Brutally Honest Reviews™

Rising (N)

-The last sentence is, in fact, a question, by the way.

-Few questions of my own: why is "Power, however, comes with a hefty price" included in this summary? Seems like it is kind of slapped on there like a piece of old, unwanted Spam. *Grimaces*

-From the descriptions, up until this point, the premise is a clear science fiction dystopian plot in the aftermath and consequences of global warming. There's nothing mentioned about these kids having "powers". (Then again, making the kids "immune to pollution" can be considered as their power if we shift our focus away from the idealized, comic book definition of "power". Is that what it's referring to? It can be taken both ways, really.)

-Going based on the text though, they simply are immune to the toxic air and have various eye colors. Since when did that count as a power? Maybe you forgot to add a significant sentence that would've cleared this up, but as is, it doesn't add up and my finger will continue to wag disapprovingly.

-This sentence might've done the trick "...far different than anyone could have anticipated", but it only makes me think that these kids have an ear on their forehead or something. Getting powers seems like a leap but...alright. Okay, I'll try to take this seriously. I have other points about this but I'm at 1166 words and I've only done three sections. *Slaps self*

-Nitpicking aside, this is an A-okay summary.

Plot: Um...X-Men meets Logan, meets every other dystopian sci-fi YA novel of the latter 20th century and 21st. *Falls asleep on laptop* (No really, I'm exhausted and this plot isn't helping.)

Opening thoughts:

-*Glances at soundtrack* *A deep frown takes over my being* (-2)

-Okay, pausing my bloated nagging for a bit because what in tarnation, if I'll be damned, and some other southern phrase of exacerbated gibberish!--the prelude is pretty darn diggity, bloppa-derpin' good! What I like about it most though is that it establishes a tone, the first person is handled well enough to let the readers lead to a rough hypothesis about the type of person Elijah is and its sneaky way to get away with blatant exposition. Though I've seen it been done this way before, the overall execution helps outweigh the lack of originality.

-*Future me chides in* the prelude is actually a complete throwaway. It only makes the timeline confusing, raises continuity questions when the reader progresses, and doesn't add much but tell the audience that the serum is painful. K, carry on! *Future me leaves*

-I read chapter one with an only one interruption from the statement above, which is what I call impressive! The entirety of chapter one is pretty neat. There's a healthy bit of exposition that's knitted into the narration, and the sentences are all relatively the same length (can be a problem...and it kind of is) which makes it easier to read the action in a concise manner. For the rest of the chapter, I feel like most of it has to do with the characters so I'll continue about it below.

*Reads on with a smile *

*Gets past chapter one*

*Smile falters*

*Gets past chapter two*

*Smile falls*

*Gets past cha--* This goes on until the first line of chapter four...

-It's time for me to complain about this further.

Characters:

-Elijah Risinger. Our narrator and main protagonist is a telekinetic with blue eyes. He seems like a pretty reliable main character with sturdy and prevalent conflicts he's dealing with (e.g., insomnia, The Deux program whatsit, needles/syringes, the color blue, you know, the whole lot). This guy's got the whole world on his shoulder! He has to get...strong--uh, so he can fight?-- and shoot with the guns, and oh right! The simulators! What will the trainees(?) for some fight(?)--no, the resistance--I mean the war--shit, maybe Armageddon?--do without those glorious simulators! (Which are painful! Ouch! So real...to the bones.) Those things! Great training tools for some tough science project? Also this Elijah kid and his comrades/fellow test subjects all glow! Like glow sticks, maybe? Yeah, that works I suppose!