carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

3 Stars!

I liked this book. I didn't love it but I found it to be rather entertaining. When I first saw the description for this book, I couldn't wait to read it. I immediately thought of the movie "Top Gun" but with a dystopian twist. After reading the book, I really have a lot of mixed feelings about it.



I think that there were some things that were done really well in this book. The story was incredibly fast paced with a lot of action. The characters in this book fly jets - they don't have time to sit around. I liked the flying scenes - the descriptions made it so easy to visualize these planes flying at unimaginable speeds. I liked most of the characters in the story. I actually liked almost all of the characters more than I liked the main character, Chase.

There was quite a few things that I didn't like about this book. I thought it was too much like the movie "Top Gun". Way too much. I have seen that movie many times since it was first released and I know the story pretty well. It was really very disappointing to see so much of the book mirroring that movie. I felt the need to go watch the movie as soon as I finished the book to be honest.

I also found it a bit strange that this group of teenagers are who the United States plans to rely upon to save our country. The manner in which Chase, or Nyx, flys is oftentimes reckless and almost always lacks sound judgement. I wouldn't let her drive my car and I certainly wouldn't let her do some of the stunts she pulls in a plane that could be the country's last hope. I would have liked to know a little bit more about how the world became what it is in this story as well.



I didn't like Chase very much. I understand that things have not always been easy for her but she treats everyone terribly. She does open up to Tristan as the book progresses but it seemed to me to be too little and too late. I didn't understand how all the boys seemed to fall all over her - it just doesn't make sense to me. Chase's character did evolve some and became more likable towards the end of the book.

The parts of the book that I didn't care for as much didn't completely overwhelm the excitement of the story. There are a whole lot of scenes that are simply based on being in the air at the control of these powerful jets. I do think that this book will widely appeal to a teen audience. I realize that I am not the target audience for this book and I do think that teens will find the story quite exciting.

I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via Net Galley for the purpose of providing an honest review.