Review: Unyielding
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 25, 2013
Dystopian novels are all the rage, and yes, I jump on that bandwagon, too. I've read most of the popular ones, and many by indies as well. It seems so rare these days to find one that has an original vein in it. The Woodlands succeeds. With a smart, snarky, and heroic main character and a swoon-worthy love interest, the book will draw in many readers of the YA/NA crowd. But then pepper in the dystopian part - the world our dynamic duo live in is cruel and unyielding. Completely and utterly unyielding. Surprisingly unyielding. Yes, I said unyielding three times - because it's that ruthless.And as a reader, I'm left heartbroken for these characters...through the first half.Then we get to the second half. And the hope and love takes a strange, confusing turn. The characters find themselves on an unexpected journey, that seems sort of aimless at first. And they are surrounded by a sketchy bunch of people that aren't quite friends, but not really foes. I had a hard time getting into the journey part as I'm not much of one for an undirected, wanton journey. We know who they are escaping from, but I didn't get where they were going. Then Rosa, the MC, makes some bad, selfish choices and became a little less likable for me. Of course, it just made me love Joseph even more.Overall, the book is a solid 4.5-5 star read. The author's use of color to represent the characters is poetic. Each character is dynamic, and they compliment one another like a well conducted orchestra. The read brings into focus many issues that plague young people today who have broken homes or find themselves with an unwanted teen pregnancy, but placed in a non-confrontational dystopian atmosphere that really works well.