Pink

The Pink Trilogy #1

by Stephanie Powell

Like most sixteen-year-old girls, Cassie O'Connell wonders what it's like to be in love. For Cassie, that question is even more daunting as ten years ago a virus wiped out every male on the planet.

Well, almost every male.

Cassie discovers a teenage boy, Jamie, who has been locked away in a secret isolation chamber at the lab where Amanda, Cassie's mother, works. Amanda searches for the cure to the virus—for the last ten years, she has kept Jamie hidden, to save his life and to use his blood to find a cure for the menace that still picks off male babies like a sniper.

Then Cassie finds Sam, half dead in the mall parking lot. She helps him to recover from the bullet wound that almost takes his life; in time, she joins him in his search for the murderous “man” who is responsible for the deaths of his mother and sister. Yet Cassie soon realizes that the mysterious boy is not what he seems. Will she survive Sam's thirst for vengeance and his need to know why he is immune? Or will she become another casualty of Sam's relentless quest? Cassie's growing feelings for the strange boy propel both her and Sam toward a destiny that will change them—and the world—forever.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Dystopia

254 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2013

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5..
This book has such an interesting premise! I mean think about it what would we as in we women do if men were wiped off the planet??!! I know some would jump for joy HA! But really think about it, what would happen? Stephanie Powell takes this idea and runs with it in her debut novel Pink.

Cassie has lived in this new world since she was six years old. She lost her twin brother and her father to the virus that wiped the entire world of males. With others around her pairing up and turning for ones they love Cassie isn't sure where she fits in. She wants what her parents had, but with no end insight for the incurable disease she just avoids the whole idea of dating. With her mom trying to find a cure Cassie believes that maybe one day it might happen.

I really thought I knew where this book was heading but boy was I wrong! Two major things happen and are revealed and well when this happens the book truly comes alive and had me hooked! Like I said the idea is really interesting, but when you add in all the extras that the author chose it really made this book so much fun! I kept waiting because I knew something was going to happen and then BAM it does and I was left with a WTH face!

I really enjoyed Cassie's voice. She isn't perfect but she tried to do the best she could with the knowledge she had at the time. My heart honestly broke for her during one scene and I felt devastated for her. I never saw that particular twist happening and I just wanted to shield her from the pain. That being said though I do wish she would have let more of her emotions show at certain times. There is a big bomb dropped close to the beginning and I felt like it was kinda skimmed over. Often times when big things would happen Cassie would just sorta be there, she would get angry but not angry enough for me to believe that she felt anything. I wanted more emotion.

This will be a series and I am very excited by that. I have a lot of questions that weren't answered in this first installment, but I have hope that they will be answered in the coming books. One I really want to know is why Sam, what made him THE puzzle piece?? My other questions deal with all the hows and whys of the conclusion. I don't know if I fully understand everything that was explained but I am more than willing to continue on with this series to find out more.

[A. Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing premise with a fresh look at a dystopian world that I've never seen before. And the characters instantly sold it for me. I love Cassie. She was very believable and relatable, fun, quirky, and exciting to follow. I loved the interactions between characters too. They all felt real, their motivations, although not always something good or supportable, made sense to me. Even the bad guy, who was the craziest character, you could understand what he wanted and what drove him and it made sense.

I was eagerly anticipating this series being a new favorite, just because of how all the pieces fit together. Strong, well developed characters who are both entertaining and easy to empathize with? Check. A fresh idea for an apocalyptic world with believable progression of how the world might be if all the men died? Check. An intriguing mystery with a slightly sciency and slightly fantastical element to it? Check. Then in the last 5 chapters, from 37 onward, it jumped the shark and lost me during the climax.

Just everything from the "Sam should commit suicide" plan and forward to the end just complete bananas and turned me off. Not only was it rushed as hell, the emotional beats lost because not much time was given to them, but as a result, some of the characters didn't feel real or like themselves anymore.

So, first, the "Sam should commit suicide" plot point. Um...what?? Up until this point, there was something scientific about the virus. Yeah, there was the black cloud monster but you kinda felt like it was sort of OG Stargate, you know? Eldritch, other dimensional things watching over us, experimenting. Then, I was still with them talking about portals and wormholes. Then...out of nowhere, Sam is like, "I know how to save everybody! I should drown myself!" That makes no rational sense and there was no build up to him making the connection to that one time in the water early on as some sort of secret key to everything. Completely jumped the shark.

I have so many problems with this, because without that groundwork, Sam comes off as irrational and stubborn. Like, suicide as a "solution" even under normal, real life circumstances, is pretty fricking permanent. So, for them to be looking for answers and "things we should try" the idea to "kill the only immune man in the entire world" seems like it should be absolutely bottom of the barrel. Because you only get to "try" that once. And without the groundwork to associate him dying with somehow saving the men of the world, it severely looks like a risk not worth taking, with no guarantee that it'd work. I'm so disappointed in Jamie for not stepping up and being like, "uhm...okay, well, we'll put a pin in it and keep brainstorming for stuff that's less of a gamble. After all, there's a lot at stake here and that would fucking suck if you were wrong." Completely out of character for science boy to offer no alternative view points or confrontation of that dumb plan, almost like the plot needed everbody to go along with the suicide option.

I'm not fricking done with the suicide thing. I got the big impression through all of this of a very well written YA or NA. Looking around, I can't really find where that is the declared genre. Even still, I don't agree with the association, so flimsy, so bizarrely reached, that suicide is "heroic/will save people/save the world" and then rewarding that idea at the end. It wasn't framed as a noble thing. We rushed right into it. And after spending half the book establishing everything Sam is naive about, all the stuff he doesn't understand or get about the world, it felt less like a Jesus/martyr archetype and more like listening to a 6 year old's idea of self-sacrifice and fatalisric heroism. Just...kind of gross.

Then, it jumped the shark again with the final confrontation with Brandon. I was there for it, the chaos and rush of adrenaline in that dicey situation...all up until Cassie stops Sam from just shooting the mec in the head and ending it. killing another person is only easy if you lack human empathy. Passion can get you kind of through the hump of the resisting impulse and most normal people need to be driven by that emotional rush in order to harm someone else so completely. It was perfect. Sam had the emotional bricks stacked and it would have been believable for him to pull that trigger and release all that built up pain in this unthinking moment of violence. What did Powell do instead? She had Cassie say, "Hold up guys. We all need a little piece of this vengeance pie. Let's throw another human being into a fucking fire."

What???? A psychopath took over Cassie's body! Do you know the points of rationale that takes to carry a living person over to another area a few feet away and swing him by the limbs to throw him onto a blazing fire? And then...just walk away, merciless, no stomach aches, no guilt over killing a human being? Yeah, Brandon was kinda crazy and did horrible things but he was still a human for heaven's sake! Normal people don't do that and then walk away fine, like "good riddance" even when they're entirely justified. killing somebody isn't a cartoon, or an action movie. There's layers of complexity to it. And even if there are the outliers who could be stone cold emotionless about doing that? That's not something I feel good about. That's not a hero I support. A gunshot wound to the head would have been satisfying enough. Cassie, our emotional connection to the story, wanted to enjoy Brandon's suffering and death. There's "satisfying punishment and justice" and then there's gratuitous sadism. Ya nasty.

Then finally, just the emotional beats were off with the sex scene. Fine, let's gloss over teenagers getting it on. I'm not missing out on anything. But then, when they discover Amanda dead, it's completely disconnected from anything else that preceded it. Like, it would be reasonable for Cassie to blame herself, to get hung up on the time they wasted screwing in the park and taking a nap. But no. After her little fit and they set Amanda aside, suddenly "not sad anymore!" All better. Even at the end, when dad and Cody are back, the emotion is completely lost from the scenes. Cassie explains it and shows them the body like it happened years ago. Probably the psychopath in her skin was still in there at that point.

So, 80% of this book was great but Stephanie Powell didn't stick the landing for me. With the way it ended, I don't care what happens and will not be continuing with this series.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the cover, this book was not what I thought it was going to be about. I didn't read the description before I won it on Goodreads. So I waited to read it. Now I wish I had read it sooner. This was a fast-paced story about all the males being wiped off the face of the earth from the XY virus. Except for one boy who Cassie's scientific Mom, Amanda, saved and Sam, who seemed to be immune from the virus. I don't think that is any spoiler as I believe it was in the description. Anyway. Some of the women turn so they can be men and a lot of them do it for someone else and not for themselves. It's been 10 years and Amanda is close to finding a cure for XY so newborn males do not die. Then there is a mec, a woman turned to male, who wants Sam and will stop at nothing to get him, including killing people in his way. I enjoyed this book so much I bought the other two books so I can find out what happens next. I will warn you, DON'T read the description from the other 2 books. It will ruin the suspense in book one. The descriptions give away what happened in book one.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It truly hurt my soul to give this book a 3 star rating. The plot for this book was unique. The world building and the character building was amazing, the story line was incredible and the writing was great. For the first 75% of this book it was a 5 star read that I could not put down. But then came a mistake in the plot that ruined it for me. And while I still think the book as a whole was great, these plot mistakes do take something away. And I will have to use a spoiler to explain those, if you have read the description for book 2 then my spoiler will not ruin anything for you.

When Jaime is searching for the term "Remember the Day" on his computer he is finding information on Pearl Harbor, The Twin Towers, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The author writes it out the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now King William and Kate Middleton. But if every male on the planet was wiped out, there wouldn't be a King William.
I overlooked this one, somewhat. I thought maybe when he died he was king? Well then came the next mistake....
When all of the men return, they return the age they were when they died from the virus. Cassie's brother lived to the age of 12 before he was killed by the virus. But when he comes back he is age 6, which is the age that Cassie thought he died at but turns out he was alive longer. So since he died at age 12 from the virus wouldn't that make him 12 when he returned? Ugh...

I won this book from the giveaways on Goodreads.com

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Kindle Copy Win

Cassie O'Connell is a sixteen year old teenager who never been in love. It is kind of hard to fall in love since a decade ten years ago has wiped out every malew including her twin brother.

She finds a boy locked up in a lab at her mom work. He is kept locked up as research material to look for a cure of this mysterious virus. Then she finds Sam half dead in a mall parking lot with a bullet.
She helps him recover as he seeks revenge on a man who has committed a murderous crime. Soon she realized there is more to this new guy than he says.

What will they sacrifice for each other as they fall for each other? Will they be able to have a chance together or does destiny have other plans for them? An innocent love story.

[Kimberly Vanderbloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I found the plot to be very intriguing a world without men. It made me think of what it would really be like. I thought the author did a fantastic job and captured my attention. I thought the character development was done really well. I wish the world building was a little better because I had a harder time imagining the sectors but it didn’t take away much from the story. I loved Cassie because of how inquisitive she was from the very beginning. She wasn’t willing to just accept things because people expected her to. I really liked her mom Amanda. She was quite insightful. I did enjoy my reading experience. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Necropenguin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Giveaway win #5

This is one of those books I wouldn't have chosen to read if it wasn't being given away. But I'm glad I got it and read it, because it's pretty good.

Without giving away much plot/story info:
-this reminds me of a movie I saw on TV about 15 or so years ago about there being only 1 man left on Earth
-the plot was quite good, revolving around how all of the menfolk just up and died 10 years before the story occured
-well, except for 1
-make that 2
-er...3
-but 1 died. so 2
-it didn't start to get paranormal until the last 5 or 6 chapters, which i liked
-well, maybe it did a little before that
-there is a happy ending
-sort of
-ok, not really
-but it is
-vague enough for ya?

Endorsement time: I will be continuing with this series.

[Candace Riegelhaupt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original concept combined with smart writing and compelling characters makes Pink a page-turner. I can't wait for the next instalment.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. Kept my interest from first page to the last

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read. A world without boys was a great starting point, however, I think it could have definitely been executed better. Cassie seemed to comprehend everything all too clearly, she took no time to process the major things that happened. Suspense was also lacking. We all want to see the characters get a happy ending, but there wasn't enough of an internal or external struggle to satisfy the thirst for vengeance. Whatever they needed done got done within 5-10 pages. Great for those who love a moving action line without the background happenings, but there was also no real depth. Some of the time frame dependent elements also didn't seem to make sense to me. Sure Sam hasn't been in civilization for a while, but how could he forget the Internet when he was old enough to have working memories when he was hidden away? And Cassie not remembering a world with men after only ten years?? That's way too far fetched. She had males in her family, so how could she forget so quickly and easily?
The title name and cover also don't seem to go with the story, which is the publisher's fault, but still worth mentioning.
All in all it was a good book I suppose. Not sure if I would reread it anytime soon, but it was definitely an interesting take on a dystopian world.

[Kim]

This is an interesting story about a young girl thrown into a world inhabited by women only after all the men die mysteriously. Her coming of age and learning to deal with a world turned upside down are enhanced by solving the mystery of what happened to her father and brother. The writing is well paced and the characters are believable and imaginative. This is the first in a trilogy and although the end is satisfying in itself, you are intrigued enough to want to know what happens in the next book to Cassie and her friends.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Stephanie Powell invites her readers to imagine a world where men and boys no longer exist. That premise hooked me immediately, and Powell's skillful writing and fast-paced plot kept me engaged in this YA sci-fi thriller. I found Powell's characters both believable and endearing and was left wanting to continue the wild ride with Cassie and her friends. Pink is full of twists and turns. It's both thought provoking and a fun read for teens and adults alike.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the concept of this book and the idea to have a disease that wipes out all of the men. I especially loved to story that Mrs.Powell created. I thought that this story was well written and had a great amount of thought put into it. I would like to applaud her for this amazing work and I hope she decides to keep on writing books like this!!!

[Everafterreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on the goodreads giveaway. I have to say this was a pretty good book! I really enjoyed it and read it in practically in a day! I definitely would recommend it!! Can't wait to read the next book!

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I looooved this book! At first I couldn't really get into it, but when I did I actually cried because of what happened. Let me note that I almost never cry during a book but this one really stirred my emotions. I just can't wait for the next installment

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced and intriguing book for those who like post apocalyptic scenarios. Powell weaves an interesting tale with twists you won't expect.

[Raven Nivhaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This was a strange book, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the ending.
It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was still decent and the writing was good.

[Susan]

Once I accepted the premise, this was a fun read. Looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!