Inside Out by Maria V Snyder
Insider, #1
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I'm Trella. I'm a scrub.
A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside
clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid
the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around
the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally
start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.
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Inside Out contains a well written great concept. Because I'm vehemently against spoilers there are so many things I can't tell you, but having finished it, despite the thrill and despite the oooh- factor I somewhat feel like I just read through the script of yet another sci-fi run-of-the-mill Hollywood film.
It's decent entertainment but you just kind of feel like you've seen it all before and there isn't a horrible much to the characters. Like in a film, rather than really giving us a in-depth look on who they are and why they do what they do, you're supposed to just emphatize with them through their actions. Though I like Trella, I found her initial reasoning for what sparked the entire rest of the plot so diffuse that I had to end up just outright ignoring it. Because of Trella's handy "I don't care about others" stanza Snyder doesn't even have to properly introduce all the other characters, and with most of them you're left with only the vaguest most stereotypical clue as to why they chose to get involved rather than just spill the beans to the authorities, and a lot of things just seem to happen a bit too smoothy.
Despite my complaints though I was still enjoyed the book and I found it difficult to put down. Because of my ambivalence I hovered somewhere between 2 stars and 4 stars and ended up on the lather, because... It's worth the read and I must also say my opinion of Inside Out rose considerably when I read Outside In immediately after (review to come). As a whole the story the two books contain really works and I enjoyed it a lot (They are also both so relatively short the publishers could easily just have published them as one rather than two books).
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I think this review comes off harder than I meant it to be, mostly because there's so much going on in my life right now that I don't feel like I have energy to dedicate to writing really good reviews. Hopefully once I get back to school (going back to University in next week to start on the path to get the cand.scient.bibl degree (that's the Danish name for it in my field of study (library information etc), what comes after a Bachelor degree in the UK/US?) I'll be more in the zone for writing and thinking and spouting smart stuff.
----------
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub.
A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside
clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid
the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around
the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally
start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.----------
Inside Out contains a well written great concept. Because I'm vehemently against spoilers there are so many things I can't tell you, but having finished it, despite the thrill and despite the oooh- factor I somewhat feel like I just read through the script of yet another sci-fi run-of-the-mill Hollywood film.
It's decent entertainment but you just kind of feel like you've seen it all before and there isn't a horrible much to the characters. Like in a film, rather than really giving us a in-depth look on who they are and why they do what they do, you're supposed to just emphatize with them through their actions. Though I like Trella, I found her initial reasoning for what sparked the entire rest of the plot so diffuse that I had to end up just outright ignoring it. Because of Trella's handy "I don't care about others" stanza Snyder doesn't even have to properly introduce all the other characters, and with most of them you're left with only the vaguest most stereotypical clue as to why they chose to get involved rather than just spill the beans to the authorities, and a lot of things just seem to happen a bit too smoothy.
Despite my complaints though I was still enjoyed the book and I found it difficult to put down. Because of my ambivalence I hovered somewhere between 2 stars and 4 stars and ended up on the lather, because... It's worth the read and I must also say my opinion of Inside Out rose considerably when I read Outside In immediately after (review to come). As a whole the story the two books contain really works and I enjoyed it a lot (They are also both so relatively short the publishers could easily just have published them as one rather than two books).
315 pages / published in 2010
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2011
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2011
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I think this review comes off harder than I meant it to be, mostly because there's so much going on in my life right now that I don't feel like I have energy to dedicate to writing really good reviews. Hopefully once I get back to school (going back to University in next week to start on the path to get the cand.scient.bibl degree (that's the Danish name for it in my field of study (library information etc), what comes after a Bachelor degree in the UK/US?) I'll be more in the zone for writing and thinking and spouting smart stuff.
I find these kinds of book the most difficult to rate. They're still interesting enough for you to finish reading but there's just something about them that burrows under your skin and annoys you at the same time. Great jobs reviewing this book. Sounds very Hunger Games with sci-fi.
SvarSletHey no worries. I haven't been reviewing much because I've been feeling the same way. Don't feel pressured to pump out reviews all the time, too! I've been wanting to read these two books and will probably get to it at some point. I hope you're enjoying these last weeks before school starts.
SvarSlet