Honestly, I was really excited for this book (what a thrilling premise! Kids who somehow trigger a murderous rage in those around them!) and was massively disappointed. I haven't even finished it (which is really rare for me).

The first chapter is a good start- you feel sorry for the kid and as confused as he is by how his parents are acting, and the unsettling actions of those who begin to feel animosity towards our main characters is delightfully tense. And Rilke's messed-up relationship with her brother and her not-at-all slow descent into madness is great.

And then I lost all interest. I'm not sure if it was the introduction of the angels (and, side note, how could the angels inhabit these people and invoke such animosity and then not control how their hosts used their powers?) or just the fact that all the running and talking dragged on, but I wasn't invested in any of the characters at all. When it came time for the final battle, I felt literally nothing. That's when I stopped reading, actually - I picked up another book and finished that one, and then started another, and just drifted away and found myself with no interest in continuing. ( )

This book is kind of a drag that's all over the place. It wastes a lot of time on ancillary stuff that doesn't really add anything to the story. The characters are also really lackluster as well. I feel like this story could have been told much better in about half the length. ( )

Incredible. Just awesome, I can't... This book had me crying and laughing and sad and excited and, really, just a mess.

There were moments when it dragged a bit. It always picked back up though, and in the best way. This is definitely my #2 favorite book of all time. ( )

Not bad - for fans of Gone, Wanderers, Fear, Last Girl, The Rain and other Dystopian novels. The day starts like any other except for the "thump-thump" in their heads and then suddenly everyone ( even their parents and brothers and sisters) are trying to kill them! The start is pretty violent - describing a boy being killed on his 15th birthday.
Our 3 main protagonists are Cal - who is playing soccer and is chased by everyone including his own team and the refs, Daisy - a younger girl whose parents kill themselves rather than hurt her and Brick - an older boy with a secret hangout at a closed amusement park who has to lock his girlfriend in its basement to stop her from attacking him.
Through Internet chat - the three and others like them, are slowly drawn to the fun park to escape The Fury. Most are just bewildered ordinary kids but then a set of twins arrive( one in a coma and the other ruthlessly aggressive ) and suddenly there is danger INSIDE as well as OUTSIDE the park.
Liked how ordinary people had to be within a 10 metre radius of the "Angels" (Sorry Spoiler Alert) to attack them and if they left that space they went back to being normal. Also liked how some of the parents fought against the urge to kill - telling their kids to run. It will be interesting to see how it all progresses in the next book. Not for the faint-hearted - lots of blood, guts and gore and terrified kids. ( )

One of the most suspenseful, frightening opening chapters I've read in quite awhile in YA fiction... Alexander Gordon Smith is definitely taking a page from Stephen King's writing: take something incredible normal, everyday, and twist it - and then let your protagonist(s) try to catch up, survive, escape, figure it out, whatever. To be cont.... ( )