Author: Hugh Howey
4.75 out of 5 Stars
Plot Background:
Daniel Stillman is a teenager living in the digital era of today. He doesn't have many friends on Facebook, his cell phone (a basic older model) is never buzzing with constant text messages, and everyone around him is extremely plugged-in to their many devices. As a category 5 storm comes and silences the constantly buzzing world around him, Daniel is left to discover a great silence, a girl down the street, and the people that have been in his life the whole time.
My Thoughts:
Wow. That's my first reaction to this book. I literally could not put it down. It was fantastic. There were so many amazing things about it, and if the author of the book is reading this, I just want to say GREAT JOB! There was only one thing I didn't love about it, but I will get to that in a moment.
The first thing I really loved about the book is just the atmosphere. When I read this, the first part, during the party and up to the storm, I felt such a strong feeling of anticipation and nervousness. I felt like everything was, for lack of better words, buzzing-- it was like waiting for a rubber band that is being pulled and pulled to just snap. This was not only because of the impending storm coming, but just the state of unrest everyone was constantly in by being so hooked in to technology. His classmates are always walking around with their faces glued to various screens- from cell phones to Ipads. His brother, Hunter, is always playing a video game while his sister, Zola, is constantly texting. His mother is always on her Blackberry working and his step-father, Carlton, is constantly using his Ipad. When Daniel was spending "family time" eating dinner around the TV, I could feel the strained setting and the author really painted such a clear picture of what happens in so many homes today-- everyone is so "connected" to everyone else (the people in their phones or computers) that they don't build the most important bonds with the people who are actually IN the room. In general, this all added to this anticipation feeling, and the author really did a fantastic job putting you IN the room as an uncomfortable observer.
Along the same lines, I absolutely loved the shift in atmosphere as the hurricane passed through, and the shift in all of the characters. I felt like I was in the bathroom hunkering down with the family. As I read, I could hear the creaking and shifting of the house. The author really put you right in the action, and his words painted a fantastic picture. Perhaps it is because I live in Florida and have been through my fair share of hurricanes, but I felt that strange wonder of not knowing what the outside world is going to look like once the storm passes.
Aside from the feeling of being in the storm, I was in love with the juxtaposition between the calm occurring INSIDE the storm and the chaos that preceded the hurricane. Daniel's life was in such turmoil before Hurricane Anna, where the calm usually comes before the storm, his calm occurred during the eye of the storm. The shift in all of the characters was also very well written as well during this time of waiting. Each character began to develop, the family unit grew closer and it in turn further developed the story. It almost seemed like a commentary on our current state of living in the modern American family.
I also really enjoyed Daniel's character. He reminded me so much of another Daniel I recently read ( from Catcher, Caught), perhaps its just the name. He was so, normal. Had he been born even five years earlier, he might have had a better shake at life, but being someone disinterested in trying to change himself for others and disinterested in spending all his time with technology, he really had a rough time. I won't give away what happens at the party before the storm, but it made me so mad at those mean kids and it made me truly glad that I graduated high school before the digital age really kicked into high gear. I also loved the character of Anna. She was so much like Daniel, it was perfect. She wasn't perfect-- it wasn't unbelievable that he would get a girl like her but she was perfect for him. She too was not a technology addict, and I just loved how clever she was and how imperfect her life was. She was really well written, especially for a character that wasn't introduced until halfway through the book.
The only one thing I can say I didn't enjoy about the book, was how quickly it ended. It almost felt like you are in this storm with them, you are an observer but you are part of it, and then suddenly the story almost zooms out and you are taken from living every minute with them to skipping ahead a few days. It felt like, were it a movie, someone zoomed out and hit fast forward. However, I do think the ending was a good one since the characters had come so incredibly far from where they started.
I will stop my raving about this book and let you all see for yourself. I highly recommend this for anyone. This author is amazing, the story flows so well and the characters are amazing. If you are looking for a "cant-put-it -down-just-one-more-paragraph-okay-just-one-more-well-might-as-well-finish-the-page,-well-almost-done-with-the-book-lets-just-finish-it-now-since-I-cant-stop" book this is one for you.
Here is a link to the Kindle edition of the book-- and its only $0.99!:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Hurricane-ebook/dp/B0052VU9G2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351445284&sr=1-2&keywords=hurricane
Happy Reading!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment