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Half Lives
I've learned that surviving isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Icie's parents gave her $10,000 in cash, a map of a top-secret bunker, and instructions to get there by any means necessary. They have news of an imminent viral attack and know that the bunker is Icie's only hope for survival. She and three other teens live locked away for months, not knowing what's happening in the outside world or who has survived. Then one day, Icie discovers a shocking secret deep in the bunker. Are they really safe there after all?
Generations in the future, the world has changed, and a mysterious cult worships the very mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. The people never leave the mountain, they're ruled by Beckett, a teenager...and they have surprising ties to Icie.
Icie and Beckett must both fight to survive while protecting a secret that could destroy their civilizations.
This high-stakes, original, and thought-provoking adventure follows two unlikely heroes, hundreds of years apart.
Icie's parents gave her $10,000 in cash, a map of a top-secret bunker, and instructions to get there by any means necessary. They have news of an imminent viral attack and know that the bunker is Icie's only hope for survival. She and three other teens live locked away for months, not knowing what's happening in the outside world or who has survived. Then one day, Icie discovers a shocking secret deep in the bunker. Are they really safe there after all?
Generations in the future, the world has changed, and a mysterious cult worships the very mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. The people never leave the mountain, they're ruled by Beckett, a teenager...and they have surprising ties to Icie.
Icie and Beckett must both fight to survive while protecting a secret that could destroy their civilizations.
This high-stakes, original, and thought-provoking adventure follows two unlikely heroes, hundreds of years apart.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
16 people are currently reading
2976 people want to read
About the author
Sara Grant
26 books113 followersSara writes and edits fiction for children and teens. Her new series Chasing Danger is an action-adventure series for tweens. Dark Parties, her first young adult novel, won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Crystal Kite Award for Europe. As a freelance editor of series fiction, she has worked on twelve different series and edited nearly 100 books. She has given writing workshops in the US, UK and Europe as part of Book Bound (www.bookboundretreat.com) and teaches a master’s class on writing for children/teens at Goldsmiths University. She co-founded Undiscovered Voices – which has launched the writing careers of thirty-two authors, who now have written more than 120 children’s books. (www.undiscoveredvoices.com) She is also a member of The Edge, eight UK-based authors working together writing a blog and running events across the country. (edgeauthors.blogspot.co.uk)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
June 24, 2013
To be quite honest, I'm not even sure what this book is supposed to be about. It failed to engage me before one of the main plot points was even introduced. On the other hand, it made me feel a lot better about DNF-ing books, because life is too short for boring books. So, uh, thanks?
So this book alternates between two narrators, one of which I've completely forgotten. The other is named Icie . Luckily, it's not a diminutive for frozen water, but it's still a pretty bad name. And even though it may be realistic, I.could.not. with all the social media references in her present-day storyline.
As for the storyline featuring the character who I've forgotten: I did derive amusement from this weird cult leader person. (I think. The boredom and deliberate vagueness does not help my retention of details.) But only because I kept reading his name -- the Great I AM -- as the Great Will.I.Am, which is also how I presume Will.I.Am addresses himself.
I received my free copy from Little, Brown. I received no compensation for writing this review -- obviously, since I don't say very nice things about the book.
So this book alternates between two narrators, one of which I've completely forgotten. The other is named Icie . Luckily, it's not a diminutive for frozen water, but it's still a pretty bad name. And even though it may be realistic, I.could.not. with all the social media references in her present-day storyline.
As for the storyline featuring the character who I've forgotten: I did derive amusement from this weird cult leader person. (I think. The boredom and deliberate vagueness does not help my retention of details.) But only because I kept reading his name -- the Great I AM -- as the Great Will.I.Am, which is also how I presume Will.I.Am addresses himself.
I received my free copy from Little, Brown. I received no compensation for writing this review -- obviously, since I don't say very nice things about the book.
February 6, 2014
What a great summary the inside fold of hard copy has. As always, it didn't live up to it.
I didn't see the point of showing the close-to-sisterhood friendship between Icie and Lola during the first three pages if Grant ditched said best friend right away.
Oh! Wait. As always, something this traumatic would keep Icie from "getting attached." Right.
Icie... the weird names in YA keep being creative...
I hadn't gotten my liking around Icie yet when the next chapter is the POV of Beckett and friends.
Back to Icie; new POV: Harper. Back to Icie, then Beckett, and then a new character: Greta.
At this point, I am not connecting to anybody. I don't like any of the characters enough to endure the jumps between the present (Icie) and the future (the other POVs).
Actually, the present is not bad but the characters of the future drag the book down.
Why keep reading it if I already know (from the future characters) that the virus destroyed everything? All is left is reading how Icie made it to the bunker, but she is kind of annoying. She made a new "friend" on her way there and she is "do not get attached." Right. Because that is exactly what people think when they are in danger; specially teenagers.
Everything is superficial. DNF! DNF! DNF! DNF!
I didn't see the point of showing the close-to-sisterhood friendship between Icie and Lola during the first three pages if Grant ditched said best friend right away.
Oh! Wait. As always, something this traumatic would keep Icie from "getting attached." Right.
Icie... the weird names in YA keep being creative...
I hadn't gotten my liking around Icie yet when the next chapter is the POV of Beckett and friends.
Back to Icie; new POV: Harper. Back to Icie, then Beckett, and then a new character: Greta.
At this point, I am not connecting to anybody. I don't like any of the characters enough to endure the jumps between the present (Icie) and the future (the other POVs).
Actually, the present is not bad but the characters of the future drag the book down.
Why keep reading it if I already know (from the future characters) that the virus destroyed everything? All is left is reading how Icie made it to the bunker, but she is kind of annoying. She made a new "friend" on her way there and she is "do not get attached." Right. Because that is exactly what people think when they are in danger; specially teenagers.
Everything is superficial. DNF! DNF! DNF! DNF!
April 11, 2014
Great idea for a book. Amazing idea. Had SO much potential.
Tried really hard to like it but had to put it down after page 18. I think she was trying too hard to connect the past and the future with an annoying teenager making up her own words and catchphrases. She completely lost me when the girls in the future were called cheerleaders and the guys rockstars. Why? Just...why?
Dystopia indeed. I feel bad for those kids stuck with the idiotic protagonist's lingual eccentricities. Poor bastards.
Maybe something was lost in the fact that I didn't/couldn't finish it. Maybe they're only going off her journal or something. I just wasn't going to keep putting myself through hell to find out.
Tried really hard to like it but had to put it down after page 18. I think she was trying too hard to connect the past and the future with an annoying teenager making up her own words and catchphrases. She completely lost me when the girls in the future were called cheerleaders and the guys rockstars. Why? Just...why?
Dystopia indeed. I feel bad for those kids stuck with the idiotic protagonist's lingual eccentricities. Poor bastards.
Maybe something was lost in the fact that I didn't/couldn't finish it. Maybe they're only going off her journal or something. I just wasn't going to keep putting myself through hell to find out.
August 7, 2014
It looked like the writer was trying to be serious but the book is a big joke..
I reached page 96 and stopped.. the writing is so poor, I could at least stand it in "present" but the future parts were so stupid, it felt like reading a children's book , he went up the mountain.. he came down the mountain, Becket enjoyed walking .
the title must be "Becket and Friends"
and the names are stupid, and the idea is stupid, the characters are stupid, the plot is stupid... this is a stupid book...
And the "just sayings" and "whatever" , "Facebook" "cheer captain" etc.. was that supposed to be creative? because it really annoyed me .
I reached page 96 and stopped.. the writing is so poor, I could at least stand it in "present" but the future parts were so stupid, it felt like reading a children's book , he went up the mountain.. he came down the mountain, Becket enjoyed walking .
the title must be "Becket and Friends"
and the names are stupid, and the idea is stupid, the characters are stupid, the plot is stupid... this is a stupid book...
And the "just sayings" and "whatever" , "Facebook" "cheer captain" etc.. was that supposed to be creative? because it really annoyed me .
September 9, 2013
I cried twice, which I think means this is an automatic five star.
Full review: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/06/h...
Full review: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/06/h...
June 10, 2013
As it has been quite a while since I last read an apocalyptic story, I was looking forward to reading “Half Lives” by Sara Grant.
Two stories told simultaneously, but set in two different eras, the reader alternates chapters from one timeline to the other. This technique allows clues to be revealed, slowly expanding the reader’s understanding of how the future evolved. Some readers may find it difficult to follow the duel stories, but I enjoyed the change in pace. This modern update on the fascinating hypothesis of how society could revert after a catastrophic event is well written. As the survivors are young, inexperienced teenagers, the society that ‘evolves’, is limited in their views and understanding.
The first story (Isis timeline) is set in the early 21st century. A bio-terrorist attack releases a virus that kills most of the human population. Isis, nicknamed Ici, is the key to the future. The story revolves around her escape to a secluded bunker near Vegas. Along the way Ici meets Marissa, Tate & Chaske. The four of them lock themselves in the underground bunker to await the passing of the infection. The seclusion takes its toll on each teen in a different way, forcing Ici to deal with her fears & desires. She is forced to kill to survive, to accept death as part of the new beginning, to overcome the guilt that she has survived, while everyone she knew & loved, died, and finally, to set down the rules for a new society.
The second story (Forreal timeline) is set in the future, hundreds of years later. This story is actually broken into multiple stories for each main character. As I started reading, I wondered why the people called themselves cheer leaders & rock stars; why they were born with deformities; & how the society had come to worship the way they did. As I read further into the Isis timeline, it all started to come together, showing how the past has influenced the future.
The Forreal characters are:
a) Beckett, Ici’s descendant, born with the eternity symbol denoting his connection to the great I AM. He battles to accept his position of leadership and responsibility, especially after meeting Greta, who he falls in love with. He, like Ici, has to overcome his fears to lead his people to peace.
b) Harper wandered onto the mountain as a child. Taken in by the village, but not quite fitting in, she loves Beckett. Her jealousy at seeing Beckett kissing Greta, causes her to lie about an impending terrorist attack. She has to accept her role as friend & advisor only to Beckett, & help him stop the start of a new war.
c) Finch is the antagonist of the story, craving the power & admiration given to Beckett. He has spent his whole life patrolling the mountain, wanting to fight the terrorists. (The bogeymen of past stories, turned from humans, into monsters, to explain why the world was destroyed.) Harper’s story of seeing terrorists, allows him to banish Beckett & to seize control of the village. He leads them into battle, attacking Vega during the night.
d) Greta is a descendant of another group of survivors, whose family have come to Vega to begin a new life. She is exploring the mountain when she meets Beckett. Brought up as the next leader, but also not wanting to take on the responsibility, she falls in love with Beckett. She is forced to choose between saving Beckett or her family from Finch’s mad attack.
In the end both Beckett & Ici realise that it is their strength & decisions that ultimately make the future.
I found the writing style easy to read. The story was gripping, although sad, especially as so many people die. The change in writing style between timelines, allowed me to feel the differences in life more acutely. Sara Grant’s descriptive narrative was sufficient for my imagination to create a visual scene for each timeline. I liked how Sara Grant warped our modern technology into rudimentary representations. Our Facebook, with its smiley faces, that is a modern way of communication; becomes an etched piece of bark, representing the reaching of adulthood. Teenager phrases of rebellion and songs become everyday greetings & prayers. With the higher power guiding them called the great I AM. At one point in the Isis timeline, Ici etches her initials onto trees. Isis Anne Murrey (IAM), & I realised she is the great I AM. Yet she was just a girl who lost everything but still found a way to survive and start a new society. When Beckett discovers her diary, telling the true events that led to Forreal’s creation, he has to decide whether to reveal the truth or allow his family to continue believing in I AM. The acceptance of their fates is quite clear in the telling of each character’s story. The psychological differences, that are so innately human, are well portrayed. I found the characters believable & well portrayed, although I would have preferred some of the minor characters to have been a little more fleshed out.
I felt overall that this story is encouraging, allowing the reader to see that no matter how hard life appears, we hold unfathomable depths of strength that will allow mankind to survive, no matter the odds. I recommend Half Lives to anyone who enjoys Fantasy/Sci Fi or a thought provoking read. I give Half Lives an 8/10 rating. I look forward to reading more of Sara Grant’s books.
Two stories told simultaneously, but set in two different eras, the reader alternates chapters from one timeline to the other. This technique allows clues to be revealed, slowly expanding the reader’s understanding of how the future evolved. Some readers may find it difficult to follow the duel stories, but I enjoyed the change in pace. This modern update on the fascinating hypothesis of how society could revert after a catastrophic event is well written. As the survivors are young, inexperienced teenagers, the society that ‘evolves’, is limited in their views and understanding.
The first story (Isis timeline) is set in the early 21st century. A bio-terrorist attack releases a virus that kills most of the human population. Isis, nicknamed Ici, is the key to the future. The story revolves around her escape to a secluded bunker near Vegas. Along the way Ici meets Marissa, Tate & Chaske. The four of them lock themselves in the underground bunker to await the passing of the infection. The seclusion takes its toll on each teen in a different way, forcing Ici to deal with her fears & desires. She is forced to kill to survive, to accept death as part of the new beginning, to overcome the guilt that she has survived, while everyone she knew & loved, died, and finally, to set down the rules for a new society.
The second story (Forreal timeline) is set in the future, hundreds of years later. This story is actually broken into multiple stories for each main character. As I started reading, I wondered why the people called themselves cheer leaders & rock stars; why they were born with deformities; & how the society had come to worship the way they did. As I read further into the Isis timeline, it all started to come together, showing how the past has influenced the future.
The Forreal characters are:
a) Beckett, Ici’s descendant, born with the eternity symbol denoting his connection to the great I AM. He battles to accept his position of leadership and responsibility, especially after meeting Greta, who he falls in love with. He, like Ici, has to overcome his fears to lead his people to peace.
b) Harper wandered onto the mountain as a child. Taken in by the village, but not quite fitting in, she loves Beckett. Her jealousy at seeing Beckett kissing Greta, causes her to lie about an impending terrorist attack. She has to accept her role as friend & advisor only to Beckett, & help him stop the start of a new war.
c) Finch is the antagonist of the story, craving the power & admiration given to Beckett. He has spent his whole life patrolling the mountain, wanting to fight the terrorists. (The bogeymen of past stories, turned from humans, into monsters, to explain why the world was destroyed.) Harper’s story of seeing terrorists, allows him to banish Beckett & to seize control of the village. He leads them into battle, attacking Vega during the night.
d) Greta is a descendant of another group of survivors, whose family have come to Vega to begin a new life. She is exploring the mountain when she meets Beckett. Brought up as the next leader, but also not wanting to take on the responsibility, she falls in love with Beckett. She is forced to choose between saving Beckett or her family from Finch’s mad attack.
In the end both Beckett & Ici realise that it is their strength & decisions that ultimately make the future.
I found the writing style easy to read. The story was gripping, although sad, especially as so many people die. The change in writing style between timelines, allowed me to feel the differences in life more acutely. Sara Grant’s descriptive narrative was sufficient for my imagination to create a visual scene for each timeline. I liked how Sara Grant warped our modern technology into rudimentary representations. Our Facebook, with its smiley faces, that is a modern way of communication; becomes an etched piece of bark, representing the reaching of adulthood. Teenager phrases of rebellion and songs become everyday greetings & prayers. With the higher power guiding them called the great I AM. At one point in the Isis timeline, Ici etches her initials onto trees. Isis Anne Murrey (IAM), & I realised she is the great I AM. Yet she was just a girl who lost everything but still found a way to survive and start a new society. When Beckett discovers her diary, telling the true events that led to Forreal’s creation, he has to decide whether to reveal the truth or allow his family to continue believing in I AM. The acceptance of their fates is quite clear in the telling of each character’s story. The psychological differences, that are so innately human, are well portrayed. I found the characters believable & well portrayed, although I would have preferred some of the minor characters to have been a little more fleshed out.
I felt overall that this story is encouraging, allowing the reader to see that no matter how hard life appears, we hold unfathomable depths of strength that will allow mankind to survive, no matter the odds. I recommend Half Lives to anyone who enjoys Fantasy/Sci Fi or a thought provoking read. I give Half Lives an 8/10 rating. I look forward to reading more of Sara Grant’s books.
March 16, 2015
This review contains spoilers.
I really didn't like this book. At first I felt like it should have just been Icie's story because Beckett had no real substance to it. I feel like Beckett's side of the story was trying to be funny be using all the modern day slang in a religious way. This just didn't make sense as the story being told was not a funny one.
I really didn't like this book. At first I felt like it should have just been Icie's story because Beckett had no real substance to it. I feel like Beckett's side of the story was trying to be funny be using all the modern day slang in a religious way. This just didn't make sense as the story being told was not a funny one.
August 1, 2013
This book was kind of depressing :(
May 24, 2013
Goodreads synopsis: Present day: Icie is a typical high school teenager – until disaster strikes and her parents send her to find shelter inside a mountain near Las Vegas.
The future: Beckett lives on The Mountain – a sacred place devoted to the Great I AM. He must soon become the leader of his people. But Beckett is forced to break one of the sacred laws, and when the Great I AM does not strike him down, Beckett finds himself starting to question his beliefs.
As Beckett investigates The Mountain’s history, Icie’s story is revealed – along with the terrifying truth of what lies at the heart of The Mountain.
Sara Grant’s HALF LIVES is a dystopian chronicle of the journeys of two unlikely heroes in their race against time to save future generations.
My review: Half Lives is, possibly, the most emotional and brilliant book I have read all year! I was really looking forward to reading it, seeing as I’d seriously enjoyed Sara’s Dark Parties. It started off really well- I was immediately absorbed into the life of Icie, and everyday teenager, and was curious to see how Icie’s world was going to change forever and why. Then, the narrative switched to that of Beckett, who worships ‘The Great I AM’ on the same mountain Icie is travelling to take refuge on. I was really confused at how that related to Icie’s tale, but after a few chapters in the different perspectives, both hundreds of years apart, I got the hang of it and it really was quite clever.
Icie’s story was a brilliant mix of dystopia and hope and survival. After this disease (Which I would’ve liked a bit more explanation of) was released and the general chaos in America began, this heart-stopping adventure ensued for Icie, and she picked up three very different people on the way. I liked the constant conflicts between the four unlikely survival group as they tried to start over a new life in a cave with limited food supplies. Just past the middle, things in Icie’s apocalyptic world began to fall apart and spiral out of control as the disease began to claim the mountain. I can’t really say anything more about it, because I’ll end up revealing the plot twists towards the end! What I will say, though, is that it gets heart-breaking and terrifying, with some real knuckle-biting moments, but then the ending for Icie’s tale is actually really sweet and brought a happy tear to my eye.
Icie was such a brilliant protagonist. She went through so much throughout the book and there was a lot of visible development in her character. Her relationship with Chaske was a little predictable- of course she’d win him!- and I really liked her friendships with Marissa and Tate, the other survivors. She adapted to her whole new, changed and broken world like any human would- which is what I loved about her. Her emotions and actions were really realistic and believable. I really felt like she was a real person, and that I was with her during her terrifying tale. I was so happy for her at her happy ending to a sad story!
Beckett’s world was so much different from Icie’s. He lives on the mountain Icie did hundreds of years before him, and is a heavy worshipper of ‘The Great I AM’ who generations before him- you’ve probably guessed who that really is. I actually found a lot of the worships and prayers quite funny, because Beckett and his ‘cheerleaders’ (You’ll get why they’re called that a while into the book) kept referencing to ‘The Great Facebook’ and things like that, from The Old World. The now sacred mountain made a really great setting for his story, and so was the surrounding town of Vega. Well, it’s based on Vegas, but I’m guessing it’s named Vega in the future because the S fell off the sign or something. Sara Grant has created such a horrifying, dystopic vision of the future, and it really was quite scary.
Beckett’s half of the book, told between Icie’s chapters, was differently written. Icie’s stuff was told in first person perspective, but Beckett’s was portrayed from the third person, and focused on the people around him too. That difference was a good thing, though, because I got to see was the other members of his religious tribe thought about him. I really liked the protagonist Beckett because he was so passionate and willing to do and sacrifice anything for his religion. Her was a very strong character. The plot for his story was so different to Icie’s plot, but it was still really brilliant and teaches lessons about love, hope, and betrayal. His ending, too, was really great. I loved the discovery he made and how that affected his whole personality and beliefs. His last chapter was the last one in the book, and it finished off the story ever so brilliantly.
Overall, Half Lives is possibly the best book I have read this year. Honestly. It was so riveting and I really couldn’t stop reading. The backdrop was scary and dystopic, with a unique and original twist. The characters of Icie and Beckett were totally unforgettable, and I’m still thinking about them now- a day after I put the book down. I can’t recommend this enough to YA’s, fans of dystopia, and fans of stories with unique formats. It’s just so great, go get a copy now!
The future: Beckett lives on The Mountain – a sacred place devoted to the Great I AM. He must soon become the leader of his people. But Beckett is forced to break one of the sacred laws, and when the Great I AM does not strike him down, Beckett finds himself starting to question his beliefs.
As Beckett investigates The Mountain’s history, Icie’s story is revealed – along with the terrifying truth of what lies at the heart of The Mountain.
Sara Grant’s HALF LIVES is a dystopian chronicle of the journeys of two unlikely heroes in their race against time to save future generations.
My review: Half Lives is, possibly, the most emotional and brilliant book I have read all year! I was really looking forward to reading it, seeing as I’d seriously enjoyed Sara’s Dark Parties. It started off really well- I was immediately absorbed into the life of Icie, and everyday teenager, and was curious to see how Icie’s world was going to change forever and why. Then, the narrative switched to that of Beckett, who worships ‘The Great I AM’ on the same mountain Icie is travelling to take refuge on. I was really confused at how that related to Icie’s tale, but after a few chapters in the different perspectives, both hundreds of years apart, I got the hang of it and it really was quite clever.
Icie’s story was a brilliant mix of dystopia and hope and survival. After this disease (Which I would’ve liked a bit more explanation of) was released and the general chaos in America began, this heart-stopping adventure ensued for Icie, and she picked up three very different people on the way. I liked the constant conflicts between the four unlikely survival group as they tried to start over a new life in a cave with limited food supplies. Just past the middle, things in Icie’s apocalyptic world began to fall apart and spiral out of control as the disease began to claim the mountain. I can’t really say anything more about it, because I’ll end up revealing the plot twists towards the end! What I will say, though, is that it gets heart-breaking and terrifying, with some real knuckle-biting moments, but then the ending for Icie’s tale is actually really sweet and brought a happy tear to my eye.
Icie was such a brilliant protagonist. She went through so much throughout the book and there was a lot of visible development in her character. Her relationship with Chaske was a little predictable- of course she’d win him!- and I really liked her friendships with Marissa and Tate, the other survivors. She adapted to her whole new, changed and broken world like any human would- which is what I loved about her. Her emotions and actions were really realistic and believable. I really felt like she was a real person, and that I was with her during her terrifying tale. I was so happy for her at her happy ending to a sad story!
Beckett’s world was so much different from Icie’s. He lives on the mountain Icie did hundreds of years before him, and is a heavy worshipper of ‘The Great I AM’ who generations before him- you’ve probably guessed who that really is. I actually found a lot of the worships and prayers quite funny, because Beckett and his ‘cheerleaders’ (You’ll get why they’re called that a while into the book) kept referencing to ‘The Great Facebook’ and things like that, from The Old World. The now sacred mountain made a really great setting for his story, and so was the surrounding town of Vega. Well, it’s based on Vegas, but I’m guessing it’s named Vega in the future because the S fell off the sign or something. Sara Grant has created such a horrifying, dystopic vision of the future, and it really was quite scary.
Beckett’s half of the book, told between Icie’s chapters, was differently written. Icie’s stuff was told in first person perspective, but Beckett’s was portrayed from the third person, and focused on the people around him too. That difference was a good thing, though, because I got to see was the other members of his religious tribe thought about him. I really liked the protagonist Beckett because he was so passionate and willing to do and sacrifice anything for his religion. Her was a very strong character. The plot for his story was so different to Icie’s plot, but it was still really brilliant and teaches lessons about love, hope, and betrayal. His ending, too, was really great. I loved the discovery he made and how that affected his whole personality and beliefs. His last chapter was the last one in the book, and it finished off the story ever so brilliantly.
Overall, Half Lives is possibly the best book I have read this year. Honestly. It was so riveting and I really couldn’t stop reading. The backdrop was scary and dystopic, with a unique and original twist. The characters of Icie and Beckett were totally unforgettable, and I’m still thinking about them now- a day after I put the book down. I can’t recommend this enough to YA’s, fans of dystopia, and fans of stories with unique formats. It’s just so great, go get a copy now!
July 5, 2013
Seventeen-year-old Icie's parents have given her $10,000 in cash, a map of a top-secret bunker, and instructions to get there by any means necessary. They have news of an imminent viral attack and know that the bunker is Icie's only hope for survival. Along with three other teens, she lives locked away for months, not knowing what's happening in the outside world or who has survived. And are they safe in the bunker after all? Generations in the future, a mysterious cult worships the very mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. They never leave the mountain, they're ruled by a teenager, and they have surprising ties to Icie.
Half Lives is a fast-paced and high-stakes glimpse into what the future could hold, into the strength of humanity. Two rather compelling stories unfold along each other, revealing both the end of the world as we know it as well as what it could become hundreds of years from now.
I found this to be a rather original idea. It wasn't just one girl's mission to stay safe, to stay alive, or one boy's task to keep his people safe, to continue their way of life. It was more of a reveal over time, a reveal of both their characters and their worlds. Both timelines are about survival and what it is to be human, what it is to live in a time and place uncertain and potentially dangerous.
Icie is on a journey to survive, to follow the path her parents set before her in order for her to survive what they know is coming. She has a purpose forced upon her, and it is to keep on living. Along the way she meets three other teens and her tale then includes discovery and the new 'world' they create. But how long is long enough? How long can you go on knowing the world around you is dangerous, is crumbling, and everything you once knew is gone? And how safe is the bunker Icie's parents sent her to?
Beckett doesn't necessarily start on a journey, but it turns into one. A journey to keep his people and their home safe from what lies out away from the mountain in the ruins of a civilization broken and filled with danger. A journey to keep the mountain safe, to follow the teachings of the one they worship and to keep on living. But not everything is as it seems. The mountain holds secrets. And there are lights in the distance. What is out there? What is coming? What is the truth hidden in the mountain?
Both timelines intertwine, alternating between Icie's trek into the desert and Beckett's mission to keep everyone safe. Questions are raised an answered over time, in both Icie's and Beckett's time. Words and phrases of Icie's live on in the future, clearly passed down through generations of survivors and human beings born after the event, but how were they influenced by her? And why? Where did she stop and they begin? The future is a curious place.
The human spirit is strong, it fights to survive, to adapt, to continue living when things are at their bleakest. Instead of giving up and wasting away we still go on, we still help others, still teach others how to live, how to read, how to survive. Names may be forgotten, worlds may take on different meanings, priorities may change, but the drive to live on will always be there.
I was tempted to first read Icie's chapters, to learn her story before going back to read about both her and Beckett at the same time, but I didn't. I think the reasoning behind books like this, books where chapters alternate between points of view and points in time, is that as different as the characters are they have their similarities, that they're tied together in ways they don't realize. They they will face obstacles, face danger, face death, and they must draw from inside themselves to keep on living not just for them but for those that depend on them. For the future.
Half Lives is a fast-paced and high-stakes glimpse into what the future could hold, into the strength of humanity. Two rather compelling stories unfold along each other, revealing both the end of the world as we know it as well as what it could become hundreds of years from now.
I found this to be a rather original idea. It wasn't just one girl's mission to stay safe, to stay alive, or one boy's task to keep his people safe, to continue their way of life. It was more of a reveal over time, a reveal of both their characters and their worlds. Both timelines are about survival and what it is to be human, what it is to live in a time and place uncertain and potentially dangerous.
Icie is on a journey to survive, to follow the path her parents set before her in order for her to survive what they know is coming. She has a purpose forced upon her, and it is to keep on living. Along the way she meets three other teens and her tale then includes discovery and the new 'world' they create. But how long is long enough? How long can you go on knowing the world around you is dangerous, is crumbling, and everything you once knew is gone? And how safe is the bunker Icie's parents sent her to?
Beckett doesn't necessarily start on a journey, but it turns into one. A journey to keep his people and their home safe from what lies out away from the mountain in the ruins of a civilization broken and filled with danger. A journey to keep the mountain safe, to follow the teachings of the one they worship and to keep on living. But not everything is as it seems. The mountain holds secrets. And there are lights in the distance. What is out there? What is coming? What is the truth hidden in the mountain?
Both timelines intertwine, alternating between Icie's trek into the desert and Beckett's mission to keep everyone safe. Questions are raised an answered over time, in both Icie's and Beckett's time. Words and phrases of Icie's live on in the future, clearly passed down through generations of survivors and human beings born after the event, but how were they influenced by her? And why? Where did she stop and they begin? The future is a curious place.
The human spirit is strong, it fights to survive, to adapt, to continue living when things are at their bleakest. Instead of giving up and wasting away we still go on, we still help others, still teach others how to live, how to read, how to survive. Names may be forgotten, worlds may take on different meanings, priorities may change, but the drive to live on will always be there.
I was tempted to first read Icie's chapters, to learn her story before going back to read about both her and Beckett at the same time, but I didn't. I think the reasoning behind books like this, books where chapters alternate between points of view and points in time, is that as different as the characters are they have their similarities, that they're tied together in ways they don't realize. They they will face obstacles, face danger, face death, and they must draw from inside themselves to keep on living not just for them but for those that depend on them. For the future.
February 8, 2014
This book was amazing in so many ways. I've never read a book like this before. It was magical.
The book starts off with a girl that has a perfect life in Washington, DC. Her Mum works for the federal government and her Dad works as a nuclear physicist. One day, her Mum and Dad tell her to return home ASAP and tell her that a plague has started. They will breach national security by allowing Isis to go to a different state to avoid the sickness. They give Isis a bag full of supplies and $10,000 to get to an abandoned nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Isis starts on her journey to get to the bunker, but her flight ends up getting grounded halfway through. During the flight, Isis meets a new girl named Marissa that was going back home to Las Vegas. In the midst of all this turmoil of people being afraid of the sickness, Marissa eventually tags along with Isis to get to the bunker. Along their way to get to the bunker, they meet a boy that was left along the side of the road to die and let him go with them to the bunker. When they get to the mountain that houses the bunker, they start the journey up. Along the way up, Isis almost gets killed by a snake, but she meets a teenager that kills the snake with his gun and saves her life. Isis lets him go along with the crew and they eventually get to the mountain. A cat named Midnight takes up shelter in the bunker with them, and helps keep the spirit alive. Weeks pass by and with the grueling task of staying alive in the end of the world eventually gets tougher, Marissa starts developing behaviors that risk the lives of the rest of the bunker inhabitants. One day, they hear knocks on the bunker door. Marissa goes insane and threatens Isis and Chaske until they open the door. Outside of the door are people that have contracted the sickness and are suffering from it. Isis makes Marissa leave the bunker and Midnight also escapes. Isis has a mental breakdown and starts to freak out, but Chaske helps her calm down. They eventually start to have a romantic relationship and towards the end of the book Isis realizes that she got pregnant. Sadly enough, Chaske commits suicide months before the baby is born. Back to the present, Tate digs deeper into the tunnel and eventually discovers the radioactive material that was hidden. Isis' parents must have had no idea about the material, because they wouldn't have sent her there with that stuff in there. Tate gets submersed with the radioactive mess, and even though Isis and Chaske cleaned him off he still gets deathly sick from it. He dies, and Chaske eventually gets sick because of it too. Chaske wishes to get out of the bunker to commit suicide, so Isis and he leave the bunker. Isis didn't know he wanted to kill himself though. They etch matching marks into their wrists so they will be together forever, and then after that Chaske kills himself. Isis doesn't want to live anymore and goes to live in a cave. She almost completely gives up, until Midnight appears and helps Isis get herself back in check. After that, a group of kids that were around Tate's age makes their way up the mountain and seek refuge back in the bunker. Isis gives birth to her baby and names him Chaske after his father. The group of children have their point of view in the book as well as Isis' point of view. They call the mountain the Great I AM. In the end of the book, you figure out what the Great I AM is. It's actually Isis' initials, and the group of children figure out that if a girl can become such an idol, so can they.
This book was so amazing. It made my day on how it ended, because it really summed up the whole book and made it complete.
If you like dystopian or apocalyptic young adult novels, this book is definitely for you.
I hope you enjoy Half Lives by Sara Grant!
The book starts off with a girl that has a perfect life in Washington, DC. Her Mum works for the federal government and her Dad works as a nuclear physicist. One day, her Mum and Dad tell her to return home ASAP and tell her that a plague has started. They will breach national security by allowing Isis to go to a different state to avoid the sickness. They give Isis a bag full of supplies and $10,000 to get to an abandoned nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Isis starts on her journey to get to the bunker, but her flight ends up getting grounded halfway through. During the flight, Isis meets a new girl named Marissa that was going back home to Las Vegas. In the midst of all this turmoil of people being afraid of the sickness, Marissa eventually tags along with Isis to get to the bunker. Along their way to get to the bunker, they meet a boy that was left along the side of the road to die and let him go with them to the bunker. When they get to the mountain that houses the bunker, they start the journey up. Along the way up, Isis almost gets killed by a snake, but she meets a teenager that kills the snake with his gun and saves her life. Isis lets him go along with the crew and they eventually get to the mountain. A cat named Midnight takes up shelter in the bunker with them, and helps keep the spirit alive. Weeks pass by and with the grueling task of staying alive in the end of the world eventually gets tougher, Marissa starts developing behaviors that risk the lives of the rest of the bunker inhabitants. One day, they hear knocks on the bunker door. Marissa goes insane and threatens Isis and Chaske until they open the door. Outside of the door are people that have contracted the sickness and are suffering from it. Isis makes Marissa leave the bunker and Midnight also escapes. Isis has a mental breakdown and starts to freak out, but Chaske helps her calm down. They eventually start to have a romantic relationship and towards the end of the book Isis realizes that she got pregnant. Sadly enough, Chaske commits suicide months before the baby is born. Back to the present, Tate digs deeper into the tunnel and eventually discovers the radioactive material that was hidden. Isis' parents must have had no idea about the material, because they wouldn't have sent her there with that stuff in there. Tate gets submersed with the radioactive mess, and even though Isis and Chaske cleaned him off he still gets deathly sick from it. He dies, and Chaske eventually gets sick because of it too. Chaske wishes to get out of the bunker to commit suicide, so Isis and he leave the bunker. Isis didn't know he wanted to kill himself though. They etch matching marks into their wrists so they will be together forever, and then after that Chaske kills himself. Isis doesn't want to live anymore and goes to live in a cave. She almost completely gives up, until Midnight appears and helps Isis get herself back in check. After that, a group of kids that were around Tate's age makes their way up the mountain and seek refuge back in the bunker. Isis gives birth to her baby and names him Chaske after his father. The group of children have their point of view in the book as well as Isis' point of view. They call the mountain the Great I AM. In the end of the book, you figure out what the Great I AM is. It's actually Isis' initials, and the group of children figure out that if a girl can become such an idol, so can they.
This book was so amazing. It made my day on how it ended, because it really summed up the whole book and made it complete.
If you like dystopian or apocalyptic young adult novels, this book is definitely for you.
I hope you enjoy Half Lives by Sara Grant!
July 29, 2013
Thank you HBG Canada for providing an ARC of Half Lives!
When my sister forwarded an email to me with the books available from HBG this summer, I almost didn't pick this book. Just buy reading the first 70% of the description, I was already in the "Oh-no-not-another-post-apocalyptic-novel-in-which-a-secret-was-discovered" mood. But praise the writing gods (and Sara Grant), this story has more to it than just that. It skips forward in generations and also tells the story of a future cult. Now, that is the kind of kick I was waiting for. What's even better was Ms. Grant's choice of not simply writing a story from the future perspective, because then, another dystopian story would have been born. The concept of this book is new and adventurous, not to mention the cross-generation storytelling was well executed.
Thanks to Sara, the present and the future can finally live in harmony! (And no Fire Nation jokes in the comments please.)
When a story involves a future religious cult, one would perceive that as a serious matter - and it is. But kudos to Sara Grant for bringing in humour in her story. I mean, come on, the leader of this religious group is a teenage boy. He has bound to make some mistakes, right? I think my favourite aspect of this book has to do with the misinterpretations of Icie's story. Her story has been misunderstood by those in the future and when the reader first arrive at the future perspective, expect to be a little confused. Their words have evolved and the thing we once knew can be unknown to them. So when they all begin to chant: "Whatever! Whatever! Whatever!" don't put down the book and walk away. That disjointed feeling is the beauty of this book.
I'm still undecided as to which perspective I enjoyed more. Both had their pros and cons, and both had moments where I can and can't connect with. These present day characters are not who I usually connect to but I thought they were written very realistically. I feel like the jokes they tell and their view on life is pretty close to those of real teens. The character in the future are more of the voices I am accustomed to; these characters appear a lot in other post-apocalyptic novels, so they are a bit clichéd. But because the plot was so interesting, these characters didn't bother me.
So overall, this book was unexpected, humorous and thought-provoking.
I will link the article Sara Grant speaks of in the Author's Note right here. It is the inspiration to this book and I think it's a neat read.
When my sister forwarded an email to me with the books available from HBG this summer, I almost didn't pick this book. Just buy reading the first 70% of the description, I was already in the "Oh-no-not-another-post-apocalyptic-novel-in-which-a-secret-was-discovered" mood. But praise the writing gods (and Sara Grant), this story has more to it than just that. It skips forward in generations and also tells the story of a future cult. Now, that is the kind of kick I was waiting for. What's even better was Ms. Grant's choice of not simply writing a story from the future perspective, because then, another dystopian story would have been born. The concept of this book is new and adventurous, not to mention the cross-generation storytelling was well executed.
Thanks to Sara, the present and the future can finally live in harmony! (And no Fire Nation jokes in the comments please.)
When a story involves a future religious cult, one would perceive that as a serious matter - and it is. But kudos to Sara Grant for bringing in humour in her story. I mean, come on, the leader of this religious group is a teenage boy. He has bound to make some mistakes, right? I think my favourite aspect of this book has to do with the misinterpretations of Icie's story. Her story has been misunderstood by those in the future and when the reader first arrive at the future perspective, expect to be a little confused. Their words have evolved and the thing we once knew can be unknown to them. So when they all begin to chant: "Whatever! Whatever! Whatever!" don't put down the book and walk away. That disjointed feeling is the beauty of this book.
I'm still undecided as to which perspective I enjoyed more. Both had their pros and cons, and both had moments where I can and can't connect with. These present day characters are not who I usually connect to but I thought they were written very realistically. I feel like the jokes they tell and their view on life is pretty close to those of real teens. The character in the future are more of the voices I am accustomed to; these characters appear a lot in other post-apocalyptic novels, so they are a bit clichéd. But because the plot was so interesting, these characters didn't bother me.
So overall, this book was unexpected, humorous and thought-provoking.
I will link the article Sara Grant speaks of in the Author's Note right here. It is the inspiration to this book and I think it's a neat read.
January 23, 2014
I wanted to like Half Lives more than I did. Grant's novel is told from points in time, the present day and the future. These two time periods are connected, though we aren't told how and the hints throughout the novel are weak, at best. The present day story, even when Grant loses focus, is mostly fine. I did like he way she deals with the problems of death and the choices people make in order to survive. If her loss of focus was the only problem, I probably would've enjoyed the book more. Unfortunately, it's the future characters who drag the book down.
Grant tries to set up a future world that is interesting and connected to the past in ways I feel like we should figure out as we read the alternating chapters, but it doesn't work. Instead of just focusing on one character for the present and one for the future, she bounces around between characters -- we can tell them apart because the future chapters have a different font and each chapter's title includes the name of the character who narrates it. Among other things, Half Lives suffer from an over abundance of characters who I just don't care about. There's also annoying jargon that the future characters use that should be hints to the connection to the past, but you just have to guess, as it's never fully explained.
We do get, right near the end, a thrown together explanation of how the past and future connect. It's subtle, which is nice, but it's too little too late. There was really only one character who I cared about and I didn't even realize it until the character died. I felt I was meant to be emotionally invested in the romantic relationships between some of the characters, and the characters collective and individual needs to survive, but there just wasn't enough of emotional connection for me.
The one saving grace is that it doesn't appear to be a series, because the book ends without cliff hangers (aside from all the unanswered questions about what/who caused the outbreak and how the society of the future developed, but I don't really care to know). It's basically a self-contained story. If you're starved for dystopia, read it. Otherwise, pass.
Grant tries to set up a future world that is interesting and connected to the past in ways I feel like we should figure out as we read the alternating chapters, but it doesn't work. Instead of just focusing on one character for the present and one for the future, she bounces around between characters -- we can tell them apart because the future chapters have a different font and each chapter's title includes the name of the character who narrates it. Among other things, Half Lives suffer from an over abundance of characters who I just don't care about. There's also annoying jargon that the future characters use that should be hints to the connection to the past, but you just have to guess, as it's never fully explained.
We do get, right near the end, a thrown together explanation of how the past and future connect. It's subtle, which is nice, but it's too little too late. There was really only one character who I cared about and I didn't even realize it until the character died. I felt I was meant to be emotionally invested in the romantic relationships between some of the characters, and the characters collective and individual needs to survive, but there just wasn't enough of emotional connection for me.
The one saving grace is that it doesn't appear to be a series, because the book ends without cliff hangers (aside from all the unanswered questions about what/who caused the outbreak and how the society of the future developed, but I don't really care to know). It's basically a self-contained story. If you're starved for dystopia, read it. Otherwise, pass.
December 14, 2013
Very interesting, intriguing and satirical in my opinion. The story is told in two storylines, alternating the chapters between "present day" and "the future."
"Present day" follows the story of four teenagers that band together in a nuclear waste bunker in the mountains near Las Vegas after a terrorist attack that released a deadly virus left most people dead.
"The future" follows, again, mainly four people, but this is how civilization has ended up. We have three people from the village they call "Forreal" and an outsider named Greta whose tribe of nomads just settled in what is now called Vega.
I literally could not put this book down - you know how the story ends for the present day people, the future is proof of that. But the thing that draws you in is HOW the present turned into this weird society of people who worship the great I AM. Their funny "just sayings," the facebooks they complete in order to make a rite of passage, the "whatevers" and how their songs of worship actually were popular rock songs in the present day. These people took all sorts of things that we experience in our own daily lives and then twisted them around. It's strange to think about - the end of the world and all you have to keep going is words and sayings that don't provide the context that they used to.
The author brings up the subject of nuclear power and its inevitable toxic waste. This makes you really think - a powerful thing for a YA book
"don't hold on to hate.
accept your fate.
we had time.
(not so much time.)
all you got is time.
til it's gone.
"i learned that surviving isn't all it's cracked up to be. if you survive, you've got to live with the guilt, and that's more difficult than looking someone in the eye and pulling the trigger. trust me. i've done both. killing takes a twitch of the finger. absolution takes several lifetimes."
This book is featured on my Top 20 list for 2013 on my blog.
"Present day" follows the story of four teenagers that band together in a nuclear waste bunker in the mountains near Las Vegas after a terrorist attack that released a deadly virus left most people dead.
"The future" follows, again, mainly four people, but this is how civilization has ended up. We have three people from the village they call "Forreal" and an outsider named Greta whose tribe of nomads just settled in what is now called Vega.
I literally could not put this book down - you know how the story ends for the present day people, the future is proof of that. But the thing that draws you in is HOW the present turned into this weird society of people who worship the great I AM. Their funny "just sayings," the facebooks they complete in order to make a rite of passage, the "whatevers" and how their songs of worship actually were popular rock songs in the present day. These people took all sorts of things that we experience in our own daily lives and then twisted them around. It's strange to think about - the end of the world and all you have to keep going is words and sayings that don't provide the context that they used to.
The author brings up the subject of nuclear power and its inevitable toxic waste. This makes you really think - a powerful thing for a YA book
"don't hold on to hate.
accept your fate.
we had time.
(not so much time.)
all you got is time.
til it's gone.
"i learned that surviving isn't all it's cracked up to be. if you survive, you've got to live with the guilt, and that's more difficult than looking someone in the eye and pulling the trigger. trust me. i've done both. killing takes a twitch of the finger. absolution takes several lifetimes."
This book is featured on my Top 20 list for 2013 on my blog.
February 27, 2015
Oh my.
Dear Goodreads managers, please make a 'no star' button. Please.
I didn't finish the book. I mean, idk, It'a probably just me, but a white-haired dreadhead who makes up words like freepy and crupid just didn't catch my attention. It's probably just me.
So I got until like the second chapter before the cheesy quotes started. And when I say cheesy, I mean right up there with cheddar and mozzarella.
So, naturally, I skipped to the end.
*SPOILER* (But you will want to know this if you ever intend to read it)
He commits suicide.
I think I've said enough. My work here is done. I've made my point, and if these simple facts aren't enough for you to put the darn book down, then go ahead, because I don't think ANYTHING will.
Have fun.
*wailing in the distance*
Dear Goodreads managers, please make a 'no star' button. Please.
I didn't finish the book. I mean, idk, It'a probably just me, but a white-haired dreadhead who makes up words like freepy and crupid just didn't catch my attention. It's probably just me.
So I got until like the second chapter before the cheesy quotes started. And when I say cheesy, I mean right up there with cheddar and mozzarella.
So, naturally, I skipped to the end.
*SPOILER* (But you will want to know this if you ever intend to read it)
He commits suicide.
I think I've said enough. My work here is done. I've made my point, and if these simple facts aren't enough for you to put the darn book down, then go ahead, because I don't think ANYTHING will.
Have fun.
*wailing in the distance*
May 18, 2017
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE. Sara Grant, thank you for writing this beautiful tale. The switches between the past and future captivated me and I felt an array of emotions throughout this book. I was thrown in different perspectives and examined possibilities for the civilizations. This book is unlike any other book I've read. My, oh my, this book shows great adversity, essence of triumph and that great ol' fighting human spirit. Thank you Sara Grant for blessing this world with your writing. Overall, good read.
April 2, 2014
(4.5 STARS)
This book was a little odd to me at first, but as i kept reading, more things started clicking and then i couldn't put it down. I cried serious tears twice. This was some depressing shit. But hopeful as well. Loved it!
This book was a little odd to me at first, but as i kept reading, more things started clicking and then i couldn't put it down. I cried serious tears twice. This was some depressing shit. But hopeful as well. Loved it!
March 19, 2016
Goodreads says this book has 256 pages. My copy has 383. Hmmm.
I finally finished this book. The chapters about the survivors were fairly good until the end. The rest were awful and the ending was abrupt and meaningless. I'm glad it, like the rest of the world in the story, is over.
I finally finished this book. The chapters about the survivors were fairly good until the end. The rest were awful and the ending was abrupt and meaningless. I'm glad it, like the rest of the world in the story, is over.
February 6, 2014
This was just, not my cup of tea.
give it a pass
give it a pass
July 22, 2018
Not all dystopian YA is created equal. Here, I think, the author has some basic pieces: spunky young woman (check), apocalyptic events (check), knowledge that some aspect of humanity survives into the future (check) but.... it never comes together. The novel alternates between a present narrator suddenly jarred out of her privileged existence by the apocalypse and a future which is not nearly as clearly articulated although it seems like future society is based on weird amalgams of 20th century teenage culture -- think emojis, made up words and high school cliques. Ugh, it comes off as annoying more than original. The final third of the novel is just unrelentingly grim without any compelling characters to hold onto. I finished this but just barely.
November 21, 2022
DNFing on page 47, this is unbearable. It's such a mess, I struggled to even understand what was happening in the weird futuristic cult chapters, let alone who the characters were. There were too many characters, too much info dumping and too much "teen" slang with secondary meaning that was so poorly explained just for added confusion. Even though Icie's chapters were better, she was just "not like other girls," was a blonde, blue-eyed white girl wearing dreads (which I think everyone in the future world had except for the one chick who's hair was too curly for them????????? I'm speechless.) and also was just... not particularly kind. The mixed Asian girl being called "exotic" was the last straw for me, I can't wait to never think about this book again.
March 29, 2021
Personal Recommendation | 7/10. While a slightly unsettling book without what I would refer to as a happy ending, Sara's depiction of thrown together teens surviving for months underground during a worldwide viral attack was gripping. The balance of two lives from different times was intentionally mysterious and drew the reader in to figure out exactly what the relationship was between both stories.
Age Recommendation | 14+
Diversity | 4/10
Language | 2/10
Sexual Themes | 2/10
Violence | 2/10
Age Recommendation | 14+
Diversity | 4/10
Language | 2/10
Sexual Themes | 2/10
Violence | 2/10
September 9, 2018
I've played enough Fallout that the post-apocalyptic side of the story didn't seem at all silly to me. But nothing much happens for large parts of the book, and I didn't like any of the characters. Worst of all, perhaps, was present day lead Icie, who despite being seventeen post 9/11 having a mother involved in disaster planning at a national scale has no idea what bioterrorism is. I think that about sums up how self-absorbed and naive she is.
July 3, 2025
I think I hate this book. The premise sounded good, but the execution was awful. It was about teenagers being some of the only survivors of the end of the world. In the post-apocalyptic world, all the dialogue is modern-day slang taken out of context, but honestly, if I were a teen at the end of the world, I would not be worried about never becoming a rockstar or cheerleader. I found all of the characters to be frustrating, and found that nothing engaging happened throughout this book.
July 18, 2013
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.
Quick & Dirty: This was a post apocalyptic story set in present day and the future, that felt all too real. Unfortunately, I found it really hard to connect with any of the characters and I had a hard time finishing it.
Opening Sentence: If you’d asked me that day whether I could lie, cheat, steal, and kill, I would have said ab-so-lutely not.
The Review:
Icie is your average 17 year old girl. She hangs out with her best friend and the worst thing to happen to her is that her boyfriend just broke up with her through a text message. Then one day her parents give her $10,000 and put her on a plane for Las Vegas. They tell her she has to go to a nuclear waste bunker in a mountain that was never finished. Her parents work for the government and they got wind that there is going to be a terrible terrorist attack where a virus is going to be released, and there is no way to stop it. She picks up some new friends on her journey to the mountain, but their trek is not easy. With the virus spreading and people going crazy they have to fight to survive. Once they make it to the bunker they have to stay there for months with no news about what happened outside. They have no way of knowing if they are safe or if they will survive long enough to see what has become of the world outside.
In the future Beckett is the leader of his small village of people. They have lived on the mountain ever since the terrorist attack happened 18 years ago. No one ever leaves the mountain and they worship The Great I Am, who has protected them from any harm as long as they don’t leave. Beckett has always followed the rules but one day he meets a mysterious girl that isn’t from his mountain. The more he learns about her, the more he starts to question all the things he has been taught since he was a child. Is it really as dangerous out in the world as he as always believed, or has his whole life been a lie.
First you meet Icie and I felt that she was very superficial. I understand that in the setting she needs to be ruthless to survive but I felt that her lack of compassion made her hard to connect with. She has many flaws and she owns up to her flaws which I usually like, but it just didn’t work for me in this story. Towards the end she gets a little better but it just came too late for me to really like her. I also felt that during her parts of the story it was really depressing and sad. I don’t mind if a book is heartbreaking but it didn’t pull at my heart strings like I wanted it to.
In the future part of the book the point of view switches between a bunch of different people. The main one is Beckett and he is the leader of his small clan of people. I didn’t mind Beckett, but there was really nothing that stuck out about him that was really memorable. I felt that way about all of the future characters, there wasn’t a single one that I really could connect with. I felt that when you were in Beckett’s world the story really dragged and I got bored with the story pretty quickly.
Overall, this was just an ok read for me. The plot did have some interesting twists but I had a really hard time getting into the story. I had to force myself to keep reading so I could finish the book which is never a good thing. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and I found the book to be really depressing. With this kind of book you need to really connect on an emotional level and I just didn’t get that. Honestly, this is really not my type of book, it was too serious and sad for me. Now that being said, I do think that there will be other people who actually really enjoy this book. If you like post apocalyptic and you don’t mind it being sad or a little slow you might really enjoy it. So obviously this book just wasn’t for me, but if the synopsis interests you give it a try.
Notable Scene:
She looked around as if they might have cameras in the toilet. “No, the most recent intel is about a bioterrorist attack.”
“A bio-what?”
“A fast-spreading and deadly virus. The initial projections are staggering. We need to get out of D.C.”
Then it hit me. I mean really hit me. I was falling, drowning, and being electrocuted all at once. My mind flashed to every apocalyptic movie I’d ever seen—world wars, alien attacks, explosions, floods, tsunamis, bombs, plagues. My knees gave out and I plopped down on the toilet.
“Do you remember where your dad and I met?” Mum asked.
I nodded, confused about her sudden stroll down memory lane. They were on some committee that had to do with strategic planning—Mum’s expertise—and nuclear waste—my dad’s. It had some whacked name like
Preventing Inadvertent Intrusion into blah, blah, bleugh. I always thought it sounded like the slogan for a new contraceptive device. “You met on that mountain outside Las Vegas.”
“That’s right,” she said. “We’re going there.”
FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Half Lives. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: This was a post apocalyptic story set in present day and the future, that felt all too real. Unfortunately, I found it really hard to connect with any of the characters and I had a hard time finishing it.
Opening Sentence: If you’d asked me that day whether I could lie, cheat, steal, and kill, I would have said ab-so-lutely not.
The Review:
Icie is your average 17 year old girl. She hangs out with her best friend and the worst thing to happen to her is that her boyfriend just broke up with her through a text message. Then one day her parents give her $10,000 and put her on a plane for Las Vegas. They tell her she has to go to a nuclear waste bunker in a mountain that was never finished. Her parents work for the government and they got wind that there is going to be a terrible terrorist attack where a virus is going to be released, and there is no way to stop it. She picks up some new friends on her journey to the mountain, but their trek is not easy. With the virus spreading and people going crazy they have to fight to survive. Once they make it to the bunker they have to stay there for months with no news about what happened outside. They have no way of knowing if they are safe or if they will survive long enough to see what has become of the world outside.
In the future Beckett is the leader of his small village of people. They have lived on the mountain ever since the terrorist attack happened 18 years ago. No one ever leaves the mountain and they worship The Great I Am, who has protected them from any harm as long as they don’t leave. Beckett has always followed the rules but one day he meets a mysterious girl that isn’t from his mountain. The more he learns about her, the more he starts to question all the things he has been taught since he was a child. Is it really as dangerous out in the world as he as always believed, or has his whole life been a lie.
First you meet Icie and I felt that she was very superficial. I understand that in the setting she needs to be ruthless to survive but I felt that her lack of compassion made her hard to connect with. She has many flaws and she owns up to her flaws which I usually like, but it just didn’t work for me in this story. Towards the end she gets a little better but it just came too late for me to really like her. I also felt that during her parts of the story it was really depressing and sad. I don’t mind if a book is heartbreaking but it didn’t pull at my heart strings like I wanted it to.
In the future part of the book the point of view switches between a bunch of different people. The main one is Beckett and he is the leader of his small clan of people. I didn’t mind Beckett, but there was really nothing that stuck out about him that was really memorable. I felt that way about all of the future characters, there wasn’t a single one that I really could connect with. I felt that when you were in Beckett’s world the story really dragged and I got bored with the story pretty quickly.
Overall, this was just an ok read for me. The plot did have some interesting twists but I had a really hard time getting into the story. I had to force myself to keep reading so I could finish the book which is never a good thing. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and I found the book to be really depressing. With this kind of book you need to really connect on an emotional level and I just didn’t get that. Honestly, this is really not my type of book, it was too serious and sad for me. Now that being said, I do think that there will be other people who actually really enjoy this book. If you like post apocalyptic and you don’t mind it being sad or a little slow you might really enjoy it. So obviously this book just wasn’t for me, but if the synopsis interests you give it a try.
Notable Scene:
She looked around as if they might have cameras in the toilet. “No, the most recent intel is about a bioterrorist attack.”
“A bio-what?”
“A fast-spreading and deadly virus. The initial projections are staggering. We need to get out of D.C.”
Then it hit me. I mean really hit me. I was falling, drowning, and being electrocuted all at once. My mind flashed to every apocalyptic movie I’d ever seen—world wars, alien attacks, explosions, floods, tsunamis, bombs, plagues. My knees gave out and I plopped down on the toilet.
“Do you remember where your dad and I met?” Mum asked.
I nodded, confused about her sudden stroll down memory lane. They were on some committee that had to do with strategic planning—Mum’s expertise—and nuclear waste—my dad’s. It had some whacked name like
Preventing Inadvertent Intrusion into blah, blah, bleugh. I always thought it sounded like the slogan for a new contraceptive device. “You met on that mountain outside Las Vegas.”
“That’s right,” she said. “We’re going there.”
FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Half Lives. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
November 15, 2024
UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME! This book is a crazy good read. Sure some of the dialog is cringe AF but it's still pretty good. Icie is a badass who, in my opinion, is criminally underrated. Will definitely reread this one again and again!
January 15, 2021
A great story about the survival of one girl and all the obstacles she must face. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys appcolyptic novels.
May 12, 2013
I got this book as an ARC and to be honest, I had no expectations of it, as I didn’t even know the genre when I applied for it. It’s a book set in two different timelines, one contemporary and the second one is told from several points of view at some indeterminate time.
In the first timeline, Icie (“Isis”) is a normal American teenage girl going home from school with her would-be funky friend Lola to hang out at “Bucks”, when she receives an urgent text from her Dad instructing her to come home instantly. She’s not been caught out in some minor teenage misdemeanour but her parents have decided to suddenly flee the city so when she arrives home, she’s almost instantly bustled off to Dulles airport where her parents tell her to find a mysterious mountain bunker somewhere near Las Vegas. They’re separated on the journey and so Icie strikes up an odd friendship with Marissa, a girl with attitude but plenty of courage. A diversion of Icie’s plane to Phoenix and the subsequent chaos this causes, forces Icie to allow Marissa to tag along with her to her final destination. Along the way, they collect Tate, a wealthy pre-teen with contacts in Las Vegas but no immediate help, and Chaske, who is of indeterminate age but surprisingly well-armed for someone on a camping trip. Icie decides to take her new companions into her confidence and leads them to her bunker, where they make a home and sit it out for the duration. The rest of the book essentially details the explorations they make of the bunker, the discoveries they make about each other and which of the characters survive to the end.
In the second timeline, a group of young adults live on a mountain and keep an eye out for ‘Terrorists’ coming to invade them. They have lots of mantras classified as ‘just saying’ and “Facebook” pictures, which their leaders must memorise before being passed as cheerleaders. The main characters in this section are called Beckett, Finch, Harper, and Atti. They are bound by worship and fear of the Great I AM who is their god on the mountain. Their adventures consist of trying to make sense of their mountain lifestyle and to work out who the real enemy is.
I must admit that i read this book in a slightly unorthodox fashion as I couldn’t get into Beckett & Co., story whilst I was still working on Icie’s story. So I skipped the different print of the second story in order to jump back to Icie but when I’d read her accounts, Beckett’s story made more sense. I kept expecting the two timelines to join up at some point – maybe I’ve watched too much Dr Who! but they stayed apart. However, the reader and Beckett’s team do learn the truth about the mountain and the power it has exerted over their lives. I did pick up on the similarities between Beckett’s team and a certain book called “To Kill a Mockingbird” and yes, that does feature in this novel. However, you don’t need to have read it in order to enjoy this book. Some small appreciation of the irony of Samuel Beckett’s “Godot” might go down well, though.
I’m not altogether sure that the author has hit the target of a YA book with her topic/theme though as many teenagers probably don’t care what happens next year, let alone in xxxxxx years time but it is/was something that needs to be considered particularly in less regulated countries. I must admit that I’ve barely given it a thought myself so there’s probably many more people like me out there.
One minor issue. I did read a review linked to Goodreads before I wrote this but the author of that piece referred to Icie as Isis throughout which suggested that she hadn’t read the book properly as Isis is only used two or three times – Sara Grant evidently wanted her known as Icie to her co-characters. There are reasons for this. So please when you write book reviews, describe the characters by the name they’re given, even if you don’t like them.
In the first timeline, Icie (“Isis”) is a normal American teenage girl going home from school with her would-be funky friend Lola to hang out at “Bucks”, when she receives an urgent text from her Dad instructing her to come home instantly. She’s not been caught out in some minor teenage misdemeanour but her parents have decided to suddenly flee the city so when she arrives home, she’s almost instantly bustled off to Dulles airport where her parents tell her to find a mysterious mountain bunker somewhere near Las Vegas. They’re separated on the journey and so Icie strikes up an odd friendship with Marissa, a girl with attitude but plenty of courage. A diversion of Icie’s plane to Phoenix and the subsequent chaos this causes, forces Icie to allow Marissa to tag along with her to her final destination. Along the way, they collect Tate, a wealthy pre-teen with contacts in Las Vegas but no immediate help, and Chaske, who is of indeterminate age but surprisingly well-armed for someone on a camping trip. Icie decides to take her new companions into her confidence and leads them to her bunker, where they make a home and sit it out for the duration. The rest of the book essentially details the explorations they make of the bunker, the discoveries they make about each other and which of the characters survive to the end.
In the second timeline, a group of young adults live on a mountain and keep an eye out for ‘Terrorists’ coming to invade them. They have lots of mantras classified as ‘just saying’ and “Facebook” pictures, which their leaders must memorise before being passed as cheerleaders. The main characters in this section are called Beckett, Finch, Harper, and Atti. They are bound by worship and fear of the Great I AM who is their god on the mountain. Their adventures consist of trying to make sense of their mountain lifestyle and to work out who the real enemy is.
I must admit that i read this book in a slightly unorthodox fashion as I couldn’t get into Beckett & Co., story whilst I was still working on Icie’s story. So I skipped the different print of the second story in order to jump back to Icie but when I’d read her accounts, Beckett’s story made more sense. I kept expecting the two timelines to join up at some point – maybe I’ve watched too much Dr Who! but they stayed apart. However, the reader and Beckett’s team do learn the truth about the mountain and the power it has exerted over their lives. I did pick up on the similarities between Beckett’s team and a certain book called “To Kill a Mockingbird” and yes, that does feature in this novel. However, you don’t need to have read it in order to enjoy this book. Some small appreciation of the irony of Samuel Beckett’s “Godot” might go down well, though.
I’m not altogether sure that the author has hit the target of a YA book with her topic/theme though as many teenagers probably don’t care what happens next year, let alone in xxxxxx years time but it is/was something that needs to be considered particularly in less regulated countries. I must admit that I’ve barely given it a thought myself so there’s probably many more people like me out there.
One minor issue. I did read a review linked to Goodreads before I wrote this but the author of that piece referred to Icie as Isis throughout which suggested that she hadn’t read the book properly as Isis is only used two or three times – Sara Grant evidently wanted her known as Icie to her co-characters. There are reasons for this. So please when you write book reviews, describe the characters by the name they’re given, even if you don’t like them.
August 17, 2013
Half Lives by Sara Grant Half Lives by author Sarah Grant was one of those reads that sounded interesting and like it would keep you wondering until the very end. A novel that tells two sides to the end of the world, one taking place during and the other taking place long after? Count me right in! By the time I started reading Half Lives and finished the first chapter I found myself going “whoa that was seriously awesome” and absolutely had to keep on reading.
Half Lives is two stories. The first being that of main character Icie/Isis whose parents work for the government. When they send her a text telling her to come home ASAP she has a belt with $10,00 in cash strapped to her body and is sent to the airport, straight to Las Vegas and to a mountain that will keep her safe. Why are her parents doing this? Because they know about a top secret biological weapon that has been released and will eradicate the human race. Icie finds herself on her own, on her way to the mountain with a small band of survivors as they look for the mountain’s bunker in hopes of surviving the end of the world.
The second story told in Half Lives takes place decades and decades later, the world is left in ruins and a small cult that follows the teachings of the Great I AM guard the mountain and bunker that Icie was hiding in. This small group of survivors fights off against Terrorists and hope to pass on the Great I AM’s will and find peace and enlightenment. When their leader, the Cheer Captain Beckett, meets a girl named Greta he uncovers the truth about Icie’s journey, who the Great I AM is and what the teachings his cult has been following are really about.
What I really liked about Half Lives was getting to see the apocalypse as it unfolds and also gets dystopic and tells us what happens after. I really liked that but did have my worries. What if I didn’t like both casts of characters in both stories? What if I didn’t like one of the main characters as much as I did the other? Or what if I didn’t like both stories equally? Honestly I had nothing to worry about because both stories were equally good and equally fast paced. I was really impressed by the pacing used in Half Lives, it kept me on the edge of my seat and had me very excited to continue reading.
The characters in Half Lives were ones that I easily got attached to. I fell in love with Icie and the three survivors she bands together with, at the same time I also really liked Becket, Greta, Harper and Finch (despite him turning out to be cray). Personally I think that the characters used in Icie’s story are ones that will relate more to teen readers and will also make it easier for them to think of the characters are real because they are all very realistic. Plus by the time Icie’s group reaches the bunker there’s so much drama and *spoiler, spoiler, spoiler*.
Half Lives stirred up a lot of emotions in me. Throughout the story I would be reading and when the story would reach a part that questioned the character’s humanity or got really dark, I could feel it in my stomach and got so into the story. I cried, I laughed and I got terrified for every single character. By the time the novel reached its conclusion I was cried out, still surprised at the ending and also glad that it tied up almost every single loose end.
I would recommend Half Lives to readers who are fans of dystopia, want a read that shows the before/after of the apocalypse and readers who are looking for a story that revolves around survival.
Half Lives is two stories. The first being that of main character Icie/Isis whose parents work for the government. When they send her a text telling her to come home ASAP she has a belt with $10,00 in cash strapped to her body and is sent to the airport, straight to Las Vegas and to a mountain that will keep her safe. Why are her parents doing this? Because they know about a top secret biological weapon that has been released and will eradicate the human race. Icie finds herself on her own, on her way to the mountain with a small band of survivors as they look for the mountain’s bunker in hopes of surviving the end of the world.
The second story told in Half Lives takes place decades and decades later, the world is left in ruins and a small cult that follows the teachings of the Great I AM guard the mountain and bunker that Icie was hiding in. This small group of survivors fights off against Terrorists and hope to pass on the Great I AM’s will and find peace and enlightenment. When their leader, the Cheer Captain Beckett, meets a girl named Greta he uncovers the truth about Icie’s journey, who the Great I AM is and what the teachings his cult has been following are really about.
What I really liked about Half Lives was getting to see the apocalypse as it unfolds and also gets dystopic and tells us what happens after. I really liked that but did have my worries. What if I didn’t like both casts of characters in both stories? What if I didn’t like one of the main characters as much as I did the other? Or what if I didn’t like both stories equally? Honestly I had nothing to worry about because both stories were equally good and equally fast paced. I was really impressed by the pacing used in Half Lives, it kept me on the edge of my seat and had me very excited to continue reading.
The characters in Half Lives were ones that I easily got attached to. I fell in love with Icie and the three survivors she bands together with, at the same time I also really liked Becket, Greta, Harper and Finch (despite him turning out to be cray). Personally I think that the characters used in Icie’s story are ones that will relate more to teen readers and will also make it easier for them to think of the characters are real because they are all very realistic. Plus by the time Icie’s group reaches the bunker there’s so much drama and *spoiler, spoiler, spoiler*.
Half Lives stirred up a lot of emotions in me. Throughout the story I would be reading and when the story would reach a part that questioned the character’s humanity or got really dark, I could feel it in my stomach and got so into the story. I cried, I laughed and I got terrified for every single character. By the time the novel reached its conclusion I was cried out, still surprised at the ending and also glad that it tied up almost every single loose end.
I would recommend Half Lives to readers who are fans of dystopia, want a read that shows the before/after of the apocalypse and readers who are looking for a story that revolves around survival.
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