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ACID
The year is 2113. In Jenna Strong's world, ACID—the most brutal controlling police force in history—rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed—or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna's violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary.
When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID, and try to uncover the truth about what really happened on that terrible night two years ago. They have taken her life, her freedom, and her true memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn't know who to trust?
Strong, gritty writing, irresistible psychological suspense, and action consume the novel as Jenna struggles to survive against the all-controlling ACID. Seriously sinister stuff.
When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID, and try to uncover the truth about what really happened on that terrible night two years ago. They have taken her life, her freedom, and her true memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn't know who to trust?
Strong, gritty writing, irresistible psychological suspense, and action consume the novel as Jenna struggles to survive against the all-controlling ACID. Seriously sinister stuff.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published March 11, 2013
129 people are currently reading
11012 people want to read
About the author
Emma Pass
8 books396 followersEmma Pass grew up at an environmental studies centre near London, went to art school in Cornwall and now lives in the north-east Midlands, UK. Her YA dystopian thriller ACID is out from Random House Children's Books on 25th April 2013 (UK), Mondadori on 13th June 2013 (Spain) and Delacorte on 1st April 2014 (US). Another standalone thriller, The Fearless, will follow in the UK in 2014.
Are you on Twitter? I'll be taking part in a #UKYA Twitter chat on Monday 14th April 2014 at 5.30pm (GMT) as part of Project UKYA's April Extravaganza. Come and ask me questions about my books and my writing! I look forward to chatting with you!
Are you on Twitter? I'll be taking part in a #UKYA Twitter chat on Monday 14th April 2014 at 5.30pm (GMT) as part of Project UKYA's April Extravaganza. Come and ask me questions about my books and my writing! I look forward to chatting with you!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 824 reviews
April 9, 2014
Get a grip, Jenna, I tell myself furiously. People’s lives depend on you tomorrow, and all you can think about is snogging Max.As a child, I read almost the entire Baby Sitter's Club books. Almost 20 years later, I am rather bemused and amused to realize that I've essentially just read another story about babysitting. Sure, the premise is different, there's a dystopian future (and by dystopian, I mean the let's-throw-random-dystopian-element-crap-at-a-wall-and-see-what-sticks), but really, this is a story about a "tough" teenage girl who acts, more or less, as a babysitter to a delicate, fainting, stammering, blushing little boy.
‘Shut up,’ he says. ‘I hate you. I HATE YOU!’Who throws one hell of a tantrum.
You might have noticed I used quotation marks for the word "tough." That's because this girl is a bad-ass, someone who is seriously kick ass. Only she shows no evidence of it in the book. Listen, I don't give a flying fuck if you proclaim yourself to be the biggest, baddest bitch in the whole wide fucking dystopian universe if you don't prove yourself. If you constantly quake in your fucking boots, if you constantly faint, if you're constantly fucking saved by the act of deus ex fucking machina, you ain't shit to me, ok?
If you read nothing else of my review, this is what I want you to know about this book. It is a long fucking book with a long fucking nonsensical plot.
1. The dystopian world is generic dystopian bullshit
2. There is a self-proclaimed tough girl who does nothing to prove it. She takes on three identities in this book. She is Jenna, then "Mia," then "Jessica"
3. There is a horrifying amount of deus ex machina, as in "OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE IN 2 SECONDS. Oh wait, we're suddenly saved for some fucking reason!11!! Thank you God, Allah, Oprah, and that one Jewish dude!" kind of crap
4. There's a boy who does absolutely fucking nothing for the plot but look cute
5. There is no relationship building whatsoever
The Summary:
Part I: Jenna Strong
‘What’re you in here for, anyway?’ he mumbles thickly.And she never shows a single moment of remorse.
‘I killed my parents.’
It is the year 2113 in England, now known as the IRB, or the Independent Republic of Britain. ACID is the police force that reigns supreme. Two years ago, Jenna Strong was a pampered, spoiled girl living in the Upper part of London, the wealthiest parts. She was to be LifePartnered (married) soon, at age 16. She had everything going for her. Until she killed her parents.
Two years later, Jenna is 16, and sentenced to a maximum security prison for their murder. No longer a spoiled, soft girl, Jenna is now pure steel. She has shaved her head, her body is tight with muscles, and she is one bad bitch. Jenna thinks she's going to rot in prison until a riot breaks out, and her friend, Dr. Fisher died saving her. For such a big, bad-ass girl, Jenna faints.
My head lolls to the side and darkness rolls over my vision like a wave.Part II: Mia Richardson:
The face that stares back at me has brown eyes instead of grey. The nose is smaller, the chin rounder. The cheekbones are more pronounced. And all my scars are gone.Well, isn't that just lovely? Jenna is now rescued from prison, AND given an insta-makeover courtesy of plastic surgery within ONE day. She's even got her gorgeous hair back! In ONE day. Only now Jenna isn't Jenna anymore. She's involved in some kind of Super Secret Plan by the people who rescued her, and they won't tell her what.
I’m almost pretty, for God’s sake.
The only problem is that Jenna Strong is now wanted by ACID for the murder of Dr. Fisher, the person who helped her escape from prison. Falsely implicated for his death, and still wanted for the murder of her parents, Jenna now has to claim a new face, a new identity. Jenna must now become "Mia".
And her life sucks. And her new pretend LifePartner sucks. Until she sees Max Fisher in the news. Max is the son of the late Dr. Fisher, and he, along with everyone, thinks Jenna murdered his dad. But "Mia" can't help but fantasize about him anyway when she sees his picture in the news despite knowing nothing about him.
He’s not handsome, exactly, but he looks friendly and normal and nice; the sort of guy, if you were lucky enough to get Partnered to him, you could imagine curling up with and talking to until the small hours of the morning, and not even noticing what time it was.D'aww, isn't that just fucking cute. Until ever-so-conveniently, Max runs into her, tries to rob her in the world's most pitiful robbery attempt.
‘I – just – needed – some – stuff,’ he chokes.And promptly faints.
As he lurches towards me his eyes roll back in his head and his legs fold underneath him like a puppet that has just had its strings cut.Apparently, Max is an accidental drug addict. He didn't MEAN to become an addict, he was forced to be one (long story). And now "Mia" is his babysitter. Max is useless, because he's a recovering drug addict.
And he doesn't know that "Mia" is really Jenna, the one who killed his dad. Still, she babysits him, they run away together when ACID comes close. "Mia" mothers Max's weak, sickly ass.
He’s fever-hot. Crap. Maybe he hasn’t just got a cold.Only to have him turn completely against her when he discovers her true identity.
‘I’m sorry,’ he croaks.
‘Don’t worry about it. You can’t help being ill,’ I say.
‘You lying, murdering bitch.’ His eyes are shining with fury and hate. ‘All this time, I thought you were helping me. I thought you cared. And it was all lies.’So much for being grateful. And when ACID agents catch up to them, it's "Mia's" ass that Max hands them on a platter.
‘You don’t want me!’ he yells. ‘You want her! She’s a murderer!’Ah, young love! Such loyalty!
Part II: Jessica Stone: And now "Mia" is in prison. Falsely accused of yet another crime she hasn't done. But she's not worried about her impending death.
He’ll never know, now, how much I care about him. I want that moment back where he tried to kiss me. And this time, I want to let him, and I want to kiss him back.Also known as: priorities, Y DO U NOT HAZ THEM?!
And knowing I’ll never have that again makes me want to curl into a ball and howl.
But she can't help herself. She can't stop thinking about Max! Poor, poor Max! Poor Max who fucking sold her out! She needs to rescue him from prison! But wait! Alas, her fate is not her own. Apparently the people who rescued her in the beginning (remember them? Like 1000 fucking years ago that was) has a Big Secret Plan all along! (where the FUCK were they?!) They are going to overthrow ACID. They're going to bring freeeeeeedom to the whole fucking Former United Kingdom. And they need
Except...what about Max?
;_______________;
So these Secret Super Special Rescuing Agent People have two choices. They can either:
1. Save the world
or
2. Save Max
OH, GEE. I WONDER WHICH OPTION OUR BRAVE FUCKING
‘So why can’t they rescue Max, then?’
‘It’s too risky. If any of the FREE operatives there were to even try to make contact with Max, our cover could be blown.’
‘That’s so wrong!’ I cry.
The Setting: Also known as: WUT? Ok, so it's the year 2113. It's like 100 fucking years in the future. And England is pretty fucking unrecognizable. There's random ass bank collapses and shit and 53 fucking years ago, some people decided to take over England and restore morality to allllllllllll the peepz!
So now we have the Independent Republic of Britain. Where girls are forced to get married at 16. Where marriage is no longer known as marriage but as "LifePartnered." Where there are public "LifePartner" ceremonies with big beautiful frilly fucking pricy dresses like a fucking quinceaneara or whatever they call it---party (I took French, not Spanish, ok?!). You have to apply for and get permission to have a child. There are fucking walls everywhere. There are Outer parts of London, Middle parts of London, and Upper parts, for lower, middle, upper classes.
And why do people get to be in Upper levels of London?
‘Because we deserve it,’ Dad told me.Oh. Makes perfect fucking sense -_-
What the fuck?! How did things change so drastically? I mean, what the fuck is with the no-marriage-LifePartner shit, what's with the getting married---oh, excuse me, LifePartnered at 16?! How the FUCK did that come about? I'm not saying that things can't drastically change in 50 years, I mean, look at Afghanistan. Back in the 60s the women in Afghanistan were wearing miniskirts and going to colleges and partying, and look at them now. But there was an actual basis for change, there were explanations, their country turned to ultra-conservative based on their religion. Are you trying to tell me that a Western country would go for that shit without giving me an adequate explanation?!
Mia/Jenna/Jessica: Idiocy. Jenna is sold to us as a tough chick, but whatever, I don't see it. Throughout the book, Jenna is constantly saved by the act of God, or deus ex machina . She gets into a tough spot with an ACID officer. BAM, someone distracts the officer so that she can escape. She almost gets caught by another team of officers. OH WHOOPS THE OFFICERS JUST WALK RIGHT BY HER HIDING SPOT BECAUSE THEY DON'T THINK SHE COULD POSSIBLY HIDE THERE. Oh, they're about to get caught again! BOOM! Strangers to the rescue. Mia's about to die! AAAAAAAAAAH SHIT oh wait no, someone dies to save her life.
Fucking spare me, please.
All Mia does throughout the book is quiver, shake, quake in her pants, and regret not kissing Max. Her acts of heroism occurs so infrequently and when she finally does pull off some shit, it's so fucking improbable that I can't buy it. It's basically: GIRL PULLS OFF IDIOTIC ACT OF HEROISM IN THE NAME OF LOVE. Girl saves the world by accident.
Fuck that shit.
August 7, 2015
Oh my word, this ended up being one big disappointment. At first I thought for sure I had another winner, and was planning on giving it five stars, but then I got to the second half of the book and almost rage quit. I'll be discussing the plot in depth (though I wouldn't consider it too spoilerish), and any spoiler tags will true spoilers, so don't open the tags if you don't want to know what they say.
The first part
The book opens with our protagonist as an inmate in prison, and one thing that I can't get enough of, is some hard-as-nails women. I just love those kinds of characters. I want to be them, and if I can't be them, I want them to be my best friend. Jenna impressed me from the first page and it just kept getting better. One of the first lines: "I curl my lip into a snarl, half tempted to go over there and introduce him to my fists." And this one: "Hopefully he's got a good view of the tattoo on the back of my neck, the one I did myself last year using ink from a pen I found in the laundry and a shard of metal, telling him and anyone else who cares to read it to FUCK OFF."
Give me moar!!! I caught my face moving into that impressed grin that I have when I come across a chick like that, and I'm telling you, I was excited to see what happened next.
The story is about our girl's journey from hard inmate, to...pudding soft girl in love? Yeah. But I'll get to that in the second half of this review. Back to the girl that I couldn't get enough of! She ends up being broken out of prison by the prison's doctor, and though she has no idea why, she ends up--actually, she doesn't end up finding out why until nearly the end. But her annoyance with that was perfectly matched to my own, so I applaud the author for putting that in there.
Jenna goes through so much that I really felt bad for her for most of the book, but she doesn't wallow and complain, nope! She's gets pissed off!! The dark tones of this book were just superb! Everything was fabulously done.
Until she met a boy.
The second part
Now it all goes very wrong for me. After seeing Jenna be such a badass for so long, seeing her become so...obsessed...with Max really pissed me off. I can understand her having some feelings for a boy since she is still a teenager, but it just didn't mesh with the character I'd been reading about. She meets him after he tries to mug her, and then he goes through withdrawals in her flat. He's wanted by ACID too, and is the son of the prison doctor who broke her out of prison, and somehow she thinks that she owes him. Mind you, she's basically in witness protection, and the charade she's trying really hard to maintain is getting all kinds of jacked up, but no matter, he's got pretty eyes and a nice smile. There's this horrible woman in her apartment building that she knows will alert ACID if anything seems suspicious, and guess what happens? Yep. She does just that and then Jenna and Max make a run for it.
As they're running from the agents, they somehow find this underground hiding spot for other people who are bucking the laws set down by the evil ACID regime. ACID really was a good evil, just to be clear, and I can't even imagine what living in a world like that would be like. If some nosy person wanted to fucking spy on me daily I'd likely lose my mind. Mind your own business! Anyway, they're suddenly surrounded by these other people, and Jenna decided that they'd pretend to be a couple. Since the other people seemed to be all couples. Yeah. I can get past that though I suppose. Max is really sick though, and they end up staying there for several days while he recovers from his fever, and during this time I guess they fall in love. There's not much to go on here, other than that they're both on the run, and they're both in close confines together, but Max doesn't even know who she is really, and Jenna makes no move to enlighten him and try to make him understand what all happened to her.
The haven turns out to be not such a safe place after all when they learn the leader is actually a crazy man who amounts to a domestic terrorist. The, six?, other people there apparently frighten Jenna so much that she makes no attempt to break free. Our badass girl who is more than capable of holding her own as the only female in a high security prison, is intimidated by a few teenagers. Max in turn seems to be incapable of really defending himself, aside from being ill of course, because not one time does he attempt to break free either. I get that the leader was a better fighter than Jenna, but there's two of them, and all they had to do was disable the fragile looking girl, and get the gun back, and then they could have left. But whatever.
As they get roped into this terrorist plot, they manage to run for it, and try to let ACID know that there's a bunch of bad about to happen. What actually happens though is that Jenna gets herself sent back to prison!!! And Max finds out who she is and declares his hatred for her. That doesn't matter to Jenna though because, no shit, (this is a memory of him that tries to surface later) "I can't make out his face but I feel an inexplicable pull towards him, a rush of intense love mixed with sadness and guilt." The only thing she thinks about after her return to prison is Max, and how he must be feeling/holding up/thinking/being treated.
No. Joke.
Then, our brilliant girl is given a 'get out of jail free' pass, and after she's once again rescued, she decides to fuck up years worth of planning so she can go save poor Max from prison. I swear this whole fucking line of bullshit made me so pissed that I was thisclose to quitting. Gone is the girl that I was totally loving, and in her place was this obsessive little BRAT who didn't care about anything but her love and her revenge. Never mind the FACT that if the general saw her he would recognize her on the spot, NO, she must save Max!! SHE MUST! She's also told how she is to be a legit ACID officer, but fuck that, there's suffering people in this prison! She had no idea!! Not like she fucking spent two years in a prison herself, NO! She ignores all the orders and helps herself into cells to give food, water, and just fucking companionship to a prisoner, and some-fucking-how she's never caught. Even though the place is supposed to be under video surveillance like no other, NO, IT DOESN'T MATTER! SHE MUST HELP THIS GIRL!
The ending @#$#$^^^&*%^#@$@!#$#$^%^*^&* RAAAAAGE!!!!!!
JUST FUCKING UGH. I'm done. This review is out of control long, and I'm just fucking done. Oh, but real quick. This bugs me so much. When telling military time, use numbers, NEVER letters. It's NEVER OH-whatever time, it's ALWAYS zero-whatever time. It's not oh-eight hundred, it's zero eight hundred, or just zero-eight. I fucking hate that. Unless it's different for the British, and then disregard.
May 6, 2013
Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews
2.5-ish stars
Oh, ACID . You could have been amazing. You could have been wonderful. With a cover like that and a badass main character, you could have been the love of my bookish life. But, alas. After a glorious start, you kind of crashed and burned.
I have a handy dandy enjoyment graph to illustrate my thoughts:
ACID starts out strong—with a 17 year old badass who can take on fully grown, perverted men, and an epic prison break. I LOVED how Jenna kicked some serious ass and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. Then things immediately get moving with a prison break and Jenna is whisked away by mysterious "good samaritans". The author feeds us some sneak peaks of what is to come, and promises us information and background story! ....which we don't get until about 250 pages later.
The problem with ACID is that the questions just kept building and building, until we finally got answers 150 pages from the end, but at that point I had already guessed all the answers anyway. I hate it when you don't have that moment of clarity and understanding along with the main character. I hate it when the main character has to catch up to you. I knew the answers (or at least strongly suspected), but then she found out hundreds of pages later and was like OH MY GOD! And I was like "Way ahead of you, girlie."
So, in the beginning we get fed our questions, but before we get the answers we are treated to: a long "prisoners on the run" sequence, a half-developed love interest, and an entirely useless 75 pages of "My memory has been wiped" before the grand finale.
There were a lot of interesting ideas in ACID but they don't get as fleshed out as I would have liked. Overall we're left with a pretty vague sense of the future and what London is like, and we have ZERO sense of what the rest of the world is like (what's going on with the US or the rest of Europe?). However, there are a few cool snippets in the book that I did really like, including news articles, transcripts between ACID agents, and letters. They were an interesting and different way of presenting information, even if they did feel a bit random at times.
But so many of the events in ACID just felt random and strung together, rather than seamlessly intertwined.
If I had to compare ACID to another book, I would pick Delirium by Lauren Oliver or Matched by Ally Condie. ACID has a very similar vibe, with a futuristic world, a corrupt government, government-sponsored matchmaking, and completely controlled lives (you get told when you can have a baby, what job you will have, etc.). And then we have the rebellion aspect.
Ultimately, ACID ended up being only okay. So many parts of it felt half developed, unnecessary, or just waned entirely (like Jenna's badassness). Other than the beginning—which I thought was awesome—I didn't particularly love any part of this book... although I didn't particularly hate any parts either. It was just.. 'meh'.
2.5-ish stars
Oh, ACID . You could have been amazing. You could have been wonderful. With a cover like that and a badass main character, you could have been the love of my bookish life. But, alas. After a glorious start, you kind of crashed and burned.
I have a handy dandy enjoyment graph to illustrate my thoughts:
ACID starts out strong—with a 17 year old badass who can take on fully grown, perverted men, and an epic prison break. I LOVED how Jenna kicked some serious ass and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. Then things immediately get moving with a prison break and Jenna is whisked away by mysterious "good samaritans". The author feeds us some sneak peaks of what is to come, and promises us information and background story! ....which we don't get until about 250 pages later.
The problem with ACID is that the questions just kept building and building, until we finally got answers 150 pages from the end, but at that point I had already guessed all the answers anyway. I hate it when you don't have that moment of clarity and understanding along with the main character. I hate it when the main character has to catch up to you. I knew the answers (or at least strongly suspected), but then she found out hundreds of pages later and was like OH MY GOD! And I was like "Way ahead of you, girlie."
So, in the beginning we get fed our questions, but before we get the answers we are treated to: a long "prisoners on the run" sequence, a half-developed love interest, and an entirely useless 75 pages of "My memory has been wiped" before the grand finale.
There were a lot of interesting ideas in ACID but they don't get as fleshed out as I would have liked. Overall we're left with a pretty vague sense of the future and what London is like, and we have ZERO sense of what the rest of the world is like (what's going on with the US or the rest of Europe?). However, there are a few cool snippets in the book that I did really like, including news articles, transcripts between ACID agents, and letters. They were an interesting and different way of presenting information, even if they did feel a bit random at times.
But so many of the events in ACID just felt random and strung together, rather than seamlessly intertwined.
If I had to compare ACID to another book, I would pick Delirium by Lauren Oliver or Matched by Ally Condie. ACID has a very similar vibe, with a futuristic world, a corrupt government, government-sponsored matchmaking, and completely controlled lives (you get told when you can have a baby, what job you will have, etc.). And then we have the rebellion aspect.
Ultimately, ACID ended up being only okay. So many parts of it felt half developed, unnecessary, or just waned entirely (like Jenna's badassness). Other than the beginning—which I thought was awesome—I didn't particularly love any part of this book... although I didn't particularly hate any parts either. It was just.. 'meh'.
April 26, 2013
She is in an all-male prison?! o_O Don't know if I should jump up and down or bite my fingernails.
Review to come,maybe.
Review to come,maybe.
March 13, 2014
EDIT: The book is now out here in the US, but I am not getting a Nook copy, and certainly not another physical copy. BUT! There is an audiobook, which I am going to POUNCE on like a tiger! Gah I can't wait!
WARNING: THERE WILL BE A LARGE AMOUNT OF CURSING IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU DO NOT APPROVE OR LIKE CURSING, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW, OR IGNORE THE WORDS. THANK YOU.
Oh. My. God. This book is fucking amazing. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel. language included. This book is fucking amazing, and I am so sorry it doesn't come out here in the US until next year. Thank God for buying stuff from out of the country, otherwise I'd have never read this gorgeous mindfuck of a book for a long time. So in a way, I have to thank Goodreads or messing up the release dates on this book's page, thanks GR!
So this book is insane, in the best possible sense of the word. It takes you on so many journeys, so many places and will mess with your mind. You'll think the story is going in one direction, then all of a sudden you read what's happen next, and you gasp aloud (true story! Happened a few times today). I LOVED this book! LOVE IT! I loved this tale of dystopian England, of Jenna and her struggles, her refusal to give up, and her entire journey. Admittedly, the world building was kind of shoddy, with large holes. For example, just how in the hell did this in-fucking-sane government exactly come into power? Why is England the IRB? There was little explanation, backstory or any true kind of fleshing out the world other than the parts given. And yet, I still love this world! ACID scared the shit out of me, and I felt just how terrifying it was to live in this world, to be living under ACID's control. I rooted the entire time for Jenna, and all of the twists and turns we encountered took my breath away. Except for one: The Romance. Yep, there's a romance in this book. I totally called it the minute I met him in the story, and I called how the arc of the romance played out. I knew from the minute Jenna and the love interest met up. It was pretty much instalove, because I felt their love came from out of nowhere, with Jenna all of a sudden regretting not kissing him during a particularly brutal scene (that's all I'll reveal). I mean I rooted for them as a couple, but hot damn, I would have loved some actual development of their mutual feelings.
Now lets talk about the girl on the cover, our main character Jenna Strong. Holy shit, Jenna is a bad ass chick. She is made of amazing, and I loved rooting for her the entire time I read this book. From chapter one, where she kicks major ass (from chapter one! That's fantastic!). She takes no crap, holds no prisoners, refuses to give up on what she wants or thinks is right, and I love her for it. I felt so bad for her every time a heartbreaking event or reveal occurred, and I just wanted to hug her. Despite Jenna's tough exterior, everything that happened to Jenna affected her deeply, and you could tell from reading her inner monologue. I just, I feel for this girl, and I just wanted her to be happy and safe and kick major ass. Yes, she made some questionable decisions, but I still love and root for her. It's going to be hard to talk about the supporting cast, because they are many, and going into any of them will bring spoilers into the mix, and I do not want to do that. Know that every single supporting character brought all the emotions out of me. ALL OF THEM! Every single one had depth and personality, although the head of ACID was a tad cardboard-ish. I will say I liked the love interest, despite disliking how predictable his and Jenna's love are. I love him and I loved his sweet yet determined personality, and his predictable yet understandable reaction to certain turn of events. God I loved everyone in this book.
Emma Freaking Pass you guys. She is a boss author. She took me through an emotional mindfuck y'all. These twists and turns for the most part, were legitimate twists and turns. I gasped aloud in public numerous times, and my eyes went wide. Her words are incredible and I loved this story that she's created. I loved it so much that I can not wait until her next book. She definitely needed to work on the world building, but I think I've found a new addition to my favorite authors list.
Side note: This book is well put together! The book is split into many parts, with articles, reports/transcripts, letters and various other things peppered throughout the novel, revealing the story apart from reading just Jenna's perspective. Brilliant!
All in all, I ADORE this book, and feel it was well worth what I paid for it. I don't regret buying it at all, and wish it came out here sooner so more people could read this incredible story.
WARNING: THERE WILL BE A LARGE AMOUNT OF CURSING IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU DO NOT APPROVE OR LIKE CURSING, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW, OR IGNORE THE WORDS. THANK YOU.
Oh. My. God. This book is fucking amazing. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel. language included. This book is fucking amazing, and I am so sorry it doesn't come out here in the US until next year. Thank God for buying stuff from out of the country, otherwise I'd have never read this gorgeous mindfuck of a book for a long time. So in a way, I have to thank Goodreads or messing up the release dates on this book's page, thanks GR!
So this book is insane, in the best possible sense of the word. It takes you on so many journeys, so many places and will mess with your mind. You'll think the story is going in one direction, then all of a sudden you read what's happen next, and you gasp aloud (true story! Happened a few times today). I LOVED this book! LOVE IT! I loved this tale of dystopian England, of Jenna and her struggles, her refusal to give up, and her entire journey. Admittedly, the world building was kind of shoddy, with large holes. For example, just how in the hell did this in-fucking-sane government exactly come into power? Why is England the IRB? There was little explanation, backstory or any true kind of fleshing out the world other than the parts given. And yet, I still love this world! ACID scared the shit out of me, and I felt just how terrifying it was to live in this world, to be living under ACID's control. I rooted the entire time for Jenna, and all of the twists and turns we encountered took my breath away. Except for one: The Romance. Yep, there's a romance in this book. I totally called it the minute I met him in the story, and I called how the arc of the romance played out. I knew from the minute Jenna and the love interest met up. It was pretty much instalove, because I felt their love came from out of nowhere, with Jenna all of a sudden regretting not kissing him during a particularly brutal scene (that's all I'll reveal). I mean I rooted for them as a couple, but hot damn, I would have loved some actual development of their mutual feelings.
Now lets talk about the girl on the cover, our main character Jenna Strong. Holy shit, Jenna is a bad ass chick. She is made of amazing, and I loved rooting for her the entire time I read this book. From chapter one, where she kicks major ass (from chapter one! That's fantastic!). She takes no crap, holds no prisoners, refuses to give up on what she wants or thinks is right, and I love her for it. I felt so bad for her every time a heartbreaking event or reveal occurred, and I just wanted to hug her. Despite Jenna's tough exterior, everything that happened to Jenna affected her deeply, and you could tell from reading her inner monologue. I just, I feel for this girl, and I just wanted her to be happy and safe and kick major ass. Yes, she made some questionable decisions, but I still love and root for her. It's going to be hard to talk about the supporting cast, because they are many, and going into any of them will bring spoilers into the mix, and I do not want to do that. Know that every single supporting character brought all the emotions out of me. ALL OF THEM! Every single one had depth and personality, although the head of ACID was a tad cardboard-ish. I will say I liked the love interest, despite disliking how predictable his and Jenna's love are. I love him and I loved his sweet yet determined personality, and his predictable yet understandable reaction to certain turn of events. God I loved everyone in this book.
Emma Freaking Pass you guys. She is a boss author. She took me through an emotional mindfuck y'all. These twists and turns for the most part, were legitimate twists and turns. I gasped aloud in public numerous times, and my eyes went wide. Her words are incredible and I loved this story that she's created. I loved it so much that I can not wait until her next book. She definitely needed to work on the world building, but I think I've found a new addition to my favorite authors list.
Side note: This book is well put together! The book is split into many parts, with articles, reports/transcripts, letters and various other things peppered throughout the novel, revealing the story apart from reading just Jenna's perspective. Brilliant!
All in all, I ADORE this book, and feel it was well worth what I paid for it. I don't regret buying it at all, and wish it came out here sooner so more people could read this incredible story.
June 7, 2017
Intriguing, thought provoking, echoes of the political landscape we are going through now in 2017.
December 31, 2015
5 Words:
Wow.
Freaking wow.
I loved this. Absolutely loved it.
Full review to come. I can't even think right now so it may take a little while.
Wow.
Freaking wow.
I loved this. Absolutely loved it.
Full review to come. I can't even think right now so it may take a little while.
December 17, 2012
This fast-paced dystopian has a very 1984 “big brother” feel, but definitely with an updated kick-ass heroine. The world building is great…just like with any good dystopian you can see how society became the way it did. I also loved the plot progression…everything flowed along really well from one tense situation to another. It also wrapped everything up nice and neat with a hint of trouble that could be a second book.
April 27, 2013
*Slightly Spoilerish*
I wanted to like this book so bad! Maybe my expectations were too high, but when the blurb talks about a girl who has survived in an all male prison for 2 years, it's hard not to expect awesomeness.
At the start, Jenna was everything I was expecting. She was smart, tough, didn't take crap from anyone, and would kick anyone's butt who so much as looked at her wrong. Then she gets broken out of prison and that's when things started going downhill for me. Jenna changes a little too much. It's as if the person she was in prison is no longer there. When she wakes up again, she demands her answers, and does a very flimsy attempt at escaping, and then she just goes with flow...She should have been questioning everything much more, or tried to break out or something, but she just takes it all, nods her head and keeps going. It wasn't even just that, it was that she stays and plays her part for like a month, and the only reason things start moving along is because Cade leaves her, not the other way around. She never asks more of Cade, tries to get information out of him, it was all just a little underwhelming.
Then there are the coincidences. There are a bit too many of them to let them be just coincidences. Even Jenna questions them. She randomly stumbles upon Max, they randomly end up in that library with those people, when it's time to infiltrate Innis, the girl missing is not only sick but her perfect size..Really? Just like that?
I also wanted her to do something more against Jacob, but it was like her IQ dropped once she stepped outside that prison. We only get to see her being that strong, kickass girl again when, guess what? She is back in prison. Go figure.
The pacing was kinda slow as well, or should I say it had a lot of ups and downs. It started out with a bang, then got kinda boring, picked up again, then kinda boring again, and then picks up again. It was just enough action to keep you going, and the twists weren't surprising since I saw them coming anyway. I did like how there were little reports, letters and memos as the start of each section, it was pretty neat. The writing was supereb as well, it was just the background that lacked.
My biggest issue wasn't even Jenna, it was the world-building. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be shallow. It had all the elements there, but none where expanded upon to the point where it was hard to really believe in such a world. All we are told is that there was some kind of economic crash and the world went to the crappers and this militia basically takes over and takes charge of the UK. Ok till then, problem is, this militia is incredibly messed up, they make up the Lifepartner system, there is cognitive realignment and the separation of London, the upper class from the lower class, and my issue is, what the hell happened to the rest of the world?! Is no one else watching? Are there no immigrants/tourists allowed in? And if not, how can no one think this is strange and look into it? It's as if the UK (which is now called IRB) was completely isolated from the rest of the world. And yet, how do they take down the tyrant? By taking him against the European Criminal Justice Bureau. So the rest of the world is there! But we don't know anything else about it, and it seems as if they aren't on the same boat as the IRB, so what gives?
In short, as much as I wanted to love this book and how promising it looked, it failed to deliver for me. If you are a fan of Dystopian, you could give it a try anyway, might end up liking it for than me.
I wanted to like this book so bad! Maybe my expectations were too high, but when the blurb talks about a girl who has survived in an all male prison for 2 years, it's hard not to expect awesomeness.
At the start, Jenna was everything I was expecting. She was smart, tough, didn't take crap from anyone, and would kick anyone's butt who so much as looked at her wrong. Then she gets broken out of prison and that's when things started going downhill for me. Jenna changes a little too much. It's as if the person she was in prison is no longer there. When she wakes up again, she demands her answers, and does a very flimsy attempt at escaping, and then she just goes with flow...She should have been questioning everything much more, or tried to break out or something, but she just takes it all, nods her head and keeps going. It wasn't even just that, it was that she stays and plays her part for like a month, and the only reason things start moving along is because Cade leaves her, not the other way around. She never asks more of Cade, tries to get information out of him, it was all just a little underwhelming.
Then there are the coincidences. There are a bit too many of them to let them be just coincidences. Even Jenna questions them. She randomly stumbles upon Max, they randomly end up in that library with those people, when it's time to infiltrate Innis, the girl missing is not only sick but her perfect size..Really? Just like that?
I also wanted her to do something more against Jacob, but it was like her IQ dropped once she stepped outside that prison. We only get to see her being that strong, kickass girl again when, guess what? She is back in prison. Go figure.
The pacing was kinda slow as well, or should I say it had a lot of ups and downs. It started out with a bang, then got kinda boring, picked up again, then kinda boring again, and then picks up again. It was just enough action to keep you going, and the twists weren't surprising since I saw them coming anyway. I did like how there were little reports, letters and memos as the start of each section, it was pretty neat. The writing was supereb as well, it was just the background that lacked.
My biggest issue wasn't even Jenna, it was the world-building. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be shallow. It had all the elements there, but none where expanded upon to the point where it was hard to really believe in such a world. All we are told is that there was some kind of economic crash and the world went to the crappers and this militia basically takes over and takes charge of the UK. Ok till then, problem is, this militia is incredibly messed up, they make up the Lifepartner system, there is cognitive realignment and the separation of London, the upper class from the lower class, and my issue is, what the hell happened to the rest of the world?! Is no one else watching? Are there no immigrants/tourists allowed in? And if not, how can no one think this is strange and look into it? It's as if the UK (which is now called IRB) was completely isolated from the rest of the world. And yet, how do they take down the tyrant? By taking him against the European Criminal Justice Bureau. So the rest of the world is there! But we don't know anything else about it, and it seems as if they aren't on the same boat as the IRB, so what gives?
In short, as much as I wanted to love this book and how promising it looked, it failed to deliver for me. If you are a fan of Dystopian, you could give it a try anyway, might end up liking it for than me.
April 18, 2013
Akjnpijpojpinpi08077=0iklknlk?!??!?!? Bourne Identity meets The Hunger Games. Bring a brown paper bag for inevitable hyperventilation.
February 21, 2015
Being a dystopian standalone… it’s fair to say I had my doubts. To include world building (in a way that wasn’t just annoying/boring info-dumps), plus character development, plus world “destroying” with a satisfying conclusion – looks to be an impressive feat. However I needn’t have worried because Acid managed it all flawlessly.
Dystopias are hit or miss for me. If it works and captures my attention from start to finish I can rave about it all day, but if I’m bored or doubt its authenticity then it can kiss my ass goodbye! This book was definitely the former with an intense and action-packed plot, plus original and tough characters; I couldn’t fault it!
What won me over is one bad-ass heroine called Jenna. She’s tough like no one’s business; something we’re made to recognise from the get go and I also loved reading about how she wasn’t always like that. We see glimpses further on in the book when certain things happen… and she isn’t completely herself, let’s say. We also see a more vulnerable side when she’s around Max. The romance between the two doesn’t take centre-stage, and is often overlooked yet the chemistry is undeniable.
Granted, at times I did find it predictable with coincidences left-right-and-centre, though that’s often the best way to keep the story moving along, particularly when it’s incredibly fast paced. I was so engrossed that I rarely stopped (unless I had no choice) to think about what was going to happen next, and that made me appreciate the plot twists more. Because boy where there many!
One thing I didn’t expect was right at the end, when everything was concluding nicely and suddenly a curveball was thrown in the mix! The nerve… Those 3 lines have opened it up for a sequel (which I don’t think is coming) and I just can’t work my head around whether I’d want one or not! That’s not to say I won’t be looking out for more from Emma Pass in the future.
Posted on: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.co.uk/
Dystopias are hit or miss for me. If it works and captures my attention from start to finish I can rave about it all day, but if I’m bored or doubt its authenticity then it can kiss my ass goodbye! This book was definitely the former with an intense and action-packed plot, plus original and tough characters; I couldn’t fault it!
What won me over is one bad-ass heroine called Jenna. She’s tough like no one’s business; something we’re made to recognise from the get go and I also loved reading about how she wasn’t always like that. We see glimpses further on in the book when certain things happen… and she isn’t completely herself, let’s say. We also see a more vulnerable side when she’s around Max. The romance between the two doesn’t take centre-stage, and is often overlooked yet the chemistry is undeniable.
Granted, at times I did find it predictable with coincidences left-right-and-centre, though that’s often the best way to keep the story moving along, particularly when it’s incredibly fast paced. I was so engrossed that I rarely stopped (unless I had no choice) to think about what was going to happen next, and that made me appreciate the plot twists more. Because boy where there many!
One thing I didn’t expect was right at the end, when everything was concluding nicely and suddenly a curveball was thrown in the mix! The nerve… Those 3 lines have opened it up for a sequel (which I don’t think is coming) and I just can’t work my head around whether I’d want one or not! That’s not to say I won’t be looking out for more from Emma Pass in the future.
Posted on: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.co.uk/
Want to read
December 21, 2012I love this cover. Is it 2013 yet?
August 6, 2016
Ugh, why do I continue to do this to myself?
First off, I fully blame the cover. Look at it. I was all ready for a hell raising ginger to kick some ass. Then I read the first twenty pages and find out our heroine's in an all male prison, fully capable of defending herself with some awesome ninja skills and was like HEELLSSS YEEAHHH!
It went downhill quickly after that.
What we have here is some really shoddy dystopian world building with a lot of implausible situations, and a Mary-Sue-save-the-day-but-beyond-stupid to deal with and I just completely lost interest.
On the world:
There's a lot of things to say on the way this society is set up but one of the most annoying and unrealistic ones is the LifePartner sitch. That's right. The government assigns your husband/wife and if you get caught cheating, or liking the opposite sex you're thrown in jail without a trial.
I feel like the entire population would be in jail. Affairs are had every day in the real world and that's when the spouses actually choose each other. At some point, they had to like each other. It just seemed ridiculous that the government claimed LifePartnering people decreased crime and increased contentment. Um, doubtful.
Another thing that drove me crazy was how often our MC, Jenna, changed faces. Three times. Three times they did plastic surgery and just altered her appearance. How conveniently...convenient. They even grew her hair when she was bald. It was naturally a different color.
And then at the end she had it all changed back to her original appearance, because it's just not even a big thing.
Jenna was super annoying, and completely selfish at the end. She jeopardized dozens of lives to further her own goals (saving her boyfriend) which was just so immature and irritating.
She also takes a real coward's way out at a middle point in the book that I thought was really shitty.
The main thing was besides being mildly irritated in parts I was mostly bored.
I am done forcing myself to finish these things to complete my reading challenge. If I hadn't had that in mind this would have been a DNF for me.
First off, I fully blame the cover. Look at it. I was all ready for a hell raising ginger to kick some ass. Then I read the first twenty pages and find out our heroine's in an all male prison, fully capable of defending herself with some awesome ninja skills and was like HEELLSSS YEEAHHH!
It went downhill quickly after that.
What we have here is some really shoddy dystopian world building with a lot of implausible situations, and a Mary-Sue-save-the-day-but-beyond-stupid to deal with and I just completely lost interest.
On the world:
There's a lot of things to say on the way this society is set up but one of the most annoying and unrealistic ones is the LifePartner sitch. That's right. The government assigns your husband/wife and if you get caught cheating, or liking the opposite sex you're thrown in jail without a trial.
I feel like the entire population would be in jail. Affairs are had every day in the real world and that's when the spouses actually choose each other. At some point, they had to like each other. It just seemed ridiculous that the government claimed LifePartnering people decreased crime and increased contentment. Um, doubtful.
Another thing that drove me crazy was how often our MC, Jenna, changed faces. Three times. Three times they did plastic surgery and just altered her appearance. How conveniently...convenient. They even grew her hair when she was bald. It was naturally a different color.
And then at the end she had it all changed back to her original appearance, because it's just not even a big thing.
Jenna was super annoying, and completely selfish at the end. She jeopardized dozens of lives to further her own goals (saving her boyfriend) which was just so immature and irritating.
She also takes a real coward's way out at a middle point in the book that I thought was really shitty.
The main thing was besides being mildly irritated in parts I was mostly bored.
I am done forcing myself to finish these things to complete my reading challenge. If I hadn't had that in mind this would have been a DNF for me.
January 27, 2015
I loved acid! What a cracking story and kick-ass heroine. I couldn't read it quickly enough and was hooked from page one.
Acid is set in a future Britain and is the story of Jenna Strong. Jenna is 17 and has just broken out of a high security prison that she was put into for murdering her parents. Throughout the course of the book you get an insight into a corrupt totalitarian world where the people are watched every minute of every day and any slight disoriented is punished harshly.
I loved several things about this book.
Firstly I loved Jenna. She is a feisty led who no one messes with. At 17 she has been through so much and come out the other side so much tougher for it. Any one that tries to mess with her finds out to their peril how far she is willing to go to survive. That said underneath it all she has a really tender edge which comes out more and more as you get to know her over the course of the book. I loved seeing how she develops a relationship with Max and the lengths she is willing to go to help him.
I loved the world set up in this story. The state is this all seeing all knowing and corrupt big brother and the more you get into the story the more corrupt you find it is. I loved getting under the skin of the world and seeing how everything wasn't quite how it seemed on the outside and I really enjoyed uncovering all the secrets all with Jenna.
I loved that this book was set in the UK. So often the big dystopian series that are being published of late are US based and I loved that this was set in the UK. Certainly something I want more of please
A fab story, a kick-ass heroine and nail biting read set in an all too realistic world which will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first to the last page.
Acid is set in a future Britain and is the story of Jenna Strong. Jenna is 17 and has just broken out of a high security prison that she was put into for murdering her parents. Throughout the course of the book you get an insight into a corrupt totalitarian world where the people are watched every minute of every day and any slight disoriented is punished harshly.
I loved several things about this book.
Firstly I loved Jenna. She is a feisty led who no one messes with. At 17 she has been through so much and come out the other side so much tougher for it. Any one that tries to mess with her finds out to their peril how far she is willing to go to survive. That said underneath it all she has a really tender edge which comes out more and more as you get to know her over the course of the book. I loved seeing how she develops a relationship with Max and the lengths she is willing to go to help him.
I loved the world set up in this story. The state is this all seeing all knowing and corrupt big brother and the more you get into the story the more corrupt you find it is. I loved getting under the skin of the world and seeing how everything wasn't quite how it seemed on the outside and I really enjoyed uncovering all the secrets all with Jenna.
I loved that this book was set in the UK. So often the big dystopian series that are being published of late are US based and I loved that this was set in the UK. Certainly something I want more of please
A fab story, a kick-ass heroine and nail biting read set in an all too realistic world which will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first to the last page.
February 19, 2014
I'm actually surprised to see so many negative reviews for this, because I thought it was pretty entertaining. Sure, lots of farfetched things you have to accept at face value in this dystopian world, but this is the sort of book I'd enjoy as I would an action movie anyway.
So--not spectacularly outstanding, perhaps, but it's not nearly as bad as I'd been led to expect.
So--not spectacularly outstanding, perhaps, but it's not nearly as bad as I'd been led to expect.
April 19, 2013
Originally posted on www.serendipityreviews.co.uk
I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the most anticipated UK debuts of the year when I attended a blogger brunch at Random House. I feel like I have been waiting forever to get my hands on this book, so I was really pleased when I got the opportunity to read it early. I wasn’t disappointed.
Emma Pass has created an excellent dystopian perspective of the UK in 2113. Alongside Claire Merle, she has shown that UK authors can write excellent dystopian YA just like our favourite American writers. The world Emma has created has a strong feel of Orson Well’s 1984 to it and you get the sense that everyone is watched and all are brainwashed to believe the information told to them. The world is stifling and unbearable for the residents, so it isn’t any wonder that many are in the throes of a revolt. There are also elements of Total Recall and Bourne Identity to the story, that just give the plot an even meatier filling.
When you meet Jenna on the first page, you don’t feel sorry for her, because she has ‘tough little cookie’ branded and emblazoned into her mannerisms. She knows how to look after her self in a style similar to Lara Croft. Any man stupid enough to pick a fight with her will not make the same mistake twice, that’s saying he can even speak again when she has finished with him. As the book progresses, you realise their is so much more to Jenna than the first impressions you were given. There is a softer side to her that she had wrapped up and hidden in order to protect it. With the help of others she has learnt how to look after herself purely for protection. In the blurb she is described as a real tough nut, and you wonder if she is devoid of feeling, but as you read the book you really feel for Jenna; she has been hurt, used and abused and she is just getting by. I felt the blurb might be misleading a little as I was expecting this book to be rather violent all the way through, and thankfully it isn’t as the book is a really gripping thriller as one girl searches for the truth.
I really enjoyed the budding relationship between Jenna and Max, especially while on the run. There were so many hidden secrets between them, you find yourself on pins waiting for the truth to come out. It was interesting to read Jenna’s thoughts on love as she tried to determine what she actually felt for Max, based on her sparse experience with boys.
I loved the newspaper snippets which really helped to bring the world dominated by ACID to life. Not only did they discuss Jenna Strong, but they also gave an insight into living under the ruthless dictatorship of ACID.
The plot twists and turns from the first page and you are sucked into the story instantly. The writing was furious at times and fast paced in others, providing many breath holding moments.
The ending of the story is pleasantly fulfilling; I didn’t feel disillusioned about waiting for the cliff hanger to be resolved in the following book, although there is a strand in the last few pages that will probably be the main story in the next book.
This book is definitely worth reading. It’s a fast paced twisting rollercoaster of a read. An excellent dystopian debut from a rising talent. I look forward to reading more about Jenna in the future.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the most anticipated UK debuts of the year when I attended a blogger brunch at Random House. I feel like I have been waiting forever to get my hands on this book, so I was really pleased when I got the opportunity to read it early. I wasn’t disappointed.
Emma Pass has created an excellent dystopian perspective of the UK in 2113. Alongside Claire Merle, she has shown that UK authors can write excellent dystopian YA just like our favourite American writers. The world Emma has created has a strong feel of Orson Well’s 1984 to it and you get the sense that everyone is watched and all are brainwashed to believe the information told to them. The world is stifling and unbearable for the residents, so it isn’t any wonder that many are in the throes of a revolt. There are also elements of Total Recall and Bourne Identity to the story, that just give the plot an even meatier filling.
When you meet Jenna on the first page, you don’t feel sorry for her, because she has ‘tough little cookie’ branded and emblazoned into her mannerisms. She knows how to look after her self in a style similar to Lara Croft. Any man stupid enough to pick a fight with her will not make the same mistake twice, that’s saying he can even speak again when she has finished with him. As the book progresses, you realise their is so much more to Jenna than the first impressions you were given. There is a softer side to her that she had wrapped up and hidden in order to protect it. With the help of others she has learnt how to look after herself purely for protection. In the blurb she is described as a real tough nut, and you wonder if she is devoid of feeling, but as you read the book you really feel for Jenna; she has been hurt, used and abused and she is just getting by. I felt the blurb might be misleading a little as I was expecting this book to be rather violent all the way through, and thankfully it isn’t as the book is a really gripping thriller as one girl searches for the truth.
I really enjoyed the budding relationship between Jenna and Max, especially while on the run. There were so many hidden secrets between them, you find yourself on pins waiting for the truth to come out. It was interesting to read Jenna’s thoughts on love as she tried to determine what she actually felt for Max, based on her sparse experience with boys.
I loved the newspaper snippets which really helped to bring the world dominated by ACID to life. Not only did they discuss Jenna Strong, but they also gave an insight into living under the ruthless dictatorship of ACID.
The plot twists and turns from the first page and you are sucked into the story instantly. The writing was furious at times and fast paced in others, providing many breath holding moments.
The ending of the story is pleasantly fulfilling; I didn’t feel disillusioned about waiting for the cliff hanger to be resolved in the following book, although there is a strand in the last few pages that will probably be the main story in the next book.
This book is definitely worth reading. It’s a fast paced twisting rollercoaster of a read. An excellent dystopian debut from a rising talent. I look forward to reading more about Jenna in the future.
April 3, 2013
Originally posted at Daydreaming Bookworm
** I received an Advanced Reading Copy/Uncorrected Proof of this book from Random House U.K in exchange for an honest review.**
With a bad ass heroine like Lara Croft and a fast paced plot like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series,ACID is one debut that you definitely must keep an eye on when it comes out!
Dystopia has now become quite a dangerous genre to base your story on,given the rise in competition on that particular genre.At least,that's what I think.Even more so in the YA group.When you've read so many books on a particular genre,it eventually becomes hard to handpick an exceptionally good one out of them.I think the thing that goes wrong most of the time is that the authors focus too much on world building and lose track of the story itself.
But thankfully,in ACID,the author was able to maintain that balance.While giving a well descriptive insight of a dystopian Britain,she also puts in some serious action,making it the perfect dystopian thriller for the YA crowd.The romance was also there,but to a minimum,letting us concentrate more on the action and suspense.
The story also had a good character building,though most of them,other than the protagonist herself,did not seem to have much big of a role.Not that I minded.I'm sure you wouldn't have either if every other scene you read from the book went on a bit like this:
-Excerpt taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ from the finished copy.
You'll definitely love ACID if you liked the Alex Rider series,Throne Of Glass or even The Paladin Prophecy.I really hope that ACID gets turned into a movie one day like Divergent or City Of Bones,because that would just be so awesome!
** I received an Advanced Reading Copy/Uncorrected Proof of this book from Random House U.K in exchange for an honest review.**
With a bad ass heroine like Lara Croft and a fast paced plot like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series,ACID is one debut that you definitely must keep an eye on when it comes out!
Dystopia has now become quite a dangerous genre to base your story on,given the rise in competition on that particular genre.At least,that's what I think.Even more so in the YA group.When you've read so many books on a particular genre,it eventually becomes hard to handpick an exceptionally good one out of them.I think the thing that goes wrong most of the time is that the authors focus too much on world building and lose track of the story itself.
But thankfully,in ACID,the author was able to maintain that balance.While giving a well descriptive insight of a dystopian Britain,she also puts in some serious action,making it the perfect dystopian thriller for the YA crowd.The romance was also there,but to a minimum,letting us concentrate more on the action and suspense.
The story also had a good character building,though most of them,other than the protagonist herself,did not seem to have much big of a role.Not that I minded.I'm sure you wouldn't have either if every other scene you read from the book went on a bit like this:
I bring my arm up and pivot sideways so that,as Creep tries to grab me,he's thrown off balance and staggers against the worktop.Before he can recover I spin and kick out,planting my left foot squarely in his stomach.He doubles over with a strangled-sounding Oof. Then,as he tries to straighten up and get hold of the edge of the worktop, I lace my hands together and bring them down hard on the back of his neck.As he cracks his chin on the tiles at my feet,he gives a yelp of pain that rails off into a whimper.
'I tried to warn you,' I say, my throbbing skin and thumping head momentarily forgotten. 'Maybe you'll listen to me next time,huh?'
I push my foot into his neck to emphasize my point.Coughing,he rolls onto his back,trying to twist away from me.Blood - his own - is streaming down from his mouth; he must have bitten his tongue when he smashed his chin against the floor.
'What're you in here for, anyway?' He mumbles thickly, spitting red froth.
'You really wanna know?' I say.
He nods.
I lean down until our faces are so close we could kiss.
'I killed my parents,' I murmur, and watch his eyes go wide.
-Excerpt taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ from the finished copy.
You'll definitely love ACID if you liked the Alex Rider series,Throne Of Glass or even The Paladin Prophecy.I really hope that ACID gets turned into a movie one day like Divergent or City Of Bones,because that would just be so awesome!
November 28, 2013
This review has been posted on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
Reminiscent of the TV show Alias and the movie SALT, ACID is a futuristic dystopian featuring a kickass main character assuming multiple identities throughout the novel, with nonstop action, romance and constant twists and turns.
Jenna Strong is serving a life sentence in prison for killing her parents. Despite being the only female, she can take on even the most hardened criminals with a flick of her wrist. One day, her trusted confidante Dr Fisher helps her escape prison - while getting murdered by the ACID police in the process - who pin it all on Jenna. With the best surgeons at work, Jenna is given a new face and a new identity to start a new life...as Mia Richardson.
As a hardened criminal, privileged citizen, fugitive, extremist and saviour, Jenna assumes multiple identities throughout the novel which shows different sides to her. She undergoes major character development as she learns more about the world controlled by ACID. When she meets Max, someone who she rescues and feels obligated to accompany, Jenna's demeanour softens and her caring side comes out. The romance slowly develops over the course of the novel and Max's trust in Jenna furthers her character development, and it never detracts from the story.
Set in futuristic International Republic of Britain, the world of ACID is fleshed out elegantly in detail. ACID is the police force that controls every from the news, information, transport, and even who people partner with (Life Partners) and when they can have children. We learn more about the world through snippets from the news and letters scattered throughout the book, and the world building flowed naturally throughout the story.
While most of the book was captivating, I found it lost momentum later on. A major plot twist happens where the reader knows what is going on miles ahead of the character itself, so when she realises we're already disengaged. While the ending wrapped up everything nicely, it just seemed a little too convenient as a solution to the constrained society.
I love how this book is a standalone novel, and there's no dragging out loose ends for the sake of being a series. The epilogue gives us the perfect amount of closure, while still planting a seed to let us speculate on what happens next. Overall, ACID is a solid debut that explores some new concepts. I would recommend it to lovers of dystopian everywhere and can't wait to read more from Emma Pass.
I received a review copy of ACID as a Readplus reviewer, in exchange for an honest review.
Reminiscent of the TV show Alias and the movie SALT, ACID is a futuristic dystopian featuring a kickass main character assuming multiple identities throughout the novel, with nonstop action, romance and constant twists and turns.
Jenna Strong is serving a life sentence in prison for killing her parents. Despite being the only female, she can take on even the most hardened criminals with a flick of her wrist. One day, her trusted confidante Dr Fisher helps her escape prison - while getting murdered by the ACID police in the process - who pin it all on Jenna. With the best surgeons at work, Jenna is given a new face and a new identity to start a new life...as Mia Richardson.
As a hardened criminal, privileged citizen, fugitive, extremist and saviour, Jenna assumes multiple identities throughout the novel which shows different sides to her. She undergoes major character development as she learns more about the world controlled by ACID. When she meets Max, someone who she rescues and feels obligated to accompany, Jenna's demeanour softens and her caring side comes out. The romance slowly develops over the course of the novel and Max's trust in Jenna furthers her character development, and it never detracts from the story.
Set in futuristic International Republic of Britain, the world of ACID is fleshed out elegantly in detail. ACID is the police force that controls every from the news, information, transport, and even who people partner with (Life Partners) and when they can have children. We learn more about the world through snippets from the news and letters scattered throughout the book, and the world building flowed naturally throughout the story.
While most of the book was captivating, I found it lost momentum later on. A major plot twist happens where the reader knows what is going on miles ahead of the character itself, so when she realises we're already disengaged. While the ending wrapped up everything nicely, it just seemed a little too convenient as a solution to the constrained society.
I love how this book is a standalone novel, and there's no dragging out loose ends for the sake of being a series. The epilogue gives us the perfect amount of closure, while still planting a seed to let us speculate on what happens next. Overall, ACID is a solid debut that explores some new concepts. I would recommend it to lovers of dystopian everywhere and can't wait to read more from Emma Pass.
I received a review copy of ACID as a Readplus reviewer, in exchange for an honest review.
June 28, 2013
You know what? I want to avoid bashing Acid, because a lot of you loved this book, so in my third attempt to review it I'll try to keep it short so it won't dissolve into a rant.
I felt disappointed in this book because Emma started as this strong young heroine who fights against all odds despite the improbability of succeeding in all male high security prison, but as soon as she is whisked away that drive goes out of the window.
Emma is impulsive and makes stupid mistakes throughout the whole book (the ending especially pissed me off). The resistance is, pardon me, slacking to a point where I just couldn't take it seriously.
Max, the romantic interest (because of course there has to be one!) is a constant damsel in distress that needs to be saved.
The Commander is a cackling villain, and I have no idea how this farce of a government was allowed to continue imposing its regime on England when all they've done is made the poor poorer and built a lot of walls around. They somehow managed to get rid of all books and wipe out the past and shut down the Internet, while the rest of the world continues as normal just across the Channel and is waiting to intervene.
There are some brilliant moments in world-building, but overall it's just meh. I look for inspiration in dystopias the likes of which I found in The Hunger Games, V for Vendetta and The Book of Eli, but I could not see it here unfortunately.
I felt disappointed in this book because Emma started as this strong young heroine who fights against all odds despite the improbability of succeeding in all male high security prison, but as soon as she is whisked away that drive goes out of the window.
Emma is impulsive and makes stupid mistakes throughout the whole book (the ending especially pissed me off). The resistance is, pardon me, slacking to a point where I just couldn't take it seriously.
Max, the romantic interest (because of course there has to be one!) is a constant damsel in distress that needs to be saved.
The Commander is a cackling villain, and I have no idea how this farce of a government was allowed to continue imposing its regime on England when all they've done is made the poor poorer and built a lot of walls around. They somehow managed to get rid of all books and wipe out the past and shut down the Internet, while the rest of the world continues as normal just across the Channel and is waiting to intervene.
There are some brilliant moments in world-building, but overall it's just meh. I look for inspiration in dystopias the likes of which I found in The Hunger Games, V for Vendetta and The Book of Eli, but I could not see it here unfortunately.
June 1, 2022
*** First read***
Just absolutely amazing! Soooooo many cliffhangers and twists and turns. Recommended for absolutely everyone!
I'm disappointed that it's just a stand-alone book but I'll definitely be looking out for other books by this author!
I'm just mindblown by how amazing this book was. The characters were very likeable, but my favourite character was Anna because it must have been hard for her to It wasn't really a shock to me because I saw it coming, but because so much else was going on at the same time, I wasn't really thinking about it too much. I just really loved it!
5/5 stars! :D
Just absolutely amazing! Soooooo many cliffhangers and twists and turns. Recommended for absolutely everyone!
I'm disappointed that it's just a stand-alone book but I'll definitely be looking out for other books by this author!
I'm just mindblown by how amazing this book was. The characters were very likeable, but my favourite character was Anna because it must have been hard for her to It wasn't really a shock to me because I saw it coming, but because so much else was going on at the same time, I wasn't really thinking about it too much. I just really loved it!
5/5 stars! :D
January 15, 2013
(Based on the ARC)
I loved this book! Jenna Strong is not only kick-ass, but she is very likable, too. Pass (the author) does a fabulous job of giving enough information to create tension and curiosity, but not so much as to overwhelm and not so little as to confuse. The world-building was stellar. Although I've never to London or the future, I felt grounded in the setting. Oh, and did I mention the non-stop thrill ride? Yes, your heart will pound until the last page and beyond. Just clear your schedule before starting because once you start you won't be able to stop turning pages.
I loved this book! Jenna Strong is not only kick-ass, but she is very likable, too. Pass (the author) does a fabulous job of giving enough information to create tension and curiosity, but not so much as to overwhelm and not so little as to confuse. The world-building was stellar. Although I've never to London or the future, I felt grounded in the setting. Oh, and did I mention the non-stop thrill ride? Yes, your heart will pound until the last page and beyond. Just clear your schedule before starting because once you start you won't be able to stop turning pages.
September 3, 2015
Action-packed and fast-paced. It was entertaining but nothing to write home about.
May 1, 2021
This was a typical dystopian, the government is bad and took away people's rights, kind of book. I felt like the world building lacked a lot and the romance might as well have not been in it. This read to me like the bare bones for an idea and not a fully fleshed out story.
Jenna starts out in prison where she's become a badass fighter and not someone to be messed with. She's broken out by a rebel group, who stick her in basically witness protection and then leave her. I kept wondering where they were, as Jenna was hunted down, put back in prison, then memory wiped. Why did they go to the trouble of getting Jenna out to then abandon her? I assumed they wanted her skills for a mission, but apparently not.
Jenna doesn't know Max for very long and I thought that her liking him so much seemed unrealistic. A few days and suddenly you'll do anything for him? No thanks.
We never learned what exactly ACID wanted. What their goals were. Why did they choose people's partners? Why no same sex couples? They were kind of a shapeless villain and I would have appreciated some details about their rise to power and what they wanted to accomplish. Also, why did no other country intervene in this blatant violation of human rights?
It felt like lazy writing to me. Maybe the author had a broad idea but then struggles with the small parts? If this were reworked, it could be a much better story.
Jenna starts out in prison where she's become a badass fighter and not someone to be messed with. She's broken out by a rebel group, who stick her in basically witness protection and then leave her. I kept wondering where they were, as Jenna was hunted down, put back in prison, then memory wiped. Why did they go to the trouble of getting Jenna out to then abandon her? I assumed they wanted her skills for a mission, but apparently not.
Jenna doesn't know Max for very long and I thought that her liking him so much seemed unrealistic. A few days and suddenly you'll do anything for him? No thanks.
We never learned what exactly ACID wanted. What their goals were. Why did they choose people's partners? Why no same sex couples? They were kind of a shapeless villain and I would have appreciated some details about their rise to power and what they wanted to accomplish. Also, why did no other country intervene in this blatant violation of human rights?
It felt like lazy writing to me. Maybe the author had a broad idea but then struggles with the small parts? If this were reworked, it could be a much better story.
April 28, 2014
I got a copy of this to review through the Amazon Vine program. Honestly I was drawn to this book because of the awesome cover and the synopsis that promised an action-packed novel. Then when I figured out it was another YA dystopian read I was a bit worried...I am kind of sick of that genre right now. However, I was pleasantly surprised...I really really loved this book. It was incredibly engaging and very fast-paced.
In 2113 ACID rules the world, they are a military police-like organization that is ruling what used to be Great Britain. Jenna Strong has been sent to prison for life by ACID for murdering her parents. Then suddenly Jenna finds herself broken out of prison by a rebel group. She gets a new identity and a new agenda. While she is grateful to be out of prison Jenna is still struggling to figure out what is really going on and who is really on her side.
I actually really enjoyed this dystopian science fiction thriller. The book is really well written and flows well. It is also absolutely packed with action and impossible to put down...I read the whole thing in two sittings.
Jenna is one of the toughest heroines I have ever read about. She spends most of her time in prison lifting weights and exercising and it has left her extremely buff. She gets ample chances to us her skills on all of the other male inmates. Not only is she physically tough but she is emotionally tough too. This poor heroine goes through more awful things than any character should ever have to deal with. She is one of those characters that I admire but would never ever want to trade places with.
She’s surrounded by a lot of other interesting characters. Although I will say I think the side characters were probably the weakest part of this book. Because the whole book is told from Jenna’s POV, the side characters are a bit underdeveloped and at times lack depth.
Jenna does have a love interest, I won’t say much about him because of spoilers. I did enjoy how their relationship developed and how mature they both were about everything in the end. While this relationship drives some of the story, this is definitely not a romance heavy book.
The book is seriously fast-paced and incredibly engaging. There were parts where I literally had to put the book down for a second because it was so intense that I was out of breath. The story just sucks you in and doesn’t let up.
As far as the dystopian world here, it is pretty typical of other dystopian worlds we’ve read about. People are forced to Life Partner with people the government chooses for them and they are forced to work the jobs the government thinks they are best suited for. A lot of freedoms have been taken away. As with all Dystopians the government is hiding a lot of dirty secrets. I didn’t feel like the world was really anything spectacular, but it was still decently done.
This story is definitely action driven and it is Jenna’s pure will to survive and her ability to make things work for her, that really make this a great read. I also loved that the story appear to be confined to this one book. Everything is tied up in a realistic way and there weren’t really any ends left hanging at the end of the story.
Overall I was really surprised at how much I loved this book because I am a bit worn out on dystopian types of book. I loved Jenna’s character and I loved the fast pace of the book. The book was action packed, engaging, and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Definitely recommended if you are looking for an action-packed dystopian thriller. I will be keeping an eye on Emma Pass and checking out what she writes next.
In 2113 ACID rules the world, they are a military police-like organization that is ruling what used to be Great Britain. Jenna Strong has been sent to prison for life by ACID for murdering her parents. Then suddenly Jenna finds herself broken out of prison by a rebel group. She gets a new identity and a new agenda. While she is grateful to be out of prison Jenna is still struggling to figure out what is really going on and who is really on her side.
I actually really enjoyed this dystopian science fiction thriller. The book is really well written and flows well. It is also absolutely packed with action and impossible to put down...I read the whole thing in two sittings.
Jenna is one of the toughest heroines I have ever read about. She spends most of her time in prison lifting weights and exercising and it has left her extremely buff. She gets ample chances to us her skills on all of the other male inmates. Not only is she physically tough but she is emotionally tough too. This poor heroine goes through more awful things than any character should ever have to deal with. She is one of those characters that I admire but would never ever want to trade places with.
She’s surrounded by a lot of other interesting characters. Although I will say I think the side characters were probably the weakest part of this book. Because the whole book is told from Jenna’s POV, the side characters are a bit underdeveloped and at times lack depth.
Jenna does have a love interest, I won’t say much about him because of spoilers. I did enjoy how their relationship developed and how mature they both were about everything in the end. While this relationship drives some of the story, this is definitely not a romance heavy book.
The book is seriously fast-paced and incredibly engaging. There were parts where I literally had to put the book down for a second because it was so intense that I was out of breath. The story just sucks you in and doesn’t let up.
As far as the dystopian world here, it is pretty typical of other dystopian worlds we’ve read about. People are forced to Life Partner with people the government chooses for them and they are forced to work the jobs the government thinks they are best suited for. A lot of freedoms have been taken away. As with all Dystopians the government is hiding a lot of dirty secrets. I didn’t feel like the world was really anything spectacular, but it was still decently done.
This story is definitely action driven and it is Jenna’s pure will to survive and her ability to make things work for her, that really make this a great read. I also loved that the story appear to be confined to this one book. Everything is tied up in a realistic way and there weren’t really any ends left hanging at the end of the story.
Overall I was really surprised at how much I loved this book because I am a bit worn out on dystopian types of book. I loved Jenna’s character and I loved the fast pace of the book. The book was action packed, engaging, and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Definitely recommended if you are looking for an action-packed dystopian thriller. I will be keeping an eye on Emma Pass and checking out what she writes next.
March 8, 2013
Unputdownable is an overused word, but in this case it's true. As soon as I opened the first page, I couldn't stop reading ACID. It has all the hallmarks of a great thriller - a feisty heroine, non-stop action and a dark conspiracy at its centre. Set in a near-future UK that's scarily realistic, the story follows 16-year-old Jenna Strong as she tries to stay one step ahead of the law, and in doing so, learns the truth about the government - and herself. Anyone who appreciates a truly kick-ass MC and can handle nail-biting tension will love this book!
January 16, 2016
When I picked it up, I mixed up the blurb of this book with another dystopian book but I wanted to read this one too so it's fine. Overall, I enjoyed reading Acid, a YA standalone. It was easy to get into and I liked the plot about Acid. It was fast paced even though I thought the beginning and the end were the best parts of the book. I wish we had more of Max and Jenna. About the ending, I'm content to have a HEA instead of having doubts on the future of the characters (I'll forget about the mention of ).
November 23, 2013
Review to come...Closer to pub date but let me just say that THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2014!!! I mean PHENOMENAL!!! Emma Pass is an author to watch for! SHE ROCKS!!!!!
August 6, 2015
Amazing idea, poorly executed.
July 13, 2024
You know what.. consider me pleasantly surprised!
I think I got this book YEARS and YEARS ago.. and when at book club it was decided we were to read a book of our own choice, that’s main title started with ‘A’ - this was the only book I had in my collection that would fit the bill.
I was a little apprehensive, I thought to myself ‘Probably going to be very YA but also going to be a quick and easy read’ which is what I need at the minute.
Well.. I loved it! The first pages had me invested. Don’t get me the wrong the synopsis was a bit cringe and could’ve put me off but I’m glad I read this, I found it exciting, thrilling, with the right amount of suspense to keep you turning the pages! I loved that some elements were kind of Hunger Games / Blade Runner, but felt completely like its own world and not just another story that’s already been told by someone else but with a few tweaks.
Really enjoyed this, so thanks Book Club, this has been on TBR pile for years and can’t believe I only just picked this up!
I think I got this book YEARS and YEARS ago.. and when at book club it was decided we were to read a book of our own choice, that’s main title started with ‘A’ - this was the only book I had in my collection that would fit the bill.
I was a little apprehensive, I thought to myself ‘Probably going to be very YA but also going to be a quick and easy read’ which is what I need at the minute.
Well.. I loved it! The first pages had me invested. Don’t get me the wrong the synopsis was a bit cringe and could’ve put me off but I’m glad I read this, I found it exciting, thrilling, with the right amount of suspense to keep you turning the pages! I loved that some elements were kind of Hunger Games / Blade Runner, but felt completely like its own world and not just another story that’s already been told by someone else but with a few tweaks.
Really enjoyed this, so thanks Book Club, this has been on TBR pile for years and can’t believe I only just picked this up!
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