Review: Explores Our Obsession With Immortality
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2013
This book delves into what we are willing to do to live forever and the thoughts on science vs. religion. It explores a lot of deep areas and really gets the brain flowing.What Strauss has done is set up a very interesting world where GAPs like Zoey Vanderveen are genetically altered human beings paying thousands for the procedure and adding on to their life span in the process.The GoodFirst, she has separated her world into two classes: the GAPs and the Normals. Basically this is upper class vs. lower class. Next, she has separated the world even further for those that Science is a religion where they believe it is the most important thing there is and others that have Faith in a higher power that they can't see. With these separations, and two people in the book embodying these aspects, I am firmly on the side of Noah...and believe me when I say that he warmed me over. Good thing he warms Zoey over as well.Zoey begins an investigation into her missing brother and ends up needing Noah the Normal to help her out. I appreciate her fervor to find out more and to not ever give up throughout her search for answers. She has to leave her comfort zone and I respect her for having the gumption to go through with it.I also greatly enjoyed Strauss' future view of the world. The com rings that allow them to contact each other and the pods and personal pods they ride in. I also think the chip embedded in their wrists as a form of payment and holding their files is great...as well as Noah's explanation of why he would never get one.The book also had to switch points of view at about 75% in. This switch is fantastically done, and I was greatly impressed with being inside Noah's head. There are generally two main characters in a book, and I always want to know what each are thinking and gain a little more information about the way that they tick. The transition in this book didn't necessarily have to be done, but it did make what was going on more interesting and was a joy to read.The BadI will admit to not liking Zoey Vanderveen very much at all, and can say with assurance that at the beginning of the book I would not have wanted to be her friend if we met by chance. She actually notes a few times in the first 30% of the book that she can't fathom brown-eyed brunettes being attractive. Since I happen to be a brown-eyed brunette, I know this rubbed me the wrong way. She also notes often how pretty she is and how much guys like the way that she looks. Thankfully, because of this, it makes me appreciate her learning and growing and accepting other forms of beauty throughout the book.The RomanceZoey has a boyfriend in the beginning of the story...a GAP like her. I never really felt a connection between the two, but I think the romance had fizzled some by the time the book started. Noah calls one of Zoey's friends 'The Cheater' too and the book makes references to the fact that Jackson wasn't faithful to her.Now Noah and Zoey eventually grow into a nice pair. They are polar opposites in the beginning, and throughout the story Zoey opens her eyes more and learns to accept things that were were not acceptable to her before. They have a nice slow burn and I really enjoyed watching the two of them grow to care for each other. I have learned from Pride and Prejudice that I greatly enjoy watching two people 'get over themselves' and just allow themselves to love.ConclusionAlthough the beginning was sketchy with me because I didn't like Zoey very much, the story was well-told and the world created very interesting. I love the plot of what was going on, the realness of what we would do to gain immortality, and the growth of Zoey's open-mindedness. The ending was fantastic...leaving me wanting to jump into Volition as soon as I can.