Lockdown

Lockdown by Peter May

Paperback, 399 pages

Published 16th June 2020 by Quercus

Shelves: adult-fiction, better-than-expected, books-i-own, crime-thriller-mystery, dystopian, read, read-in-2021, sci-fi, title-appeal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Written over fifteen years ago, this prescient, suspenseful thriller is set against a backdrop of a capital city in quarantine, and explores human experience in the grip of a killer virus. 

'They said that twenty-five percent of the population would catch the flu. Between seventy and eighty percent of them would die. He had been directly exposed to it, and the odds weren't good.' 

A CITY IN QUARANTINE 

London, the epicenter of a global pandemic, is a city in lockdown. Violence and civil disorder simmer. Martial law has been imposed. No-one is safe from the deadly virus that has already claimed thousands of victims. Health and emergency services are overwhelmed. 

A MURDERED CHILD 

At a building site for a temporary hospital, construction workers find a bag containing the rendered bones of a murdered child. A remorseless killer has been unleashed on the city; his mission is to take all measures necessary to prevent the bones from being identified. 

A POWERFUL CONSPIRACY 

D.I. Jack MacNeil, counting down the hours on his final day with the Met, is sent to investigate. His career is in ruins, his marriage over and his own family touched by the virus. Sinister forces are tracking his every move, prepared to kill again to conceal the truth. Which will stop him first - the virus or the killers?t

I picked up Lockdown during the UK's third COVID lockdown and despite the eerie comparisons, I'm glad that I did! The book starts with a preface that tells us that initially the book wasn't published as in 2005 the thought of the UK capital, London, being in total lockdown seemed  too outlandish, but now we're all too familiar with both the term and the reality, meaning the book was published and has become a hit during these unprecedented times.

I have to admit that I was very happily surprised by this book. Though you should never judge a book by its cover, this isn't a book that I'd usually be tempted to pick up and the title is the sole reason that I did. I don't know what possessed me to want to read a book that was in reflective of our current trying times, but I thought that May predicted and portrayed life in lockdown impressively well. Granted, the lockdown in the book certainly seemed more grave than what we've been dealing with, issues such as fear and social issues were tackled very well. 

The story is set in London during lockdown as a new, highly virulent flu-type disease sweeps the population, threatening the lives of all. We are introduced to our protagonist, D.I. Jack MacNeil as he is tackles his last case before leaving the police force. As human remains are found at a construction site, he makes it his main purpose to bring justice to the victim. During the investigation we are introduced to many people including the forensics team which work tirelessly to discover the identity of the young victim. The book may primarily be a crime thriller, but we're also treated to a romantic storyline as we read about MacNeil's relationship with forensic orthodontist, Amy Wu. I enjoyed the characters in this book but Amy definitely was the most interesting to me as we learnt more as her character developed alongside the criminal case. I also liked the insight into both race and disability that Wu brought to the story.

Overall, the story was one that held my interest, it was easy to follow and had a bit of everything - mystery, action and romance. I was never bored whilst reading this one. I enjoyed reading about May's chaotic Lockdown London and mostly, I am impressed with his precognition! I was disappointed by the ending of the story which was, quite frankly, ridiculous and I felt that it did let the book down. Nonetheless, I'm glad I read this and would definitely recommend it. I look forward to reading more of May's work in the future.

All Our Yesterdays (Cassandra Chronicles #1)

All Our Yesterdays (Cassandra Chronicles #1) by Cristin Terrill

Paperback, 362 pages

Published 1st August 2013 by Bloomsbury

Shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, crime-thriller-mystery, if-i-were-a-boy, read-in-2013, really-good, sci-fi, series-or-companions, title-appeal, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

A brilliantly brain-warping thriller and a love story that leaps back and forth in time - All Our Yesterdays is an amazing first novel, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.

Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet. 

Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.

Like most people, I find the thought of being able to time travel very exciting. I like reading realistic YA Sci-Fi, so I picked All Our Yesterdays up in the hope that it would be an interesting read for me. I can only remember reading one time travel book in the past, and unfortunately it wasn't for me. Thankfully, this was a whole new experience and definitely a much more positive one!

I was really awestruck when I discovered that this was Cristin Terrill's first book - she certainly didn't give herself an easy job when writing it! All Our Yesterdays is a complex story with, to name a few things, detailed (scientific) time travelling, backward and forward thinking, multiple versions of the same characters, suspicious political activity, assassinations and even a very well written romance. Terrill has created a future where time travel is possible and a future that our main characters, Em and Finn want to destroy - though it's not fully revealed what is happening thanks to the time machine (Cassandra), it is clear that it is the cause of a very dystopian society. We learn a lot about this future and what led up to it as we progress in the book, though I feel there will be even more to discover in the next instalments! I really enjoyed learning about the history of the creation of Cassandra and it was very interesting to see how the characters dealt with the situation in the past and also how they dealt with it when they revisited that time period. 

There are three key characters in this book - Marina/Em, Finn and James. It's difficult to describe the three characters as there are two versions of each. The book is narrated by both Marina (who is in the past, writing as the present) and Em (who is in the present, travelled to the past). Em is the perfect protagonist - she has history, she is as strong as she can be, yet still has a sense of vulnerability.  At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Em and Finn who are imprisoned in separate cells. They eventually manage to get free and travel back in time to try to attempt to stop the formation of Cassandra, the time machine. It could potentially have gotten very confusing with two of the same character moving around in the same scenes, but I can honestly say that I never felt confused - the author has managed to create a strong yet natural distinction between the past and present characters. There is romance in this book and it's romance that works very well. I initially loved the romance between Marina and James, but later I preferred reading about Em and Finn's growing friendship. I was absolutely taken in by both James and Finn for totally different reasons - they were different, but both very endearing. The romance in this book feels naturally woven in with the plot, it isn't overpowering or unrealistic - but I will warn you that at points it is definitely heart-breaking.

Despite all of the complexities, this book isn't difficult at all to follow, it is a book that will get you thinking about lots of different things and it's definitely a page-turner. One of the best things about this book is that although there was a lot of substance and facts, we were also given a whole lot of twists and turns throughout. The book wasn't predictable in the slightest but, instead, it was shocking and compelling. Don't expect to forget about this book after reading it, your mind will be kept awake, thinking and deliberating. It is the biggest mind-bender I have ever read, and it would certainly take some beating!  

Overall, this was a fantastic, fast paced book which had me intrigued right from the start. It terrifically written by a very talented author and the book, though it will be part of a series, still worked amazingly well as a stand-alone read. All Our Yesterdays deserves all of the praise that it has gained and more. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anybody who enjoys a YA read, whether it's for the time travel concept or for the romance. I have seen one word used to describe this book over and over again - 'bittersweet' - this is definitely true. The two words I would use to describe All Our Yesterdays? Mind. Blown.

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1)

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

Paperback, 460 pages

Published 7th May 2013 by Puffin

Shelves:  arc-or-review, books-i-own, dystopian, read-in-2013, series-or-companions, sci-fi, supernatural, to-read, too-much-hype, young-adult

My rating:  3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

The Passage meets The Hunger Games in a gripping new series from Carnegie-shortlisted Rick Yancey. After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave. On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, until Cassie meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope for rescuing her brother and even saving herself. Now she must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Cassie Sullivan gets up.

The 5th Wave has undoubtedly been one of the most eagerly anticipated young adult books of 2013. There has been a lot of superb reviews for this book and it's not surprising, it is certainly sure to please a lot of fans of popular books such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. I have true belief that this will become one of the next successful series, as it seems to have everything that a young adult novel needs.

The first thing that I noted about this book when I picked it up was that it was science-fiction, a genre that has certainly surprised me in the past, it's a genre that I usually enjoy more than I expect. Thankfully, this book was still very realistic and the sci-fi element was at a very understandable level. Yancey clearly has a good idea about the science in his world, how each wave happened and what is coming next, but thankfully he doesn't overindulge in descriptions and technicalities and we learn about it all at a natural pace. Even if you're not particularly confident with this genre, this would probably be a good starting place.

A main element of this book is aliens, so I was very curious to see how they were portrayed. The aliens in this book are called the Others and they're so very different from your stereotypical bug-eyed green men - they aren't all that different from your average human, in fact some of them are human and they can be very difficult to detect. I fully admit that I didn't have a clue as to who could be trusted in this book - as soon as you start to connect with one character, something happens which could totally turn you the other way from them.

The narrators are the book are very well written. I particularly liked reading about the relationship between Cassie, her younger brother and her father. As individual characters, they all stood as firm unique people but their relationship was, for me, the real strength of the book, even when they were separated. I was also very intrigued by Evan, a boy that we're not sure that we can trust. I found one of our narrators, Ben Parish, to be a little more difficult to connect with and would hope to find out more from him in the next book(s). The characters are the  most important thing for me in any book and I was very pleased with the ones that Yancey conjured up for this series - they definitely have a lot of potential.

The reason why I didn't give this more stars is simply because I felt it was dragging out at points. I also find action scenes a bit tiring to keep up with and with the mixed narration, it was difficult to pick back up and remember who was narrating towards the end. Of course, as aforementioned, there were definitely a lot of positive aspects to the book and for the most part it was enjoyable. I'd definitely not hesitate to recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the YA genre and will most likely check out the next instalment in this series.

Angelfall (Penryn & The End of Days #1)

Angelfall (Penryn & The End of Days #1) by Susan Ee

Paperback, 272 pages

Published May 23rd 2013 by Hodder and Stoughton

My shelves: angels-demons, apocalyptic, better-than-expected, books-i-own, dystopian, fantasy, horror, really-good, sci-fi, series-or-companions, young-adult

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

If I'm being honest, I was a little weary of reading this book. It seemed to appear from nowhere, it was first self published and it was only available as an eBook for a long time. Sure, none of these things mean that it will necessarily be bad, but it didn't endear me to the idea of Angelfall - I'm one of those people who likes physical books. When I heard that it was finally being made into a paperback, I was delighted! I found that it was a real treasure and in fact far better than many other post-apocalyptic young-adult books that have been commercially released recently and in the past few years. It is evident that Ee has a talent for writing and it felt as every word had been carefully thought out and was important in this book.

The story does feel slightly commercial in the way that I feel as though it will appeal to many people. It seemed like an amalgamation of factors from other released books, but adapted. I certainly don't mean that this feels like a copy of other books, but that it does certain familiarities to several other things that I have read. However, the story is new, fresh and exciting. I have never read a book about Angels that has gripped me or that I have enjoyed as much as I did with this.

From the first page, I got thrown into the post-apocalyptic setting which was both fascinating and frightening. Ee has done a wonderful job of making everything seem very vivid and as though we are seeing things through Penryn's eyes. The writing and emotion feels authentic, raw and bold. From start to finish, the book is very eventful and had me on the edge of my seat. There was a certain addictive quality, just wanting to know where Penryn would take us next and what she would see. Most of what Penryn does see is gruesome and Ee creates some extremely macabre, horrifying and unsettling scenes.

Nothing seems to stop Penryn from the search for her family. We are given a strong protagonist, a fantastic heroine. Around her are many more curious characters, including her abducted sister, Paige, and Penryn's mother, who is mentally unstable and claims to talk to demons - these both seem to be especially complex characters that I'm interested to watch develop. Raffe, the angel that is alongside Penryn for the majority of this book, is shown to have ethereal beauty and a strong personality, without any flowery writing, which was refreshing. The relationship between Penryn and Raffe was interesting to read about, as Raffe is essentially one of the enemies, simply by being an angel. I found Dee and Dum to provide some joviality to the harsh background of the apocalypse and I absolutely loved them.

There are a few things that if revealed would have helped me to understand things more, such as a little more information about the mythology and the reason of the apocalypse, but this is the first in a series and so I hope that, and assume it will be, explained further on in the next books which I simply can't wait to be released!

What's Left of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1)

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Paperback, 576 pages

Published 27th September 2012 by Harper Collins Childrens Books

My shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, cover-appeal, read, dystopian, mental-health, read-in-2012, sci-fi, series-or-companions, title-appeal, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

How I Live Now meets His Dark Materials in this stunningly written and intensely moving debut.

Imagine that you have two minds, sharing one body. You and your other self are closer than twins, better than friends. You have known each other forever.

Then imagine that people like you are hated and feared. That the government want to hunt you down and tear out your second soul, separating you from the person you love most in the world.

Now meet Eva and Addie.

They don’t have to imagine.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Harper Collins for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard about What's Left of Me, I was both excited and unsure about it. The cover of the book is striking and there's no doubt that the blurb sounds interesting, but it also sounds quite confusing - the thing that put me off for a little while. However, the excitement overcame the uncertainty and I'm so glad that it did!

What's Left of Me follows a hybrid girl - two female minds inside one body, named Addie and Eva. This may sound like it could get confusing, but I can honestly say that at no point did I become confused whilst reading this. The book revolves around Hybrid children and teenagers - people who have two minds or personalities living inside them. In Addie and Eva's world, most people are born with two minds but as they grow, one dominates and the other fades away. For those who don't have this happen to them, life becomes difficult as they are treated as defected and are subject to endless treatment to rid them of one mind.

Zhang takes quite a complex idea and puts it onto page in a way that seems effortless. The writing is simple, gets the point across yet is still gripping and a pleasure to read. It's certainly not a chore to read this book. The thing that impressed me most about this book was the idea behind it - Zhang had a wonderful idea when she thought this book up - it's refreshing, different and intriguing. I would've liked to discover more about the world, why/how hybrids came about and the reasons why they are treated as defected, but there is room for expansion of this in the next books. However, I really did enjoy what I discovered in this book. Most of this book is set in a hospital for Hybrids, and I found the setting to be truly intriguing - It felt like a real, quite scary place and I could feel for the characters who were there.

All of the characters in this book are pretty well developed, even though there are a multitude of them. Addie and Eva are our main characters and I thought that their development was truly superb. As two people in the same mind, they had a truly unique relationship, quite unlike any other I have read. Their thoughts and feelings were so very real and I felt a lot for Eva, the less dominant mind, who often struggled to get her feelings across to Addie and was hidden away from others, in fear. It was sometimes quite strange to read the narration from a hidden mind in someone's body, but it was always fascinating. We meet a lot of other characters in this book, including Addie and Eva's family, friends, doctors and hybrid hospital patients. They're all strong characters, but I would like to know more about all of them, just out of curiosity!

I thought that this book was well paced throughout - I was never bored during this book as I did just find the book so intriguing. The pace certainly sped up towards the end as we made some important revelations - the action towards the end should satisfy those who like a bit of action or suspense in their books. The ending has been left quite widely open and I will look forward to seeing what happens next.

Overall, I was very impressed with Kat Zhang's writing and imaginative ideas. This was an enjoyable, easy and compelling read that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone who likes young adult sci-fi or dystopian books. I really can't wait to see what happens next and what else Zhang has to offer us!

Breathe (Breathe #1)

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Paperback, 384 pages

Expected publication: 11th October 2012 by Bloomsbury

My shelves: apocalyptic, arc-or-review, blog-tour, books-i-own, dystopian, lgbt-characters, read-in-2012, really-good, sci-fi, series-or-companions, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides which lucky few will live inside the Pod. Everyone else will slowly suffocate. Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die. Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from? A dystopian thriller about courage and freedom, with a love story at its heart.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Bloomsbury for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I heard about Breathe, I was absolutely desperate to get my hands on a copy! The first book that I ever received for review was Sarah Crossan's debut novel, The Weight of Water and I absolutely devoured it - it was truly something special and I was left wanting more of Crossan's work. When I found out that her next project was a dystopian series, I was practically jumping up and down!

As you might be able to tell, I had very high expectations for Breathe and thankfully it didn't let me down at all. I am a huge fan of dystopian books, but I realise that due to the huge boom in popularity around this genre, there are quite a few dystopian books that aren't up to scratch - I am so glad to say that this is definitely one of the better ones out there. This book did have elements which reminded me of other popular dystopian books and will definitely appeal to fans of authors such as Ally Condie and Suzanne Collins. Though the story did have some similar elements to other books, it was still original and gripping with good world-building.

Breathe follows three characters as they discover the truth about the world that they're living in. In Breathe, most people live inside the Pod, where oxygen is distributed to the people by the government and only the rich (Premiums) are able to afford extra oxygen in order to exercise or exert themselves. Many people have been ejected from the Pod to live in the Outlands, where it's almost essential to have an oxygen tank in order to survive. Both the plot and setting are strong and captivating. I became truly gripped by this book and didn't want to put it down. The story is gripping and I always wanted to know more. There is so much to discover about the world in this book, which is very promising for the rest of the series!

Breathe is narrated by three different characters - Alina, Bea and Quinn. Unlike most other books told from several points of view, I didn't really favour one character in particular - I really enjoyed reading about all three characters. Alina is a part of the Resistance and is a very bold, strong character with lots of attitude. Bea is an auxiliary girl who is kindhearted and somewhat quiet, but who also has an attitude burning up inside her. Quinn is a Premium, a boy raised in a rich family with a powerful father. Our three main characters are all quite different, each have very distinct personalities and it is very interesting to discover how they see the world through such different eyes. I found it interesting how their views changed and developed as they interacted. Of course, there were other characters in the book, my favourites being Maude and Jazz. We are also introduced to the head of the Resistance, Petra who I don't know whether or not to love or hate, but she is such a fantastic character! 

Overall, this was an enthralling read which I found very difficult to put down, but so easy to pick back up. I love the plot. I love the characters. I already liked Sarah Crossan before reading this book and now I've finished it, she's firmly landed a place as one of my favourite authors. I seriously can't wait for the next instalment of this story. For me, this is how a dystopian should be.  

Rage Within (Dark Inside #2)

Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

Paperback, 368 pages

Expected publication: 30th August 2012 by Macmillan Children's Books

My shelves: apocalyptic, arc-or-review, blog-tour, books-i-own, dystopian, horror, read-in-2012, sci-fi, read, young-adult, zombies

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

After the earthquakes came the infectious rage, turning friends into deadly enemies. For survivors Michael, Aries, Mason and Clementine the battle to stay alive is about to get even tougher. The new world is organising itself, with camps that promise protection for the uninfected. But the reality of the sites is far more sinister. Besides, nobody is safe from the rage within their own soul...

For fans of Gone, or 28 Days Later not to be missed!

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Macmillan's Children Books for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Last year, I picked up a copy of Rage Inside from my local library, not knowing much about it and having not read a zombie-type book before (okay, they're technically not zombies, but some characters are in a zombie-like state). I was very glad that I did pick it up as I really, really enjoyed it. The only problem was, I had to wait for the second book to be released! When I finally held a copy of Rage Within, I was so excited to delve into it.

I'll be honest and say that I can't remember Dark Inside very clearly, despite how much I liked it - I could only recollect snippets of events, though I had a good memory of the characters. This wasn't a problem for me though, by around only 50 pages in, I was absolutely absorbed into the story, reacquainted with the characters and didn't want to put the book down. I was surprised that I enjoyed Dark Inside so much and even more surprised that I enjoyed this instalment even more. In this book, we follow a group of teenagers as they unite to try and survive a world that has completely changed after a catastrophic earthquake. They are up against a load of people who have turned into what are known as 'Baggers' - the bad guys of the books. Baggers are still human and it's very hard to know who is a bagger and who is not, which makes things a whole lot scarier and unnerving.

Again, this book is narrated by Mason, Michael, Clementine and Aries. Each character was strong and for me, it felt very equal - I didn't warm particularly to one character as I was interested in them all. Whilst all characters are well formed, I personally thought it was quite easy to get them mixed up, however this didn't cause any difficulty whilst reading. Though I won't mention who they are incase of spoilers, we also got to meet some new characters in this book who were very intriguing. There was a huge twist with one character in particular in this book and although it did sadden me as I'd come to like and know the character, the twist was indeed very effective! I loved all of the twists and turns in the book. There were some things that were slightly predictable but a lot of twists did shock me and make me gasp, which was fantastic. I was totally hooked, desperate to know what was going to happen next.

The one aspect of the first book that troubled me was the point of view of a character known as 'Nothing' - someone/thing that we don't know anything about. despite it being effective, I didn't like it in the first book as it was too vague for me. However, in this book we get to learn a lot more about 'Nothing' and begin to really discover who/what Nothing is. 

As you should be able to tell, I really liked this book and now begins the torturous wait for book three! Absolutely addictive, edge of your seat reading with fantastically developed, fun and loveable characters, this series is definitely one that I'd recommend.

Neptune's Tears (Timedance #1)

Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner

Paperback, 224 pages

Expected publication: September 2012 by Picadilly Press

My shelves: arc-or-review, blog-tour, books-i-own, dystopian, read-in-2012, sci-fi, series-or-companions, to-be-reviewed, young-adult

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

It is love against the odds. There is his word, and there is hers. How can they feel so connected?

It is 2218 and Zee McAdams is in her second year as a healing empath at a busy London hospital. When a mysterious young man arrives for treatment, Zee's hard won calm is pierced. She will need all her courage if she's to follow her heart.

Especially when David reveals a devastating secret.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Picadilly Press for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Neptune's Tears is the first book in the Timedance series by Susan Waggoner. It's set in 2218 and follows a young empath in a London hospital. For such a quick read, the pages inside this book contain a lot. The story mainly revolves around Zee's career as an empath, her powers related to this and her romance with a boy, David, who one day appears at her hospital.

Zee was a very decent, relatable character. I liked what we got to know about her and particularly admired her for her love of her job and the care she wanted to give to the people around her. I thought Zee's job was really interesting and it was the best, most interesting part of the book for me - I look forward to learning more about her work in the next book. David, her love interest was mysterious and  likeable even though we didn't really get to know all that much about him until the end. The thing that makes me somewhat undecided about  the characters inside this book is that there is a huge case of instalove. As soon as Zee meets David in hospital, they are in love. I really dislike instalove, but I realise that in the case of this book, instant attraction and love seems to be somewhat the norm and part of being an empath. The characters also needed this instant love in order for the book to progress as quickly as it did. It wasn't a major problem for me as it's something to do with Zee being an empath, but I still couldn't bring myself to like or accept the fact - it felt too rushed.

As I mentioned, a lot of things happen in this book. I seemed to speed through this story - it's definitely easy to read and a page-turner and I think even the most reluctant reader would find it difficult not to rush through this one! There isn't a dull moment in this book, something is always happening or something being revealed. Though the pace was good as it left no time for boredom, I do think things could've been slowed down a little more so that they could be developed or elaborated upon. I don't want to include any spoilers, but the huge revelation at the end has made me very excited for the next book - the plot has huge potential.

Neptune's Tears has a lot of good ideas behind it - it's clear that Waggoner's imagination is certainly not dull! For the most part, this was a very enjoyable, captivating story and I am looking forward to reading all of the drama in the next instalment! 

Interested in learning more about Neptune's Tears? Follow the UK blog tour!