Saving Mars
Today I am part of the Saving Mars tour. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour stops.
Book
When starvation threatens the human colony on Mars, 17-year-old Jessamyn, a pilot whose been grounded, must prove that she and her autistic brother have the right stuff to raid Earth for food.
Purchase links
Author
Cidney Swanson is a full-time writer of Young Adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy including The Rippler Trilogy and The Saving Mars Series. SAVING MARS was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2012. Cidney is fond of saying that for her, “Every Day is NaNoWriMo!” When not writing, she’s easily distracted by shiny things such as books with raised foil on the covers, cleverly packaged bars of chocolate, or stars set against an inky night sky. She lives in rainy Eugene, Oregon with her family.
Connect with Cidney
Review
I felt like I read this book so fast, it was very entertaining and I was interested from the beginning. This is a new take on dystopian novels. We get to see a new world with new characters in a place filled with love, understanding and belief that kindness saves us from destroying each other.
There are normal characters like we usually see in stories, the heros, fighting for everyone and with a special ability that helps them get what they're after. But there was also a character very different, with human phobias and other characteristics that we might not pass them as normal but they are very real in our world.
It was a secondary character but that didn't make him less important. He is a very important part of the plot but still didn't take focus from the main character. I thought it was going to be different and we were going to see more of him but we didn't. I don't think it'd be a bad thing to know more about secondary characters.
As always I look for the moral of the story and I found great things here. We saw characters facing their worse fears and standing up for themselves. The main character felt like she had a high responsibility but it wasn't hers to take. The love she had for her family made her think she could handle it. It's amazing how so many people take responsibilities out of love but we need to know how to let others live their own lives. There is only so much we can do to help and we need to know when to let go.
Our planet is amazing and we take most things for granted. As we see the characters' reactions to simple things we don't notice anymore made me feel like I was experiencing something new and wonderful. Sometimes we forget how all the little things are important for our survival. It was fun seeing how others would see our planet for the first time.
What do you do when you need to save either your world or your family? I'm always amazed of the authors, they need to think of everything. I don't know how I'd react in the main character's situation.
I definitely want to read the second book.
Favorite parts:
"one must learn to see things from more than one perspective."
"She'd noticed a determination in her brother to meet every new situation as if it were a game he had to win."
"To prove to himself that he can live any life he chooses."
"So many things she'd only read of or seen in pictures, and now she saw them in reality." How cool would it be to see all the things we've read about that don't exist in our world.
"Lucky I held off firing then, isn't it?" This character is so funny. I can just picture him being serious. I really liked him.
Tour Stops
March 11
Stacy Claflin - Excerpt
Lift You Up - Interview
March 12
What's Beyond Forks? - Guest Post
Bunny's Review - Excerpt
March 13
Loup Dargent - Guest Post
Incandescent Enchantments - Promo Post
March 14
Bookshelf - Review
Charlie, Coffee and a Good Book - Guest Post
March 15
Love in a Book - Review
March 16
Cuadrado - Review
Mythical Books - Promo Post
Crimson Flower Reviews - Guest Post
YA Book Addict - Guest Post
Oh this is a new one to me. Sounds good. :D And a new take. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very good book.
DeleteIt really is amazing how much stuff we take for granted here. It's amazing how authors can come up with ideas of things that no longer exist in these dystopian worlds that I probably would have never even thought of. Definitely makes you more aware of the things you have. I honestly have no idea what I would do if I was put into a life of death situation and needed to save my world and family! Kind of scary to think about. I love a good secondary character! I think they add depth to the story. I really like when an author makes conscious effort to tell more of that character's story and wish they did it more often. Did you have fun on your vacation?!
ReplyDeleteI did, thanks! It was a little tiring but we had fun. We didn't go to Sea World though, we ran out of time. I like secondary characters too, I like to read their POVs, except for Warner's lol (Shatter Me character)
Delete