Review: Nice introduction to the series!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2014
I was really excited to start this one because I love the concept of this story. I felt like all aspects of the Gridless community seemed to be well-researched, which I very much appreciate, and consequently the aspects of their green living were informative.Technically speaking, I think the story could’ve been edited one more time—some little grammatical things, most of it isn’t too distracting.I didn't love Greer.Mostly it was because she didn't seem like she was 17, and she was supposed to be. Her character reminds me a lot of my 12-year-old baby sister, and my sister is by no means mature for her age. Her wide-eyed adoration of her "can do no wrong" parents, the way she was around boys, her general lack of her own identity. I'd like to see more emotion/humanness from Greer. To me, she just felt like an extension of her parents, not so much a character in her own right. Hopefully in the coming stories she will branch out and become her own person, but as far as this one went, she didn't feel real to me. It's just an introduction though, so we'll see how she grows.“I guess they weren’t too mad at my outburst or I would have been disciplined by now.”Like this. No. For one thing, I’m pretty sure, “Hey, we’re uprooting your whole life without concern for what you want to move you into a hippie compound that you’ve never even seen before,” warrants an outburst of human emotion. From anyone, but definitely from a 17-year-old. She's almost an adult herself, and yet Greer feels very much like a stifled child.I personally prefer characters who are a little more dynamic. I'm not sure if Greer will get there or not, but right now she's too "perfect." Not perfect as in flawless, but as in she tries too hard to always be "good" when she should be figuring out who she is instead of carefully monitoring her behavior. She's too controlled. I'd like to see Greer let loose a little, 'cause if she doesn't, she's going to eventually spin out of control--and maybe she needs to.Hunter...I didn't see enough of him to form much of an opinion, but I thought their feelings for each other progressed way too fast without being properly built, which made me feel like any cute boy would get the same response...but what I've been told about Greer earlier (that she had never even found a boy she was attracted to) doesn't compute if that's the case.I think I might've liked if it would've been another chapter longer, and more time spent fleshing out the relationships between the characters.**** Free ARC received in exchange for an honest review.****Review also found at Land of Fiction Book Blog