which makes no sense if one zone is the army and one zone all the medical professionals. The "general labourers" include the builders. How do you build without going to the place you're building in?

I'm not even actually sure how you become part of the government because it's made clear that the kids in training won't be. Those guys must be inbred to shit.

I'm not going to go further into how this world wouldn't work, but trust me. I could. I could write multiple blog posts about why dystopias like this are dumb. And I probably will.

But I will say: dystopia writers? Stop dividing your societies into strict groups like this. That only gives the people another group to identify with that's separate from the government. That's not what a dictatorship wants.

Actually, no, I have to ask why they're fighting with daggers and swords. They clearly have advanced technology! They can run realistic computer simulations! Don't do swords just because they look cool, Byrne. Give your soldiers some damn bullets. (And also guns. That'd help.)

The third crime of laziness: the writing.

Plot, characterisation, and world building apart, the writing sucked on a technical level. I'll pull up a few quotes to illustrate what I mean because. Yeah.
“The bag dropped from the shelf and got all over me. To make matters worse, my band is all cloudy now.�
It might have been a little unfair to start with dialogue because that's one of the tougher things to write, but I'm sorry. It's awkward. That's not how people talk. How often to people start a spoken sentence with "To make matters worse"? And all the dialogue reads like that. Clunky and awkward and if you read it aloud you can just feel that no one would ever say that. Yes, dialogue is unnatural and artificial but you're not supposed to get that quite so obviously.
“And as if things couldn’t get worse, the band is starting to leave a rash on my wrist, and of course I can’t take it off, because I’ve had it stuck on my wrist since I was sixteen,� she said as a few tears began to drip from her tired-looking eyes.

Um? That's only a couple of paragraphs later. Just to show you that this book is repetitive as all hell. And it's also full of information that Kalenna, who she's talking to, would know. She's also really coherent for a crying person. This book is emotionally dead. I didn't feel emotion from it once.
�"Tired-looking eyes." RIP.
�“Alright,� I said curtly, my annoyance shining through.

The book does this a lot. It tells you something that someone did, and then tells you what emotion this action indicates. If she's speaking curtly, then yes, Byrne, I'd imagine she's annoyed. Human beings with brains are reading this, yet it's explained like we have absolutely no concept of what this stuff means. I hate this in books. If an action denotes an emotion we know what emotion it denotes. It's just a lazy way of drip feeding (empty, at that) emotion into your writing, this strategy.

And I rant this (man, I need a life) while being aggressively autistic. I ask people to clarify their emotions constantly. If I feel talked down to, you have yourself a problem.
�"I'm sure you're wondering..."

I just threw that in there because the book says it about seven thousand times. By halfway through I laughed every time I read it. But that also segues into another issue: lazy exposition.

As well as endless paragraphs of just exposition from Kalenna, rather than it being interlinked with the "action", the book also just has government officials stand there and explain things. Endless stuff. And while thanks to the lazy world building they don't know this stuff, they really should. It makes absolutely no sense that they don't.

Look, I have to stop this review. I'm annoyed and just stopped reading the book out of annoyance and this whole blog post is improvised, but I'll say this: this book's problem is that it's lazy. It reads like an early draft, not a completed work. Every aspect contains very little thought, and the book itself contains very little editing and I noticed a number of mistakes. I would be totally fine with this book being similar to other things, but I can't forgive a writer throwing something together with absolutely no effort and expecting us to read it.

Thankfully, I didn't read this book in its entirety. And I did get it for free thanks to my BookBub (#nonspon, lol humour) obsession, so I can't complain that it was a loss of money either.

Needless to say, I don't recommend this book. Even if you're curious about bad writing, the aimless plot and flat characters leaves this book dead and BORING. If you want a book about bad government and people divided by personality by, go read Harry Potter.
�(See what I did there? With the misdirect? Ayyy comedy.)

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you thought about it. You can read all my reviews early by following my .

So let's do this.

First unoriginal comment here: this book is Divergent. Seriously. People in a dystopian society (in only Manhattan, don't ask me what happened to the rest of New York) are divided up according to their personality. One single personality trait, which is of course all that we have. Or they could be put in a zone because of the fact that they're attractive? Which I don't ...? What if they're beautiful and have a desire to help others?

Basically, reading this book was like reading Divergent. And while I didn't love Divergent, it was way more entertaining than this book and far better constructed.

This book follows the training of Kalenna after she's put into Altruistic. The plot is stretched pretty thin. I have to be honest, I got over halfway through this book and I don't know if I can tell you what happens.

The plot itself has very little direction. Kalenna and her friends want to investigate the suspicious goings on in HQ while HQ are looking for a spy. (I'd also like to point out that the clues and foreshadowing in this book are atrocious and I knew that the spy was a spy before it was even announced that a spy was on the loose, if I've guessed right, which I think I have because wow.) But there's no structure to these events. They're just dropped in at random times with no flow. The plot isn't building, its meandering. Also, in Chapter 8 they introduce a tournament where the kids can fight for a chance to go home, which adds nothing to the already nothing plot, so this book is also lazily playing off The Hunger Games to boot.

The characterisation in this book is lazy too. It's not even like dividing people by personality has to make them one dimensional—it doesn't with Hogwarts houses—but it sure does in this book. Everyone has the one personality trait from their zone and that's it. People from Altruistic are, well, altruistic. The kid from Astute is literally just smart, and he's nothing else. People from Quixotic have no direction in life (so that'd be where I'd go, because self deprecating humour is just the funniest you guys please like me) and people from Radiant have no personality and also neither does anyone else. I don't remember any of the characters in this damn book.

You know what else is lazy? The world building. Not only was it mostly ripped from Divergent, but you can also tell that no effort was put into it because it doesn't make any sense. This is yet another book with no idea how a dictatorship operates and this society would quickly fall apart. Never mind that the bands would off them, if a society can't maintain itself then guess what? It can't maintain itself! You can't shove people into different walled off sections of a city based off personality and expect society to function.

The nice people become doctors? What if they're no good at that? I try to be a nice person but I'd be a terrible doctor with my flat C report card and inability to make eye contact or go near gross stuff. Plus the government has this whole "you can't know about other zones" policy which makes no sense if one zone is the army and one zone all the medical professionals. The "general labourers" include the builders. How do you build without going to the place you're building in?

I'm not even actually sure how you become part of the government because it's made clear that the kids in training won't be. Those guys must be inbred to shit.

I'm not going to go further into how this world wouldn't work, but trust me. I could. I could write multiple blog posts about why dystopias like this are dumb. And I probably will.

But I will say: dystopia writers? Stop dividing your societies into strict groups like this. That only gives the people another group to identify with that's separate from the government. That's not what a dictatorship wants.

Actually, no, I have to ask why they're fighting with daggers and swords. They clearly have advanced technology! They can run realistic computer simulations! Don't do swords just because they look cool, Byrne. Give your soldiers some damn bullets. (And also guns. That'd help.)

The third crime of laziness: the writing.

Plot, characterisation, and world building apart, the writing sucked on a technical level. I'll pull up a few quotes to illustrate what I mean because. Yeah.
“The bag dropped from the shelf and got all over me. To make matters worse, my band is all cloudy now.�
It might have been a little unfair to start with dialogue because that's one of the tougher things to write, but I'm sorry. It's awkward. That's not how people talk. How often to people start a spoken sentence with "To make matters worse"? And all the dialogue reads like that. Clunky and awkward and if you read it aloud you can just feel that no one would ever say that. Yes, dialogue is unnatural and artificial but you're not supposed to get that quite so obviously.
“And as if things couldn’t get worse, the band is starting to leave a rash on my wrist, and of course I can’t take it off, because I’ve had it stuck on my wrist since I was sixteen,� she said as a few tears began to drip from her tired-looking eyes.

Um? That's only a couple of paragraphs later. Just to show you that this book is repetitive as all hell. And it's also full of information that Kalenna, who she's talking to, would know. She's also really coherent for a crying person. This book is emotionally dead. I didn't feel emotion from it once.
�"Tired-looking eyes." RIP.
�“Alright,� I said curtly, my annoyance shining through.

The book does this a lot. It tells you something that someone did, and then tells you what emotion this action indicates. If she's speaking curtly, then yes, Byrne, I'd imagine she's annoyed. Human beings with brains are reading this, yet it's explained like we have absolutely no concept of what this stuff means. I hate this in books. If an action denotes an emotion we know what emotion it denotes. It's just a lazy way of drip feeding (empty, at that) emotion into your writing, this strategy.

And I rant this (man, I need a life) while being aggressively autistic. I ask people to clarify their emotions constantly. If I feel talked down to, you have yourself a problem.
�"I'm sure you're wondering..."

I just threw that in there because the book says it about seven thousand times. By halfway through I laughed every time I read it. But that also segues into another issue: lazy exposition.

As well as endless paragraphs of just exposition from Kalenna, rather than it being interlinked with the "action", the book also just has government officials stand there and explain things. Endless stuff. And while thanks to the lazy world building they don't know this stuff, they really should. It makes absolutely no sense that they don't.

Look, I have to stop this review. I'm annoyed and just stopped reading the book out of annoyance and this whole blog post is improvised, but I'll say this: this book's problem is that it's lazy. It reads like an early draft, not a completed work. Every aspect contains very little thought, and the book itself contains very little editing and I noticed a number of mistakes. I would be totally fine with this book being similar to other things, but I can't forgive a writer throwing something together with absolutely no effort and expecting us to read it.

Thankfully, I didn't read this book in its entirety. And I did get it for free thanks to my BookBub (#nonspon, lol humour) obsession, so I can't complain that it was a loss of money either.

Needless to say, I don't recommend this book. Even if you're curious about bad writing, the aimless plot and flat characters leaves this book dead and BORING. If you want a book about bad government and people divided by personality by, go read Harry Potter.
�(See what I did there? With the misdirect? Ayyy comedy.)

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you thought about it. You can read all my reviews early by following my .
October 4, 2014
Banded reads like a bad, simplified version of other popular dystopian books. It is like it was written for a younger audience, one who cannot understand things. The story was so simple, and at the same time not developed very well at all.
This story is one of those were the people are broken up into sections by the corrupt government, with the sections not able to talk to each other. You get placed into your section when you turn 16 based on what skills you are best at. You also have this band places on your arm that tracks how good you are. If you do something bad it deducts points and if you reach zero it instantly injects you with poison and you die. So that is slightly different, but the bands don't actually seem to be that big a part of the story. They keep warning if you do x, y or z you will get points taken off, but Kalenna keeps doing these things and not having anything happen.
So the story starts off with Kalenna turning 16 and having to go off to HQ to learn what she will do for the rest of her life. She gets sorted and instantly becomes friends with a cute boy who is also in her section so you know that is the instant love interest. Then they quickly make friends with a smart guy and a strong, tough guy and they have the perfect little band of misfits for anything they might need. Yey. It was just odd the way they came together, and they didn't even seem to be friends really. They weren't developed enough and it was a tell not show. The love interest aspect? That was definitely told not shown. People kept saying how the two of them obviously liked each other, but there wasn't really anything that happened to show that.
So Kalenna has her band of misfits, and she also knows her mom has this secret box that has something secret in it her dad was hiding. So she goes to HQ with the thought of just trying to survive, but pretty instantly for some unknown reason she suddenly decides that the government needs to be taken down. Why? I don't know. I have no idea what prompted this sudden change in her, but she kept bringing it up on occasion after that. It didn't make much sense. But then again Kaleena was kind of stupid and didn't make much sense. There is a tournament and whoever wins gets three hours to visit with their family as their prize. Well Kaleena definitely wants to win that, especially once they find some stuff about this black box holding something secret, but she is so obsessed with Gavin, the love interest, winning as well. She keeps bringing it up to him like you want to go home! And he is all no I don't and she is just adamant that he wants to no matter what he says. Her other friends who are in the tournament as well? Who cares. Gavin must try super hard to actually win so he can go home! Again I have no idea why this is so important to her...
She also needs to learn to keep her mouth shut. She keeps spouting off to the people in charge when they provoke her, but again she doesn't get points taken off every time like they said you would so she doesn't have the most motivation to stay in line. She also is often times like I cannot do anything physical cause I am just a girl. Like she is not going to win the tournament as she is just a girl and not strong and poor her so yeah not going to win (though somehow she keeps advancing in the tournament cause it makes sense that she somehow is just super awesome at everything she tries). It was just a bit tedious to read, and really it didn't seem like much happened in this story. The tournament is the main focus, and I thought that was all just a rouse by the government to get information but apparently I was wrong as nothing seemed to happen with it. It was just a tournament. It was just not good. Not much happened, the story and characters and everything lacked development, Kaleena was incredibly stupid most of the time, it was just bad. I will not be reading any more of this series as I just don't care what happens.
This review was originally posted to
This story is one of those were the people are broken up into sections by the corrupt government, with the sections not able to talk to each other. You get placed into your section when you turn 16 based on what skills you are best at. You also have this band places on your arm that tracks how good you are. If you do something bad it deducts points and if you reach zero it instantly injects you with poison and you die. So that is slightly different, but the bands don't actually seem to be that big a part of the story. They keep warning if you do x, y or z you will get points taken off, but Kalenna keeps doing these things and not having anything happen.
So the story starts off with Kalenna turning 16 and having to go off to HQ to learn what she will do for the rest of her life. She gets sorted and instantly becomes friends with a cute boy who is also in her section so you know that is the instant love interest. Then they quickly make friends with a smart guy and a strong, tough guy and they have the perfect little band of misfits for anything they might need. Yey. It was just odd the way they came together, and they didn't even seem to be friends really. They weren't developed enough and it was a tell not show. The love interest aspect? That was definitely told not shown. People kept saying how the two of them obviously liked each other, but there wasn't really anything that happened to show that.
So Kalenna has her band of misfits, and she also knows her mom has this secret box that has something secret in it her dad was hiding. So she goes to HQ with the thought of just trying to survive, but pretty instantly for some unknown reason she suddenly decides that the government needs to be taken down. Why? I don't know. I have no idea what prompted this sudden change in her, but she kept bringing it up on occasion after that. It didn't make much sense. But then again Kaleena was kind of stupid and didn't make much sense. There is a tournament and whoever wins gets three hours to visit with their family as their prize. Well Kaleena definitely wants to win that, especially once they find some stuff about this black box holding something secret, but she is so obsessed with Gavin, the love interest, winning as well. She keeps bringing it up to him like you want to go home! And he is all no I don't and she is just adamant that he wants to no matter what he says. Her other friends who are in the tournament as well? Who cares. Gavin must try super hard to actually win so he can go home! Again I have no idea why this is so important to her...
She also needs to learn to keep her mouth shut. She keeps spouting off to the people in charge when they provoke her, but again she doesn't get points taken off every time like they said you would so she doesn't have the most motivation to stay in line. She also is often times like I cannot do anything physical cause I am just a girl. Like she is not going to win the tournament as she is just a girl and not strong and poor her so yeah not going to win (though somehow she keeps advancing in the tournament cause it makes sense that she somehow is just super awesome at everything she tries). It was just a bit tedious to read, and really it didn't seem like much happened in this story. The tournament is the main focus, and I thought that was all just a rouse by the government to get information but apparently I was wrong as nothing seemed to happen with it. It was just a tournament. It was just not good. Not much happened, the story and characters and everything lacked development, Kaleena was incredibly stupid most of the time, it was just bad. I will not be reading any more of this series as I just don't care what happens.
This review was originally posted to
February 19, 2018
Well, this book was like a bland knock off version of Divergent. There was a lot of repetitive conversations and thoughts throughout the book. I was expecting a climax but there was just no movement in this book. If you want a great book, go read Divergent, not this.
July 12, 2019
I’d had this ebook on my kindle for quite a while, I think I bought it when it was on offer. I read and loved the Branded prequel to this series. I just fancied reading some more of a series I had already begun so chose this book. I would say the female on the cover is a good depiction of Kalenna, the main character in the book. The genres I have seen listed for this book are Sci-fi, YA, and Dystopian. I agree with them all and would just add in Futuristic, and the fact I am so not in the YA age bracket, and the label YA doesn’t mean it is exclusively for young adult readers. I take it that the YA label means the content and language in the book are young adult suitable.
The book is set in a dystopian society that it divided into six zones. Each zone and its occupants represent that citizen’s benefit to society. At the end of the month you become the age of sixteen everyone must turn up to have their bands fitted and to have their future zone decided upon. Every one has to have a band fitted on their arm. This band cannot be removed and it starts off with 100 points and it is green in colour. Points can and are deducted for anything you do which is considered wrong. 100-66 starts off a bright green and goes paler the lower your points get, 65-35 is a bright yellow which also turns paler the lower your points total is and finally 35-0 is red and this time it starts out pale, but the more points you lose the brighter the red. If you commit some awful crime and all your points are removed, or if you lose your points and end up at zero, you are killed. Apparently the band somehow pushes poison into your system and kills you.
Kalenna is very near to her 16th birthday, the day she will be given her band and her zone too. She may return to Quixotic where she was born and brought up. Kalenna lives with her mother and her ten year old sister Tria. Kalenna’s father disappeared when Kalenna was much younger, Tria doesn’t even remember her father, George. Kalenna and her mother keep George/dad’s memory alive by showing the wedding photograph and the other keepsakes that are hidden away in a box and then that is hidden too, as George insisted it contained something very important that the government must never find. Kalenna is surprised when her mother makes her a birthday cake, they are not a well off family so such decadent treats are rare. Today Kalenna will receive her band which will be bright green and have 100 points on it. She will also find out which district she will live and serve in. Kalenna is both excited and upset, her ideal scenario will be to be placed in Quixotic as then she can continue to live with her mum and Tria. Kalenna has to say her tearful goodbyes to Tria at their modest home as only the parents of the sixteen year olds are allowed to watch the ceremony.
Kalenna soon has to say goodbye to her mum and then join the long queue’s that are leading inside to the ceremony hall. Everyone looks nervous, some look sad, and some seem excited, no one says very much. Kalenna looks around and a boy ahead in line smiles at her but that’s about all the communication she gets. It’s not long until the lines of 16 year olds are sitting on stage waiting for firstly their band to be fitted and then find out which zone they are going to be in.
I loved the descriptions and similes used in the book when all the sixteen year olds watch the first very nervous, timid girl get up and approach President Green for her band. “We all watched her, our eyes glued to her and nothing else; she was like the sacrificial lamb up for slaughter. The descriptions are so good you can easily visualise and empathise with the characters and what they are enduring. The parents of the sixteen year olds are warned if there are any disturbances they will be removed so it really shocks Kalenna when it is her turn, she quietly accepts her band and then the computer delivers it verdict as to which zone she will be in�..it say’s I see a lot of benefits in this girl. She is definitely strong, stronger than most. She is certainly selfless in all aspects, yet also has a wandering, quixotic mind reminiscent of most in her home zone. It would be my recommendation that she be placed in—� The computer stopped, at least in my mind, as the only sensation I could feel was my heart racing out of my chest. I looked up at the Altruistic girl who was standing next to me, and she looked back down at me, giving me a quick, sly wink. “Altruistic,� the computer said. It’s at that point Kalenna’s mother shouts out!
It's not that the zone her daughter has been placed in is bad, as it is a good zone to be where most would become Doctors, Nurses or other Medical Staff. As travel between zones is not permitted unless it is in the course of your work it is unlikely, they will ever see their families again. Kalenna hopes for a medical job as those with that type of job do travel between zones and it gives a slice of hope that she could maybe sneak in a little visit with her mum and Tria sometime in the future.
Once everyone has been fitted with their band and placed in a zone they are all taken to HQ, which is where they will do 3 months of training before being sent out to their individual zones.
There is so much happening in this book, it really is packed full of action along with some historical information about the society and why they live like they do. I really liked the different zones within the book and their names. Yes, I admit the cynic in me worried the book would slide down the exact route of Divergent but it doesn’t. Sure, there are some similarities but there is also a lot more to the book that is different. I enjoyed the fact the bands and zones were explained as you came to them within the book.
My favourite character was of Kalenna as it should be as she is the main character. Other characters that I liked were Gavin, the boy who had smiled at Kalenna whilst in line at the ceremony. There’s a hint of romance between the two of them but it does begin with them being friends within the Altruistic group. I thought the idea that the different zones had an initial 3 months training at HQ at the same time was a great idea. You get to learn about the different zones from the characters placed within them. All recruits to whichever zone they are placed in have lessons on the history of the nation and weapon and fighting training. Kalenna makes new friends quite quickly. Unfortunately gaining a friendship with Ivor, during a National History lesson costs her a point being deducted from her band! The first recruit at HQ to have a point taken. This friendship turns out to be very useful later in the book. Kalenna ends up with a group of friends she is willing to help as much as they are willing to help her. There’s Stalwart Hector, who goes by the nickname of Jericho, as well as Jasmine Brunner, whose father worked with Kalenna’s dad George on a secret project called “Project Gemini�.
I enjoyed firstly trying to work out who the spy in HQ was, and what they were looking for. Then after the spy was revealed I started wondering about Project Gemini which we do learn a little about in this book that I am sure will continue to be revealed as the series goes on.
This book has certainly laid some solid foundations for a potentially brilliant series to continue to grow. It left me with so many different questions and thoughts, such as Does Warden Pumose really know Kalenna's father George or does he merely know of him? What else will the valuable mystery disc reveal? Why does it seem that Jasmine & Kalenna are being watched so closely? Are Ivan, Gavin & Jericho in danger along with the girls? How many more points is hot headed, impulsive, Kalenna going to lose before she realises she seriously needs to bite her tongue?
To sum up, I am definitely adding the next book in the series to my Want To Buy To Read List. I would recommend reading both this book and it’s prequel too.
The book is set in a dystopian society that it divided into six zones. Each zone and its occupants represent that citizen’s benefit to society. At the end of the month you become the age of sixteen everyone must turn up to have their bands fitted and to have their future zone decided upon. Every one has to have a band fitted on their arm. This band cannot be removed and it starts off with 100 points and it is green in colour. Points can and are deducted for anything you do which is considered wrong. 100-66 starts off a bright green and goes paler the lower your points get, 65-35 is a bright yellow which also turns paler the lower your points total is and finally 35-0 is red and this time it starts out pale, but the more points you lose the brighter the red. If you commit some awful crime and all your points are removed, or if you lose your points and end up at zero, you are killed. Apparently the band somehow pushes poison into your system and kills you.
Kalenna is very near to her 16th birthday, the day she will be given her band and her zone too. She may return to Quixotic where she was born and brought up. Kalenna lives with her mother and her ten year old sister Tria. Kalenna’s father disappeared when Kalenna was much younger, Tria doesn’t even remember her father, George. Kalenna and her mother keep George/dad’s memory alive by showing the wedding photograph and the other keepsakes that are hidden away in a box and then that is hidden too, as George insisted it contained something very important that the government must never find. Kalenna is surprised when her mother makes her a birthday cake, they are not a well off family so such decadent treats are rare. Today Kalenna will receive her band which will be bright green and have 100 points on it. She will also find out which district she will live and serve in. Kalenna is both excited and upset, her ideal scenario will be to be placed in Quixotic as then she can continue to live with her mum and Tria. Kalenna has to say her tearful goodbyes to Tria at their modest home as only the parents of the sixteen year olds are allowed to watch the ceremony.
Kalenna soon has to say goodbye to her mum and then join the long queue’s that are leading inside to the ceremony hall. Everyone looks nervous, some look sad, and some seem excited, no one says very much. Kalenna looks around and a boy ahead in line smiles at her but that’s about all the communication she gets. It’s not long until the lines of 16 year olds are sitting on stage waiting for firstly their band to be fitted and then find out which zone they are going to be in.
I loved the descriptions and similes used in the book when all the sixteen year olds watch the first very nervous, timid girl get up and approach President Green for her band. “We all watched her, our eyes glued to her and nothing else; she was like the sacrificial lamb up for slaughter. The descriptions are so good you can easily visualise and empathise with the characters and what they are enduring. The parents of the sixteen year olds are warned if there are any disturbances they will be removed so it really shocks Kalenna when it is her turn, she quietly accepts her band and then the computer delivers it verdict as to which zone she will be in�..it say’s I see a lot of benefits in this girl. She is definitely strong, stronger than most. She is certainly selfless in all aspects, yet also has a wandering, quixotic mind reminiscent of most in her home zone. It would be my recommendation that she be placed in—� The computer stopped, at least in my mind, as the only sensation I could feel was my heart racing out of my chest. I looked up at the Altruistic girl who was standing next to me, and she looked back down at me, giving me a quick, sly wink. “Altruistic,� the computer said. It’s at that point Kalenna’s mother shouts out!
It's not that the zone her daughter has been placed in is bad, as it is a good zone to be where most would become Doctors, Nurses or other Medical Staff. As travel between zones is not permitted unless it is in the course of your work it is unlikely, they will ever see their families again. Kalenna hopes for a medical job as those with that type of job do travel between zones and it gives a slice of hope that she could maybe sneak in a little visit with her mum and Tria sometime in the future.
Once everyone has been fitted with their band and placed in a zone they are all taken to HQ, which is where they will do 3 months of training before being sent out to their individual zones.
There is so much happening in this book, it really is packed full of action along with some historical information about the society and why they live like they do. I really liked the different zones within the book and their names. Yes, I admit the cynic in me worried the book would slide down the exact route of Divergent but it doesn’t. Sure, there are some similarities but there is also a lot more to the book that is different. I enjoyed the fact the bands and zones were explained as you came to them within the book.
My favourite character was of Kalenna as it should be as she is the main character. Other characters that I liked were Gavin, the boy who had smiled at Kalenna whilst in line at the ceremony. There’s a hint of romance between the two of them but it does begin with them being friends within the Altruistic group. I thought the idea that the different zones had an initial 3 months training at HQ at the same time was a great idea. You get to learn about the different zones from the characters placed within them. All recruits to whichever zone they are placed in have lessons on the history of the nation and weapon and fighting training. Kalenna makes new friends quite quickly. Unfortunately gaining a friendship with Ivor, during a National History lesson costs her a point being deducted from her band! The first recruit at HQ to have a point taken. This friendship turns out to be very useful later in the book. Kalenna ends up with a group of friends she is willing to help as much as they are willing to help her. There’s Stalwart Hector, who goes by the nickname of Jericho, as well as Jasmine Brunner, whose father worked with Kalenna’s dad George on a secret project called “Project Gemini�.
I enjoyed firstly trying to work out who the spy in HQ was, and what they were looking for. Then after the spy was revealed I started wondering about Project Gemini which we do learn a little about in this book that I am sure will continue to be revealed as the series goes on.
This book has certainly laid some solid foundations for a potentially brilliant series to continue to grow. It left me with so many different questions and thoughts, such as Does Warden Pumose really know Kalenna's father George or does he merely know of him? What else will the valuable mystery disc reveal? Why does it seem that Jasmine & Kalenna are being watched so closely? Are Ivan, Gavin & Jericho in danger along with the girls? How many more points is hot headed, impulsive, Kalenna going to lose before she realises she seriously needs to bite her tongue?
To sum up, I am definitely adding the next book in the series to my Want To Buy To Read List. I would recommend reading both this book and it’s prequel too.
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 7, 2015Wow.. First book of the year is a DNF at 44%.
But I give up. Honestly, I don't know how or why the author didn't get called out for completely ripping off the storyline. The plot was obviously taken from a bunch of popular YA novels. Yes, he changed a few things and added elements to make it seem a bit different, but it wasn't original in the slightest. Unfortunately, the plot wasn't the only problem. The characters had no personality, the writing was bland, and the dialogue seemed very forced and unnatural.
I didn't even finish the book, and I'm pretty sure I know how it's going to end. The romance barely started developing and it felt superficial and unnecessary. All of the characters, every single one, were so one-dimensional and stereotypical. The main character (I forget her name already) was the most stupidest and oblivious protagonist I've ever come across in fiction.
I feel a little bad for trashing this book. But I don't have anything positive to say about it. I think I might have been able to push myself to finish it if it wasn't so blatantly similar to previous young adult dystopians I read. I'm not going to rate this because it wouldn't be fair, but if I could, it would be half a star maybe.
Avoid this like the plague. Don't waste your time.
But I give up. Honestly, I don't know how or why the author didn't get called out for completely ripping off the storyline. The plot was obviously taken from a bunch of popular YA novels. Yes, he changed a few things and added elements to make it seem a bit different, but it wasn't original in the slightest. Unfortunately, the plot wasn't the only problem. The characters had no personality, the writing was bland, and the dialogue seemed very forced and unnatural.
I didn't even finish the book, and I'm pretty sure I know how it's going to end. The romance barely started developing and it felt superficial and unnecessary. All of the characters, every single one, were so one-dimensional and stereotypical. The main character (I forget her name already) was the most stupidest and oblivious protagonist I've ever come across in fiction.
I feel a little bad for trashing this book. But I don't have anything positive to say about it. I think I might have been able to push myself to finish it if it wasn't so blatantly similar to previous young adult dystopians I read. I'm not going to rate this because it wouldn't be fair, but if I could, it would be half a star maybe.
Avoid this like the plague. Don't waste your time.
November 4, 2016
Yes, it may have taken me some time to read this book but it have been a busy couple of months for me. I am writing this review now, as I have just finished this book about five minutes ago. It was a good read (no pun intended). It is about a society that is split into separate groups of people. Wait, right there your probably thinking what I was thinking. Is this book a rip off of "Divergent"? The answer is no. Yes it does have the same feel but further on in the book and the more you get to know the characters and plot, the more your mind will change. I did enjoy the characters in this book. It may seem weird but I enjoy reading about strong female characters than I do with males. Let's be honest though I can count on one hand how many main characters of a book are males. . . Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Day. I'm sure there's more obviously but I believe I have proved my point.
In my opinion, the author did a good job writing this book. I am looking forward to getting to read the second book.
In my opinion, the author did a good job writing this book. I am looking forward to getting to read the second book.
March 22, 2017
This book... hmm. It made me laugh at times, some times for the humour in the story and some times for the bad grammar.
'As the meal went on, though, and nobody said a single word, one of us finally opened his mouth and broke the silence.'
This sentence has been quoted from the book. This is the most amusing sentence in a book I think I have ever read. '-one of us finally opened his mouth...' In my mind, I pictured someone leaning over to force another's mouth open.
Also, while reading this book, I felt like I was reading Divergent and The Hunger Games mixed together. I know that most of the reviews say this, but it's true. Of course, if you haven't read or watched Divergent or The Hunger Games, it's got a great storyline.
'As the meal went on, though, and nobody said a single word, one of us finally opened his mouth and broke the silence.'
This sentence has been quoted from the book. This is the most amusing sentence in a book I think I have ever read. '-one of us finally opened his mouth...' In my mind, I pictured someone leaning over to force another's mouth open.
Also, while reading this book, I felt like I was reading Divergent and The Hunger Games mixed together. I know that most of the reviews say this, but it's true. Of course, if you haven't read or watched Divergent or The Hunger Games, it's got a great storyline.
January 20, 2019
Starting out, this book was like someone took the Divergent series (they have sectors for the altruistic, stalwart, etc.), mixed in some Hunger Games (the government is all powerful and controlling, and the sectors aren’t allowed to communicate), then threw in a dash of Harry Potter for good measure (there’s a legit electronic “sorting hat� to tell them which house—oops! Faction—oops! Sector, they belong to.) It felt like a lot of the universe was completely ripped off from those worlds.
The writing is just fine, no complaints there.
Characters were a little one dimensional. The romance plot felt forced, and like the heroine just didn't even care. Everyone kept telling her there was attraction between her and Gavin, and she was all “What? No, we’re friends.� Then once she figured out he liked her she was all, “Oh, well maybe I like him too?�
And let's talk about the big tournament. This girl went from being a nobody, someone who has never fought, to suddenly being amazing in 3 days time and being in the final round of all the students? I didn't buy that for a second.
Like the prequel, the climax to this book was fairly uneventful. It came at the very end and just� wasn’t very exciting.
For a free book, this was an enjoyable enough read. I’ve read (or DNFd a lot free download duds, but this one is worth finishing.) I won’t be moving on with the series, though. I just think there are better books out there for me.
If you’re obsessed with the Divergent series, this could be a book you’ll love. If you’re over all the books that have such similar elements, you may not like this one.
Overall, an okay read but nothing special for me.
The writing is just fine, no complaints there.
Characters were a little one dimensional. The romance plot felt forced, and like the heroine just didn't even care. Everyone kept telling her there was attraction between her and Gavin, and she was all “What? No, we’re friends.� Then once she figured out he liked her she was all, “Oh, well maybe I like him too?�
And let's talk about the big tournament. This girl went from being a nobody, someone who has never fought, to suddenly being amazing in 3 days time and being in the final round of all the students? I didn't buy that for a second.
Like the prequel, the climax to this book was fairly uneventful. It came at the very end and just� wasn’t very exciting.
For a free book, this was an enjoyable enough read. I’ve read (or DNFd a lot free download duds, but this one is worth finishing.) I won’t be moving on with the series, though. I just think there are better books out there for me.
If you’re obsessed with the Divergent series, this could be a book you’ll love. If you’re over all the books that have such similar elements, you may not like this one.
Overall, an okay read but nothing special for me.
March 8, 2019
The writing was fair, although the characters were pretty flat and the constant self-narration of suspicion and immediate dismissal of that distrust as coincidence was grating. Story was a little too Divergent/Hunger Games, which was a constant distraction as I read, and I was very frustrated with where it ended.
The abrupt fade to black in the middle of a story arc - in the middle of a scene really - showed poor planning and instantly made me regret giving it a go. It's a feature of a lot of books nowadays, writing for a sequel instead of writing stories, and it makes in near impossible to maintain interest.
Also, what even level of tech do they have going here? Given what we've seen of simulations and the bands, I would have assumed a much higher form of surveillance than just guards people-watching. But there is never a mention of bugs, cameras, CCTV, or any other ways of monitoring the populace. Even if the zones couldn't be fully renovated, I'd expect HQ at the very least to be a nightmare of no privacy.
And where are the women? Your main character is a teenage girl (siiiiigh), and she has a mom and a sister that we see fleetingly, but other than them the only other named female characters are Justine and Jasmine, both with only a handful of appearances and little dialogue.
Tl;dr - The characters were really one dimensional, I didn't trust anyone due to the constant self-talk dismissing normal suspicions, and the end was The Worst. It would've been more enjoyable if it hadn't been so similar to other dystopian ya genre out recently.
The abrupt fade to black in the middle of a story arc - in the middle of a scene really - showed poor planning and instantly made me regret giving it a go. It's a feature of a lot of books nowadays, writing for a sequel instead of writing stories, and it makes in near impossible to maintain interest.
Also, what even level of tech do they have going here? Given what we've seen of simulations and the bands, I would have assumed a much higher form of surveillance than just guards people-watching. But there is never a mention of bugs, cameras, CCTV, or any other ways of monitoring the populace. Even if the zones couldn't be fully renovated, I'd expect HQ at the very least to be a nightmare of no privacy.
And where are the women? Your main character is a teenage girl (siiiiigh), and she has a mom and a sister that we see fleetingly, but other than them the only other named female characters are Justine and Jasmine, both with only a handful of appearances and little dialogue.
Tl;dr - The characters were really one dimensional, I didn't trust anyone due to the constant self-talk dismissing normal suspicions, and the end was The Worst. It would've been more enjoyable if it hadn't been so similar to other dystopian ya genre out recently.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2017
If you liked the hunger games or divergent, you'll love this. A lot of mystery. You get taken from your home at 16, sorted by a computer & placed in different sections based on your abilities. They're given a band that can never be removed & given the # 100, any infraction & you lose points, hit zero, no questions, the band immediately gives you a lethal injection & you die. Deep secrets & very intriguing, I bought the next one before I ended this.
If you liked the hunger games or divergent, you'll love this. A lot of mystery. You get taken from your home at 16, sorted by a computer & placed in different sections based on your abilities. They're given a band that can never be removed & given the # 100, any infraction & you lose points, hit zero, no questions, the band immediately gives you a lethal injection & you die. Deep secrets & very intriguing, I bought the next one before I ended this.
If you liked the hunger games or divergent, you'll love this. A lot of mystery. You get taken from your home at 16, sorted by a computer & placed in different sections based on your abilities. They're given a band that can never be removed & given the # 100, any infraction & you lose points, hit zero, no questions, the band immediately gives you a lethal injection & you die. Deep secrets & very intriguing, I bought the next one before I ended this.
December 30, 2023
This is a very typical 2010s post-Hunger Games dystopian story, with clear influence from Divergent. I found the start very slow and boring and around the middle the plot began to get more interesting however it still felt slow, while they make some discoveries not much actually happens. I'm not going to continue the series (I did read the prequel which was also slow but only 33 pages) however I wonder if the plot could have been shrunk into just one book as this didn't feel like a complete story. The writing is okay but not good enough to submerge the reader in the story and I found myself often checking how much more was left to read, wanting it to speed up. Overall, a tween may enjoy this series however I wouldn't suggest it for someone to pick up.
July 10, 2017
This book put me off a little during the first part. It just felt like Harry Potter (sorting hat vs sorting computer...even down to the comments the computer made were wayyyy to similar) meets divergent (6 sectors based on character traits). It just didn't feel right.
Carried on through and it got a little better, not a lot of character build up, supporting characters still feel a little 1 dimensional. Quite like the concept of the band's though, that could be interesting.
It was a pretty quick and easy read but it didn't blow me away and haven't felt a major urge to continue the series.
Carried on through and it got a little better, not a lot of character build up, supporting characters still feel a little 1 dimensional. Quite like the concept of the band's though, that could be interesting.
It was a pretty quick and easy read but it didn't blow me away and haven't felt a major urge to continue the series.
October 22, 2017
I found this book difficult to enjoy. A story similar to divergent. This society is meant to be strictly controlled and terrified of going against the government yet Kaylene and her friends are so open with there opinions against the government that it make this so unbelievable. Kaylene herself is the typical stupid female lead that apparently fears for her family but doesn't think twice about points getting deducted from her. Opening her mouth and saying things that aren't required to people who are in the highest positions of government with little fear of her life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2018
Just meh.
This is a YA dystopian novel. I gave it 3 stars but really feel it could be two. The premise could have been better developed, there were too many unanswered questions, felt characters were too thin, except for the main character. The main character’s romantic interest was not well developed, did not get enough of his backstory to make his sacrifice for her believable. Too many questions, a better writer would have answered those and still left me wanting more. This book is just meh.
This is a YA dystopian novel. I gave it 3 stars but really feel it could be two. The premise could have been better developed, there were too many unanswered questions, felt characters were too thin, except for the main character. The main character’s romantic interest was not well developed, did not get enough of his backstory to make his sacrifice for her believable. Too many questions, a better writer would have answered those and still left me wanting more. This book is just meh.
October 31, 2024
This book was just okay. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I just felt that the main character was way too sure of her beliefs and ideals for 16. I don't care if it is dystopian. At that age, she shouldn't be that sure that the government is out to get her and needs to change without more proof. As for content, I found one cuss word near the end of the book. There was some kissing, but nothing more. There was very little violence in this. It might be worth a try if you like dystopian stories, but it wasn't for me.
May 21, 2017
Predictable plot, boring characters, way too similar to Divergent for me. Kalenna, the MC, was an idiot who somehow was good at everything. The other characters were cardboard. Would not recommend for older readers, as the writing style is geared more towards younger readers (I'd suggest pre-teens, younger teenagers). If you're the sort who doesn't easily get frustrated with books and wants a quick, simple read, go for it.
July 18, 2017
Meh
This book reminded me too much of The Hunger Games and Divergent. The main character was anti-government and seemed to question literally everything the government did, but I feel like we never got any explanation for her feeling that way. I struggled through this book. I kept thinking something would happen, but it seemed anticlimactic and ended in a weird spot. Not going to be reading the rest of the series.
This book reminded me too much of The Hunger Games and Divergent. The main character was anti-government and seemed to question literally everything the government did, but I feel like we never got any explanation for her feeling that way. I struggled through this book. I kept thinking something would happen, but it seemed anticlimactic and ended in a weird spot. Not going to be reading the rest of the series.
July 23, 2017
while most reviews compare it to Divergent I dont because Divergent is an excellently written book with characters that suck you in and you root for. this book is written at middle.school level and the characters are so badly developed with no develoment of where they are except a few vague reviolt in 2012. its all so unbelievable. I was hoping for more intrigue building about this box but even that fell.flat. just a strange distopian worldthat doesn't have a any meat to it
August 4, 2017
The dystopian plot began similarity to that of Divergent with a lot of the same elements however this is not written as well as Veronica Roth's books. I found the storytelling was not that well laid out. In fact, there were times where the book seemed to contradict itself or lead you in one direction then drop you and jump around somewhere else. I enjoyed the characters and may consider reading the second in the series once I read a few of the reviews for the next book first.
May 29, 2019
The story definitely caught my attention... but then there was a type of sorting hat that seemed way too similar to Harry Potter for my comfort. Yes, it was computerized and not magic, but it was a hat that assessed the kids and then spoke aloud as it sorted them into their zones. And then the story just kind of stopped. It felt more like a really long chapter or introduction than it's own story. Maybe that is the point... to keep us reading the series... but it's just not working for me.
July 12, 2017
Amazing, Creative, and One of the Best Books I've Ever Read!!!
This book is beyond most of the works of fiction I've read thus far. As a teenager, books like these can be very intriguing and throughout the entire book, I didn't want to put it down. It was very creative and I can't wait to get my hands on book two.
This book is beyond most of the works of fiction I've read thus far. As a teenager, books like these can be very intriguing and throughout the entire book, I didn't want to put it down. It was very creative and I can't wait to get my hands on book two.
March 3, 2018
This book started a bit weak as the plot was just like Divergent. It was fun to read, I liked the characters, but it was just a bit too schmaltzy and fell a bit flat during any talk of romance as it was so unreal. The ending was also weak as nothing was really given away to make you want to read the next book. Not a fan I’m afraid!
July 21, 2018
Torn from home, mystery afoot
A society that tells you what to do, who to interact with and what you are expected to say. The big nasty government that doesn't allow news from the outside. Just how far does the control go? What hope is there? Your heroine asks these questions and more.
A society that tells you what to do, who to interact with and what you are expected to say. The big nasty government that doesn't allow news from the outside. Just how far does the control go? What hope is there? Your heroine asks these questions and more.
July 10, 2017
I liked this story. Always interested in how others see society split up and wondering where would I fit in. Is it close to divergent? Yep. Still a fun read. Freedom is a good topic explored especially in our current political climate.
July 11, 2017
Interesting
The book has a nice plot, though familiar due to being a young dystopian. It was a quick and easy read and the ending left some questions. The book has well rounded characters. Overall, well written.
The book has a nice plot, though familiar due to being a young dystopian. It was a quick and easy read and the ending left some questions. The book has well rounded characters. Overall, well written.
July 19, 2017
Fairly good read
I did enjoy this book. Characters were developed well. Storyline is very similar to Divergent, but still makes for a good read. Feel that the book should have been longer, at least until they were done in HQ. Look forward to reading the next book.
I did enjoy this book. Characters were developed well. Storyline is very similar to Divergent, but still makes for a good read. Feel that the book should have been longer, at least until they were done in HQ. Look forward to reading the next book.
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