Not all that I expected it to be. :(
When I saw that I won this book, I was super excited. And then I had to wait weeks for it to come, in which my excitement only grew. Unfortunately, I feel like I over-hyped this book in my head, causing me to be disappointed when the book was just, eh, rather than say, phenomenal.
This story features a dead girl named Mara and her childhood best friend/crush, Rory. Mara is a sweet and quiet girl who loves music and wishes that she didn't commit the sins that she did when she was infected and became a Tick, a mindless killing machine. Luckily, the government has found a treatment that is helping her stay sane. Almost two years after the world ended and the apocalypse started, Mara is sent back home to live with her godparents, who happen to be Rory's parents. Rory is a strong willed woman who is unafraid to stab first and ask questions later. But when Mara returns home. . . she isn't sure how she should act.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book, but it ended up being very similar to Rory Power's "Wilder Girls," which I also didn't love. It features a lesbian romance, a mysterious disease (that actually ended up coming from the same source), body horror, and the element of being trapped on an island away from the rest of the world in a post-apocalyptic world. I wish I could have loved this one more, because these are all things I usually enjoy in a story, but it just fell flat to me.
I think one of my biggest roadblocks with this story is the fact that I couldn't get myself to connect to Rory. Mara kept presenting me with things, such as her love for music and her sense of humor, but Rory never gave me anything to latch onto. I felt as though I kept waiting for Rory to present her case of why I should like her, yet she never did. This frustrated me, but I still think they work great together as a couple.
But here's my biggest critique: I feel that close to all of the action in this book happened in the past, making me question why the author didn't start this story by writing about these two going through the apocalypse and then continued the story with "Hearts Still Beating" as book two. I kind of understood Archer's decision not to risk that on her debut book, but I feel like it would have forced me to like the characters more and then ripped out my heart when their worlds fell apart, rather than hearing about it passively in the past tense.
Overall, I didn't hate "Hearts Still Beating," but I feel it could have been greatly improved with some slight revisions and reworking of the structure of the book. I enjoyed the concept of the Ticks, the lesbian romance, and Noah (the five year old little brother) was just so cute!!! I think that many people will fall in love with this book, and I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it. Sadly, I just don't think it was the book for me. :(
This story features a dead girl named Mara and her childhood best friend/crush, Rory. Mara is a sweet and quiet girl who loves music and wishes that she didn't commit the sins that she did when she was infected and became a Tick, a mindless killing machine. Luckily, the government has found a treatment that is helping her stay sane. Almost two years after the world ended and the apocalypse started, Mara is sent back home to live with her godparents, who happen to be Rory's parents. Rory is a strong willed woman who is unafraid to stab first and ask questions later. But when Mara returns home. . . she isn't sure how she should act.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book, but it ended up being very similar to Rory Power's "Wilder Girls," which I also didn't love. It features a lesbian romance, a mysterious disease (that actually ended up coming from the same source), body horror, and the element of being trapped on an island away from the rest of the world in a post-apocalyptic world. I wish I could have loved this one more, because these are all things I usually enjoy in a story, but it just fell flat to me.
I think one of my biggest roadblocks with this story is the fact that I couldn't get myself to connect to Rory. Mara kept presenting me with things, such as her love for music and her sense of humor, but Rory never gave me anything to latch onto. I felt as though I kept waiting for Rory to present her case of why I should like her, yet she never did. This frustrated me, but I still think they work great together as a couple.
But here's my biggest critique: I feel that close to all of the action in this book happened in the past, making me question why the author didn't start this story by writing about these two going through the apocalypse and then continued the story with "Hearts Still Beating" as book two. I kind of understood Archer's decision not to risk that on her debut book, but I feel like it would have forced me to like the characters more and then ripped out my heart when their worlds fell apart, rather than hearing about it passively in the past tense.
Overall, I didn't hate "Hearts Still Beating," but I feel it could have been greatly improved with some slight revisions and reworking of the structure of the book. I enjoyed the concept of the Ticks, the lesbian romance, and Noah (the five year old little brother) was just so cute!!! I think that many people will fall in love with this book, and I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it. Sadly, I just don't think it was the book for me. :(