[Review] The Ward

Monday, April 22, 2013


Title:The Ward
Author: Jordanna Frankel
Series: Yes
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Won from Tea Time with Epic Reads

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Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.

However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface.

Jordana Frankel’s ambitious debut novel and the first in a two-book series, The Ward is arresting, cinematic, and thrilling—perfect for fans of Scott Westerfeld or Ann Aguirre.


 

This review was really hard to write because this book was high on my TBR pile and I was really looking forward to reading it. The concept, I thought, was amazingly original (with a whole city underwater) and I thought that the inclusion of drag racing was an interesting factor. But unfortunately I felt that the story as well as the characters fell flat.

Like I said earlier, an underwater city felt like a great plot line, but I think the issue I had was the world building itself. Although I mostly understood what was going on and what was happening, I was often confused about how the world turned out this way, and why certain people in charge were there in the first place. At times I felt like the story was more interested in following the main character and what she was doing more than the world that surrounded her. I wanted to know why this happened and I wanted to know the history. But I didn't get it, and that made the story less enjoyable than I predicted.

The romance was another aspect that had great potential but ultimtaley fell flat. Both characters had chemistry, and you saw that thorugh their action twoards each other, but I didn't feel it outside of their minds. I didn't feel it on every page. And I really wanted to. Usually when I am reading a romance I want to be so invested in their romance that if something happens to derail that, then I am left heart broken with my heart racing a mile a minute. I didn't get that feeling here. And the conflict that drives their relationship was not as believable as I wanted it to be.

Overall, I felt the story and characters were missing some key elements that wold have made the story and world flow a little better. But I will say that i still enjoyed the writing and I thought the story itself was interesting enough to keep reading. Although my issues, I am intrigued as to what happens in the next book.

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2 comments

  1. I've heard a lot of mixed things about this book which is so disappointing because it sounded so good! I may still give it a shot because curiosity always gets the better of me but I'll keep my expectations in check!

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  2. I keep reading different reviews for this one as well, nothing that really makes the book shine though. But I don't know if I can get past a book with holes in the world-building. It is one of my biggest pet peeves about dystopians.

    Ashley @ The Quiet Concert

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