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Doomed
Beat the game. Save the world.
Pandora's an average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring photos of her as a child. Curious, Pandora enters the site, unwittingly unleashing a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there's no Internet. No cell phones. No traffic lights, hospitals or law enforcement. Only Pandora's Box, a virtual-reality game created by Pandora's father, remains up and running. Together with her neighbors, gorgeous stepbrothers Eli and Theo, Pandora must follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father—and rescue the world. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike.
Pandora's an average teen, glued to her cell phone and laptop, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring photos of her as a child. Curious, Pandora enters the site, unwittingly unleashing a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there's no Internet. No cell phones. No traffic lights, hospitals or law enforcement. Only Pandora's Box, a virtual-reality game created by Pandora's father, remains up and running. Together with her neighbors, gorgeous stepbrothers Eli and Theo, Pandora must follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father—and rescue the world. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2013
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4152 people want to read
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December 8, 2012
Really 1.5 Stars
To see full review click here: http://yalbookbriefs.blogspot.com/201...
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley. This has not affect my view of the book. Doomed will be available for purchase January 8, 2013.
You can survive without electricity, the internet, cell phones, or generally any modern convenience for a few days. Yes, it's tough. But it is plausible. After all, the caveman did it. And for that matter so did anyone else who lived before Al Gore invented the internet. So it is feasible that we'd survive, right? Well, not according to Tracy Deebs which might have been the reason I couldn't stomach finishing this one.
General Summary: So a computer worm is released thanks to Pandora and the world goes into chaos. Because hey, if you can't Pinterest and Facebook all day you're going to die. It gets even worse when the power goes out and people start price gouging (which by the way is illegal and prevented by several statutes). And now Pandora and her new friends must find a way to save the internet and the world as well.
Review:
You have to be stupid or make yourself think dumb to not get annoyed with this book (note, being drunk helps too).
I will state this one of the side effects of being a law student is that you're forced to think logical this can making reading really difficult like in the case of this book. But I think anyone who actually thinks things through when reading this book will be shaking their head at the logical fallacies that are committed.
Okay, let's start with the obvious: the world doesn't end when the internet and lights go out. That's pretty simple, right? And for that matter most people do not go bat shit crazy and run to their neighbors when their electronics suddenly don't work. The simple and logical thing to do is to try to reboot your system and if that doesn't work contact your provider and or go to the Apple store to get your computer fixed. Furthermore, rolling black outs are more common than you think. I know my house experienced a couple last summer and I live in the same state as Pandora (which by the way the city she claims to live in is closer to Dallas than Austin if we're talking about Westlake if it's West Lake Hills that's a different story, but the book said Westlake). The whole thing was over exaggerated like a bad disaster movie except not as good since their weren't any aliens.
Oh yeah, this book needed aliens or a reality check.
Here's the thing I really do like disaster movies. In fact, their one of my guilty pleasures. But even really bad disaster movies like Independence Day don't have a cast that is this idiotic or lacked common sense. Seriously, if the technology scene wasn't bad enough there was this whole scene that disregarded the fourth amendment. And it was like obvious disregard. Just watching Law and Order should've told you it was illegal.
Besides the fact that this books expects humanity to be stupid, I also had trouble with the characters. I'll start with our lead, Pandora. Sure, she has a few lines here and there that make her look potentially kick ass, but those are just words her actions she's' just the typical sort of YA heroine you want to throttle. The girl complains endlessly about how her mother doesn't love her. Look, her mother is probably just trying to make ends meet (because I'm betting her psycho deadbeat dad isn't paying child support and maintenance) and so what if she's a high powered corporate lawyer? Seriously, it could be a lot worse. And yeah, I get her mother works for the greedy oil companies...but it's a way to make a living and to be honest with you guys I worked for an energy company last summer and these people aren't as hard and callous as mainstream media makes them out to be. A lot of environmental policies are passed because of these companies have taken action. Grant it, they might not have the most altruistic motives but they're not Satan like Pandora made them out to be. And furthermore, there's no way her mom is as bad as her dad is a total psychopath. Plus, there are her friends. These random guys that just just randomly show up at her school and are commit multiple felonies for her throughout the course of the novel.
Speaking of multiple felonies, they are committed left and right in this book and because the power's down the police are incompetent. Right. You know, there is a whole genre of movies (Westerns) where the police department worked without electricity. And yes that makes communication a little difficult but not impossible. Alternative forms of communication are available like radio and telegraph, and any other emergency forms of communication that the government has set out. Once again, I want to reiterate people aren't totally dependent on technology. Or at least not as much as Deebs would make it seem. Honestly, it would've made a lot more sense if this book took place in the distant future where some of this dependency could've came off more realistic with enough world building.
Best Feature: Easy Peasy Writing: The writing is very easy to get through. Despite some cheesy lines I didn't struggle to read this because the prose was ridiculous. It was really quite nice. And I liked the premises too.
Worst Feature: It's Called Google: The stupidity in this book is astounding. There are tons of simple factual mistakes that had me head desking rapidly. I'm not going to list them all out because that would be a little arbitrary, but come on some of these things were common sense. Take for example, the whole interrogation scene it went beyond ridiculous. Anyone who has watched an episode of Law and Order knows that police interrogations and searches are ran on specific guidelines in the states so that they don't break the 4th Amendment. Well, the 4th amendment is broken here kids. And our MC instead of keeping her mouth shut and insisting that she won't talk to the cops without her parents or attorney makes an even bigger mess and then we just have to throw in some police brutality in there for fun. Because don't you know, all FBI agents/Police/Homeland Security officials are evil. It's poor generalization. And then there's the way this entire technology crisis was handled too. It was beyond ridiculous. Deebs gets a lot of things wrong like generators. During Hurricane Ike, my family used a generator off and on for about a week. And we still use the thing to light up our Christmas lights (yeah, we have that big of a display). As long as you have gasoline, the machines can work indefinitely. Stating that they'll only work a couple of days is stupid. Just like assuming everyone is going to have a computer that has internet access or play that stupid game. Seriously, you would think people would've learned at thing or two after Y2K.
Appropriateness: There's some cussing. Police brutality. Violence. No sex. Honestly, it's very PG-13.
To see full review click here: http://yalbookbriefs.blogspot.com/201...
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley. This has not affect my view of the book. Doomed will be available for purchase January 8, 2013.
You can survive without electricity, the internet, cell phones, or generally any modern convenience for a few days. Yes, it's tough. But it is plausible. After all, the caveman did it. And for that matter so did anyone else who lived before Al Gore invented the internet. So it is feasible that we'd survive, right? Well, not according to Tracy Deebs which might have been the reason I couldn't stomach finishing this one.
General Summary: So a computer worm is released thanks to Pandora and the world goes into chaos. Because hey, if you can't Pinterest and Facebook all day you're going to die. It gets even worse when the power goes out and people start price gouging (which by the way is illegal and prevented by several statutes). And now Pandora and her new friends must find a way to save the internet and the world as well.
Review:
You have to be stupid or make yourself think dumb to not get annoyed with this book (note, being drunk helps too).
I will state this one of the side effects of being a law student is that you're forced to think logical this can making reading really difficult like in the case of this book. But I think anyone who actually thinks things through when reading this book will be shaking their head at the logical fallacies that are committed.
Okay, let's start with the obvious: the world doesn't end when the internet and lights go out. That's pretty simple, right? And for that matter most people do not go bat shit crazy and run to their neighbors when their electronics suddenly don't work. The simple and logical thing to do is to try to reboot your system and if that doesn't work contact your provider and or go to the Apple store to get your computer fixed. Furthermore, rolling black outs are more common than you think. I know my house experienced a couple last summer and I live in the same state as Pandora (which by the way the city she claims to live in is closer to Dallas than Austin if we're talking about Westlake if it's West Lake Hills that's a different story, but the book said Westlake). The whole thing was over exaggerated like a bad disaster movie except not as good since their weren't any aliens.
Oh yeah, this book needed aliens or a reality check.
Here's the thing I really do like disaster movies. In fact, their one of my guilty pleasures. But even really bad disaster movies like Independence Day don't have a cast that is this idiotic or lacked common sense. Seriously, if the technology scene wasn't bad enough there was this whole scene that disregarded the fourth amendment. And it was like obvious disregard. Just watching Law and Order should've told you it was illegal.
Besides the fact that this books expects humanity to be stupid, I also had trouble with the characters. I'll start with our lead, Pandora. Sure, she has a few lines here and there that make her look potentially kick ass, but those are just words her actions she's' just the typical sort of YA heroine you want to throttle. The girl complains endlessly about how her mother doesn't love her. Look, her mother is probably just trying to make ends meet (because I'm betting her psycho deadbeat dad isn't paying child support and maintenance) and so what if she's a high powered corporate lawyer? Seriously, it could be a lot worse. And yeah, I get her mother works for the greedy oil companies...but it's a way to make a living and to be honest with you guys I worked for an energy company last summer and these people aren't as hard and callous as mainstream media makes them out to be. A lot of environmental policies are passed because of these companies have taken action. Grant it, they might not have the most altruistic motives but they're not Satan like Pandora made them out to be. And furthermore, there's no way her mom is as bad as her dad is a total psychopath. Plus, there are her friends. These random guys that just just randomly show up at her school and are commit multiple felonies for her throughout the course of the novel.
Speaking of multiple felonies, they are committed left and right in this book and because the power's down the police are incompetent. Right. You know, there is a whole genre of movies (Westerns) where the police department worked without electricity. And yes that makes communication a little difficult but not impossible. Alternative forms of communication are available like radio and telegraph, and any other emergency forms of communication that the government has set out. Once again, I want to reiterate people aren't totally dependent on technology. Or at least not as much as Deebs would make it seem. Honestly, it would've made a lot more sense if this book took place in the distant future where some of this dependency could've came off more realistic with enough world building.
Best Feature: Easy Peasy Writing: The writing is very easy to get through. Despite some cheesy lines I didn't struggle to read this because the prose was ridiculous. It was really quite nice. And I liked the premises too.
Worst Feature: It's Called Google: The stupidity in this book is astounding. There are tons of simple factual mistakes that had me head desking rapidly. I'm not going to list them all out because that would be a little arbitrary, but come on some of these things were common sense. Take for example, the whole interrogation scene it went beyond ridiculous. Anyone who has watched an episode of Law and Order knows that police interrogations and searches are ran on specific guidelines in the states so that they don't break the 4th Amendment. Well, the 4th amendment is broken here kids. And our MC instead of keeping her mouth shut and insisting that she won't talk to the cops without her parents or attorney makes an even bigger mess and then we just have to throw in some police brutality in there for fun. Because don't you know, all FBI agents/Police/Homeland Security officials are evil. It's poor generalization. And then there's the way this entire technology crisis was handled too. It was beyond ridiculous. Deebs gets a lot of things wrong like generators. During Hurricane Ike, my family used a generator off and on for about a week. And we still use the thing to light up our Christmas lights (yeah, we have that big of a display). As long as you have gasoline, the machines can work indefinitely. Stating that they'll only work a couple of days is stupid. Just like assuming everyone is going to have a computer that has internet access or play that stupid game. Seriously, you would think people would've learned at thing or two after Y2K.
Appropriateness: There's some cussing. Police brutality. Violence. No sex. Honestly, it's very PG-13.
November 9, 2012
booknook — Young Adult book reviews
I was nervous about starting Doomed . I'm a computer nerd, gaming nerd, web design nerd, and all kinds of internet geeky. I wanted Doomed to rock my universe. I wanted it to knock my pants off. I was afraid that perhaps I had overhyped it for myself and that it would disappoint me...
Who was I kidding?!!
Doomed RIPPED my pants off and left me buck naked, hair blowing in the wind, happy tears streaming down my face. Cards on the freaking table... DOOMED ROCKED MY NERDY GAMER WORLD!! Holy mother of computer hacking sex gods. I was totally unprepared for the epic awesomesauceness of this book. I'm still completely wide-eyed and in shock. We have computer viruses that take over the world, a strong likeable main character named PANDORA (hello, awesome), a sweet smiley guy, a strong sexy silent kickass hacker guy, and one insane Greek mythology apocalypse game to beat. Can you imagine a more amazing book? I cannot.
Every single character in this book is absolutely AWESOME! They're all so unique and I love them for different reasons. Pandora.. Okay I adore her name. But also, she's kind of quirky, spunky, but still has her HOLY SHIT meltdown moments. Don't we all? But she remains super strong and kickass throughout the entire book (..most of the time!). Her best friend Emily is the classic, awesome, sweet, upbeat best friend character. Those are my FAVOURITE! Emily is only in the very beginning of the book, but still—she plays that role perfectly. Then... there are the guys...
*Fans self*
I absolutely LOOOVE THEO!!! He's the insanely smart tech/computer genius. I love tech nerds. I love love LOVE THEM! My boyfriend is an amazing elite programmer/web developer, so in some ways, I felt like I was reading about my boyfriend. Theo is some sort of accepted-early-into-Harvard computer genius. He's the strong, sexy silent type who hides secrets of a dark, sketchy past behind his conflicting eyes. That, my friends, is sexy.
In some ways, the story of Doomed reminded me of Ashfall , and I totally wasn't expecting that. But it makes sense. In Doomed we have a complete technological blackout. This causes complete mayhem, chaos, looting, pillaging, murder, and more. Pandora, Theo, and Eli are on the run from the FBI/Homeland Security/etc. but also have to watch out for people stealing their survival supplies, crazy biker gangs, and look five times at every intersection because the traffic lights don't work. There's a complete breakdown of humanity. Survival instincts really kick in, to the point where people will so easily leave someone else to die in order to save themselves.
And IN ADDITION to all that other craziness, Pandora has to solve a puzzle. She's driving from state to state, trying to piece together clues that her father left behind for her. It's an AWESOME combination of a real life adventure and gaming. The two go completely hand in hand and she has to put them together in order to BEAT THE GAME!
My one criticism is with the game itself. It's written exactly like real life: with characters talking, touching each other, and just acting as they would in the real world. I felt like it wasn't a very realistic representation of a game, which is limited to keyboard and mouse movements. I mean, surely there isn't a keyboard command for "Put hand on other character's lower back and lean in to speak," but that's exactly the kind of thing that went on all the time. Even though it wasn't very realistic at all, it didn't bother me. I got so immersed in the game that I mostly just pretended that it wasn't a game and that it was actually happening. Then it stopped bothering me.
This book is just so unique on so many different levels. I was screaming and squealing with complete and utter joy and awe as I was reading it!
The gaming—AWESOME.
The main character—HILARIOUS.
The circumstances —DEVASTATING.
The sexual tension—HOT.
The action scenes—INTENSE.
Doomed called to the total nerd inside of me and did not disappoint me in the slightest... until it ended. I wanted more. I NEEDED more. I am fully prepared to start stalking Tracy Deebs on her Doomed book tour in January. It's just THAT good!!
I was nervous about starting Doomed . I'm a computer nerd, gaming nerd, web design nerd, and all kinds of internet geeky. I wanted Doomed to rock my universe. I wanted it to knock my pants off. I was afraid that perhaps I had overhyped it for myself and that it would disappoint me...
Who was I kidding?!!
Doomed RIPPED my pants off and left me buck naked, hair blowing in the wind, happy tears streaming down my face. Cards on the freaking table... DOOMED ROCKED MY NERDY GAMER WORLD!! Holy mother of computer hacking sex gods. I was totally unprepared for the epic awesomesauceness of this book. I'm still completely wide-eyed and in shock. We have computer viruses that take over the world, a strong likeable main character named PANDORA (hello, awesome), a sweet smiley guy, a strong sexy silent kickass hacker guy, and one insane Greek mythology apocalypse game to beat. Can you imagine a more amazing book? I cannot.
Every single character in this book is absolutely AWESOME! They're all so unique and I love them for different reasons. Pandora.. Okay I adore her name. But also, she's kind of quirky, spunky, but still has her HOLY SHIT meltdown moments. Don't we all? But she remains super strong and kickass throughout the entire book (..most of the time!). Her best friend Emily is the classic, awesome, sweet, upbeat best friend character. Those are my FAVOURITE! Emily is only in the very beginning of the book, but still—she plays that role perfectly. Then... there are the guys...
*Fans self*
I absolutely LOOOVE THEO!!! He's the insanely smart tech/computer genius. I love tech nerds. I love love LOVE THEM! My boyfriend is an amazing elite programmer/web developer, so in some ways, I felt like I was reading about my boyfriend. Theo is some sort of accepted-early-into-Harvard computer genius. He's the strong, sexy silent type who hides secrets of a dark, sketchy past behind his conflicting eyes. That, my friends, is sexy.
"This is what I do," he answers.
"Play video games?"
He lifts an eyebrow. "Hack systems."
I look at him, standing there in his button-down shirt and khaki pants and can't imagine him as anything but a rule follower of the highest order. I mean, even his shoes are perfectly polished. But then I make the mistake of meeting his eyes, and they're not cold anymore. Instead, they're totally bad ass. Filled with confidence and the thrill of the chase.
In some ways, the story of Doomed reminded me of Ashfall , and I totally wasn't expecting that. But it makes sense. In Doomed we have a complete technological blackout. This causes complete mayhem, chaos, looting, pillaging, murder, and more. Pandora, Theo, and Eli are on the run from the FBI/Homeland Security/etc. but also have to watch out for people stealing their survival supplies, crazy biker gangs, and look five times at every intersection because the traffic lights don't work. There's a complete breakdown of humanity. Survival instincts really kick in, to the point where people will so easily leave someone else to die in order to save themselves.
The lines between black and white are blurring more with every second we're on the road, on the run, until distinguishing the varying shades of grey has become next to impossible for me. Fleeing the authorities, breaking and entering, stealing. And even worse is the knowledge that there's nowhere to go but down.
And IN ADDITION to all that other craziness, Pandora has to solve a puzzle. She's driving from state to state, trying to piece together clues that her father left behind for her. It's an AWESOME combination of a real life adventure and gaming. The two go completely hand in hand and she has to put them together in order to BEAT THE GAME!
My one criticism is with the game itself. It's written exactly like real life: with characters talking, touching each other, and just acting as they would in the real world. I felt like it wasn't a very realistic representation of a game, which is limited to keyboard and mouse movements. I mean, surely there isn't a keyboard command for "Put hand on other character's lower back and lean in to speak," but that's exactly the kind of thing that went on all the time. Even though it wasn't very realistic at all, it didn't bother me. I got so immersed in the game that I mostly just pretended that it wasn't a game and that it was actually happening. Then it stopped bothering me.
This book is just so unique on so many different levels. I was screaming and squealing with complete and utter joy and awe as I was reading it!
The gaming—AWESOME.
The main character—HILARIOUS.
The circumstances —DEVASTATING.
The sexual tension—HOT.
The action scenes—INTENSE.
Doomed called to the total nerd inside of me and did not disappoint me in the slightest... until it ended. I wanted more. I NEEDED more. I am fully prepared to start stalking Tracy Deebs on her Doomed book tour in January. It's just THAT good!!
February 21, 2016
Pandora is just like any other teen, hooked to the Internet and spending way too much time on her laptop. Her mum is barely around, more often than not on a business trip somewhere, and she hasn't seen or heard from her dad in years. That is, until her birthday. Opening up her email, she's stunned to find twelve photos of her family from when she was younger that have been sent by her dad. Unable to help herself, she clicks on the photos, never imagining that doing do would release a virus designed to knock out the Internet and electricity all over the world. But the ultimate truth is far harsher, and if she doesn't move fast, not even the Earth itself will survive.
The world created in Doomed is, I feel, very true to what would happen if we really did lose our electricity and Internet. It's amazing just how much we rely on these things today, so much so that it's impossible for us to really imagine what the world was once like, when society lived without them. It's a major flaw of ours - everything is on computer; there is no back-up, no support, nothing physical for us to hold on to. Everything is linked to a power source and for all our love of smartphones, they'd be useless in such a crisis. Deebs very successfully portrays the panic and chaos that would ensue if indeed such a virus was released. It was very interesting to see how people began to went from humanitarian to survivalist. This book is wonderfully fast-paced, packed to the brim with action and tension. I remember at the beginning I was wondering how the author had written this - given that Pandora has to play an online game and follow the photos her father sent her if she wants to stop the worm from fulfilling its ultimate purpose, I wanted to know if more of the story was based inside the game, kind of like Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. Looking back, I really liked the way that the story was structured. I also loved the Greek element that was introduced; this started with Pandora's name and was then developed inside the game.
To begin with I didn't like Pandora. She whined, she freaked out a lot and she refused to face facts. I just wanted her to suck it up and deal. Theo and Eli, the stepbrothers helping her, were coping just fine, so why did she have to lose it so much? Gradually, though, she got stronger. She forced herself to work past the difficulties and the pain and do what needed to be done. There were actually signs of this side of her at the beginning, but they were few and far between; I was glad to see it develop further throughout the book. I did feel for her because of the situation with her parents as well. Her mother was cold and aloof, more concerned with her career than her daughter. Her father's decision to make Pandora implicit in his schemes after years of absence was just galling. Of course like all madmen, he actually believed in what he was doing. The ironic thing was that he actually had a point. He was just going about it in entirely the wrong way. Something he failed to realise. With such failures for parents, I'm willing to give Pandora a little bit of leeway. A little.
When presented with Theo and Eli, I knew immediately who I wanted Pandora to end up with. Stepbrothers, they're completely different from each other. Eli is blonde-haired, green-eyed and charming. Theo has black hair, blue eyes and is of a more broody disposition. Both have their good points, but one was more than just good, he was amazing; needless to say I was delighted when I saw that Pandora was more inclined towards him. It was a love triangle, sadly, but it didn't become dramatic, it just resolved itself quietly. I was glad to see that the romance didn't overtake the plot; instead it took a more subtle presence. Eli and Theo also happen to hate each other with a passion, and it was touching to see them very gradually grow closer together. I did have a couple of questions about their characters, Theo in particular, that I felt weren't really answered. Not anything major, but I felt that certain aspects needed a more satisfying explanation, such as how they were both so willing to help Pandora and how they knew to be so prepared. There was also a certain incident involving Theo and Pandora in their English class at the very beginning that was never recalled, which I felt should have been. But overall, these two were really likeable (one more than likeable).
Doomed was a book that I couldn't put down. It had me swept up in the action, racing through the pages to get to the next place Pandora, Theo and Eli needed to be and to see how they were going to get out of whatever situation it was that they were in. Deebs didn't shy away from the seriousness of the effects on humanity of such a crisis, and the messages I got from this book were very clear. Despite the character flaws, I still enjoyed reading about them and enjoyed the banter between them. If you're even slightly interested in the sound of this, Doomed is a book I can definitely recommend.
This review is also posted on my blog.
The world created in Doomed is, I feel, very true to what would happen if we really did lose our electricity and Internet. It's amazing just how much we rely on these things today, so much so that it's impossible for us to really imagine what the world was once like, when society lived without them. It's a major flaw of ours - everything is on computer; there is no back-up, no support, nothing physical for us to hold on to. Everything is linked to a power source and for all our love of smartphones, they'd be useless in such a crisis. Deebs very successfully portrays the panic and chaos that would ensue if indeed such a virus was released. It was very interesting to see how people began to went from humanitarian to survivalist. This book is wonderfully fast-paced, packed to the brim with action and tension. I remember at the beginning I was wondering how the author had written this - given that Pandora has to play an online game and follow the photos her father sent her if she wants to stop the worm from fulfilling its ultimate purpose, I wanted to know if more of the story was based inside the game, kind of like Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. Looking back, I really liked the way that the story was structured. I also loved the Greek element that was introduced; this started with Pandora's name and was then developed inside the game.
To begin with I didn't like Pandora. She whined, she freaked out a lot and she refused to face facts. I just wanted her to suck it up and deal. Theo and Eli, the stepbrothers helping her, were coping just fine, so why did she have to lose it so much? Gradually, though, she got stronger. She forced herself to work past the difficulties and the pain and do what needed to be done. There were actually signs of this side of her at the beginning, but they were few and far between; I was glad to see it develop further throughout the book. I did feel for her because of the situation with her parents as well. Her mother was cold and aloof, more concerned with her career than her daughter. Her father's decision to make Pandora implicit in his schemes after years of absence was just galling. Of course like all madmen, he actually believed in what he was doing. The ironic thing was that he actually had a point. He was just going about it in entirely the wrong way. Something he failed to realise. With such failures for parents, I'm willing to give Pandora a little bit of leeway. A little.
When presented with Theo and Eli, I knew immediately who I wanted Pandora to end up with. Stepbrothers, they're completely different from each other. Eli is blonde-haired, green-eyed and charming. Theo has black hair, blue eyes and is of a more broody disposition. Both have their good points, but one was more than just good, he was amazing; needless to say I was delighted when I saw that Pandora was more inclined towards him. It was a love triangle, sadly, but it didn't become dramatic, it just resolved itself quietly. I was glad to see that the romance didn't overtake the plot; instead it took a more subtle presence. Eli and Theo also happen to hate each other with a passion, and it was touching to see them very gradually grow closer together. I did have a couple of questions about their characters, Theo in particular, that I felt weren't really answered. Not anything major, but I felt that certain aspects needed a more satisfying explanation, such as how they were both so willing to help Pandora and how they knew to be so prepared. There was also a certain incident involving Theo and Pandora in their English class at the very beginning that was never recalled, which I felt should have been. But overall, these two were really likeable (one more than likeable).
Doomed was a book that I couldn't put down. It had me swept up in the action, racing through the pages to get to the next place Pandora, Theo and Eli needed to be and to see how they were going to get out of whatever situation it was that they were in. Deebs didn't shy away from the seriousness of the effects on humanity of such a crisis, and the messages I got from this book were very clear. Despite the character flaws, I still enjoyed reading about them and enjoyed the banter between them. If you're even slightly interested in the sound of this, Doomed is a book I can definitely recommend.
This review is also posted on my blog.
August 6, 2015
3.5 stars
Honestly I really just have a few issues with the book:
1. A whole star was lost because our main character, Pandora, is an over dramatic child.
Yes, yes I understand you don't have Google and you can't text your bestie that you, coincidentally, forgot all about once you ditched her with the herd of cops, homeland security and FBI agents.
2. Typical hate relationship between two completely different, newly brought together stepbrothers that both oh so fell in love with our main character.
*rolls eyes*
3. I felt that there was a more deeper secret about Theo and Eli, not just the bland one the author gave us. I needed a little more insight in why Theo says to Eli "I always clean up your messes." What messes? I was thinking the worst things possible, but sadly the author seemed to forget about the whole dialogue. And the the whole "There's more to Theo you don't know about" that Eli said more than once to Pandora.
4. I never really understood the purpose behind the game, I understand the reason the author gave, but this all could have been done without the game.
5. All the agents that were after Pandora ????
6. I am not sure if the author, publishers, and readers looked over the tiny flaws of the story. One minute the author is telling us that all the stop lights stayed on green due to the grid being off and all, but then when stop at a red light, then it turned green, I was a bit confused and reread those lines to see if I read it wrong. I was not. These little errors happened a few other times about other things.
7. And last, but not least, that is was a stand alone. I wish to read more of Pandora's story after everything went down and finished.
All of these issues did not though, overwhelm me. They may have been a few, but they were minor (except for points 1 and 2). The writing was easy to read, the adventures where exciting (but the last one was too easy and quick to end--should have been in another book), and the story as a whole kept you anticipating the next password and hardship.
My favorite about the book is how the author was able to prove that with a worm in the internet system, slowly by slowly everything else shuts off, malfunctions, or changes the behavior of the citizens. Even the lose of the internet makes the world loot, kill, rape, hide, trade, starve, and run.
Honestly I really just have a few issues with the book:
1. A whole star was lost because our main character, Pandora, is an over dramatic child.
Yes, yes I understand you don't have Google and you can't text your bestie that you, coincidentally, forgot all about once you ditched her with the herd of cops, homeland security and FBI agents.
2. Typical hate relationship between two completely different, newly brought together stepbrothers that both oh so fell in love with our main character.
*rolls eyes*
3. I felt that there was a more deeper secret about Theo and Eli, not just the bland one the author gave us. I needed a little more insight in why Theo says to Eli "I always clean up your messes." What messes? I was thinking the worst things possible, but sadly the author seemed to forget about the whole dialogue. And the the whole "There's more to Theo you don't know about" that Eli said more than once to Pandora.
4. I never really understood the purpose behind the game, I understand the reason the author gave, but this all could have been done without the game.
5. All the agents that were after Pandora ????
6. I am not sure if the author, publishers, and readers looked over the tiny flaws of the story. One minute the author is telling us that all the stop lights stayed on green due to the grid being off and all, but then when stop at a red light, then it turned green, I was a bit confused and reread those lines to see if I read it wrong. I was not. These little errors happened a few other times about other things.
7. And last, but not least, that is was a stand alone. I wish to read more of Pandora's story after everything went down and finished.
All of these issues did not though, overwhelm me. They may have been a few, but they were minor (except for points 1 and 2). The writing was easy to read, the adventures where exciting (but the last one was too easy and quick to end--should have been in another book), and the story as a whole kept you anticipating the next password and hardship.
My favorite about the book is how the author was able to prove that with a worm in the internet system, slowly by slowly everything else shuts off, malfunctions, or changes the behavior of the citizens. Even the lose of the internet makes the world loot, kill, rape, hide, trade, starve, and run.
Read
December 30, 2016I am not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination but I could easily envision my nephews and nieces getting trapped in this way. I loved the real world overlapping with the game and the mythological monsters found inside it. I wouldn't mind a get away car trip with those boys. They seem to have it all under control which is something I'd really appreciate in the apocalypse.
April 2, 2016
BLECH.
July 17, 2013
Please be advised that this review contains spoilers, though I have tried to keep some big ones out. You have been warned.
This is a fairly standard post-apocalyptic novel in which the main character, Pandora, is faced with a world without the Internet, communications more advanced than radio, or any of the amenities that first world countries deem necessary for survival, with the help of her two oversized boy-friends, Eli and Theo.
Shortly after the catastrophe, the Internet comes back online, but the only thing that will work is a popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), called Pandora’s box, who’s name, unsurprisingly, is actually a play on Pandora’s name. Its creator designed a very complicated computer worm that would allow him to control everything hooked up to a computer, the game was to be the means of ending his control while teaching a valuable lesson to the people using up the planet’s resources. The phrase “Beat the game, save the world” that flashes on the screen is an allusion to this. For some reason society collapses after a matter of hours, and rather than keeping a level head and attempting to find the person responsible. It is later revealed that the “Pandora’s Box Worm” has hacked nuclear power plants, which does give people something to be worried about, but this is established after society has already gone nuts. Pandora is tasked with ending the so called apocalypse by traversing the country looking for clues left to her by the person responsible for all the chaos. While doing this she must also plant the seeds for a new future by completing trials in the game, which symbolize the proper path the world should be taking. Not that anyone would actually listen to the madman who threatened the entire world by hacking nuclear power plants and threatening to blow up the world if they don’t reform their ways. As if this weren’t bad enough there is a time limit of ten days before the world goes nuclear, so Pandora and her merry men must complete their tasks quickly. This was probably put in to add a sense of urgency, and give the characters something of an impossible challenge, but I was sorely disappointed with the fact that the characters seemed to be singularly unchallenged. I thought there would be some race to the finish that would end just in the nick of time. As per story cliché I assumed there would be one challenge per day, but there turned out to only be about four, and the final confrontation with the “bad guy” took place several days before the deadline, making the urgency feel a little less urgent than it should have.
I have a few complaints about this book, the big ones being highly personal. The first is that of the female protagonist. This is a story told from a first person perspective, so it was absolutely maddening to me that the person whose eyes you are stuck viewing the world through is utterly uninteresting, often grasping plot points chapters after I had thought they were established to be obvious. She is just pulled along by her big friends being almost completely useless.
My second complaint is the love triangle. I know, Twilight made lots of money by portraying a rather forced love triangle, but that doesn’t mean that every book with a weak female protagonist has to cram one in. One thing that really bugged me was that it wasn’t even played out subtly. It was obvious from the opening scenes which boy she would choose at the end.
My third complaint is also a taste issue. During the segments in which Pandora was controlling an avatar in the game world, the author kept using inconsistent language describing her feelings. She kept describing how Pandora could feel whatever her avatar was feeling, which is not even remotely how that works in real life. The only thing I could think of to explain it was that it was some sort of virtual reality machine, which begs the question of how she managed to play while being chased by hungry dogs. I also don’t understand how it became the “most popular MMO in the world” because I honestly can’t think of a reason you would want to play it. You get to walk around in cities doing ordinary things… Yay?
All in all, this was a fairly competent attempt to hold my attention. Each of the ideas in the book could have been a central element in its own book, or even series. This is not a point in its favor though. Every individual element in it has been done before, and done better by other books and series, even that of a story that takes place partially in an MMORPG. It is not painful to read (most of the time) but I feel like all the ideas floating around crammed out things like story and characters with more depth than a puddle in the middle of the Australian desert.
This is a fairly standard post-apocalyptic novel in which the main character, Pandora, is faced with a world without the Internet, communications more advanced than radio, or any of the amenities that first world countries deem necessary for survival, with the help of her two oversized boy-friends, Eli and Theo.
Shortly after the catastrophe, the Internet comes back online, but the only thing that will work is a popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), called Pandora’s box, who’s name, unsurprisingly, is actually a play on Pandora’s name. Its creator designed a very complicated computer worm that would allow him to control everything hooked up to a computer, the game was to be the means of ending his control while teaching a valuable lesson to the people using up the planet’s resources. The phrase “Beat the game, save the world” that flashes on the screen is an allusion to this. For some reason society collapses after a matter of hours, and rather than keeping a level head and attempting to find the person responsible. It is later revealed that the “Pandora’s Box Worm” has hacked nuclear power plants, which does give people something to be worried about, but this is established after society has already gone nuts. Pandora is tasked with ending the so called apocalypse by traversing the country looking for clues left to her by the person responsible for all the chaos. While doing this she must also plant the seeds for a new future by completing trials in the game, which symbolize the proper path the world should be taking. Not that anyone would actually listen to the madman who threatened the entire world by hacking nuclear power plants and threatening to blow up the world if they don’t reform their ways. As if this weren’t bad enough there is a time limit of ten days before the world goes nuclear, so Pandora and her merry men must complete their tasks quickly. This was probably put in to add a sense of urgency, and give the characters something of an impossible challenge, but I was sorely disappointed with the fact that the characters seemed to be singularly unchallenged. I thought there would be some race to the finish that would end just in the nick of time. As per story cliché I assumed there would be one challenge per day, but there turned out to only be about four, and the final confrontation with the “bad guy” took place several days before the deadline, making the urgency feel a little less urgent than it should have.
I have a few complaints about this book, the big ones being highly personal. The first is that of the female protagonist. This is a story told from a first person perspective, so it was absolutely maddening to me that the person whose eyes you are stuck viewing the world through is utterly uninteresting, often grasping plot points chapters after I had thought they were established to be obvious. She is just pulled along by her big friends being almost completely useless.
My second complaint is the love triangle. I know, Twilight made lots of money by portraying a rather forced love triangle, but that doesn’t mean that every book with a weak female protagonist has to cram one in. One thing that really bugged me was that it wasn’t even played out subtly. It was obvious from the opening scenes which boy she would choose at the end.
My third complaint is also a taste issue. During the segments in which Pandora was controlling an avatar in the game world, the author kept using inconsistent language describing her feelings. She kept describing how Pandora could feel whatever her avatar was feeling, which is not even remotely how that works in real life. The only thing I could think of to explain it was that it was some sort of virtual reality machine, which begs the question of how she managed to play while being chased by hungry dogs. I also don’t understand how it became the “most popular MMO in the world” because I honestly can’t think of a reason you would want to play it. You get to walk around in cities doing ordinary things… Yay?
All in all, this was a fairly competent attempt to hold my attention. Each of the ideas in the book could have been a central element in its own book, or even series. This is not a point in its favor though. Every individual element in it has been done before, and done better by other books and series, even that of a story that takes place partially in an MMORPG. It is not painful to read (most of the time) but I feel like all the ideas floating around crammed out things like story and characters with more depth than a puddle in the middle of the Australian desert.
November 25, 2012
What can I say about Doomed? Oh yeah, that it was freaking amazing! The world that Tracy Deebs has thrown us into is a new and exciting one. One where it is half a video game and half a real life story, but it is sometimes hard to tell the difference. I really loved what Tracy put these characters through and all the twist and turns of the story!
Cover:
So, I had the cover where it was actual people on it, and I really loved that one! It captured the story and showed the technological aspect of it too. The new cover, which I have no idea which one they will end up using, is a power button with the shadow of a finger, and that one kind of creeps me out in some unknown way.
Plot/ Writing:
The writing was amazing, as always. She put us through so many twists and turns, almost seamlessly and you never stopped guessing. She really integrated the story of Pandora’s Box really well and the use of what every kid has now, some type or form of technology and what would happen if it suddenly died out. That was a concept that was foreign to me, and now with Doomed and the TV show Revolution, it has been explored in different ways, and both ways are very interesting to read and watch.
Characters:
Pandora was a very interesting character to say the least. She was very driven and well due to her namesake, curious. She went on this adventure without knowing what the outcome would be and well, it was interesting to see where it took her. Pandora was one of those girls that you either loved or hated because of her personality, and I loved her. She risked her life for this, and she was brave. Really, really brave.
Where did these boys come from? Theo and Eli = amazing. That is all I can say about them. For a while, I thought they were some kind of god because it was a story about Pandora’s Box and I wanted them to be gods, but sadly they weren’t. They were just normal teenage boys, with a really good sense of survival. I had no idea how they managed all the things they pulled off in the book, but the somehow did and well, it was amazing. I have no idea where they got these talents and they made them perfect. Oh and Team Theo all the way!
All in All:
I love Tracy Deebs writing and stories, and Doomed was no exception to the amazingness that is her story telling. Doomed is reality meets cyber space, and everything in between. Pick up Doomed and you will not be sorry!
Cover:
So, I had the cover where it was actual people on it, and I really loved that one! It captured the story and showed the technological aspect of it too. The new cover, which I have no idea which one they will end up using, is a power button with the shadow of a finger, and that one kind of creeps me out in some unknown way.
Plot/ Writing:
The writing was amazing, as always. She put us through so many twists and turns, almost seamlessly and you never stopped guessing. She really integrated the story of Pandora’s Box really well and the use of what every kid has now, some type or form of technology and what would happen if it suddenly died out. That was a concept that was foreign to me, and now with Doomed and the TV show Revolution, it has been explored in different ways, and both ways are very interesting to read and watch.
Characters:
Pandora was a very interesting character to say the least. She was very driven and well due to her namesake, curious. She went on this adventure without knowing what the outcome would be and well, it was interesting to see where it took her. Pandora was one of those girls that you either loved or hated because of her personality, and I loved her. She risked her life for this, and she was brave. Really, really brave.
Where did these boys come from? Theo and Eli = amazing. That is all I can say about them. For a while, I thought they were some kind of god because it was a story about Pandora’s Box and I wanted them to be gods, but sadly they weren’t. They were just normal teenage boys, with a really good sense of survival. I had no idea how they managed all the things they pulled off in the book, but the somehow did and well, it was amazing. I have no idea where they got these talents and they made them perfect. Oh and Team Theo all the way!
All in All:
I love Tracy Deebs writing and stories, and Doomed was no exception to the amazingness that is her story telling. Doomed is reality meets cyber space, and everything in between. Pick up Doomed and you will not be sorry!
April 12, 2016
The entire modern world is useless when every modern convenience has been turned inside out. Our main character has family issues especially with her non-existent father, and when he sends her a birthday present that she opens on her computer, she realizes it’s not just photos that she’s seeing, it’s a worm that has worked its way into the Internet that disables all technology. Mass chaos ensues, and if Pandora wants to save the world, she has to play by the rules. Beat the game, and save the world.
As far as science fiction novels go, I wanted to love this novel. It screamed “favourite” to me when I read the description. I’m sad to say it wasn’t what I expected. I couldn’t actually believe the world would go crazy after only 7 days of no technology. It just seemed way too unrealistic. Also, I couldn’t help but giggle when the characters would be in mortal danger, and she’d be there sitting, with a laptop open playing a video game?!? It didn’t make any sense. As well as the mythology aspect of the game. It sounded neat, but it didn’t fit well with the science theme. How sad that these teenagers don’t even know how to use the reference books to locate a map. Libraries did exist without computers, and it’s a little sad that maybe teenagers today wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t have the Internet.
I really enjoyed the fast paced action, and wonderful characters. They were written well and developed well, and I like how they grow stronger each day. Their pasts are hidden at first, but as the chapters keep going, it’s revealed that there is more to them than meets the eye. Especially Theo who is incredibly calm, intelligent and a wonderful leader. I happen to think he was my favourite, and if he wasn’t in the book, I would have just stopped reading all together. I found Pandora to be a little slow, and her feelings for both characters bothered me.
Characters
Matured in the end, and I just loved Theo! Always cheered for him!
Pacing
Super fast, loved it!
Cover/Design
Poor, I would surely pass this at the book store.
Plot
Good, but not great. Could have been better with a more realistic explanation. I just didn’t buy it.
Overall, an exciting and fast paced story with cute characters! Read this one for the action, and pandemonium. Skip it if you’re looking for a solid read.
As far as science fiction novels go, I wanted to love this novel. It screamed “favourite” to me when I read the description. I’m sad to say it wasn’t what I expected. I couldn’t actually believe the world would go crazy after only 7 days of no technology. It just seemed way too unrealistic. Also, I couldn’t help but giggle when the characters would be in mortal danger, and she’d be there sitting, with a laptop open playing a video game?!? It didn’t make any sense. As well as the mythology aspect of the game. It sounded neat, but it didn’t fit well with the science theme. How sad that these teenagers don’t even know how to use the reference books to locate a map. Libraries did exist without computers, and it’s a little sad that maybe teenagers today wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t have the Internet.
I really enjoyed the fast paced action, and wonderful characters. They were written well and developed well, and I like how they grow stronger each day. Their pasts are hidden at first, but as the chapters keep going, it’s revealed that there is more to them than meets the eye. Especially Theo who is incredibly calm, intelligent and a wonderful leader. I happen to think he was my favourite, and if he wasn’t in the book, I would have just stopped reading all together. I found Pandora to be a little slow, and her feelings for both characters bothered me.
Characters
Matured in the end, and I just loved Theo! Always cheered for him!
Pacing
Super fast, loved it!
Cover/Design
Poor, I would surely pass this at the book store.
Plot
Good, but not great. Could have been better with a more realistic explanation. I just didn’t buy it.
Overall, an exciting and fast paced story with cute characters! Read this one for the action, and pandemonium. Skip it if you’re looking for a solid read.
July 3, 2019
3.5/5 stars
I'm honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this reread, given how juvenile the writing and characters are in the midst of such a serious, devastating situation.
In Doomed, we follow Pandora, a high school girl who, like her namesake, is curious enough to kill the cat herself. Because of this curiosity, she's naive enough to open an email from her father- a man who has been missing from her life for over 10 years- and subsequently unleash a viral worm that quickly destroys all semblance of technology all over the world. She quickly discovers that she has less than 10 days to save the world, or else everyone is doomed. How will she save the world? By playing the game, of course. With the help of the hot step brothers next door, Pandora goes on both an online and IRL quest to find all the clues her father left her, and ultimately save humanity from technological extinction.
This is a very, very character based story. I mean, come on, the clues to win the game revolve around 12 pictures from her father that depict memories from her childhood spent with him. While Pandora, Eli and Theo are running around the southern states of America, we get to learn more about each character with little glimpses into the past, and quiet moments either in the numerous cars they hotwire, or the motels they buy with the seemingly endless cash Eli's father had in the house.
Pandora is this witty, independent, introverted quirky girl who has red and purple spiked hair and only wears Doc Martins and "obscure" band tees. She plays herself off as tough, what with her 6' height and her off-putting behavior due to being relatively shy. However, she spends a good chunk of the book hyperventilating and having meltdowns over the unfairness of the world, omg, so she really wasn't my favorite character.
Eli was also another iffy character for me. I remember really liking him when I first read this (waaaaaay back in 2014), but now that I'm a grown ass woman he's totally a dick. Like, don't get me wrong, he's great at comforting Pandora during her breakdowns, but he obviously wants something to come out of those moments. He's charming, sarcastic, smart and good looking, but he's not the brightest bulb of the bunch overall.
Theo, on the other hand, is an overall snack. He's the broody, moody, dark, intelligent boy of the book, with an early acceptance to Harvard and an insane amount of knowledge of everything from technology to airplanes to survival skills. He's first introduced in the book as a really fucking creepy guy, with his brilliant acting skills during his explanation of why Othello killed Desdemona and his obtuse behavior towards Pandora when she first reaches out to the brothers for help. But his character exploration as the story evolves is easily the best out of the trio. You end up really loving him by the end of the story, because he's definitely the book's saving grace.
The plot of Doomed was probably- in my personal opinion- the best part of the book. Yes, it's extremely overused, but since I'm not really one who reads/watches "end of the world apocalypse" shit, this was relatively new to me both times I read the book. I really like how Tracy Deebs took the idea of how heavily we rely on technology and the internet, and twisted it to show just how easily humanity would actually fall without it. And, like, it wasn't even because of aliens this time. It was a simplenot really, this thing was complex af computer virus that shuts everything down.
The subliminal moral of the story was how we're destroying the planet, and one man decides that enough is enough, and takes shit into his own hands. He uses the greek myths and gods in his online game to show how we NEED to fix the earth, and won't fix technology until everyone learns.
It sucks that the characters weren't as enjoyable and the writing was extremely simplistic, because this could've easily been a 5 star rating for the second time in a row if I didn't already know what a brilliant execution of this sort of plot looked like.
I'm honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this reread, given how juvenile the writing and characters are in the midst of such a serious, devastating situation.
In Doomed, we follow Pandora, a high school girl who, like her namesake, is curious enough to kill the cat herself. Because of this curiosity, she's naive enough to open an email from her father- a man who has been missing from her life for over 10 years- and subsequently unleash a viral worm that quickly destroys all semblance of technology all over the world. She quickly discovers that she has less than 10 days to save the world, or else everyone is doomed. How will she save the world? By playing the game, of course. With the help of the hot step brothers next door, Pandora goes on both an online and IRL quest to find all the clues her father left her, and ultimately save humanity from technological extinction.
This is a very, very character based story. I mean, come on, the clues to win the game revolve around 12 pictures from her father that depict memories from her childhood spent with him. While Pandora, Eli and Theo are running around the southern states of America, we get to learn more about each character with little glimpses into the past, and quiet moments either in the numerous cars they hotwire, or the motels they buy with the seemingly endless cash Eli's father had in the house.
Pandora is this witty, independent, introverted quirky girl who has red and purple spiked hair and only wears Doc Martins and "obscure" band tees. She plays herself off as tough, what with her 6' height and her off-putting behavior due to being relatively shy. However, she spends a good chunk of the book hyperventilating and having meltdowns over the unfairness of the world, omg, so she really wasn't my favorite character.
Eli was also another iffy character for me. I remember really liking him when I first read this (waaaaaay back in 2014), but now that I'm a grown ass woman he's totally a dick. Like, don't get me wrong, he's great at comforting Pandora during her breakdowns, but he obviously wants something to come out of those moments. He's charming, sarcastic, smart and good looking, but he's not the brightest bulb of the bunch overall.
Theo, on the other hand, is an overall snack. He's the broody, moody, dark, intelligent boy of the book, with an early acceptance to Harvard and an insane amount of knowledge of everything from technology to airplanes to survival skills. He's first introduced in the book as a really fucking creepy guy, with his brilliant acting skills during his explanation of why Othello killed Desdemona and his obtuse behavior towards Pandora when she first reaches out to the brothers for help. But his character exploration as the story evolves is easily the best out of the trio. You end up really loving him by the end of the story, because he's definitely the book's saving grace.
The plot of Doomed was probably- in my personal opinion- the best part of the book. Yes, it's extremely overused, but since I'm not really one who reads/watches "end of the world apocalypse" shit, this was relatively new to me both times I read the book. I really like how Tracy Deebs took the idea of how heavily we rely on technology and the internet, and twisted it to show just how easily humanity would actually fall without it. And, like, it wasn't even because of aliens this time. It was a simple
The subliminal moral of the story was how we're destroying the planet, and one man decides that enough is enough, and takes shit into his own hands. He uses the greek myths and gods in his online game to show how we NEED to fix the earth, and won't fix technology until everyone learns.
It sucks that the characters weren't as enjoyable and the writing was extremely simplistic, because this could've easily been a 5 star rating for the second time in a row if I didn't already know what a brilliant execution of this sort of plot looked like.
January 1, 2013
I received this e-arc from the publishers via Netgalley for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.
And now I must make a small apology for the length of this review! I got to thinking about so many things that I had to talk about regarding this book because it really made me think!
Tracy Deebs, author of the fabulous Tempest series (trilogy?) has taken on a new challenge! She wrote a dystopian novel, Doomed, that was freaking awesome! Although I must say, that I like the first cover art best, the one at the top with the green and the characters. The final one--I assume as I write this in October--is just kind of boring. It in now way reflects anything about the book by seeing a finger pressing a power button. True, Pandora presses the power button on her laptop which begins the whole chaotic mess, but still. I much prefer the top cover.
Moving on! This was quite an interesting read. I don't read too many dystopians for their lack of paranormal, but I am getting into some of them here and there. Tracy wrote the fabulous series featuring mermaids, so I thought I would try her dystopian. The fact that is has some loose Greek mythology tweaked in was part of the reason why I took this leap. Many of us know the Pandora myth where the young miss opened a box she told never to open and unleashed horrors and plagues onto the world, yet at the bottom of the box, beneath all the horrors, there was Hope.
And so this is what the book deals with. When Pandora receives an email on her birthday from the father she hasn't heard from in 10 years. And Pandora is mighty curious. She has memories of her father and after reading the email, she clicks the given link and is taken to a blog. A blog about her. Filled with 12 pictures (12 pictures, 12 Greek gods and goddesses...) she clicks on them all. Uploads them and sends them to be printed at Walgreens. When she later goes back to the blog to revisit them, the blog is gone. Completely.
Chaos ensures later that night. Technology starts going down everywhere. It was pretty hard to read, because if this ever happens for real somehow, we are all in trouble, big time! And when the FBI, CIA and a whole bunch of other acronym groups show up at her house, blaming Pandora for the worm that is effectively bringing down society as we know it, she is more scared than ever.
Help soon comes from her new neighbors though Eli and Theo. Two boys she goes to school with who are stepbrothers. They essentially "kidnap" her from the higher ups and they begin a state wide run trying to get away to play the game and save the world. Because that is precisely what the game instructs them to do.
The book really encompasses less than a week of time, but sooooo much happens to the trio on their journey. Playing the game Pandora's father basically created. I originally thought that the book was going to have Pandora and the boys sucked into the game and then they would have to play and win in order to escape and save the world. But really they don't play the game all that much. In fact they have to find clues in the real world, stealing cars so many times I lost count, going from state to state guided by Pandora's pictures as clues and trying to find the pass codes to access the next level.
And like I said, so much happens to the trio the whole time. Society is loosing it. People are raiding and going crazy and killing one another. Stealing things like food and gas from others. It was total chaos. Much as the end times would be. Eli and Theo start out sooo prepared though, but things spiral out of control as they try to protect Pandora.
And sadly, yes there was a bit of a love triangle. But I cannot fault Pandora on this one! Both boys were incredibly awesome and sweet. They both did what they could to make the situation better. The three were incredible together, picking each other up at moments of their downfall. It was awe inspiring!
The character were great! Very complex with many layers. We see them in one way at the beginning, before the chaos starts, but everyone changes the moment the worm hits the internet and things get dicey. Eli and Theo both push aside their differences for each other and work together. Although I couldn't help but feel like we were still missing something about them. There were things eluded at certain points but were never really touched upon again.
Pandora is quite like her Greek persona in the beginning. Too curious for her own good. Personally, if I received an email from my father, who I haven't heard from in over 10 years, I would hit delete without even opening it. Pandora doesn't do this, she dives right in. But once chaos ensues, she is intent on correcting her mistake, her father's mistake. She has help though, which she is more than grateful for. By the end, all the characters have grown so totally that is hard to think of how they were at the beginning. The things that they had to do to survive, literally, was scary. Yet they never lost sight of their goal. Never lost sight of their own humanity. Faith was questioned no doubt, but still, all three of them persevered.
The ending was nice but kind of disappointing. There is the sense or urgency, which is obvious since there is only 10 days to save the world and the trio must still survive in the real world as it crumbles around them. And in this video game, you only get one life. If you die, you're out. For good.
But moving onto the ending, this book is standalone so things will be wrapped up, yet there were still so many loose ends at the end. Just like with well what ever happened to Pandora's mom? She is mentioned in the first chapter, Pandora speaks to her, but we never get to see or hear from her again. Which yeah, technology is gone, so Pandora can't reach her. But there are just a lot of little things that I don't want to get into for spoiler reasons, but you can get the idea right? A lot of little things are left unanswered. Mainly, like what's next? The world begins again, naturally.
But overall the story building was fabulous! If a bit scary, I don't like apocalyptic stories or movies at all. And knowing that the book would be like this I still went into it. But it was scary, because this could be reality at some point. Hopefully not, we don't need a madman setting a worm into the internet and shutting down all technology and ending mankind. But still, stranger things can happen I suppose. It was still a very intriguing read! I liked the mythological parts that were woven in, mostly just when Pandora was playing the game. And how Hope does seem to be the center theme at the end.
Who knows, maybe Tracy will write a followup sequel. Not totally likely, but maybe novella or short story format. I would like to know how some of those little loose ends were wrapped up for Pandora, Theo and Eli. I would so read that if she did!
Overall this was an amazing read! Totally makes you think in more ways than one. It was highly enjoyable and if you're looking for the heart pounding read where each chapter leaves you breathless with anticipation, than Doomed is the read for you! This book was thrilling!
Overall rating 4.5/5 stars
Doomed releases January 8, 2013
And now I must make a small apology for the length of this review! I got to thinking about so many things that I had to talk about regarding this book because it really made me think!
Tracy Deebs, author of the fabulous Tempest series (trilogy?) has taken on a new challenge! She wrote a dystopian novel, Doomed, that was freaking awesome! Although I must say, that I like the first cover art best, the one at the top with the green and the characters. The final one--I assume as I write this in October--is just kind of boring. It in now way reflects anything about the book by seeing a finger pressing a power button. True, Pandora presses the power button on her laptop which begins the whole chaotic mess, but still. I much prefer the top cover.
Moving on! This was quite an interesting read. I don't read too many dystopians for their lack of paranormal, but I am getting into some of them here and there. Tracy wrote the fabulous series featuring mermaids, so I thought I would try her dystopian. The fact that is has some loose Greek mythology tweaked in was part of the reason why I took this leap. Many of us know the Pandora myth where the young miss opened a box she told never to open and unleashed horrors and plagues onto the world, yet at the bottom of the box, beneath all the horrors, there was Hope.
And so this is what the book deals with. When Pandora receives an email on her birthday from the father she hasn't heard from in 10 years. And Pandora is mighty curious. She has memories of her father and after reading the email, she clicks the given link and is taken to a blog. A blog about her. Filled with 12 pictures (12 pictures, 12 Greek gods and goddesses...) she clicks on them all. Uploads them and sends them to be printed at Walgreens. When she later goes back to the blog to revisit them, the blog is gone. Completely.
Chaos ensures later that night. Technology starts going down everywhere. It was pretty hard to read, because if this ever happens for real somehow, we are all in trouble, big time! And when the FBI, CIA and a whole bunch of other acronym groups show up at her house, blaming Pandora for the worm that is effectively bringing down society as we know it, she is more scared than ever.
Help soon comes from her new neighbors though Eli and Theo. Two boys she goes to school with who are stepbrothers. They essentially "kidnap" her from the higher ups and they begin a state wide run trying to get away to play the game and save the world. Because that is precisely what the game instructs them to do.
The book really encompasses less than a week of time, but sooooo much happens to the trio on their journey. Playing the game Pandora's father basically created. I originally thought that the book was going to have Pandora and the boys sucked into the game and then they would have to play and win in order to escape and save the world. But really they don't play the game all that much. In fact they have to find clues in the real world, stealing cars so many times I lost count, going from state to state guided by Pandora's pictures as clues and trying to find the pass codes to access the next level.
And like I said, so much happens to the trio the whole time. Society is loosing it. People are raiding and going crazy and killing one another. Stealing things like food and gas from others. It was total chaos. Much as the end times would be. Eli and Theo start out sooo prepared though, but things spiral out of control as they try to protect Pandora.
And sadly, yes there was a bit of a love triangle. But I cannot fault Pandora on this one! Both boys were incredibly awesome and sweet. They both did what they could to make the situation better. The three were incredible together, picking each other up at moments of their downfall. It was awe inspiring!
The character were great! Very complex with many layers. We see them in one way at the beginning, before the chaos starts, but everyone changes the moment the worm hits the internet and things get dicey. Eli and Theo both push aside their differences for each other and work together. Although I couldn't help but feel like we were still missing something about them. There were things eluded at certain points but were never really touched upon again.
Pandora is quite like her Greek persona in the beginning. Too curious for her own good. Personally, if I received an email from my father, who I haven't heard from in over 10 years, I would hit delete without even opening it. Pandora doesn't do this, she dives right in. But once chaos ensues, she is intent on correcting her mistake, her father's mistake. She has help though, which she is more than grateful for. By the end, all the characters have grown so totally that is hard to think of how they were at the beginning. The things that they had to do to survive, literally, was scary. Yet they never lost sight of their goal. Never lost sight of their own humanity. Faith was questioned no doubt, but still, all three of them persevered.
The ending was nice but kind of disappointing. There is the sense or urgency, which is obvious since there is only 10 days to save the world and the trio must still survive in the real world as it crumbles around them. And in this video game, you only get one life. If you die, you're out. For good.
But moving onto the ending, this book is standalone so things will be wrapped up, yet there were still so many loose ends at the end. Just like with well what ever happened to Pandora's mom? She is mentioned in the first chapter, Pandora speaks to her, but we never get to see or hear from her again. Which yeah, technology is gone, so Pandora can't reach her. But there are just a lot of little things that I don't want to get into for spoiler reasons, but you can get the idea right? A lot of little things are left unanswered. Mainly, like what's next? The world begins again, naturally.
But overall the story building was fabulous! If a bit scary, I don't like apocalyptic stories or movies at all. And knowing that the book would be like this I still went into it. But it was scary, because this could be reality at some point. Hopefully not, we don't need a madman setting a worm into the internet and shutting down all technology and ending mankind. But still, stranger things can happen I suppose. It was still a very intriguing read! I liked the mythological parts that were woven in, mostly just when Pandora was playing the game. And how Hope does seem to be the center theme at the end.
Who knows, maybe Tracy will write a followup sequel. Not totally likely, but maybe novella or short story format. I would like to know how some of those little loose ends were wrapped up for Pandora, Theo and Eli. I would so read that if she did!
Overall this was an amazing read! Totally makes you think in more ways than one. It was highly enjoyable and if you're looking for the heart pounding read where each chapter leaves you breathless with anticipation, than Doomed is the read for you! This book was thrilling!
Overall rating 4.5/5 stars
Doomed releases January 8, 2013
January 19, 2013
Finally a novel that gamers can relate to! As a fan of MMOs and RPGs, the premise of Doomed by author Tracy Deebs sounded interesting and like my cup of tea. The first thing that I think really caught my attention about the novel was the cover, not the one that it has right now but the old one with the three main characters on the cover. That is what had me most interested, after reading the description hearing that it was a sci-fi retelling of the old Pandora’s Box story, I was dying to get my hands on the story and guess what? All the hype that I raised for myself on the book was worthwhile.
Doomed takes place in a mostly present day world where main character Pandora wakes up on her birthday without receiving any word from her own mother. To her surprise, her Dad is the person who contacts her instead, after being gone for years and abandoning her—he sends her a link that consists of pictures of Pandora and him in her childhood. When Pandora logs onto the notorious Pandora’s Box MMO she discovers that somehow she has released a worm into the internet that, according to Pandora’s Box, will destroy the world in ten days.
Pandora finds herself quickly swept up in a deadly game on Pandora’s Box where every riddle-like mystery in the game leads her on a trip to discover how to beat the game. On her trip around the United States she finds herself travelling with two extremely hot guys, Theo and Eli. Both of them are practicallySuperman and Batman the epitome of perfectly attractive. Pandora travels around the country with them in search of the answers she needs to save the world from the Pandora’s Box threat while on the run from Homeland Security and the FBI. What Pandora discovers is that the worm was built to bring total annihilation and that it was created by the one person Pandora can’t believe would do this all to her; her father.
I think that the first thing that made me diehard for Doomed was how GTA (Grand Theft Auto) the characters became as the people of Earth grew more and more desperate. Not only is there no internet but soon there is barely any technology left that can function and in our world, no technology is a pretty bad thing considering how reliant we are on it. As desperation grew in the world, so did the anarchy and it’s shown on multiple occasions how evil some people can become in the Doomed universe. I personally think that the biker highway scene was one of the most memorable, simply because it was one of the most powerful and realistic scenes in the entire book.
My absolute favorite thing about Doomed was the three main characters; Pandora, Eli and Theo. Every character was so much more different than the other and there was a lot of character growth as the novel progressed. I think that out of the characters I’ll admit that I disliked Eli the most, he wasn’t all that serious about the situations at hand until his life was on the line, but still as the novel progressed he did grow more serious. Between the characters there is a type of love triangle and since Eli isSuperman not as serious as Batman Theo, I kept on screaming at Pandora to fall for Theo already. He’s Mr. Tall, Dark, Brooding and Handsome. Who doesn’t want that? I want that and in short, I fell in love with Theo.
Doomed is a novel that I think Gamers will really fall hard for, especially since there are a ton of scenes that describe the world of Pandora’s Box and I’ll admit that it was bringing me back to my World of Warcraft days (because only cool kids play MMORPGs). Because of that, I would recommend Doomed to Gamers, fans of YA romance (especially love triangles) and readers who want a story that will thrill you until the very last page.
Doomed takes place in a mostly present day world where main character Pandora wakes up on her birthday without receiving any word from her own mother. To her surprise, her Dad is the person who contacts her instead, after being gone for years and abandoning her—he sends her a link that consists of pictures of Pandora and him in her childhood. When Pandora logs onto the notorious Pandora’s Box MMO she discovers that somehow she has released a worm into the internet that, according to Pandora’s Box, will destroy the world in ten days.
Pandora finds herself quickly swept up in a deadly game on Pandora’s Box where every riddle-like mystery in the game leads her on a trip to discover how to beat the game. On her trip around the United States she finds herself travelling with two extremely hot guys, Theo and Eli. Both of them are practically
I think that the first thing that made me diehard for Doomed was how GTA (Grand Theft Auto) the characters became as the people of Earth grew more and more desperate. Not only is there no internet but soon there is barely any technology left that can function and in our world, no technology is a pretty bad thing considering how reliant we are on it. As desperation grew in the world, so did the anarchy and it’s shown on multiple occasions how evil some people can become in the Doomed universe. I personally think that the biker highway scene was one of the most memorable, simply because it was one of the most powerful and realistic scenes in the entire book.
My absolute favorite thing about Doomed was the three main characters; Pandora, Eli and Theo. Every character was so much more different than the other and there was a lot of character growth as the novel progressed. I think that out of the characters I’ll admit that I disliked Eli the most, he wasn’t all that serious about the situations at hand until his life was on the line, but still as the novel progressed he did grow more serious. Between the characters there is a type of love triangle and since Eli is
Doomed is a novel that I think Gamers will really fall hard for, especially since there are a ton of scenes that describe the world of Pandora’s Box and I’ll admit that it was bringing me back to my World of Warcraft days (because only cool kids play MMORPGs). Because of that, I would recommend Doomed to Gamers, fans of YA romance (especially love triangles) and readers who want a story that will thrill you until the very last page.
January 21, 2013
Find more reviews here: http://thereaderlines.blogspot.com
My POV
My feelings.
OMG! I’m afraid I’m going to start babbling about how much I loved this book and what it did make me feel!
I was having a hard time trying to read the new books I had, I had my e-reader broke and the only way to read my e-books was in my computer. But well, I did. Because I had a stop in the blog tour of Doomed and even though I wasn’t doing a review I had to know what it was about.
And Doomed made me go back to read! My heart was beating like a crazy, just thinking about the things that I thought that might happen!
It was exciting and a fast read.
The Plot.
That was my favorite part of the book!
I knew thanks to the guest post that the author made for me (Read it here), that she worked hard creating the awesome plot and joining the mythology with the read/modern time.
I loved learning about the Box of Pandora in the voice of a new, young and modern Pandora. The idea of opening a file instead of the box was thrilling! Spectacular!!
And then, trying to save the world through a game with the help of two hotties… man! That was epic!
I never read a book like that. That leads me through two different worlds while staying in the same world I’m living. It had ugly creatures, magic and a lot of action, though Pandora was just a girl like me and you.
Brilliant!
The characters.
Pandora: Strong. Lonely. Smart. Lovely.
She’s the kind of heroine that I love to read of. She has the weight of what she did in her shoulder and yet she is willing to risk her life to repair everything even when that wasn’t her fault.
Theo and Eli: They’re stepbrothers and they’re really different. One is sweet and funny while the other is serious and rough. But both cared about Pandora in a strong and loyal way. At the beginning I didn’t believe why they were helping her if they barely knew each other. But at the ending of the book I understood and I loved them even more.
The other characters: They did what they had to do. I loved that almost the whole book was focused in the three main characters and they didn’t need anyone else. I’d love it even if it was just Pandora in the whole story.
The love story.
The romance wasn’t the main point in the book… but man! I loved that relationship between Pandora-Eli and Pandora-Theo… I admit that it was a little chicle because I knew from the very start who they were and that they will be important in the development. Plus, Pandoma was really difficult to melt!!
What I didn't like.
I am completely against the idea of the end of the world just because the internet doesn't work or there are no lights... People can survive without technology, of couse! But I admit that it didn't bother me the way it could because I understand that THIS IS FICTION!
And maybe there could be some mistakes in the story-line, but I'm not an expert, so that was not really aweful for me.
The ending.
Amazing!!! I want more. I need more!
It was a race between my nerves and my heartbeat. I can’t wait to read the next one! I need the next one!
I’m sure you’ll love this book. If you like fantasy, action, a little of drama, a fast read and a page turner, then Doomed is the right book for you!
My POV
My feelings.
OMG! I’m afraid I’m going to start babbling about how much I loved this book and what it did make me feel!
I was having a hard time trying to read the new books I had, I had my e-reader broke and the only way to read my e-books was in my computer. But well, I did. Because I had a stop in the blog tour of Doomed and even though I wasn’t doing a review I had to know what it was about.
And Doomed made me go back to read! My heart was beating like a crazy, just thinking about the things that I thought that might happen!
It was exciting and a fast read.
The Plot.
That was my favorite part of the book!
I knew thanks to the guest post that the author made for me (Read it here), that she worked hard creating the awesome plot and joining the mythology with the read/modern time.
I loved learning about the Box of Pandora in the voice of a new, young and modern Pandora. The idea of opening a file instead of the box was thrilling! Spectacular!!
And then, trying to save the world through a game with the help of two hotties… man! That was epic!
I never read a book like that. That leads me through two different worlds while staying in the same world I’m living. It had ugly creatures, magic and a lot of action, though Pandora was just a girl like me and you.
Brilliant!
The characters.
Pandora: Strong. Lonely. Smart. Lovely.
She’s the kind of heroine that I love to read of. She has the weight of what she did in her shoulder and yet she is willing to risk her life to repair everything even when that wasn’t her fault.
Theo and Eli: They’re stepbrothers and they’re really different. One is sweet and funny while the other is serious and rough. But both cared about Pandora in a strong and loyal way. At the beginning I didn’t believe why they were helping her if they barely knew each other. But at the ending of the book I understood and I loved them even more.
The other characters: They did what they had to do. I loved that almost the whole book was focused in the three main characters and they didn’t need anyone else. I’d love it even if it was just Pandora in the whole story.
The love story.
The romance wasn’t the main point in the book… but man! I loved that relationship between Pandora-Eli and Pandora-Theo… I admit that it was a little chicle because I knew from the very start who they were and that they will be important in the development. Plus, Pandoma was really difficult to melt!!
What I didn't like.
I am completely against the idea of the end of the world just because the internet doesn't work or there are no lights... People can survive without technology, of couse! But I admit that it didn't bother me the way it could because I understand that THIS IS FICTION!
And maybe there could be some mistakes in the story-line, but I'm not an expert, so that was not really aweful for me.
The ending.
Amazing!!! I want more. I need more!
It was a race between my nerves and my heartbeat. I can’t wait to read the next one! I need the next one!
I’m sure you’ll love this book. If you like fantasy, action, a little of drama, a fast read and a page turner, then Doomed is the right book for you!
January 8, 2013
I went into this book expecting to love it, and that I most definitely did, but the overall plot that I read was completely different than the plot that I thought I would read. I was under the impression that this novel would more or less take place in the video game, and while it did, it also took place in the real world with insane action sequences and running from the law while fighting to save the world and discover oneself.
Pandora really follows her namesake. See a shiny box, don't know whether to open it, open it anyway only to release mass destruction. I did enjoy the irony of it all. And I also enjoyed Pandora's characterization. It was nice to have a young adult heroine different from all the rest. She wasn't dainty, she wasn't whiny, she took what was thrown at her and made something of it. Almost six feet tall with purple streaks in her choppy pixie cut, I like how she can stand out among the rest not only because she's kickass, but because she is unique and didn't fit in to the young adult female main character mold. She has problems with both her parents, yes, and while this book unfortunately falls under the cliche of the parents never being around for both Pandora and her neighbors (which I will get to in a minute), her story is really interesting. Her father left when she was young and is forcing her to relive her childhood with him through the video game Pandora's Box when he shut down the entire Internet and threatened world annihilation. Her mom is such a workaholic that she can't even remember her birthday. However, the lack of parents really helped Pandora grow up and if she wasn't so grown up, we wouldn't have been delivered the story that we were given.
Then there's the neighbors...Theo and Eli. They're step-brothers really. Polar opposites, too. Theo is Harvard bound--a tall, muscular dark haired boy that's closed off to the world, slightly awkward around girls, broody, and insanely intelligent. Eli is the golden boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He's a flirt, he can't resist a pretty girl, and he tends to come through at the oddest of times--like jimmying a lock like that one time at summer camp. They hate each other, but they work well together, and watching the two of them connect was really interesting.
Clearly, there is a slight love triangle with this one. And, yes, it's all over the place. First Theo then Eli then Theo then Eli. They're both so different and Pandora simply cannot decide. It doesn't help when they both get jealous of each other while on the run either. Normally, something like this would be very unejoyable for me. But the overall question of who she would pick fascinated me and fit into the overarching mystery of the story about why Pandora's father did what he did. I enjoyed it greatly.
Three teenage "fugitives" on the run to discover the truth behind the worldwide electronic black out. Two hot guys and an amazing heroine, one action-packed plot full of mystery and intrigue, and an amazing writer full of infinite creativity combine to make one amazing story centering around one video game altered by a mad man. They must beat the game to save the world.
Pandora really follows her namesake. See a shiny box, don't know whether to open it, open it anyway only to release mass destruction. I did enjoy the irony of it all. And I also enjoyed Pandora's characterization. It was nice to have a young adult heroine different from all the rest. She wasn't dainty, she wasn't whiny, she took what was thrown at her and made something of it. Almost six feet tall with purple streaks in her choppy pixie cut, I like how she can stand out among the rest not only because she's kickass, but because she is unique and didn't fit in to the young adult female main character mold. She has problems with both her parents, yes, and while this book unfortunately falls under the cliche of the parents never being around for both Pandora and her neighbors (which I will get to in a minute), her story is really interesting. Her father left when she was young and is forcing her to relive her childhood with him through the video game Pandora's Box when he shut down the entire Internet and threatened world annihilation. Her mom is such a workaholic that she can't even remember her birthday. However, the lack of parents really helped Pandora grow up and if she wasn't so grown up, we wouldn't have been delivered the story that we were given.
Then there's the neighbors...Theo and Eli. They're step-brothers really. Polar opposites, too. Theo is Harvard bound--a tall, muscular dark haired boy that's closed off to the world, slightly awkward around girls, broody, and insanely intelligent. Eli is the golden boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He's a flirt, he can't resist a pretty girl, and he tends to come through at the oddest of times--like jimmying a lock like that one time at summer camp. They hate each other, but they work well together, and watching the two of them connect was really interesting.
Clearly, there is a slight love triangle with this one. And, yes, it's all over the place. First Theo then Eli then Theo then Eli. They're both so different and Pandora simply cannot decide. It doesn't help when they both get jealous of each other while on the run either. Normally, something like this would be very unejoyable for me. But the overall question of who she would pick fascinated me and fit into the overarching mystery of the story about why Pandora's father did what he did. I enjoyed it greatly.
Three teenage "fugitives" on the run to discover the truth behind the worldwide electronic black out. Two hot guys and an amazing heroine, one action-packed plot full of mystery and intrigue, and an amazing writer full of infinite creativity combine to make one amazing story centering around one video game altered by a mad man. They must beat the game to save the world.
December 12, 2012
So, I didn't love it. Not because it wasn't a great premise--honestly, it is--just because the execution wasn't great.
Pandora unwittingly sets off a world-wide technological meltdown--at the hands of a MMORPG. Gamer heaven, right? Well, that bit is. And the video game parts are actually really great: the actual time in the game, the integration of the characters from Greek mythology, even the symbolism of Pandora herself (and she fully admits that her name is awful and that the symbolism of her being the point of origin is terrible. I love that humor). The scavenger hunt, though supremely far-fetched, is really fun The way that the world shuts down is terrifying, the human reactions are so brutal and so real that I found myself wishing and hoping that she never left the game (she had: people are just the worst). I also love that she's not a tiny, dainty heroine; no, she's a six-foot tall girl with purple hair. All that's stuff's great.
What I found unbelievable is Pandora's relationships with...well, everyone. Her mom is a workaholic and absent: but why is she so cold towards Pandora? That's never explained. Pandora longs to "fix herself" so her mom will love her but...what's broken and why? Her dad is a "very bad man" according to her mom, and yeah, some of that becomes more obvious as the story progresses, but the impetus of the divorce and the total refusal of her mom to let Pandora have any contact with him is never shown. Also, her relationships with her friends aren't fleshed out: why won't she share with them about her dad? And seriously: Theo and Eli? She barely knows them, but they're willing to risk their necks for her, and she inexplicably trusts them implicitly. And WHY DOES SHE RUN FROM THE FEDS? She knows this isn't her fault. And yeah, one of the agents seems shady, but her best friend and her dad--who can obviously help her--are right there, but instead she runs off with two guys that, again, she barely knows, one of whom had his hands around her neck that same morning. And since the whole of the action takes place in a matter of days, the progression of her relationships with the boys isn't believable. At all. Also: her dad. What the heck is up with this dude? He obviously doesn't want her hurt (or so he and other characters repeatedly say), but she's being chased by the feds, she's shot at repeatedly, she's nearly raped and killed, she's chased by dogs at least twice, and the world is crumbling around her. I understand her dad as a delusional character, but how did her dad think that she wasn't going to get hurt? And also: she couldn't even play the game without Theo's hacker skills. How is she supposed to save the world if the game is beyond her skill set? It's just all too much.
This book tries to be too much. It will appeal to a small subset of teens: gamer girls, I guess. But I just wish this one would have been edited and thought out a bit more smartly because it could have been great.
Side note, but the second cover is INFINITELY more appealing than the original one with Pandora and her friends on it.
Pandora unwittingly sets off a world-wide technological meltdown--at the hands of a MMORPG. Gamer heaven, right? Well, that bit is. And the video game parts are actually really great: the actual time in the game, the integration of the characters from Greek mythology, even the symbolism of Pandora herself (and she fully admits that her name is awful and that the symbolism of her being the point of origin is terrible. I love that humor). The scavenger hunt, though supremely far-fetched, is really fun The way that the world shuts down is terrifying, the human reactions are so brutal and so real that I found myself wishing and hoping that she never left the game (she had: people are just the worst). I also love that she's not a tiny, dainty heroine; no, she's a six-foot tall girl with purple hair. All that's stuff's great.
What I found unbelievable is Pandora's relationships with...well, everyone. Her mom is a workaholic and absent: but why is she so cold towards Pandora? That's never explained. Pandora longs to "fix herself" so her mom will love her but...what's broken and why? Her dad is a "very bad man" according to her mom, and yeah, some of that becomes more obvious as the story progresses, but the impetus of the divorce and the total refusal of her mom to let Pandora have any contact with him is never shown. Also, her relationships with her friends aren't fleshed out: why won't she share with them about her dad? And seriously: Theo and Eli? She barely knows them, but they're willing to risk their necks for her, and she inexplicably trusts them implicitly. And WHY DOES SHE RUN FROM THE FEDS? She knows this isn't her fault. And yeah, one of the agents seems shady, but her best friend and her dad--who can obviously help her--are right there, but instead she runs off with two guys that, again, she barely knows, one of whom had his hands around her neck that same morning. And since the whole of the action takes place in a matter of days, the progression of her relationships with the boys isn't believable. At all. Also: her dad. What the heck is up with this dude? He obviously doesn't want her hurt (or so he and other characters repeatedly say), but she's being chased by the feds, she's shot at repeatedly, she's nearly raped and killed, she's chased by dogs at least twice, and the world is crumbling around her. I understand her dad as a delusional character, but how did her dad think that she wasn't going to get hurt? And also: she couldn't even play the game without Theo's hacker skills. How is she supposed to save the world if the game is beyond her skill set? It's just all too much.
This book tries to be too much. It will appeal to a small subset of teens: gamer girls, I guess. But I just wish this one would have been edited and thought out a bit more smartly because it could have been great.
Side note, but the second cover is INFINITELY more appealing than the original one with Pandora and her friends on it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2013
Look out! It’s time to “Beat the game. Save the world.”
Pandora loves to play virtual games. And when her laptop blinks back to life after every electronic device in her house stops functioning, she knows she has no other option but to follow the instruction on screen and start playing the game. Will she succeed in saving the world?
I find the story interesting. Since I hardly play any online games, I feel fascinated by the description of how multiple players can save, support and rescue one another inside the virtual world. While the idea of having a virtual game that is affecting real-life sounds somewhat far-fetched, the debilitating effect of brutal cyber attacks seem vividly real and believable.
At first, I found Pandora whiny, selfish, sarcastic and bitter. I felt annoyed by her remarks about boys and I was not certain if I could tolerate her all the way to the last page. But then, I saw her helping strangers even when she was hurt and bleeding and I started seeing her a little differently. While I wouldn’t say she becomes a selfless person in the end, I like that she learns to think about others more and more throughout the book and she has grown to become more accommodating, considerate, understanding and thoughtful.
In the Pandora myth, we know that things are like all hell breaks loose when the Pandora’s Box gets opened. In Doomed, things become out-of-control when the government cannot stop or defeat cyber attack. There are bloody scenes and violence in the book but instead of finding them gruesome, I find them haunting and a little on the dark and dramatic side.
I was also surprised to see Theo being this lonely boy who is heroic, sacrificing, handsome and dauntless. While he is the stepbrother of Eli, it’s clear that they do not get along well. It’s like Eli is somehow jealous of what Theo is capable of and he has this inferiority complex going on.
I must admit that I had fun reading the book. I like that the story is fast-paced. Because there is always something going on, it’s like I was watching an action movie the whole time while reading the book. To see Tracy's post on why she chose to go the cyber route with the Pandora myth, click here. I hope you’ll like what she’s sharing.
--
This review was originally posted on my blog.
A copy of the book was provided by publisher for review puroposes.
Pandora loves to play virtual games. And when her laptop blinks back to life after every electronic device in her house stops functioning, she knows she has no other option but to follow the instruction on screen and start playing the game. Will she succeed in saving the world?
I find the story interesting. Since I hardly play any online games, I feel fascinated by the description of how multiple players can save, support and rescue one another inside the virtual world. While the idea of having a virtual game that is affecting real-life sounds somewhat far-fetched, the debilitating effect of brutal cyber attacks seem vividly real and believable.
At first, I found Pandora whiny, selfish, sarcastic and bitter. I felt annoyed by her remarks about boys and I was not certain if I could tolerate her all the way to the last page. But then, I saw her helping strangers even when she was hurt and bleeding and I started seeing her a little differently. While I wouldn’t say she becomes a selfless person in the end, I like that she learns to think about others more and more throughout the book and she has grown to become more accommodating, considerate, understanding and thoughtful.
In the Pandora myth, we know that things are like all hell breaks loose when the Pandora’s Box gets opened. In Doomed, things become out-of-control when the government cannot stop or defeat cyber attack. There are bloody scenes and violence in the book but instead of finding them gruesome, I find them haunting and a little on the dark and dramatic side.
I was also surprised to see Theo being this lonely boy who is heroic, sacrificing, handsome and dauntless. While he is the stepbrother of Eli, it’s clear that they do not get along well. It’s like Eli is somehow jealous of what Theo is capable of and he has this inferiority complex going on.
I must admit that I had fun reading the book. I like that the story is fast-paced. Because there is always something going on, it’s like I was watching an action movie the whole time while reading the book. To see Tracy's post on why she chose to go the cyber route with the Pandora myth, click here. I hope you’ll like what she’s sharing.
--
This review was originally posted on my blog.
A copy of the book was provided by publisher for review puroposes.
April 19, 2013
I'll be honest, this book just ticked me off.
It started with an absolutely fabulous premise - the idea of a modern day Pandora with an attachment unleashing all the problems. I liked the writing style, and I really REALLY wanted to like this book.
It was really hard to differentiating between real life and the game. It helped that the pages are actually shaded whenever they are in the game, but even then, when the main character is talking about being out of breath or feeling like her muscles are being ripped from the strain . . . um all you are doing is punching keys on a laptop. Not actually fighting a Titan.
And then, as soon as things started getting really hard for the characters, she started putting in f words (and a ton of other swearing)
and there was just so much violence.
And it really needed a better edit. It really bugs me when they are driving a mini van, and then suddenly they are in truck for two paragraphs and then it's magically that van again. And I've done some of that driving they talk about . . . I'm not actually sure you could visit that many places in only 5 days. Even going 100 miles an hour, I don't think there is physically enough time to drive that far each day.
And then there was the whole politically correct/oil is evil/ fracking is the spawn of the devil theme. I HATE when people don't do the real research and instead just buy into the talking head's agendas.
And then there was the whole end. The fact that they didn't actually finish the game to save the world. The fact that they just walk away from everything in the end, so there isn't any resolution - are things really fixed or not?
It's been a couple of days now since I finished it, and the more I think of it the more bugged with the whole thing I get. Such a great concept, just so mangled into one frustrating mess.
It started with an absolutely fabulous premise - the idea of a modern day Pandora with an attachment unleashing all the problems. I liked the writing style, and I really REALLY wanted to like this book.
It was really hard to differentiating between real life and the game. It helped that the pages are actually shaded whenever they are in the game, but even then, when the main character is talking about being out of breath or feeling like her muscles are being ripped from the strain . . . um all you are doing is punching keys on a laptop. Not actually fighting a Titan.
And then, as soon as things started getting really hard for the characters, she started putting in f words (and a ton of other swearing)
and there was just so much violence.
And it really needed a better edit. It really bugs me when they are driving a mini van, and then suddenly they are in truck for two paragraphs and then it's magically that van again. And I've done some of that driving they talk about . . . I'm not actually sure you could visit that many places in only 5 days. Even going 100 miles an hour, I don't think there is physically enough time to drive that far each day.
And then there was the whole politically correct/oil is evil/ fracking is the spawn of the devil theme. I HATE when people don't do the real research and instead just buy into the talking head's agendas.
And then there was the whole end. The fact that they didn't actually finish the game to save the world. The fact that they just walk away from everything in the end, so there isn't any resolution - are things really fixed or not?
It's been a couple of days now since I finished it, and the more I think of it the more bugged with the whole thing I get. Such a great concept, just so mangled into one frustrating mess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2013
Pandora hasn't seen her father for ten years when she gets an email from him on her birthday. Her mother has warned her not to have anything to do with this "evil man" but then her mother is cold and distant. Pandora craves some contact and Dad's sent pictures from her past. She has to click the link and look at the pictures. What's the harm? Oh, boy. This starts a chain reaction that can lead to the end of the world as we know it. From then on the action is fast and furious. I loved this book. Pandora is seventeen and curious. I get that. I would have clicked on the link too. She gets help from her friends and how lucky to have such brilliant and hunky ones. The race is on and I couldn't put the book down. Read it in one day. No spoilers here. I think this is a stand alone and I'm kind of glad. Puzzle solved. Yay! I love series but sometimes you just want a story to end. Enjoy!
November 15, 2012
I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK.
December 3, 2012
Such an amazing premise. I'm thrilled it will finally be up on the shelves!
January 9, 2013
I am a huge dystopia fan, so when I first read the blurb for Doomed, I was really intrigued and thought it sounded like a fun and interesting book, and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. The opening line in the book description says "Beat the Game. Save the World." Well in Doomed, that term is exactly what the book is about, literally, and takes the term "extreme gaming" to a whole new level.
It is Pandora's 17th birthday. Her mom is a lawyer and workaholic, is off on a business trip in Alaska, and doesn't even remember it is Pandora's birthday. Her dad hasn't been in the picture since she was a kid. She has always been told by her mom to never have anything to do with him, and she hasn't had contact with him since. When she checks her e-mail the morning of her birthday, she finds an e-mail from her dad. At first she is hesitant to open it, but curiosity gets the best of her and she can't resist. The e-mail takes her to a blog her dad has created with letters he has written her over the years that she has never seen. He tells her how much he loves her, and even has 12 photos of them together from her childhood, before he disappeared from her life. Pandora downloads the photos to have developed because she actually wants to be able to hold something tangible from him, closes her computer, then rushes to school because she is already late.
Being late to school that day, she gets thrown into a group in class that she normally isn't in, and the two new super hot brothers that every girl in school is falling over, Eli and Theo, happen to be in that group to. Theo is dark, mysterious, intense, but dresses kind of preppy, and Eli is easy going, charming, and popular. Both guys are tall, Theo being 6 feet 8 inches, both guys are built and ooze with hotness. They are really smart, and Pandora soon finds out is that Theo is pretty much a boy genius. Pandora really notices the tall thing, because at 6 feet herself, she finds very few guys that she has to look up to. She kind of has the rocker vibe thing going on, has short spiky red hair with purple highlights, a nose piercing, and loves band T-shirts. What starts out as a typical birthday is anything but that, which Pandora and the world soon find out.
As most of you already know, Pandora's Box is an artifact found in Greek mythology. The box was actually a large jar that was given to Pandora, which contained all the evils in the world. Today, the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem innocent or harmless, but in ends up turning out to have severe and far-reaching consequences. That said, in this story, one of the most popular online games happens to be named for the same, Pandora's Box. Only today, on her birthday, when Pandora logs onto the game she sees "Happy Seventeenth Birthday Pandora" written on the screen, then a countdown begins for total annihilation in 10 days. This kind of freaks her out. Shortly after, things get really weird with the phone, the television, and the electricity. She ends up going to her new neighbor's house to find out if they are having the same problem, and it just so happens that her new neighbors are none other that the two hotties, Eli and Theo. These three team up together, trying to figure out what is going on. Instead of a box, Pandora opens a present on her computer screen associated with the game, which unleashes utter chaos, and it is up to Pandora, Theo, and Eli to save the world from total annihilation.
I loved the story line of this book. Pandora, Theo, and Eli have to literally play the game to save the world, both on the computer and in real life. There is nonstop action from the beginning to the end of this book as they encounter danger, are on the run from the authorities, and travel across the country to find clues for the game, as the world around them falls apart due to the breakdown of technology, which affects every area of life. People are panicked, food and gas are short, marshal law is instituted, and people have gotten mean and downright crazy. These three find themselves in life-threatening situations time and time again.
I really loved Pandora's character. She rose to the occasion and did what needed to be done, in spite of circumstances. Of course this would have been impossible without the help of her heroes, Theo and Eli. In fact, I read the most interesting thing about these guys at The Reader Lines, who featured a guest post from Tracy Deebs, in which she revealed some really cool and interesting facts about Theo and Eli in Doomed (check out the entire post here).
"Theo and Eli are Titans (straight out of Greek Mythology) In the real Pandora myth, Prometheus (Theo in Doomed) and Epimetheus (Eli in Doomed) were charged with creating all the creatures on earth. Epimetheus, the impetuous one, created things like the platypus and the sloth and the hippopotamus while Prometheus labored and labored over only one creature. The gods gave them a certain number of gifts to give out to these creatures that they created and by the time that Prometheus was done with his creation—humanity—Eli had used all the gifts on the other animals. So Prometheus stole fire from the gods as his gift for humanity and the gods’ answer was to create Pandora to punish him, as I mentioned above. In Doomed, Theo steals symbolic fire from the gods in the form of the game matrix, Pandora opens a link instead of a box, and … there’s a lot more of the myth in the book but I don’t want to ruin all the twists and turns ;)"
Doomed is filled with adventure, non-stop action, danger, mystery, humor, and even some romance. The story captured my attention from beginning to end and I loved every minute of it. I loved both Theo and Eli, but have to say I was and am team Theo all the way. He was just amazing. If you are looking for and heart pounding, action packed, exciting story that will leave you breathless, then Doomed is one book you should definitely check out.
It is Pandora's 17th birthday. Her mom is a lawyer and workaholic, is off on a business trip in Alaska, and doesn't even remember it is Pandora's birthday. Her dad hasn't been in the picture since she was a kid. She has always been told by her mom to never have anything to do with him, and she hasn't had contact with him since. When she checks her e-mail the morning of her birthday, she finds an e-mail from her dad. At first she is hesitant to open it, but curiosity gets the best of her and she can't resist. The e-mail takes her to a blog her dad has created with letters he has written her over the years that she has never seen. He tells her how much he loves her, and even has 12 photos of them together from her childhood, before he disappeared from her life. Pandora downloads the photos to have developed because she actually wants to be able to hold something tangible from him, closes her computer, then rushes to school because she is already late.
Being late to school that day, she gets thrown into a group in class that she normally isn't in, and the two new super hot brothers that every girl in school is falling over, Eli and Theo, happen to be in that group to. Theo is dark, mysterious, intense, but dresses kind of preppy, and Eli is easy going, charming, and popular. Both guys are tall, Theo being 6 feet 8 inches, both guys are built and ooze with hotness. They are really smart, and Pandora soon finds out is that Theo is pretty much a boy genius. Pandora really notices the tall thing, because at 6 feet herself, she finds very few guys that she has to look up to. She kind of has the rocker vibe thing going on, has short spiky red hair with purple highlights, a nose piercing, and loves band T-shirts. What starts out as a typical birthday is anything but that, which Pandora and the world soon find out.
As most of you already know, Pandora's Box is an artifact found in Greek mythology. The box was actually a large jar that was given to Pandora, which contained all the evils in the world. Today, the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem innocent or harmless, but in ends up turning out to have severe and far-reaching consequences. That said, in this story, one of the most popular online games happens to be named for the same, Pandora's Box. Only today, on her birthday, when Pandora logs onto the game she sees "Happy Seventeenth Birthday Pandora" written on the screen, then a countdown begins for total annihilation in 10 days. This kind of freaks her out. Shortly after, things get really weird with the phone, the television, and the electricity. She ends up going to her new neighbor's house to find out if they are having the same problem, and it just so happens that her new neighbors are none other that the two hotties, Eli and Theo. These three team up together, trying to figure out what is going on. Instead of a box, Pandora opens a present on her computer screen associated with the game, which unleashes utter chaos, and it is up to Pandora, Theo, and Eli to save the world from total annihilation.
I loved the story line of this book. Pandora, Theo, and Eli have to literally play the game to save the world, both on the computer and in real life. There is nonstop action from the beginning to the end of this book as they encounter danger, are on the run from the authorities, and travel across the country to find clues for the game, as the world around them falls apart due to the breakdown of technology, which affects every area of life. People are panicked, food and gas are short, marshal law is instituted, and people have gotten mean and downright crazy. These three find themselves in life-threatening situations time and time again.
I really loved Pandora's character. She rose to the occasion and did what needed to be done, in spite of circumstances. Of course this would have been impossible without the help of her heroes, Theo and Eli. In fact, I read the most interesting thing about these guys at The Reader Lines, who featured a guest post from Tracy Deebs, in which she revealed some really cool and interesting facts about Theo and Eli in Doomed (check out the entire post here).
"Theo and Eli are Titans (straight out of Greek Mythology) In the real Pandora myth, Prometheus (Theo in Doomed) and Epimetheus (Eli in Doomed) were charged with creating all the creatures on earth. Epimetheus, the impetuous one, created things like the platypus and the sloth and the hippopotamus while Prometheus labored and labored over only one creature. The gods gave them a certain number of gifts to give out to these creatures that they created and by the time that Prometheus was done with his creation—humanity—Eli had used all the gifts on the other animals. So Prometheus stole fire from the gods as his gift for humanity and the gods’ answer was to create Pandora to punish him, as I mentioned above. In Doomed, Theo steals symbolic fire from the gods in the form of the game matrix, Pandora opens a link instead of a box, and … there’s a lot more of the myth in the book but I don’t want to ruin all the twists and turns ;)"
Doomed is filled with adventure, non-stop action, danger, mystery, humor, and even some romance. The story captured my attention from beginning to end and I loved every minute of it. I loved both Theo and Eli, but have to say I was and am team Theo all the way. He was just amazing. If you are looking for and heart pounding, action packed, exciting story that will leave you breathless, then Doomed is one book you should definitely check out.
February 2, 2013
Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers
In these letters are the answers to any question I could imagine you asking. About me. About yourself. About your mother and her relationship with me. About why we've chosen to live our lives so far apart. If you want to know these things, click on the link I've included. If you don't, ignore it and I promise I'll never contact you again.
Most girls get presents, time with friends and family, and other warm and fuzzy surprises on their 17th birthdays. Pandora's birthday, however, is anything but warm and fuzzy, especially when her emotionally distant mother is off on a work trip and forgets her daughter's birthday. But then, Pandora receives an email from the last person she'd ever expect to hear from - her father, who took off when Pandora was just a baby. For as long as she can remember, Pandora's father has been painted as a bogeyman by her mother - not to be trusted, never to be contacted, and any notes or letters from him to be completely ignored.
But, true to her namesake, Pandora cannot help but open the email, and click on the link within.
Soon after, the whole world begins to change. The internet shuts down, followed by telephone service, and electricity. Pandora's neighborhood, then city, then country goes black - the only thing that works is the the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Pandora's Box. Everything is tied back to Pandora - she must figure out what is going on, evade the authorities, and defeat the game in 10 days, or else the world literally comes to an end.
Doomed is the latest novel from Tracy Deebs, and an action-packed pseudo-cyber-thriller - it's kind of like World of Warcraft meets Cory Doctorow's For the Win meets TV show Revolution. That's a pretty potent concoction, if pulled off correctly. Unfortunately, while Doomed is full of action, there's no real direction to the story - this, coupled with a lack of internal world logic and overlong writing style makes Doomed a sadly underwhelming read.
On the plotting side of the equation, the overall thrust and idea of the book is simple and effective: beat the game, save the world. I like the idea of Pandora's missing father finally making contact after so many years, the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm as Pandora literally opens a virtual box to start playing the game, unleashing chaos on the cyber and physical world. The mix of physical action and virtual action (within the game landscape) is also pretty cool and effectively written by Deebs - when the action gets going, it's pretty groovy stuff. That said, these bursts of action are punctuated by some bizarrely detail-focused, step-by-step writing that isn't necessary to the story and is frankly...boring. For example:
While this is fantastic information that could be portrayed in a few seconds on camera were this a movie, the blow-by-blow of Pandora's afterschool eating, tv watching, and online shopping experience has absolutely NO significance to the book. Needless to say, this type of granularity puts a damper on any enthusiasm or forward momentum in the overall story. (This same sort of thing is repeated later, in mile long walks in the dark, deciding which arrow keys to push on the computer, and so on.)
Of course, the larger problem is that the action in Doomed feels scattered, without purpose or direction - the underlying reason for the Pandora's Box Worm is kind of ridiculous, the motivations for the book's villain laughably thin and poorly conceived. There are also a number of convenient outs for Pandora, thanks to her love interests Eli and Theo - in addition to being incredibly dreamy, Theo happens to be a supreme hacker (THE ONLY supreme hacker) that can stop the worm that has shut down the planet.
Which brings me to the romance. The love triangle between Pandora and two stepbrothers - Eli (charming and blonde and sunny) and Theo (brooding and dark-haired and brilliant - is trite and predictable. OF COURSE these two boys are new in town and barely know Pandora but are instantly willing to do ALL THE THINGS to help her on this bizarre quest. OF COURSE they are both supremely dreamy and into Pandora. OF COURSE Pandora is totally attracted to Theo, who belittles her repeatedly at the beginning of the book (this is after he tries to strangle her in English class to prove a point about Othello and she is sooooo turned on by it). I am also not a fan of attraction to male characters that belittle or try to strangle their ladies (the rationale that Theo is messed up because of his father's death compounds the problem). Not sexy. Not attractive. NO.
Despite the strength of its premise and its few moments of entertainment, Doomed unfortunately failed to impress. I won't be around for the next books in the series (and even on that note, I really don't have any clue as to where the next book in the series will go...).
In these letters are the answers to any question I could imagine you asking. About me. About yourself. About your mother and her relationship with me. About why we've chosen to live our lives so far apart. If you want to know these things, click on the link I've included. If you don't, ignore it and I promise I'll never contact you again.
Most girls get presents, time with friends and family, and other warm and fuzzy surprises on their 17th birthdays. Pandora's birthday, however, is anything but warm and fuzzy, especially when her emotionally distant mother is off on a work trip and forgets her daughter's birthday. But then, Pandora receives an email from the last person she'd ever expect to hear from - her father, who took off when Pandora was just a baby. For as long as she can remember, Pandora's father has been painted as a bogeyman by her mother - not to be trusted, never to be contacted, and any notes or letters from him to be completely ignored.
But, true to her namesake, Pandora cannot help but open the email, and click on the link within.
Soon after, the whole world begins to change. The internet shuts down, followed by telephone service, and electricity. Pandora's neighborhood, then city, then country goes black - the only thing that works is the the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Pandora's Box. Everything is tied back to Pandora - she must figure out what is going on, evade the authorities, and defeat the game in 10 days, or else the world literally comes to an end.
Doomed is the latest novel from Tracy Deebs, and an action-packed pseudo-cyber-thriller - it's kind of like World of Warcraft meets Cory Doctorow's For the Win meets TV show Revolution. That's a pretty potent concoction, if pulled off correctly. Unfortunately, while Doomed is full of action, there's no real direction to the story - this, coupled with a lack of internal world logic and overlong writing style makes Doomed a sadly underwhelming read.
On the plotting side of the equation, the overall thrust and idea of the book is simple and effective: beat the game, save the world. I like the idea of Pandora's missing father finally making contact after so many years, the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm as Pandora literally opens a virtual box to start playing the game, unleashing chaos on the cyber and physical world. The mix of physical action and virtual action (within the game landscape) is also pretty cool and effectively written by Deebs - when the action gets going, it's pretty groovy stuff. That said, these bursts of action are punctuated by some bizarrely detail-focused, step-by-step writing that isn't necessary to the story and is frankly...boring. For example:
Eventually my hunger gets the best of me, so I grab my laptop and cruise down to the kitchen. On the way, I flick on the television and start streaming the first season of Supernatural, right where I left off, at episode 4, "Phantom Traveler." Then I head to the pantry and pour myself a bowl of cereal. Crunch Berries, of course. Between mothfuls I open up my laptop and boot it up. I play around for a while - Facebook stuff, checking out the Cliffs Notes for Othello, looking for a new pair of boots because my old ones are pretty much trashed. by then it's after five thirty and my mom still hasn't called. I check my phone to see if I missed a text from here - sometimes reception can be spotty in the house - but there's nothing.
While this is fantastic information that could be portrayed in a few seconds on camera were this a movie, the blow-by-blow of Pandora's afterschool eating, tv watching, and online shopping experience has absolutely NO significance to the book. Needless to say, this type of granularity puts a damper on any enthusiasm or forward momentum in the overall story. (This same sort of thing is repeated later, in mile long walks in the dark, deciding which arrow keys to push on the computer, and so on.)
Of course, the larger problem is that the action in Doomed feels scattered, without purpose or direction - the underlying reason for the Pandora's Box Worm is kind of ridiculous, the motivations for the book's villain laughably thin and poorly conceived. There are also a number of convenient outs for Pandora, thanks to her love interests Eli and Theo - in addition to being incredibly dreamy, Theo happens to be a supreme hacker (THE ONLY supreme hacker) that can stop the worm that has shut down the planet.
Which brings me to the romance. The love triangle between Pandora and two stepbrothers - Eli (charming and blonde and sunny) and Theo (brooding and dark-haired and brilliant - is trite and predictable. OF COURSE these two boys are new in town and barely know Pandora but are instantly willing to do ALL THE THINGS to help her on this bizarre quest. OF COURSE they are both supremely dreamy and into Pandora. OF COURSE Pandora is totally attracted to Theo, who belittles her repeatedly at the beginning of the book (this is after he tries to strangle her in English class to prove a point about Othello and she is sooooo turned on by it). I am also not a fan of attraction to male characters that belittle or try to strangle their ladies (the rationale that Theo is messed up because of his father's death compounds the problem). Not sexy. Not attractive. NO.
Despite the strength of its premise and its few moments of entertainment, Doomed unfortunately failed to impress. I won't be around for the next books in the series (and even on that note, I really don't have any clue as to where the next book in the series will go...).
March 27, 2017
Review to come.
January 9, 2013
I received Doomed in return for an honest review from Netgalley & Bloomsbury Children's Books.Pandora wakes up the morning of her birthday expecting at least a text from her mother but is shocked to receive nothing and after a call its clear her mother has forgotten. She takes one last look at her email hoping that maybe she sent an email but is shocked to find only an email from her father. The father she's not heard from in years sends her link to a blog containing all the letters and twelve photo's. Pandora downloads and sends them to Walgreens before heading out the door to school.
At school she's running late leading her to group up with the other kids who are late to class which happen to be the new step brothers who moved to school two weeks ago Theo and Eli. While the other girls glare her down for getting to group up with them, Pandora is more worried that Theo will kill her when he shows her how Othello killed his wife. After school Pandora meets up with her friend Emily to make plans for dinner and movie night to celebrate her birthday before she heads home. It isn't till she gets home decides to play a little Pandora's Box before Emily shows up that her life changes forever.
When she starts up the mmo instead of being dropped into the game she receives a birthday message telling her that she has ten days to beat the game or face Armageddon. Suddenly all communication electronics are working such as phone, cell, TV, radio unwittingly Pandora has unleashed a worm over the internet. She rushes next door to the new neighbors to see if they are experiencing the same thing only to find out it's Theo and Eli which are also in the same boat when Eli logs on to Pandora's Box.
Together the trio returns to Pandora's house to see if they can figure out what's really going on. They are joined by Emily where they decide to drive into town for pizza only to learn that they are experiencing the same electrical issues that they had back at home. Credit card machines aren't working and people are freaking out. On the return trip home the group is in a car wreck when all the lights are green, together they have to save a dad with a son as well as themselves but this is just the beginning. After returning home Pandora and Emily learn that homeland security is at her home trying to solve the problem claiming she's an internet terrorist.
With the help of Theo and Eli she manages to get away fleeing from homeland security they also have to beat the game to save the world. Using their computers, Pandora's pictures the trio start a journey over several states following the clues that he father left for her. They will risk their lives against rioting, guys with guns, and even motorcycle gangs. Plus they have to stay off homeland security’s radar, who is in hot pursuit.
I love Doomed!!!! It’s an awesome start to the New Year. Doomed is a fast paced thriller that sucked me in right from the start making it very hard for me to take a break. I love Pandora as a character she reminds me a lot of myself as a teen. Plus she has the help of two very different guys who are both risking their lives to help her save the world. However Pandora is no weakling in her own right she’s unique strong and is willing to risk her own life to save those of strangers. Doomed is so well written the story just flows along so smoothly from start to finish. The author connects with teens as well as adults in the book making it easy for anyone to enjoy. The concept is very realistic feeling causing me to feel like if this happened I could see things playing out as they do. Overall it’s an amazing story I’m in love with the characters, the concept and everything about Doomed is awesome. I highly recommend anyone who is interested in the Dystopia genre will love this book. Doomed is my first book by Tracy Deebs however I know for a fact it won’t be my last, she’s sky rocked to one of my favorite authors.
At school she's running late leading her to group up with the other kids who are late to class which happen to be the new step brothers who moved to school two weeks ago Theo and Eli. While the other girls glare her down for getting to group up with them, Pandora is more worried that Theo will kill her when he shows her how Othello killed his wife. After school Pandora meets up with her friend Emily to make plans for dinner and movie night to celebrate her birthday before she heads home. It isn't till she gets home decides to play a little Pandora's Box before Emily shows up that her life changes forever.
When she starts up the mmo instead of being dropped into the game she receives a birthday message telling her that she has ten days to beat the game or face Armageddon. Suddenly all communication electronics are working such as phone, cell, TV, radio unwittingly Pandora has unleashed a worm over the internet. She rushes next door to the new neighbors to see if they are experiencing the same thing only to find out it's Theo and Eli which are also in the same boat when Eli logs on to Pandora's Box.
Together the trio returns to Pandora's house to see if they can figure out what's really going on. They are joined by Emily where they decide to drive into town for pizza only to learn that they are experiencing the same electrical issues that they had back at home. Credit card machines aren't working and people are freaking out. On the return trip home the group is in a car wreck when all the lights are green, together they have to save a dad with a son as well as themselves but this is just the beginning. After returning home Pandora and Emily learn that homeland security is at her home trying to solve the problem claiming she's an internet terrorist.
With the help of Theo and Eli she manages to get away fleeing from homeland security they also have to beat the game to save the world. Using their computers, Pandora's pictures the trio start a journey over several states following the clues that he father left for her. They will risk their lives against rioting, guys with guns, and even motorcycle gangs. Plus they have to stay off homeland security’s radar, who is in hot pursuit.
I love Doomed!!!! It’s an awesome start to the New Year. Doomed is a fast paced thriller that sucked me in right from the start making it very hard for me to take a break. I love Pandora as a character she reminds me a lot of myself as a teen. Plus she has the help of two very different guys who are both risking their lives to help her save the world. However Pandora is no weakling in her own right she’s unique strong and is willing to risk her own life to save those of strangers. Doomed is so well written the story just flows along so smoothly from start to finish. The author connects with teens as well as adults in the book making it easy for anyone to enjoy. The concept is very realistic feeling causing me to feel like if this happened I could see things playing out as they do. Overall it’s an amazing story I’m in love with the characters, the concept and everything about Doomed is awesome. I highly recommend anyone who is interested in the Dystopia genre will love this book. Doomed is my first book by Tracy Deebs however I know for a fact it won’t be my last, she’s sky rocked to one of my favorite authors.
January 5, 2013
Rating: PG-13 due to violence
Wow! That is all that I can say right now. I am at a loss for words. I can’t say that I expected much from this story. If I’m to be honest and since this is my review I am. The synopsis sounds interesting- the end of the world and a video game. It had me interested enough to participate in the blog tour. But I have to say that I didn’t expect it to leave me speechless. Maybe it’s because the Mayan prophecies said the world was supposed to end a week ago. I watched all those shows that talked about it and those shows that talked about people planning what they would do if life as we knew it cease to be. Maybe it’s because Doomed was just a bit too realistic. I mean what would the world become if everything that we have come to depend on –communications, gas and electricity, etc…- shut down? Oh, there is so much I could say about that topic alone, so I will move on to the book.
I enjoyed this adventure a lot. Yes, there were moments when I wanted to smack Pandora. I thought she was too whiny and a bit of a crybaby. But really, if I knew my father was responsible for destroying the world and was using me a pawn is evil scheme, I am not sure if I would do any better. I didn’t like her best friend Jules, though. Jules doesn’t get much page time before everything hits the fan. One moment she’s all mouth, her dad is connected to Homeland Security. The next she’s all quiet so she doesn’t get into trouble. I need you all in if you’re going to try to make it past the bluffing stage with the governmental alphabet soup! In the end, I was glad that Jules gets left behind.
On their scavenger hunt to save the world, you really start to get to know Pandora, Theo and Eli. You know that these are not your average tens. All three have family issues. But, I think Pandora has it worse. Her mom is off –again- working out of town. Her father, who is not in the picture, is not inspiring for good guy of the year. Even at the end of the book you don’t feel as if you know everything. You know enough to know that even before Pandora’s Box they all had a lot going on. These characters are complex creatures, as humans are, and they don’t suddenly open up and let the world in just because the world is ending. That’s probably what I like most, despite the fantastic idea – a game that can save the world from a worm designed to destroy it- there’s a lot of realism in the book. Okay, so maybe I’m hoping that if the world is threatened that there’s more than three random teenagers that can save it. For what it is though – a story- it rings with honesty. The pursuit of the FBI and Homeland Security and how they’re discovered and found again and again. How they escape/dodge custody again and again and again. How they feel about what it is that they have to do to keep moving. It’s not a walk in the park and they never make it sound like it is.
For those curious, there is romance. Two boys and one girl, there is a triangle. I think that this one was done successfully. It didn’t just happen because they were stuck on the run together. There was attraction before, and I dreaded thinking that the attraction would blossom in the middle of a life and death scenes. You know the cheesy (and totally unbelievable) ones where the characters realize they are madly in love with each other just because they came close to dying. No, Pandora realizes how ridiculous it would be to act on anything while they were running for their lives (smart girl!). In the end, when they have breathing room, they finally act on it. Will I tell you who? No, there was some back and forth, and I don’t know if she would have thought this from the beginning. Regardless, I think it works. I am happy to learn that this is the first in a new series.
A copy of this galley was given to me, free, in exchange for my honest review.
4 Stars ****
Wow! That is all that I can say right now. I am at a loss for words. I can’t say that I expected much from this story. If I’m to be honest and since this is my review I am. The synopsis sounds interesting- the end of the world and a video game. It had me interested enough to participate in the blog tour. But I have to say that I didn’t expect it to leave me speechless. Maybe it’s because the Mayan prophecies said the world was supposed to end a week ago. I watched all those shows that talked about it and those shows that talked about people planning what they would do if life as we knew it cease to be. Maybe it’s because Doomed was just a bit too realistic. I mean what would the world become if everything that we have come to depend on –communications, gas and electricity, etc…- shut down? Oh, there is so much I could say about that topic alone, so I will move on to the book.
I enjoyed this adventure a lot. Yes, there were moments when I wanted to smack Pandora. I thought she was too whiny and a bit of a crybaby. But really, if I knew my father was responsible for destroying the world and was using me a pawn is evil scheme, I am not sure if I would do any better. I didn’t like her best friend Jules, though. Jules doesn’t get much page time before everything hits the fan. One moment she’s all mouth, her dad is connected to Homeland Security. The next she’s all quiet so she doesn’t get into trouble. I need you all in if you’re going to try to make it past the bluffing stage with the governmental alphabet soup! In the end, I was glad that Jules gets left behind.
On their scavenger hunt to save the world, you really start to get to know Pandora, Theo and Eli. You know that these are not your average tens. All three have family issues. But, I think Pandora has it worse. Her mom is off –again- working out of town. Her father, who is not in the picture, is not inspiring for good guy of the year. Even at the end of the book you don’t feel as if you know everything. You know enough to know that even before Pandora’s Box they all had a lot going on. These characters are complex creatures, as humans are, and they don’t suddenly open up and let the world in just because the world is ending. That’s probably what I like most, despite the fantastic idea – a game that can save the world from a worm designed to destroy it- there’s a lot of realism in the book. Okay, so maybe I’m hoping that if the world is threatened that there’s more than three random teenagers that can save it. For what it is though – a story- it rings with honesty. The pursuit of the FBI and Homeland Security and how they’re discovered and found again and again. How they escape/dodge custody again and again and again. How they feel about what it is that they have to do to keep moving. It’s not a walk in the park and they never make it sound like it is.
For those curious, there is romance. Two boys and one girl, there is a triangle. I think that this one was done successfully. It didn’t just happen because they were stuck on the run together. There was attraction before, and I dreaded thinking that the attraction would blossom in the middle of a life and death scenes. You know the cheesy (and totally unbelievable) ones where the characters realize they are madly in love with each other just because they came close to dying. No, Pandora realizes how ridiculous it would be to act on anything while they were running for their lives (smart girl!). In the end, when they have breathing room, they finally act on it. Will I tell you who? No, there was some back and forth, and I don’t know if she would have thought this from the beginning. Regardless, I think it works. I am happy to learn that this is the first in a new series.
A copy of this galley was given to me, free, in exchange for my honest review.
4 Stars ****
January 14, 2013
Giving that we live in a world that thrives and mostly runs on the internet, it was only a matter of time before an author took the "what if" I've conjured up in my mind over the years, and brought it to life. Tracy Deebs does just that, and in a really exciting way. I've always wondered what would happen if/when someone found a way to control or unleashed something that would virtually shut down the Internet. How long would it take to effect everyone, how would the world go on, what catastrophic effects would it have on the world etc, etc. I know, late at night when I can't sleep my mind tends to wonder, but you can't tell me you haven't ever thought of the "what if". Even if you say no you have never thought that, I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one who did, because Tracy apparently has as well (yay I'm not the only one).
I enjoyed the way Tracy told Pandora's story. Pandora is not only a butt kicking heroine who's stubbornness kind of got on a nerves just a bit through out the story, she's a smart girl, who's also an incredible game player. She's independent, a bit lonely since she lives alone most of the time due to her mother never being around since her work has her flying all over the country. Luckily she has a few close friends who keep going, and until now her father who's never really been apart of her life unexpectedly becomes apart of it again. Let's just say after the little number her father pulls in DOOMED, you'll understand why Pandora's mother never wanted him in her life. Thanks to dear ole' Dad, Pandora's unleashed a monster virus, and it's going to take everything she and her friends Eli and his bad boy older step brother Theo, can do to stop it.
Theo and Eli. I enjoyed the complicated relationship these two brothers had, and I liked the relationship Pandora has with them. She's already friends with Eli, and has her reservations about Theo. Y'all know I like a bad boy, and though Theo doesn't ride a motorcycle this tall brooding, dark her hacker boy definitely fits the bill for a good ole' bad boy in this story. Together these three made for a fun story. They're not only on the run from every Government agency in the US, they also have a time limit to stop the game before the world ends. Yep, you read that right. This virus was unleashed in a game, and though they have to play the game in order to defeat it, they're also dealing with the virus and it's horrific consequences in their own world. Throw in dealing with attacks, accidents, falling in love and oh yeah, traveling around the US without having any sort of internet, way to get $, gas, food etc. and you've got yourself an adventure mixed with plenty of danger and mystery.
I really enjoyed this book! Normally these type of books aren't my thing, but this book surprisingly was. I think part of it had to do with Tracy's writing style, and other part was due to how fast paced and fun this story is. It's one that is full of mystery, excitement, danger, and course has a romance, though the friendship between the characters plays the biggest part in the book. Normally books that are sci-fi or deal with techy stuff lose me, but with DOOMED, I felt like everything made sense. There are a lot of little details that add up as the story goes along, and plenty of bigger reveals that all wrap up by the time the story finishes. Sometimes it's nice to get out of my element and read something I normally wouldn't. DOOMED for me was a really fun read I read in a matter of a few hours. If you're a fan of what I like to call realistic dystopian, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up!
I enjoyed the way Tracy told Pandora's story. Pandora is not only a butt kicking heroine who's stubbornness kind of got on a nerves just a bit through out the story, she's a smart girl, who's also an incredible game player. She's independent, a bit lonely since she lives alone most of the time due to her mother never being around since her work has her flying all over the country. Luckily she has a few close friends who keep going, and until now her father who's never really been apart of her life unexpectedly becomes apart of it again. Let's just say after the little number her father pulls in DOOMED, you'll understand why Pandora's mother never wanted him in her life. Thanks to dear ole' Dad, Pandora's unleashed a monster virus, and it's going to take everything she and her friends Eli and his bad boy older step brother Theo, can do to stop it.
Theo and Eli. I enjoyed the complicated relationship these two brothers had, and I liked the relationship Pandora has with them. She's already friends with Eli, and has her reservations about Theo. Y'all know I like a bad boy, and though Theo doesn't ride a motorcycle this tall brooding, dark her hacker boy definitely fits the bill for a good ole' bad boy in this story. Together these three made for a fun story. They're not only on the run from every Government agency in the US, they also have a time limit to stop the game before the world ends. Yep, you read that right. This virus was unleashed in a game, and though they have to play the game in order to defeat it, they're also dealing with the virus and it's horrific consequences in their own world. Throw in dealing with attacks, accidents, falling in love and oh yeah, traveling around the US without having any sort of internet, way to get $, gas, food etc. and you've got yourself an adventure mixed with plenty of danger and mystery.
I really enjoyed this book! Normally these type of books aren't my thing, but this book surprisingly was. I think part of it had to do with Tracy's writing style, and other part was due to how fast paced and fun this story is. It's one that is full of mystery, excitement, danger, and course has a romance, though the friendship between the characters plays the biggest part in the book. Normally books that are sci-fi or deal with techy stuff lose me, but with DOOMED, I felt like everything made sense. There are a lot of little details that add up as the story goes along, and plenty of bigger reveals that all wrap up by the time the story finishes. Sometimes it's nice to get out of my element and read something I normally wouldn't. DOOMED for me was a really fun read I read in a matter of a few hours. If you're a fan of what I like to call realistic dystopian, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up!
January 4, 2013
Tracy Deebs is already established and popular young adult author - that is obvious when you start reading Doomed. Her writing style is easy to read and perfect for young adults, with heroes that are not too old for their age.
Pandora, heroine of Doomed, may seem like a rebel with her haircut and multiple piercings but she is just an ordinary girl. In fact, she is usual young adult novel heroine. Neglected by her successful mother. Long ago abandoned by her father. In school Pandora is a loner, except for one best friend. If you love usual tropes of ya novels, you have a lot of things to look forward to while reading this novel.
Although Doomed by Tracy Deebs is advertised as dystopian, I would more label it as post-apocalyptic novel. Pandora opens a website link that her father sent her and, unintentionally uploads a worm/virus to an internet. The next thing she knows - all infrastructures are collapsing: telephone, electricity, internet. The only thing that works is an online game that Pandora sometimes plays. And in this game a new notification is flashing "Total annihilation in 10 days". Pandora has to look for clues everywhere while she is chased by creatures from Greek mythology (in game) and government agents & rebel gangs (real life).
Fortunately for Pandora, she will have help of two handsome boys - Theo and Eli. One dark the other one blond - to satisfy every taste. Yes, love triangle lovers rejoice, there will be a lot of tension and drama and of course Pandora will not pick one of them until the last moment. Because, first they have to beat the game and save the world...
Summary for Doomed by Tracy Deebs reminded me of combination of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow & Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Both are my favorite young adult books, so my expectations for Doomed were set very high. I expected treats for gaming fans and some great fight-against-the-government & save-the-world moments.
Unfortunately, whole story felt rather shallow with a lot of illogical things that kept bugging me: Why Pandora leaves her best friend that she knew whole life (who has a father computer expert) and instead runs away with two boys who she met that morning? Why does she immediately assumes that government agents are against her and does not try to cooperate with them? How come all characters keep miraculously going although they sustain so much injuries trough this book? If I could ignore this questions, my enjoyment of this book would be far greater because it's a quick action-packed read, but sadly most of the times Pandora's actions were not logical to me and I could not understand her.
My rating: 2.5 stars
I recommend this book to fans of: ya dystopian or post-apocalyptic novels with a lot of action and love triangle romance.
Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. This text is also posted on Amazon and my blog.
Pandora, heroine of Doomed, may seem like a rebel with her haircut and multiple piercings but she is just an ordinary girl. In fact, she is usual young adult novel heroine. Neglected by her successful mother. Long ago abandoned by her father. In school Pandora is a loner, except for one best friend. If you love usual tropes of ya novels, you have a lot of things to look forward to while reading this novel.
Although Doomed by Tracy Deebs is advertised as dystopian, I would more label it as post-apocalyptic novel. Pandora opens a website link that her father sent her and, unintentionally uploads a worm/virus to an internet. The next thing she knows - all infrastructures are collapsing: telephone, electricity, internet. The only thing that works is an online game that Pandora sometimes plays. And in this game a new notification is flashing "Total annihilation in 10 days". Pandora has to look for clues everywhere while she is chased by creatures from Greek mythology (in game) and government agents & rebel gangs (real life).
Fortunately for Pandora, she will have help of two handsome boys - Theo and Eli. One dark the other one blond - to satisfy every taste. Yes, love triangle lovers rejoice, there will be a lot of tension and drama and of course Pandora will not pick one of them until the last moment. Because, first they have to beat the game and save the world...
Summary for Doomed by Tracy Deebs reminded me of combination of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow & Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Both are my favorite young adult books, so my expectations for Doomed were set very high. I expected treats for gaming fans and some great fight-against-the-government & save-the-world moments.
Unfortunately, whole story felt rather shallow with a lot of illogical things that kept bugging me: Why Pandora leaves her best friend that she knew whole life (who has a father computer expert) and instead runs away with two boys who she met that morning? Why does she immediately assumes that government agents are against her and does not try to cooperate with them? How come all characters keep miraculously going although they sustain so much injuries trough this book? If I could ignore this questions, my enjoyment of this book would be far greater because it's a quick action-packed read, but sadly most of the times Pandora's actions were not logical to me and I could not understand her.
My rating: 2.5 stars
I recommend this book to fans of: ya dystopian or post-apocalyptic novels with a lot of action and love triangle romance.
Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. This text is also posted on Amazon and my blog.
February 12, 2013
The only thing Pandora wants on her seventeenth birthday is for her lawyer mother to call her from Alaska where she’s working. Instead, she receives a cryptic email message from her estranged father. Her mother always told Pandora that her father was a lousy man, and not to be trusted. But when you’re lonely and in need of some parental attention on your big day, what’s the harm in opening the email?
In this case, it’s a huge mistake. The website her father left for her to visit was actually some sort of virus, and by the time Pandora gets home from school, the world has started to shut down. The power is out, telephones down, the internet out. For all Pandora knows, it’s happening across the world — and it’s all her fault. Now she and her friends have ten days to beat a popular online game called “Pandora’s Box”. If they don’t? The world will end.
Pandora is totally relatable. She’s not super-popular, but not a high school nobody. She kind of does her own thing, likes indie music, hanging with friends and playing online MMO’s. I totally “got” her and she is someone I would have been friends with in high school.
The other two characters featured most prominently in the book are Theo and Eli, step-brothers who live next door to Pandora and join her in trying to beat the game and save the world. Both boys are very different, and add an interesting dimension to the story. While the book hints at a possible love triangle, I was a bit nervous, but it wasn’t the main focus of the books, which was a relief.
The book is very action-packed and totally appealed to my inner gamer. While I don’t play a lot of MMO, I do play a lot of video games, and I loved that aspect of the book. There’s a lot going on here, and I loved how Pandora and the brothers had to literally play for their lives. How crazy would that be? While I am a gamer geek, I’m not very good. I’d be in so much trouble if I were in a similar predicament. Y’all better hope I never have to save the world via video game!
My only problem with the book (and it was a minor one) was that it felt kind of long and did drag in spots. This may have just been my perception. It didn’t ruin the story for me at all.
Fresh, unique and filled with action, Doomed is a book I would highly recommend to someone looking for a different type of armageddon story. The gaming aspect and the action will appeal to teen boys who are reluctant or picky readers.
In this case, it’s a huge mistake. The website her father left for her to visit was actually some sort of virus, and by the time Pandora gets home from school, the world has started to shut down. The power is out, telephones down, the internet out. For all Pandora knows, it’s happening across the world — and it’s all her fault. Now she and her friends have ten days to beat a popular online game called “Pandora’s Box”. If they don’t? The world will end.
Pandora is totally relatable. She’s not super-popular, but not a high school nobody. She kind of does her own thing, likes indie music, hanging with friends and playing online MMO’s. I totally “got” her and she is someone I would have been friends with in high school.
The other two characters featured most prominently in the book are Theo and Eli, step-brothers who live next door to Pandora and join her in trying to beat the game and save the world. Both boys are very different, and add an interesting dimension to the story. While the book hints at a possible love triangle, I was a bit nervous, but it wasn’t the main focus of the books, which was a relief.
The book is very action-packed and totally appealed to my inner gamer. While I don’t play a lot of MMO, I do play a lot of video games, and I loved that aspect of the book. There’s a lot going on here, and I loved how Pandora and the brothers had to literally play for their lives. How crazy would that be? While I am a gamer geek, I’m not very good. I’d be in so much trouble if I were in a similar predicament. Y’all better hope I never have to save the world via video game!
My only problem with the book (and it was a minor one) was that it felt kind of long and did drag in spots. This may have just been my perception. It didn’t ruin the story for me at all.
Fresh, unique and filled with action, Doomed is a book I would highly recommend to someone looking for a different type of armageddon story. The gaming aspect and the action will appeal to teen boys who are reluctant or picky readers.
July 11, 2015
Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book
This book was amazing! I absolutely loved it! What initially caught my attention was the name of the main character: Pandora. Pretty understandable for a girl in love with mythology. So, yeah, she has a Greek name, but honestly, I wasn't expecting any Greek mythology. However, I was pleasantly surprised!
You could say this is a modern take on the classic tale of Pandora's Box. Except in this story, what Pandora releases is a deadly computer virus that could potentially bring about an apocalypse. And there is only one way to save the world: Pandora, along with the help of two hotties (Eli and Theo) must play and beat the video game that started this whole mess.
The twist: Pandora's estranged father could be the one behind all this. Will Pandora and her hotties be able to defeat the game? Will she ever find out why her father did such a crazy thing? And most importantly (not really, but still pretty important), who will Pandora fall for? The dark and mysterious Theo, or the happy, charismatic Eli?
So I obviously loved that Greek mythology was intertwined in the story...but it was more like references to Greek mythology, than the mythology itself in the story, if you get what I'm saying.
The characters: I loved the diversity (and the swoon-worthiness) of the stepbrothers! Pandora was really lucky to have their help! I personally was leaning toward Eli, though *swoons* He was just so nice, and sweet, and yummy! But really, they were both hot-mazing.
Pandora wasn't the bravest heroine out there, but if I were in her place, I would definitely have a few panic attacks myself. In the end, though, she was strong enough and brave enough to do what needed to be done. Overall, she was a great character!
The story was very action-y with a lot of craziness, and I loved that!
I've never read a book where there is an ongoing apocalypse. Dystopian? Sure, but not anything like this. So I thought that new (to me) concept was very refreshing for me.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read. I kinda wish there was more (that's the thing about standalones *sad face*), but I'll settle for a re-read (that's how great it was!)
This book was amazing! I absolutely loved it! What initially caught my attention was the name of the main character: Pandora. Pretty understandable for a girl in love with mythology. So, yeah, she has a Greek name, but honestly, I wasn't expecting any Greek mythology. However, I was pleasantly surprised!
You could say this is a modern take on the classic tale of Pandora's Box. Except in this story, what Pandora releases is a deadly computer virus that could potentially bring about an apocalypse. And there is only one way to save the world: Pandora, along with the help of two hotties (Eli and Theo) must play and beat the video game that started this whole mess.
The twist: Pandora's estranged father could be the one behind all this. Will Pandora and her hotties be able to defeat the game? Will she ever find out why her father did such a crazy thing? And most importantly (not really, but still pretty important), who will Pandora fall for? The dark and mysterious Theo, or the happy, charismatic Eli?
So I obviously loved that Greek mythology was intertwined in the story...but it was more like references to Greek mythology, than the mythology itself in the story, if you get what I'm saying.
The characters: I loved the diversity (and the swoon-worthiness) of the stepbrothers! Pandora was really lucky to have their help! I personally was leaning toward Eli, though *swoons* He was just so nice, and sweet, and yummy! But really, they were both hot-mazing.
Pandora wasn't the bravest heroine out there, but if I were in her place, I would definitely have a few panic attacks myself. In the end, though, she was strong enough and brave enough to do what needed to be done. Overall, she was a great character!
The story was very action-y with a lot of craziness, and I loved that!
I've never read a book where there is an ongoing apocalypse. Dystopian? Sure, but not anything like this. So I thought that new (to me) concept was very refreshing for me.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read. I kinda wish there was more (that's the thing about standalones *sad face*), but I'll settle for a re-read (that's how great it was!)
January 11, 2013
Review also post at Making the Grade
This day and age we have become so accustomed to the technology that we use on a daily basis, but what if all that technology were to be taken away? No cell phone, no television, no microwave for that matter. What would you do?
Well, you could do what the heroine of Tracy Deebs latest technological thriller/mystery/mish-mash of genres, DOOMED, does: Team up with two super hot (step) brothers and play a game to save the world – while solving her own little personal “mystery” in the process. I’ll admit, I was expecting more of an alternate “virtual reality” in this book, that Pandora would be thrust into a whole other world – but what I got was a girl simply playing a video game within her own world. While at times it felt like she was actually IN the game, the fact that it was only a game stayed at the front of my mind the whole time while reading. It was fun, but this kept it from being thrilling. Kind of like watching someone else play, and all you want to do is watch over their should and tell them how to play.
Pandora is a kick-butt character, no doubt, but she is also a bit too stubborn for my tastes. I felt like whacking her over the head at times and tell her to stop trying to do everything herself. Most of what she did only got herself into deeper sludge. Seriously, just let the boys help you, girl!
Augh. There is a love triangle. Between brothers (wait, STEP brothers), no less. Did it benefit the story any? Not really. Was there too much focus on it? Again, not really. But between the good boy Eli and the bad boy Theo… I have to say that I prefer bad boys. Neither boy was particularly memorable, but I like how Tracy deals with and resolves this part of the story.
Perfect for fans of DON’T TURN AROUND by Michelle Gagnon or even UNRAVELING by Elizabeth Norris, DOOMED by Tracy Deebs is a good – but not great – read. It definitely reminds me that I need to pick up TEMPEST UNLEASHED, the second entry in her mermaid series.
This day and age we have become so accustomed to the technology that we use on a daily basis, but what if all that technology were to be taken away? No cell phone, no television, no microwave for that matter. What would you do?
Well, you could do what the heroine of Tracy Deebs latest technological thriller/mystery/mish-mash of genres, DOOMED, does: Team up with two super hot (step) brothers and play a game to save the world – while solving her own little personal “mystery” in the process. I’ll admit, I was expecting more of an alternate “virtual reality” in this book, that Pandora would be thrust into a whole other world – but what I got was a girl simply playing a video game within her own world. While at times it felt like she was actually IN the game, the fact that it was only a game stayed at the front of my mind the whole time while reading. It was fun, but this kept it from being thrilling. Kind of like watching someone else play, and all you want to do is watch over their should and tell them how to play.
Pandora is a kick-butt character, no doubt, but she is also a bit too stubborn for my tastes. I felt like whacking her over the head at times and tell her to stop trying to do everything herself. Most of what she did only got herself into deeper sludge. Seriously, just let the boys help you, girl!
Augh. There is a love triangle. Between brothers (wait, STEP brothers), no less. Did it benefit the story any? Not really. Was there too much focus on it? Again, not really. But between the good boy Eli and the bad boy Theo… I have to say that I prefer bad boys. Neither boy was particularly memorable, but I like how Tracy deals with and resolves this part of the story.
Perfect for fans of DON’T TURN AROUND by Michelle Gagnon or even UNRAVELING by Elizabeth Norris, DOOMED by Tracy Deebs is a good – but not great – read. It definitely reminds me that I need to pick up TEMPEST UNLEASHED, the second entry in her mermaid series.
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