Anaru BickfordCritiques
Auteur de Aroha
Critiques
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This book is bad. It is the sort of book that I would imagine was self-published, except that it's not. This book is published by Pear Jam books, a small NZ company that in order to be considered for publication by them, you have to go via a book editting service. And I would say, there were no spelling mistakes and the ebook layout was impeccable. Yet, somehow a "where" had slipped in instead of a "we're". Anyhow, grammatical errors are small niggles, and this book failed me on so many levels.
Aside from the distinctly unlikeable protagonist, the plot is lame and linear - Aroha has known from the time that she was four that the world was going to burn and she was going to be the sole survivor. She frequently dreams of fire and devastation. Meanwhile, she's going to school in a future America, which was probably the most interesting part of the book. Future America has shut its gates to the outside world, and appears to be at war with some unknown enemy. Security is so tight that you cannot even go to the shopping mall without a full body scan and leaving the country to return to your homeland of New Zealand is impossible. Aroha lives here with her Aunt and Uncle and a cousin that hates her and indeed tries to kill her (for reasons that become known later in the plot). At about 56% of the way through the story stops being a dull but readable account of life as a teenager in this other America, and the supernatural side kicks in. Aroha is attacked in a limousine - in what is a rather poorly written fight scene - and rescued by a beautiful man called Gabe. Upon seeing him, Aroha - the antisocial and guarded girl, suddenly realises that not only does she love him, but she has for years (he appeared in one of her previous dreams)and they then go on a roadtrip across Arizona and end up in some meteor crater with a false prophet.
Then the bad thing happens - and it is the moon breaking from its orbit and moving closer to the earth.
Something that has been done far more convincingly in the Last Survivors trilogy.
At this point I gave up reading in detail and skimmed to the ending. But the relationship between Gabe and Aroha was completely flat, and as a reader I felt no emotional linkage whatsoever to any of the characters. Even when the reason for cousin Mary's hatred was revealed it was unaffecting - surely Aroha's mother could have explained a better reason for her unexpected pregnancy than to say her brother had raped her? I mean... you must really hate your brother if you decide to pin your virgin pregnancy on him.
And for those of you who have read through this review and are still considering this as a read for teenagers, I should also mention that the "F-bomb" is dropped on several occasions, and although Gabe and Aroha do have sex, it's entirely between chapters and included just so that when the world ends and she survives she can be pregnant with his children. So presumerably she's birthing a litter (okay, they're twins). Alone. In a world devastated by fire. Good luck to her.
Basically, if I could ask for my money back, I would. I cannot believe this is a book that is professionally published. I have read so many self-published books that are better designed and far better executed.