Snatched Up By POD People

Published: June 4th, 2013
PODs (Pods # 1)
By: Michelle Pickett
Spencer Hill Press
ISBN-13:  9781937053284

Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul.

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.

 Review

 

     Eva is sixteen and just wants to live in peace with her parents and maybe grow up to do something that makes her happy.  But than an unknown virus starts breaking out across the country and the government takes action that will changer her life forever.  Unsure how the virus is even transmitted, the government decides to have a lottery to decide who will live protected for a year in underground PODs, that will support life and keep them safe.  But is the lottery really fair?  Eva is chosen and goes into her POD not knowing what to expect.  A year later when she comes out, she's in love with David and ready to start a new life in a society different from what she left behind.  The virus may not be destroyed like they thought, and when things take a turn for the worst Eva and David may be forced to retreat into the PODs once again for safety.  Can they make it long enough for a cure to be found or will they be killed by the infected who are hunting them relentlessly?

     This book is scary in way that I haven't felt since watching that movie Contagion a few years ago.  How easily this could actually happen in the reality of the world we live in makes it downright terrifying to me!  And to be honest, as horrible as it was that the government only chose people between ages 12-24 for the POD lottery, it made sense on a certain level.  They needed people young enough and healthy enough to survive and rebuild a broken society.  They needed to be able to be taught and molded into certain career/societal roles and they also needed to be self-sufficient and not dependent on an adult for survival.  With only 70,000 spots in the PODs, it makes sense.  But it would still be extremely agonizing to know that everyone you left behind is almost assuredly dead and they died in a painful way.
     Eva is a strong, admirable girl but she is unsure how she can make it without her parents.  Living with 10 strangers for a year isn't her idea of fun, but somehow they start to get close to each other and make their own family.  Especially after delivering her fellow POD survivor's baby and falling in love with another PODmate, David.  But when the doors open a year and a half later and they are all separated into different 'village' assignments, Eva and the others have no real hope of seeing each other again.  The relationships between all of them were really realistic, not perfect because they were all basically scared teenagers.  But they managed to prop each other up and survive for their time in the PODs.  Also, other people are complaining about insta-love between David and Eva, but to me it just seemed like instant attraction.  The will-they/won't-they dynamic and their attempts to 'protect' each other DID start to annoy me.  But the romances in this book were very sweet and had some great chemistry.  I won't tell you what happens after they leave the PODs, but this book was full of action, romance and truly great character interactions and growing maturity on the part of Eva especially.  It was a wonderful book and one of the best I've read so far this year.  It could stand alone, so I'm interested to see if the next one is a sequel or a companion novel.  I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great dystopian read, and happening to be sick of the same old stories.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book was published June 4th, 2013.*

If You Find Me, Save Me

Published:  March 26th, 2013
If You Find Me
By: Emily Murdoch
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-13:  9781250021526

There are some things you can’t leave behind…
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Review

 

     Carey and her sister Jenessa have been living with their Mother for as long as they can remember, in a camper deep in the woods of a National Park.  They have been neglected and abused, with Carey taking care of Jenessa mostly by herself.  Than one day after their Mother has been gone for longer than ever before, a social worker and Carey's long lost Father come to get them.  Carey and Jenessa are taken home with Carey's Dad and brought back into a confusing, new world full of things they don't understand.  Both girls are forced to adjust to public school and normal life with their new Dad, Stepmom Melissa and jealous, angry stepsister Delany.  But they are holding onto a secret that is causing them both pain and suffering, and has made Jenessa completely silent with it's harshness.  Can they trust someone enough to let go of their old life and tell their heartbreaking secret? 

     This book absolutely broke my heart to pieces.  Carey is only fifteen but has spent the last ten years living with her volatile, mentally unstable Mother and caring for her younger sister pretty much like her own child.  The girls are both malnourished, socially ignorant and Carey has viewed her years of abuse as something that's just a fact of life.  Watching Carey and Jenessa, who refuses to speak, try to understand and become part of the world around them is devastating.  They have to get used to normal food after a unrelenting diet of beans, a family after only having each other and Carey especially has to face up to how the abuse of her Mom and a stream of others has changed her in unavoidable ways.  My main complaint would be the ugly behavior of their new stepsister Delaney, who takes to Jenessa but immediately hates Carey and does everything she can to make her life difficult.  Another thing that bothered me was the switch from friendship with Ryan, to romance.  I felt like it didn't really fit with the story and was awkward for me as a reader (especially the scene where they interact at Carey's first-ever party).  Just felt out of place in a story where the main focus is abuse, neglect, and trying to get past it.  I loved Carey's friend Pixie, who has skipped a (couple) grades and feels out place.  She has such a gigantic personality and becomes a person for Carey to hang onto when things get confusing or a little rough. 

     Carey's dialect was well-represented in the writing and I loved the fact that she eventually picked up her violin again, not letting all the bad things take away something beautiful from her for good.  The constant way everyone is always telling Carey how 'beautiful' she is had me rolling my eyes and sighing.  Why was that in any way necessary?  Yeah, she's such a special person and has done some extraordinary things in the name of survival.  So why the focus on her looks?  That did irk me more than a little bit.  But the transitions that Carey and Jenessa went through while trying to adjust were very realistic and well written.  I didn't quite entirely guess what the big secret was but I had an idea and I wasn't really that far off.  It didn't make it any less horrifying, but it wasn't as shocking as it could have been.  I felt like the clues throughout the novel were definitely less than subtle.  I liked the ending and overall it was a beautiful and haunting book that I'd recommend without hesitation!

 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published March 26th, 2013.*