Sunday, April 24, 2011

Wasteland (The Kin Trilogy #1) - Patricia Williams (review)



Genre:Science Fiction, Fantasy, YA
Publication Date  March 14th, 2011
Word count:3743
Where to get:B&N, Amazon,
Website:Wasteland (The Kin Trilogy #1) 
Wasteland - Goodreads





     One year ago, Becca Wilkinson changed the lives of dozens of people. Now, one word will change her life forever...

Becca Wilkinson is a nobody, and those that are aware of her existence know her as "that quiet girl in the back of class", "loser", or her favorite-"that chick that killed all those people."

While most people at Leeville High have long forgotten Becca's role in the devastating car wreck that happened over a year ago, she still has nightmares. Her memories are in fragments and what little she remembers doesn't make sense--things like hearing voices and moving things without touching them.

New at Leeville, Luke Johnston has all the girls at Leeville eating out of the palm of his hand...except Becca. There's something dark and dangerous about him that she distrusts. But he's drawn to Becca, despite her rebuffs. Luke knows something about her...the true nature behind the accident.

Becca will have to let her guard down if she wants answers--but can she handle the truth?
(goodreads.com)



     "I thought about how nice it would be to see Mona go to bump into someone and the person decide to stick out their leg. It would be exactly what she deserved.
      Just as the thought rolled out, it was like some invisible arm reached out and shoved her."
"Who does this guy think he is? I thought angrily. I fought the urge to say something particularly rude. Like how I wouldn't date him if my life depended on it. Or how the tattoos that colored his arms looked like they were drawn by a 5 year old."




     Becca Wilkinson is just another quiet and "invisible" 17-year-old girl. She's smart, she does well in school, but she doesn't want to be noticed. She does everything to avoid standing out in the crowd. Even though she could easily get straight A's in every subject, she maintains a "safe" 3.0 average, to avoid drawing too much attention to herself. Together with her best friend, Patrice, they're doing their best to get through their days at Leeville High.

     Ever since the horrible car crash, she caused exactly one year ago, Becca has been a loner and an outcast. She doesn't remember much about what happened during the accident, only bits and pieces of memories, but it's enough to make her life miserable. Unable to deal with the guilt, Becca is haunted by nightmares and suffers severe panic attacks. As if this wasn't enough, weird things are happening to her. She is starting to hear people's thoughts. She also discovers that when she's under stress, she has the ability to influence people and make them act in a certain way, to control them. And things just keep on getting weirder. She learns that her panic attacks are not really panic attacks at all, and that the pills she was taking are not exactly antidepressants either. One shocking discovery leads to another, and so Rebecca's whole world, everything she believed in, falls apart. She's going to have to face the truth about herself, who she is and where she's from, and she will be forced to make some tough choices.

     Wasteland by Patricia Williams is definitely one of my top favorite debut novels of 2011. The storyline is fantastically unique and fresh. It's a fast-paced read, the plot develops very quickly and there is this really awesome tension to it, that makes you squeeze the eReader tightly in anticipation of what will happen next. It's unpredictable, I was very surprised to find out who Becca really was and what she could do. There's a great deal of uncertainty here, the story is so brilliantly constructed that the reader is never really able to predict anything. In the first book we have many burning questions and only a few answers. I enjoyed the twists very much, this novel keeps you captivated and it's just impossible to put it down. It's one of the best page turners I've ever read.

     Becca went through many hardships, yet she's not a winy or overly melodramatic character. Quite to the contrary, she has a strong and likeable personality, she never backs down, she stands up for herself and tries to do, what she thinks is right. Same goes for the rest of the characters, each and every single one of them is very vivid and real, it's easy to imagine them and either like them, or hate them. The story is being told in first person narrative and it definitely works to its advantage, making it very dynamic.
  
     I loved Patricia's writing style, she is no doubt a very promising and talented author and I can't wait to read the next installments in The Kin series. If you like Young Adult dystopian and/or fantasy novels, you just have to add this book to your collection, it's a must read!

 



30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved the sound of it from the blurb so after reading your review I had to look it up. I just found it on Amazon (UK) Kindle for just £0.70! What a bargain! Thanks for the thumbs up on this one. I'm looking forward to reading it myself now.

Bonnie said...

I was really excited to hear how much you loved this book because it is sitting on my KOBO right now waiting its turn! I'm really excited to read it (hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to!).

CherylAnne Ham said...

Hi Evie,

Thanks for stopping by the Good Book Alert blog. I'm following you now.:)

I agree, Wasteland was a good read. I love the look of your blog, very cute! :)

My personal blog is www.cherylanneham.blogspot.com
if you want to pop over and say "Hi"

Amy Jones said...

This book sounds awesome! I definitely have to add to my wish list.

Great review Evie. You're one of the best in this biz and I really trust your opinion!

xo,
Amy
http://amyjonesyaff.blogspot.com

Lindsay said...

I just added this to my TBR list the other day! It sounds so good!

mendy said...

Sounds like a great book and has an amazing cover.
*adds to my TBR list*

Unknown said...

WOW!! More YA Books.. Love it
thanks for sharing this amazing book..

Gabbie said...

I actually thought it was a Dystopia novel from the title and the cover - I realised it was a car after I read the review. But it sounds interesting and I'll def be adding it to my TBR pile..

Jennifer said...

I've never heard of this book. So thanks for introducing it to me. Sounds sort of interesting. Glad you liked it.

Sarah said...

Going on my TBR list. Thanks for your thoughts!

Aleetha said...

Wow, you gave a high rating for this book.

So the mystery source is in the car accident. Is it connected with supernatural power ? Guessing is all thing that I can do. Will check this book in the Goodreads.

ABookVacation said...

You've read so many good books that I've never heard of--can't wait to get this one too!

Jolene and Family said...

Wow, great review. I have yet to hear of this book, thanks so much for putting it right in front of me. I can't wait to read this :)

chidori said...

If she isn´t whinny and melodramatic... I´m in!!! Love such character... I can´t many possible good books because of heroine act like a cow. Thanks for review, I will definitely try this one!

Anonymous said...

Great review, this book sounds great. :)

Kacennnka said...

I've never heard about this book, but it sounds good! (And that's great review) :)

Sakira said...

Yay for a five-star read! I've been reading a lot of paranormal books (as well as dystopian) recently, but a lot of them have the typical paranormal creature of the day: werewolves, vampires, angels.... Becca sounds like something different. I love strong characters who hold their own, and I love mysteries such as guessing who/what the character is and can do. This sounds like a fascinating read. I'll be sure to check it out!! :D

Thanks for the great review!
Kris

Book Lover said...

I hadn't even heard of this one yet. Thanks for your review. It's one I want to pick up now.

Ashley Ziemer said...

Love the cover! Thanks for the great review!

Anonymous said...

Sounds interesting. I had to admit I thought of Carrie when you were describing her.

Miss Page-Turner said...

I noticed that you feature a book in many ways,review, GP, interview, WWW and I really like that!

Anonymous said...

Wow, just wow. I'll definitely have to add this book to my TBR pile!

Great review...I love the quote excerpts & your honesty about what you liked and why.

Thanks!

-Em

tfalick said...

wow! this book sounds AWESOME! would love to read!

Zakiya LadyWings said...

Never heard of this one, but from your review it sounds really awesome! :D

aurora M. said...

Like the cover! This looks like one of those reads that may change the way you think about things. Thanks for the review.

Krystal Larson said...

I just received this book! I know now it will be a good read.

Yvonne @ The Shadow Realm said...

I loved this book! It was amazing, i was glued to my kindle! Cannot wait for the next one :)

Munnaza said...

This book sounds fantastic and suspenseful, and I am already in love with the protagonist (she sounds like someone I'd love to read about). I didn't realize this book debuted earlier this year! I can't wait to read it. Thanks for your review!

WickedWillow said...

Great review! I love dystopian so I'll be reading this!

Jaime Lester said...

This sounds really good. And I love the cover. It says a lot that it was a fave debut out of a year. I think I might head over to Amazon and see about getting this book for myself. After all, I really like a loner girl/ baddish boy type!

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