Tag: Dystopian

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Review: Engn by Simon Kewin

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Finn has been raised to fear the notorious Ironclads and their city, Engn. The Ironclads are sent out to the surrounding villages to recruit children to work in the city.

When the Ironclads come, there is no choice but to send the children to Engn even though few return to their homes, parents are required to let the Ironclads take what they want.

When Finn was younger, his sister was taken to Engn which was supposed to mean that Finn was safe as the Ironclads can only take one child per family. But when the Ironclads come for him, this changes everything.

With Finn on his way to Engn and almost certain death, he is reminded of a promise he made long ago–Finn and his friend Conner vowed to destroy Engn for good.

But Finn soon discovers that task is larger than originally thought.  In Engn, a dictatorship runs the city and the people/workers are slaves…broken and beaten to an inch of their lives and once they are no longer useful, they are terminated.

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Guest Post: Engn by Simon Kewin

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In addition to reviewing the MG/YA book Engn by Simon Kewin, he also agreed to write a guest post about how he created the world and city of Engn. Without further ado please welcome Simon Kewin to The Lit Bitch!

Building Engn

The world of Engn grew out of a simple, central idea: a city-sized, steam-powered machine that generations of people have lived and worked within.
 
I was drawn to the idea on lots of levels. I liked the thought of all the odd contraptions and mysteries and weirdness I could build into such a vast and ancient machine. In the book, Engn has grown so huge that most people within have stopped “seeing” it; have stopped wondering what it is actually for. That seemed like a fun idea to play with. I love fiction that has big, cool ideas in it. I also figured the setting would give me lots of scope for adventures and scrapes for my protagonist, Finn, to face.
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Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Nerds around the world unite! This is your book!

If you love video games, 70’s and 80′ pop culture, fantasy, cyberpunk, dystopian lit….then this is the book for you and even if you don’t love those things, you will still find something to love in this book.

18 year old Wade Watts live in the year 2044. The world is a wasteland. The earth’s resources are diminished and society is spiraling out of control, the only thing positive in this dismal world is the OASIS.

The OASIS is the internet to the 10th power! It’s a virtual utopian world where you can be anyone or anything you want to be. Each person has their own avatar and you can create your own planets and worlds where you live, play, meet friends, and even fall in love.

When the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, dies he leaves his vast, multibillion dollar fortune to anyone who can find his ‘Easter Egg’ by playing the ultimate video game in the OASIS. Halliday leaves on clue to get people started, a riddle. OASIS users around the world work to solve the riddle.

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Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

A single choice can transform you. One choice can destroy you. On Choosing Day, the people of five different factions make a choice that will change their lives. You can choose to leave your old faction behind in favor of a new one, but you will forever be bound to your new faction so it is not a choice one makes rashly. If you fail to meet the initiation for each faction, you become Factionless.

Tris Prior is different. She is Divergent and her choices destroy her.

Tris is in a dark place. Shas witnessed unspeakable horrors and is struggling to cope with the destruction and choices she has made. She needs to find forgiveness in others and learn to forgive herself. To find forgiveness, Tris must find the truth.

Tris is not used to sharing her secrets and her pain with others. She wears her secrets, choices, and experiences like armor. Her inner struggle is one of the things that makes this book great. She starts acting selfish and makes poor decisions in regards to her life simply to numb the pain she is feeling. Her boyfriend, Tobias (Four) desperately tries to reach her and help her, but he can’t save her from her own self destruction. Continue reading “Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth” →

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Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

by The Lit Bitch10 Comments on Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Abnegation. Amity. Candor. Dauntless. Erudite.

Where faction do you belong to?

On Choosing Day Beatrice (Tris) Prior must decide but first she undergoes an aptitude test to see which faction she will most likely gravitate toward….then she must choose to define her identity for the rest of her life based on that information.

Born into the Abnegation faction, she is supposed to be selfless and think only of others….but she feels like a square peg in Abnegation. Hoping the test will shed some light on her conundrum, the worst happens—her aptitude test is inconclusive.

She is Divergent.

Being Divergent is dangerous….if anyone find out, her life will be in imminent danger. She is a threat to the delicate balance of the five factions. Faced with this new information, Tris must choose her destiny….and she chooses bravery. She is Dauntless. Continue reading “Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth” →