Book Review : Stone Rider (EN + RO)

★★★☆☆

I want to thank Storia Books for providing me with this review copy, this hadn’t influenced my review/rating in any way.

I will start off by saying that this book is probably more of a 3.5 stars for me. When I first started this book, I had doubts about whether I’d like it because of the subject – it seemed like it would be too focused on motorcycles and technical stuff, which aren’t my cup of tea, usually. But my expectations were quite exceeded, this book turning out to be quite entertaining.

This book presents us a very desolate version of our world, most people moved to a Sky Base that is described as a paradise, while the others are down on earth with few resources and their only way of survival is by working in the mine or joining in a very dangerous ride where the winner could obtain a ticket to the Sky Base and therefore, to a better life.

I would describe it as The Hunger Games meets Mad Max Fury Road.

The Plot

I think the biggest plot line was the race and that was also what kept things thrilling. I kept on reading to see whether they will pass the obstacles or not, who they will meet in the adventure and who will die next. It was quite fast-paced and I enjoyed it very much, it made up for quite a lot of other things that weren’t as developed.

I also really liked the world-building, I thought it was an interesting idea to make this dystopian world and mix it up with motorcycles competitions. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done before in YA, so props for that!

There were many plot twists along the way and some big reveals. There was this funny instance when a guy said he doesn’t like a girl in a romantic way and Adam (the protagonist) was a bit shocked and the other guy (Kane) is like : “you really don’t know??” – I thought this was a love confession and Kane admitting he was gay. Apparently, it wasn’t. It was something more dramatic than that. I was a bit shocked, here I thought I’m getting a f/m/m love triangle, only to have a rather weird explanation thrown in my face.

Besides that, I really loved how there was this freaking amazing tribe – they had such cool healing abilities and I was so sad that the heroes didn’t spend more time there. I would have loved to see more of them as there were some future-telling involved there, which I usually hate – because wow, the hero is getting a prophecy, so original. But this time, it actually worked because I couldn’t guess what would happen based on that prophecy.

The Characters

I feel like the characters were quite one-dimensional, at times. There are so many things that I still don’t know about those characters and I’m sure if the author wrote Stone Rider with a sequel in mind, but their development was meh.

Sadie is probably the best example, she’s the only woman in a cast full of men and at times, she seems to be just hot and brave. She has the “not-like-other-girls” syndrome written all over her and that’s because of how she’s portrayed, not because of anything she says.

Adam was also kind of the special snow-flake, but he was also the underdog type and I don’t know about you, but I usually root for the underdogs, misfits. I would have loved to see more explanations concerning his fainting – there was absolutely none. But that’s probably understandable since they don’t have many resources, including medical ones, but he was in a dispensary at some point, I was really expecting then to find out what’s causing them since it would have been a pretty good representation.

Kane was probably my favourite because besides the fact that he was very mysterious, he was really resourceful – always helping Adam and Sadie, always having a plan B. I really liked him and found his backstory very interesting. I can’t talk much about it because there are spoilers, but it was amazing. He surely made this book a lot better for me.

I think the characters weren’t as developed as I would have liked because the author kind of focused a lot more on the plot. It’s a plot-focused book and that’s not bad since the plot is actually great and visibly well-thought.

Overall

All in all, this book exceeded my expectations. I know that I might have sounded a bit critical, but bear in mind that this book is waaaay out of my comfort zone and if I gave it 3.5 stars, someone who thinks motorcycles and rides are badass will probably rate it so much higher.

Okay, now since a Romanian publishing house offered me this copy, I will also write my review in Romanian. To my international readers, you can totally skip the next part. I’ll understand, I won’t hold it against you!

 

 

Vreau sa multumesc Storia Books pentru oportunitatea de a citi Stone Rider, asta nu a influentat in niciun fel recenzia mea.
In primul rand, aceasta carte merita 3.5 stele, am tot oscilat intre 3 stele si 4 stele si cred ca asta e cea mai buna decizie.
Cand am inceput sa citesc Stone Rider, am avut anumite dubii in legatura cu faptul ca s-ar putea sa nu imi placa prea tare subiectul cartii – din cauza concentrarii pe tehnicalitatile legate de motociclete si curse – lucruri care nu ma atrag foarte tare, de obicei. Dar am fost curioasa si de asemenea, am vrut sa ies putin din zona mea de comfort. Sunt fericita ca am facut acest lucru pentru ca Stone Rider mi-a depasit asteptarile!
Cartea aceasta ne prezinta o versiune dezolata a lumii noastre, in care majoritatea oamenilor s-au mutat intr-o Baza Spatiala, care este descrisa ca fiind un adevarat paradis. Nu ajungem niciodata sa vedem exact cum arata aceasta baza, aflam lucruri despre ea doar prin intermediul personajelor ramase pe Pamant, ceea ce ii sporeste si mai mult aura aceasta misterioasa si idealizata. Pentru cei care se afla inca pe Pamant, lucrurile nu stau la fel de bine, resursele lor fiind putine, iar singura lor sansa de a ajunge la Baza este prin castigarea cursei Blackwater.
As descrie aceasta carte ca o combinatie intre The Hunger Games si Mad Max Fury Road.

Povestea

 

Cartea s-a concentrat, in mare, pe cursa de motociclete si pot spune ca povestea a fost destul de palpitanta. Nu m-a plictisit deloc, mai ales ca mereu apareau noi obstacole pe care personajele principale trebuiau sa le depaseasca si au fost destul de multe rasturnari de situatie.
Mi-a placut foarte mult modul in care autorul a construit aceasta societate distopica, a fost o idee destul de originala aceasta combinare a aspectelor destul de des intalnite in distopii cu aceasta cursa de castigare a libertatii.

Mi-a placut foarte mult momentul in care personajele principale au intalnit un shaman cu abilitati extraordinare de tamaduire, dar si de a face profetii. A adus o nota inedita cartii deoarece cu toate ca aceasta profetie este prezentata la jumatatea cartii, nu am reusit sa imi dau seama ce se va intampla in continuare. De obicei, profetiile sunt ori foarte ambiguu, ori foarte usor de inteles si in consecinta, usor de anticipat ce se va intampla. Dar de data asta, profetia nu a fost nici foarte vaga si nici nu a facut lucrurile predictibile. A fost perfect!

Personaje

 

    Personajele au parut de multe ori unidimensionale, sunt foarte multe lucruri pe care inca nu le stim despre ele si nu sunt sigura daca acest lucru se datoreaza faptului ca autorul doreste sa continue aceasta serie sau datorita faptului ca profunzimea caracterizarii personajelor a avut de suferit destul de mult pentru ca Stonerider se concentreaza mai mult pe plot.

     Sadie este, probabil, cel mai bun exemplu, este singura femeie din aceasta carte cu un rol predominant si pare sa fie caracterizata doar prin curajul ei si modul cum arata. As fi vrut sa stiu mult mai multe despre ea, aflam cateva lucruri despre familia ei, dar personalitatea ei nu prea iese in relief. Probabil, acest lucru se intampla si din cauza ca o vedem prin ochii lui Adam, care pur si simplu o idolatrizeaza – ea este perfecta pentru el, ceea ce face ca modul cum noi o vedem sa aiba de suferit destul de mult.

     Mi-a placut destul de mult de Adam, protagonistul acestei povesti, mi s-a parut ca a avut o evolutie destul de interesanta, ajungand sa-si infranga fricile si sa devina o persoana de-a dreptul curajoasa. Insa, cu siguranta, favoritul meu a fost Kane – deoarece trecutul lui a adaugat foarte mult la complexitatea povestii, dandu-ne informatii in plus si despre lumea distopica in care personajele traiesc.

In concluzie, recomand cu caldura aceasta carte persoanelor carora le plac distopiile si cartile cu foarte multe rasturnari de situatie! 

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