For The Win

Reader: Elizabeth S
Age: 16
Title: For The Win
Author: Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pub Date: 05/11/10
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
which I loved. It sort of portrayed the book's content, but I think it was a little too militaristic for the actual fighting of the book.
Recommend: No
Convince us to read the book: I wouldn't recommend it. It jumped all over the place and was hard to finish without being wholly dedicated to reading it. I think Doctorow's last novel is much better for people interested in computers and international or national politics.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect of the book was its main plot idea. It seemed very interesting to read about four teens who try to overthrow international economics through a mysterious organization. However, there were more than four main characters who were all very hard to keep straight. I found myself being thrown around from country to country, viewpoint to viewpoint, without knowing where the character was, what she or he was doing, and not even knowing who he or she was. It was really disorienting and made it hard to keep track of the plot. I did like the idea though, and some of the explanatory chapters were pretty interesting. I learned a lot from those chapters, and actually looked forward to them because of the easy-to-understand way they were written.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: It was too hard to follow and had too implausible an ending. The huge conflict Doctorow built up to throughout the novel seemed to be a hugely interesting ending, but instead was resolved in a few pages in one conversation. I felt let down after investing so much time working my way through the book. My favorite characters weren't focused on in the end, and my favorite aspects pretty much fizzled away as the few characters involved in the resolution just talked. I was really disappointed with this ending.
Did the cover tempt you or reflect the contents: I didn't like the cover so much. It looked too dark and too busy. Nothing seemed to go together, and it was definitely a let-down compared to Doctorow's last novel's cover,
Age Range: 12-15
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 2P Only for special interest