Our club's hype for that dystopian novel just doesn't connect with me

I see all the STARRED reviews and hear the praise, but the world-building felt thin and rushed. Honestly, it left me cold while everyone else was fired up.

3 comments

3 Comments

derekmason1mo ago

Heard a reviewer say the same thing about a big name dystopian book last year. They pointed out how the society's rules made no sense if you poked at them for five seconds. Like the whole faction system or the resource lottery just existed because the plot said so, not from any real cause. Felt like the author needed a cool backdrop fast and just glued some ideas together. Didn't ruin the book for me, but I get why it would for you. What parts of the world felt the most rushed to you?

mila_hunt641mo ago

Totally agree about the glued together ideas thing. I've noticed that if the world's rules don't have a REASON from past events, they just feel shaky. Always poke at why the society started, not just what it is now.

the_zara1mo ago

That reviewer was probably talking about Divergent, and they kinda missed the point (which happens a lot). The faction system wasn't really about practical rules, it was a messed up social experiment to fix human nature by splitting up personalities. It falls apart because the people in charge were wrong, not because the author was lazy. The weakness in the world is the point.