Monday, March 30, 2020

The Breakout

Author:   Rachelle Harp 

One-sentence summary:  A young woman who has been raised by her government begins to question the very foundations of her society. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating:  7 

Our favorite thing about it:  Fun, fast story. 

Our least favorite thing about it: Everything felt rushed – character development, world building, etc. 

Main Topics of Discussion: YA Format, World Building, Character Development, Plot 

Our favorite quote: “Sometimes the compass can lead you where you want to go…other times, where you didn’t know you needed to be.” 

Notes:  We liked and enjoyed this story, thus our unanimous 7 rating – but we felt like lots of things could have been improved. 

  1. Both the beginning (the setup) and the ending (climax + cliffhanger) seemed rushed. The middle of the book slows down just enough for us to begin to know the characters and the world they inhabit.
  2. Similar to #1, the world-building could have been better. Because we felt it was a bit rushed, we had so many questions. We wanted more details and a more fully-developed world. We know it’s the first book in a series so more details are sure to follow, but usually that first book sets things up pretty well.
  3. Likewise, we felt that all of the characters could have benefitted from more and deeper development. We really wanted more here.
  4. And also related to the above, the relationships between Trina and Kalen and Trina and Jarek were both woefully inadequate. We needed more connection on both to feel like there was anything at stake in the story. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We met via Google Hangout since the “stay at home” orders are in full effect due to the pandemic of COVID-19. We missed eating together and getting to see each other in person. However, we made the video meeting work this month! 

What We Ate: We didn’t eat together this time. We all ate before the call. 




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