Title: The
Young World
Author: Chris
Weitz
Publisher: Little,
Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:
7.29.2014
Pages: 384
Genre: Young
Adult, Dystopian
Series: The Young World Trilogy #1
Source: ARC
from BEA
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
After a mysterious Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the
young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant
leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in
love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when
another tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure to the Sickness,
five teens set out on a life-altering road trip to save humankind.
The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central Park...and discovers truths they could never have imagined.
The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central Park...and discovers truths they could never have imagined.
Review:
So a world full of young kids, how bad can it
be right? That's what I thought just looking at the title. I was certain I had
this book figured out. That some huge catastrophe took place that somehow
whipped out the "adults". Well, I was sorta right.
The Young World takes place in New York, minus all the crazy stuff. Well, it's still crazy just not how you imagined it. It's like watching The Expendables but miniature style. And I loved it. There is a ton of action and plotting, creative thinking that only kids could come up with, and a whole world where you would never think kids would be the masterminds.
There is a virus that killed smaller children and adults due to a lack of a certain protein binding hormone, while adolescents were safe until around 18. This gave them a real look at "life" and how short it now is. How they deal with this is amazing. You would think that all that they have accomplished since It Happened, as they call it, would be possible. But if you really think about it, kids are smart and know more than they let on. How they have to survive and the strategic planning involved with everything should not be possible for them. What I love most is how they cope with their lives being completely turned upside down. It most dystopians the young adults are just thrown into a completely messed up world and have to just move on. There really isn't anything that still let's them be kids. No tantrums, no fighting, and no wanting like kids do. Here, which makes it almost comical, is that they reference old things. How they keep their "status'" updates on a wall with drawn pictures of their friends or wiring a generator to play movies on a drawn up sheet. My favorite is the respawning that happens in Call of Duty if you die. How they references these things in the middle of a shoot out is historical but it's how they cope. I mean baby bottle Molotov cocktails, and Dora the suicide bomber being used as weapons, I couldn't stop laughing sometimes. Every kid still needs to e a kid even if they are fighting for what little food is still available.
The setting here is spot on. And I loved how I knew certain landmarks described here. It was like "oh I been there" or "oh that's from this movie" and it's all correct. Not just some thrown together city. I loved how Harlem is portrayed. And how the people there take this event. And how they survive and their ingenuity. It's amazing and I can't believe what they accomplished.
I loved this book. While it reminded me slightly of Viral Nation, it's different enough that I can't really compare them. Except for the "cure". This is an awesome action packed ride with a twist at the end I could not believe. And it still left me with my mouth hanging open trying to figure out what just happened and how. On a good way though! I can wait for the next book.
The Young World takes place in New York, minus all the crazy stuff. Well, it's still crazy just not how you imagined it. It's like watching The Expendables but miniature style. And I loved it. There is a ton of action and plotting, creative thinking that only kids could come up with, and a whole world where you would never think kids would be the masterminds.
There is a virus that killed smaller children and adults due to a lack of a certain protein binding hormone, while adolescents were safe until around 18. This gave them a real look at "life" and how short it now is. How they deal with this is amazing. You would think that all that they have accomplished since It Happened, as they call it, would be possible. But if you really think about it, kids are smart and know more than they let on. How they have to survive and the strategic planning involved with everything should not be possible for them. What I love most is how they cope with their lives being completely turned upside down. It most dystopians the young adults are just thrown into a completely messed up world and have to just move on. There really isn't anything that still let's them be kids. No tantrums, no fighting, and no wanting like kids do. Here, which makes it almost comical, is that they reference old things. How they keep their "status'" updates on a wall with drawn pictures of their friends or wiring a generator to play movies on a drawn up sheet. My favorite is the respawning that happens in Call of Duty if you die. How they references these things in the middle of a shoot out is historical but it's how they cope. I mean baby bottle Molotov cocktails, and Dora the suicide bomber being used as weapons, I couldn't stop laughing sometimes. Every kid still needs to e a kid even if they are fighting for what little food is still available.
The setting here is spot on. And I loved how I knew certain landmarks described here. It was like "oh I been there" or "oh that's from this movie" and it's all correct. Not just some thrown together city. I loved how Harlem is portrayed. And how the people there take this event. And how they survive and their ingenuity. It's amazing and I can't believe what they accomplished.
I loved this book. While it reminded me slightly of Viral Nation, it's different enough that I can't really compare them. Except for the "cure". This is an awesome action packed ride with a twist at the end I could not believe. And it still left me with my mouth hanging open trying to figure out what just happened and how. On a good way though! I can wait for the next book.
This book has been pretty popular since it came out. I have to admit that I was not sure I wanted to read this because I thought it would just be an ok book. It seems like you really liked it though. Great review! I think I might just try reading it soon now.
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