No, this isn't the superhero story. Where Futures End, by Parker Peevyhouse, is a novel full of five stories from five people from different times. It shows the full story of two worlds, one falling further into destruction and its possible savior fantasy land, with one destined ending.
My reading theme for this summer seems to be multi-POV books because this story is yet another one. However, it is different from One of Us Is Lying and its sequel; this book tells five different stories, all from different times and people, with one thing that connects them all. Tommy Wallach calls this book, "One of the most ambitious YA novels I've ever read," and I think that's because of the different points of view. It is extremely ambitious, but Peevyhouse pulls it off.
Honestly, I'm not sure how I felt about this book. On one hand, I loved most of the perspectives because of how well-written they were. The book was very interesting in the way that it was mostly a comment on climate change and society's obsession with social media. I think that is what helped make the book so unique because I've never read a book that mixed and intertwined those two concepts. Then I got to the second to last story, and I don't know if it was because I was burnt out from reading for four hours, but I just did not enjoy that story as much. The book was very suspenseful and I thought the story concepts were unique, but one con of the multiple stories is the very limited character development each character got. Though, one could argue that adds to the charm of the book. Overall, the book was well-written, but the writing wasn't consistent till the end.
One qualm I had with the book was how the character in the fourth story seemed to blame everything that went wrong on China. I understand it makes sense in the context of that story, but it felt disingenuine to me. It was full of stereotypical dystopian things that I don't think were extremely necessary. I think Peevyhouse tried too hard to make a grungy, edgy story but it just didn't feel genuine. The fourth story was a little off-putting, and I know the book as a whole would've been much more likable if the fourth story didn't feel so forced.
Don't let this discourage you from reading the book, however. Peevyhouse made a very ambitious novel full of very different stories that ranged from fantasy to techno-dystopian to a climate-changed wasteland. The novel as a whole was very suspenseful full of (mostly) likable characters, and I would encourage any fan of YA novels to read this unique book.
Where Future begins seems like an interesting story about how people all around the world deal with the destruction of their home and demise of humanity. However It seems like the author tried to have a story in which at least everyone can at least sympathize to one character in the story, which lead to a messy story overall. Inconsistency aside the plot still seems interesting to me and I'd like to pick it up sometime in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis story seems very interesting and nothing like I have ever read before. I do value how honest you were as it felt very much like a review. It is very helpful for people who are looking for a new book to read or are interested in reading this book. I did notice that you went in depth about explaining the different POV's and how strongly they affected the story whether positive or negative.
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in POV books but never before have I read one with POV's from different timelines so right off the bat I am intrigued. A huge thing that got me interested is the review itself. Most of the time reviews only focus the positive side of the story, this review in my opinion was very "Real World." The writer gave a personal opinion told straight forward that there were some parts that they just didn't like and I believe that that is most important because that can be a deciding factor for some readers.
ReplyDeleteI think this story sounds very intriguing, especially how there is more than one POV. Stories with multiple points of view are the most interesting to me personally. It gives everyone a piece of story cake, topped with opinions and thoughts belonging to the character we're focusing on. Also, the thought of a book being on the topic of "techno-dystopian" sounds very interesting, and I'd love to read this and see the story unfold.
ReplyDeleteHaving more than one POV to a story is a very new and interesting concept to me. I feel that discovering what the "thing" is that connects all of the stories together would be an eye-opener and may cause you to go back and reread some parts of the story to see how they intertwine. I appreciate how you were honest with your review and explained the parts of the story you didn't like. Overall, this book looks very interesting and I may have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of this book prior to reading this review, but it seems to be a kind of book that would appeal to me very much. I have been a fan of science fiction and dystopian books for a long time, and I've also been a fan of books with multiple character's perspectives. Overall, this review has given me a new book to check out in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis story caught my attention from even just the title.This book is interesting you don't see different povs in book everyday.You gave a great review telling us not just the good but your opinions on it too. I've never herd this book ever before today but this "techno-dystopian book is next on my list.
ReplyDeleteThis book seems pretty interesting. The idea of 5 very different POVs to me seems fun to read because I normally would watch this kind of thing in a show. I like your review and your honesty on how you felt about it. I would definitely consider reading this book.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm not sure how I felt about this book. On one hand, I loved most of the perspectives because of how well-written they were. The book was very interesting in the way that it was mostly a comment on climate change and society's obsession with social media. Having more than one POV to a story is a very new and interesting concept to me. I feel that discovering what the "thing" is that connects all of the stories together would be an eye-opener and may cause you to go back and reread some parts of the story to see how they intertwine. This book seems pretty interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteThe book Where futures end seems very interesting as it is a multiple POV book and seems very mysterious with its summary. I personal have never read a multiple POV book before but it seems cool. I do hope to read this book somewhere in the future if I ever get time.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting that there are 5 stories in this one book a lone but because of that I have a few question. I wonder if the stories connect? are they in the same time line? Are these just random people?
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