Actual rating: 3.5

I really enjoyed this book.

“When we allow ourselves to explore, we discover destinations that were never on our map.”

The part of me that loves Indiana Jones, and solving puzzles in temples and crypts, and a race against time to get an ultimate goal, adventure books was so so happy to be able to embrace this in a YA style! It was fun, it was entertaining, there were boulders and spikes and explosions and aliens. there was no way I could hate the book.

BUT.

For everything that it was, it was also the slowest-paced adventure book I think I've ever read.

Maybe it was because there is a lot of info dump conversations, because we need to know the whole background about the aliens and human life and why the hell two kids are traipsing around a planet by themselves.

Maybe it was because there was a lot of physical ground to cover because they basically walk across half the freaking planet.

Maybe it was because a lot of the puzzles kinda sucked? I had high expectations on this aspect from reading adventure books where the puzzles engaged the reader as well as the characters and perhaps that's my fault for pushing my own personal agenda. But honestly, listening to a kid read glyphs in a language I don't understand isn't overly riveting.

“This isn't some after-school feel-good movie special.”

About halfway through the book everything picks up though and you really start to feel the action/adventure side of the book. There were quite a few turns that I did not see coming which is always worth applauding.

And the ending. While I'm going to brace myself for pacing that may not be my favourite I will be reading the sequel because I wanna know what the hell happens.

And everything else I enjoyed. It was good and entertaining but for me that was about it.

“We may be the only ones who think that braving a series of crumbling death traps is proof of good decision making.”

I liked the characters a lot more as individuals than I did together. I loved the contrast between their motivations and how there own problems (literally) worlds away still impacted on everything they were attempting to do.

There was something satisfying about the way the two interacted in the good and the bad. But it also didn't fill me with overwhelming emotions or necessarily have me rooting for them either. I am truly hoping that the characters have a chance to develop into something more intimate for the reader in the sequel.

All in all, consider me entertained. While some bits were slower than I would have liked, I enjoyed everything that happened and really want to see where Spooner and Kaufman take it next.




Full review | More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | Books gnaw at me from around the edges of my life, demanding more time and attention. I am always left hungry. (P. Paul)