Empty

The Book:  Empty by Suzanne Weyn

Summary (taken from GoodReads): 


It's the near future - the very near future - and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no driving. No heat. Supermarkets are empty. Malls have shut down. Life has just become more local than we ever knew it could be.

Nobody expected the end to come this fast. And in the small town of Spring Valley, decisions that once seemed easy are quickly becoming matters of life and death. There is hope - there has to be hope - just there are also sacrifices that need to be made, and a whole society that needs to be rethought.

Teens like Niki, Tom, and Gwen may find what they need to survive. But their lives are never going to be the same again.

What I Thought: 

Weyn's concept for this book was such a great idea that I was thrilled to find a copy and start reading.  This book hits on so many hot topic themes that worry and concern today's family:  rising oil prices, global warming concerns, wars over oil, affects of running out of non-renewable resources.  The book just doesn't quite cut it though.  The dialogue of the teens is unrealistic and forced due to the author's attempt to convey news and political information through the characters conversations.  The love triangle seems so shallow alone and particularly in compassion to the suffering surrounding the families of the three teens.  The ending also seems too tidy and forced.  I was hoping for better from this book, but it least it does bring up real issues that gas guzzling countries will need to face in the near future.

Rating:  4/10

The Fox Inheritance

The Book:  The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

Summary (taken from author's website):

Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. After a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.

Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.

Everyone except Jenna Fox.


What I Thought: 
I read the first book, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, for a YA Lit class for my masters several years ago and was very surprised at how much in enjoyed it.  When I saw the sequel, I enjoyed re-reading the first book again and was very excited to jump into the new addition to the story.  Perhaps my higher expectations is what made this book less enjoyable for me.  I found this book very different from the first and couldn't really get into the story line until well into the book.  While the we are building our impression of Jenna along with the character as she pieces everything together in the first book, I felt that Locke and Kara, the main characters in this book, were more difficult to support. Locke seemed weak and whiny and hard to place as a character while Kara was "empty" and rather unlikeable thoughout.  This one was much more involved with the sci-fi aspect of the story as well, not my favorite genre, being set in the future and involving a mad scientist.  I still like the first, despite the sci-fi aspect, but wonder if it should have just been left alone with a hopeful Jenna setting out for her unlimited future and Locke and Kara's suffering at an end at the bottom of the pond.

Rating:  4/10