Lillelara

Oh boy, this book … I had some real issues with this book.

First off, this is a poor man´s Hunger Games, which doesn´t make this an original read in the first place. And since I´m not a huge fan of the Hunger Games and dystopian books to begin with, this book definitely suffers because of this.

However, this isn´t even my biggest gripe. I could have lived with such a story if only the main character would have been likeable and interesting. Unfortunately, Darrow, the male version of Katniss Everdeen, is neither of these things. Instead Darrow has a character trait that bores me to no end – he is good at everything for no rhyme or reason. He comes up with elaborate plans and can see through things and I´m at a loss how he does it. Because I don´t think he is the sharpest tool in the shed, especially when it comes to his own people. How often can you be lured into a trap before you realize that you should not trust anyone? Seriously! And a note to the author: don´t try to kill of your main character too often over the course of a book. At some point it just gets old.

As you might tell, I was bored for a big portion of it. Especially the middle part dragged on and on. I liked the beginning of the book, because the world building in that part made sense. If a book is set on Mars, I want to feel like I´m on Mars and not in medieval Ireland. And the majority of the book was set in medieval Ireland, even though we were still on Mars. See, I´m confused.

I will take a sneak peek at the second book in the series, because I have heard that this is supposed to turn into a sprawling space opera, which I am intrigued by. But if the second book is written in a similar vein as this one, chances are that it will be a quick DNF.