Age: 15
Title: Infected
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 01/06/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I felt like the plot was interesting enough to keep me hooked, although it seemed just a little predictable at times. However, I do feel like the romance between Tanner and Carina seems like idealized, young-adult-novel love instead of being realistic. Despite this, there were some things I liked about this book, like the fast pace, the paranoia, and the sense of urgency throughout. At times, though, it also seemed to rely upon cliches and seemed somewhat like a collection of tropes from the young-adult/scifi/thriller genre (secret codes, secret messages in jewelry, someone who you think is an antagonist turning out to be good after all and vice versa, etc.).
In addition, I feel like a part of the book that was sort of a cop-out was the "secret codes" part of it. The book has vague descriptions of the code, instead of including the actual coded messages and allowing the reader to try to puzzle over and decipher themselves. The book basically says something along the lines of "she spent time deciphering it until she figured it out." and leaves it at that. Either that, or it gives a useless, uncoded message that only refers to some personal thing that one of the characters would know. In fact, I found the part where they tried unlocking Walter's house very confusing about what exactly they were solving, and I'm still confused about it because how they solved it was never explained in detail.
The final battle at the school, where they were leaping from rooftop to rooftop, also seemed hard to imagine to me because the locations of buildings and structures in relation to the characters were never really described in-depth, and that made visualization of the ending difficult.
Memorable or Forgettable: It seemed forgettable to me because it read sort of like all other young-adult-thriller sorts of books, especially with the somewhat idealized romance between the two lead characters and the predictable plot, along with the overall similar plot to many other books I've read in the past.
Cover: It interested me, but it only seemed to somewhat relate to the contents. The city skyline in the background seems a little unnecessary.
Age Range: 12 through 15
Quality: 3Q - Readable
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal
tags: suspense / action / ya lit
1 comment:
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