Tuesday, March 25, 2014

REVIEW: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT by Joe Kipling


THIS IS NOT A RELIGIOUS BOOK

FROM GOODREADS 
"In the near future, when the world's population has been decimated by disease, the fortunate few live inside the Boundary, while the unlucky ones are left to die on the Outside. MaryAnn is one of the privileged. It doesn't matter that her friends can sometimes be cruel or that the boy she likes just threw up on her shoes..."

*Ha ha...that got your attention!
Sorry (not sorry).

 "It's all about being noticed at the right parties. But it takes a single event to rip her life apart.
Struggling with physical and psychological scars, MaryAnn must face up to the truth about the foundations of the Neighborhood and the legacy of her family. Once she learns the truth she can never go back, but can she really put her faith in the Union?"
"Blinded by the Light is about death and coming to terms with loss, the abuse of power, discrimination and the fear of the unknown. It is the first book in The Union Trilogy."


This dystopian young adult fiction book set in the near future critiques aspects of society such as a preoccupation with celebrity, materialism and privilege. It shows that in real life good and evil are never clear cut and we all have to decide what it means to 'do the right thing'. Told from the point of view of a girl from a privileged background, it follows the course of MaryAnn's awakening as she learns the truth about her life and the lies she has been told by her family and by her government, leading her to question everything she believes in. But whilst things may seem black or white to some, MaryAnn learns that there are grey areas too - nothing is as clear cut as it might seem. In real life people are not always good or bad, sometimes they just are."

MY THOUGHTS
After reading the first chapter I thought it was going to be just another "cookie cutter" YA Dystopian novel, but I couldn't have been more wrong! Joe Kipling imagines a very FRESH and thought provoking dystopian setting for her characters. The entire first chapter was very different in tone and style from the rest of the book, so if you aren't "feeling it", please continue on.  As with most dystopic stories there are "others", and in this book their environment is extremely unique. As MaryAnn's circumstances changed, and she added and replaced key people in her life, I became so emotionally invested I didn't want the book to end! There isn't a lot of romance and fashion references in this story, which was a huge plus for my reading preferences. There is a wonderful heartwarming, and many times comical, " bromance" which was one of my favorite things in the story. Fabulous reading entertainment with a message. A must read for every YA Dystopian fan.


My Blog tour character interview for BLINDED BY THE LIGHT. 

My author interview SATURDAY EVENING CONVERSATIONS

7 comments:

  1. Good review. Looks like an interesting read. The white box might be due to spell checking. It happened to me once and its because the spell check was still enabled. I'm not a blogger expert though but might be worth a try.

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  2. Thanks, I am still muddling through all of this blogger tech and every little blogging tip helps. :)

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  3. I just entered a giveaway for this. Sounds great. You always recommend such good books :-)

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  4. Sounds like a pretty good dystopian, and not one I was familiar with. May have t give this one a try... thanks for sharing it.

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    1. The author is a member of a Harry Potter social site I belong to. One of my fellow Ravenclaws posted the information in the common room. I didn't know her, but I purchased the book to be supportive of a MyLeaky citizen. I wasn't expecting much, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.

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