Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Chosen Ones By Veronica Roth

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

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I unfortunately wasn’t clicking with this book, about 45% of the way through. I think I was, first off, expecting something a bit different? I actually kept thinking about The Hunger Games while reading this, and the other books in the trilogy, as examples of PTSD done really well. Far be it from me to judge the realism of PTSD description, but in comparison to that series, I think Roth misses the PTSD mark and jumps to what reads as moodiness. I think this book would have […]

The Chosen Ones- OMG yes read it

The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

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I’ve never read any of Veronica Roth’s YA work, but I scooped up her adult debut. First off, it’s about superheroes and chosen ones, and much like I love gritty takes on fairy tales, I loooooove gritty takes on superheroes and chosen ones. Second, I’d finished Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo last year. I’d been lukewarm on Bardugo’s YA, but Ninth House was phenomenal. I shrugged, and figured maybe I’d have the same experience with Roth, another best selling YA author going adult. **this is […]

Escape From the Present with… THE FUTURE!

Ark by Veronica Roth

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

Randomize by Andy Weir

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towlesl

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

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And you know what? The future isn’t that bad! Well, it is full of disasters- pandemic, plague, asteroids, climate change, robot uprising -but there are always sparks of humanity ready to push through none the less. Amazon’s Forward collection, a group of five short stories from some big names, throw some big ideas out into the universe and let you, in a way, choose your own adventure! I suppose there is a “correct” order in which to read these, but I didn’t bother. I don’t think […]

“There must have been some kind of mistake,” I said.

The End and Other Beginnings by Veronica Roth

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In terms of the books she’ll write in her career, Veronica Roth couldn’t have done herself a bigger favor than writing the Divergent series first. I will go on record to say they are truly and utterly terrible. Not only do they tap into that post Hunger Games market in ways that I do believe Roth wrote earnestly (as opposed to a cynical cash grab that I DO blame her publishing company for putting), so they made a ton of money, but it also sets […]

Samantha’s hand were still red from the cold, the skin over her knuckles taut and dry.

Ark by Veronica Roth

Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin

Forward by Blake Crouch

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Mostly I got this collection because I was interested in some short stories for walks and I like the mix of authors in general. Blake Crouch tells us in the intro/outro to each story the basic purpose of the collection, and like all such genre anthologies, it’s a mixed bag. The audio productions are really good with Evan Rachel Wood, Jason Isaacs, Rosa Salazar, David Harbour, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar are the readers of these stories. Each come in around an hour and all […]

The Forward Collection, ed. by Blake Crouch, was a fun success, except for that one story I didn’t like at all.

Ark by Veronica Roth

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Randomize by Andy Weir

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I’m putting all my reviews of this collection in one post. Blake Crouch commissioned a bunch of his writer friends to bring him stories about some aspect of near-future technology, and how that might affect life on earth. These are what they gave him (along with Crouch’s own story). “Ark,” by Veronica Roth – 3.5 STARS This is miles above the last book I read from Roth in quality. It seems she’s learned how to be subtle, which is good! This first story in the […]



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