The first installment in The Dust Chronicles definitely left me wanting more! I loved the way McGowan crafted the plot in such a way that we were learing details of Glory's life and world as she did. As I was reading, I sometimes felt like I was feeling those emotions right along side her. I think the only thing that put me off a bit from the book was the feeling that a bunch of the tension in the plot could have been relieved if people had actually talked to each other, but even that gets tied up in such a way that I was able to accept it. I flew through the last pages of the book and now am eagerly awaiting book 2. Can't wait for more! ( )

Good

Good plot. Kept me interested and I liked the way things developed. I am excited to rad the next book. ( )

Deviants (Dust Chronicles #1)

by Maureen McGowan

Very good book! Quick easy read that kept me going back for more. I will definitely continue on and read the rest of the series. I wasn't sure if I would like this book but it was the Samsung free kindle pick for the month and I thought might as well give it a chance, and I'm glad I did! ( )

Why do you do this to me, dystopian YA fiction? Why?! You lure me in with the promise of a good time like a well-dressed stranger offering free Nutella jars & Klondike bars, and then you backhand me with your nonsense, bore me half to death, and leave me facepalming alone in the dark. Not cool.

Ugh! This book...I don’t even know where to begin. It was so incredibly superficial in every single freakin’ way. The characters, the plot, the emotions, the conflicts, and the world-building were hardly developed at all. There was no depth to any aspects of the story. It was all so very sketchy & oversimplified.

Trademark dystopian elements (e.g. corrupt totalitarian government, social conditioning/control via propaganda & fear, environmental disaster, mass oppression, etc.) were haphazardly assembled, poorly fleshed out, and left mostly unexplored. The description of the world the story takes place in was shoddy at best (with notable inconsistencies), and its origins were blatantly disregarded with the following cop out:

“No one knows why the dust killed most life on earth. No one knows why Shredders can feed off the dust, or why some people became Deviant, neither Normals nor Shredders. If someone does know, Management’s not telling.”

The female protagonist, Glory, was no less shallow. Quite frankly, she annoyed the bloody hell out of me. She was a self-absorbed, wishy-washy, fickle drama queen that spent a great majority of the book bitching & moaning about how much her life sucks and saying angsty shit like this: “A girl whose emotions kill isn’t meant to have love.”

Oh and it gets better (and by better, I mean worse…much, much worse).

Whenever Glory wasn’t indulging in internal Woe Is Me monologues (as well as her raging hormones), she was doing her best Bella Swan impersonation by clinging onto her very stoic love interest like a spider monkey. I wish I was joking.

Now, very early on in the book, I got the impression that I was supposed to view Glory as a strong, brave, independent heroine. Yeeaah...any minute potential of that happening was completely obliterated the instant love interest #2 showed up on the scene (yes, there are two love interests, which means there is a shitty love triangle). Once “Burn” sauntered over with his Tarzan routine (minimal verbal skills included), Glory was stripped of her Girl Scout badges and demoted to Damsel in Distress status.

Hmm...me thinks certain YA fiction authors might not fully comprehend what it means to be a heroine. Let’s break it down, shall we. A heroine is a female version of a hero. Heroes tend to be courageous, tough, capable, noble, and regarded as role models. So, keeping that in mind, how about we do a little gender role swapping experiment and consider the following story-based scenario:

You meet a cute, heroic boy. You feel an instant connection. Suddenly, a bunch of bad guys come after the two of you. You grab your hero by the hand and go on the run together. Unfortunately said boy is slow & weak, and so you're forced to carry him on your back. A lot. And when you're not piggybacking him around from place to place, you're wearing him like a fanny pack ‘cos he's scared & fragile, is unable to adequately protect himself, and apparently has unreliable motor function skills. Plus, just when you thought your hero could prove himself useful with his deadly superpower, you find out that he passes out after using it and thus you're forced to carry him to safety. Again. On top of that he whines all the time, wallows in self-pity, and repeatedly disregards your justified warnings & logical advice, choosing instead to make irrational, impulsive decisions that accomplish nothing aside from putting him in dangerous situations that result in you having to risk your young, precious life to save his pansy ass.

Inspiring and oh-so romantic, isn’t it? No? I’ll take a wild stab in the dark and venture to say that you found the above description of the hero to be rather laughable and not very heroic in the slightest bit. Than why is it acceptable to paint our heroine in such a way? Come on authors! Give us complex, intelligent, resilient, self-sufficient female characters whose existence & value isn’t based on the male love interests. Is that really too much to ask for?

[Side Note: While we're on the topic of love interests, what the frak is up with the wacky, novelty names (Burn, Four, Fade, Day, etc.)? Reminds me of 1995 when after watching Hackers my friends and I tried to give ourselves cool hacker aliases despite the fact that none of us owned a computer at the time and the only things we knew how to hack were fruits & vegetables. In other words, it seems rather contrived & silly. Are the unique names supposed to make up for the fact that not a single one of these dudes has an original personality?]

Anyways, to sum things up, Deviants was a disappointment. It was derivative, predictable, and devoid of any suspense or excitement. The characters were lame, the romance was vapid, and the plot was virtually nonexistent. Next! ( )

Three years ago Glory's father murdered her mother and paralyzed her younger brother Drake. Her father turned out to be a Deviant, which are humans with powerful and usually dangerous abilities. He was thrown out of the domed city of Haven and perished in the hands of the Shredders, psychotic creatures that enjoy torturing and killing humans. Since then, Glory has been taking care of her brother in secret. Because after the death of their parents, Glory and Drake have discovered that they are Deviants as well. And Deviants aren't welcomed in Haven.

With its fast pace and intriguing setting, Deviants was a book I found myself easily getting sucked into. The story was unique, yet familiar at the same time. For instance, the people in charge of Haven aren't that different from other authority figures found in most post-apocalyptic novels. They are strict, controlling, and keeping many secrets from the citizens. But I think that's to be expected in a world that was nearly destroyed. What stood out for me in this book was the world outside Haven. The Deviants and Shredders and how they came to be. I can't get into much detail, otherwise it would be a spoiler, but I wasn't expecting some of the things that happened and were revealed in this book. It made some moments pretty shocking and exciting.

Then there's the main character Glory. She's a determined girl who basically had to grow up quickly and become the parent to her younger brother. I like that she loves Drake and will do anything and everything to protect him. I did get frustrated with her a lot though. She had a tendency to not trust people and jump to conclusions quickly. It made sense that she would be that way, considering the betrayal she felt after what her father did, but there were instances where I felt she could have sought out answers first. There's also some romance in this book, a bit of a love-triangle involving Glory and two very different guys. I'm normally not a fan of love-triangles; however, while I think it's obvious who Glory will end up with, it doesn't seem like it's going to be easy. I'm actually really curious how this one is going to work out.

Deviants was an adventurous and thrilling start to a new series. As I mentioned before, it was a fast-paced read and very easy to become pulled into the story. I recommend it to those who can't get enough of the post-apocalyptic and dystopia genres. ( )