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Pulse
Pickpocket Alexandra Murray has grown up learning that you can never rely on anyone but yourself, and since terrorist attacks gave the military power to act on US soil, it's made life hard for someone who relies on stealing to survive.
That is until her sixteenth birthday when a horrible event triggers something within that changes her life forever. Will this be the change that she's been looking for to make a new life for herself, or will misplaced trust and bad decisions see her lose her very freedom?
That is until her sixteenth birthday when a horrible event triggers something within that changes her life forever. Will this be the change that she's been looking for to make a new life for herself, or will misplaced trust and bad decisions see her lose her very freedom?
287 pages, ebook
Published January 11, 2016
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2017
This is the story of Alex, a girl with a strange power called 'Pulse'. It's set in a futuristic dystopian version of our world where healthcare in America has really gone terribly wrong, and Alex (along with many others) is a pick-pocket just to survive. She doesn't know much about her power and it manifests early in the story when she's attacked, but as the story goes on she is quickly forced to find out more and go into training.
What I liked about this was the fast pace. It felt like there was a sense of dynamism and spy-thriller to the story, it definitely only has smaller sci-fi elements and feels much more like an action read to me. I do like the concepts of the story (to a point) and I found the training scenes and 'magic' pulses to be exciting.
However, on the flip-side, this book needs a lot of work on the type and grammar, there's a whole load of typos and errors which need a copy-edit to fix.
Equally, I think this book takes a very dark and sinister turn in the latter half, and I definitely found it a bit shocking and nasty (fair warning, there's attempted rape and torture in this book). I didn't think all the 'drama' was really needed to make this story good. it felt like the author was throwing a lot of ideas out where one or two really solid ones may have been better, but it wasn't too confusing, more just a lot to follow.
Overall, I think the concept of the story is interesting and I liked Alex well enough as a character to follow. She's an intriguing person, and in the end I liked the message when it came to the 'romance' as it wasn't as stereotypical as it could have been, but I also think it was pretty problematic at a variety of times.
I am giving it a 3*s because it's a fast and fun read, but I definitely don't think it is in its best form and with a lot of copy-edit help it could be a much stronger story.
What I liked about this was the fast pace. It felt like there was a sense of dynamism and spy-thriller to the story, it definitely only has smaller sci-fi elements and feels much more like an action read to me. I do like the concepts of the story (to a point) and I found the training scenes and 'magic' pulses to be exciting.
However, on the flip-side, this book needs a lot of work on the type and grammar, there's a whole load of typos and errors which need a copy-edit to fix.
Equally, I think this book takes a very dark and sinister turn in the latter half, and I definitely found it a bit shocking and nasty (fair warning, there's attempted rape and torture in this book). I didn't think all the 'drama' was really needed to make this story good. it felt like the author was throwing a lot of ideas out where one or two really solid ones may have been better, but it wasn't too confusing, more just a lot to follow.
Overall, I think the concept of the story is interesting and I liked Alex well enough as a character to follow. She's an intriguing person, and in the end I liked the message when it came to the 'romance' as it wasn't as stereotypical as it could have been, but I also think it was pretty problematic at a variety of times.
I am giving it a 3*s because it's a fast and fun read, but I definitely don't think it is in its best form and with a lot of copy-edit help it could be a much stronger story.
December 16, 2015
Good read
Enjoyed book , read it in one sitting . liked the characters and the plot twists and looking forward to next one. Well written but some errors in grammar but did not distract from enjoyment.
Enjoyed book , read it in one sitting . liked the characters and the plot twists and looking forward to next one. Well written but some errors in grammar but did not distract from enjoyment.
July 22, 2024
There were a few typos (Sarah vs Jane a few times towards the end).
I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The story wasn't that predictable. The romance side of it took me by surprise. It feels like there is a lot more to do, this is almost a prequel. So many unanswered questions and a character who seems to get good maybe unrealistically quick and who sometimes makes questionable decisions.
I still enjoyed it, but definitely has way more questions than answers.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The story wasn't that predictable. The romance side of it took me by surprise. It feels like there is a lot more to do, this is almost a prequel. So many unanswered questions and a character who seems to get good maybe unrealistically quick and who sometimes makes questionable decisions.
I still enjoyed it, but definitely has way more questions than answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2017
Better than it has a right to be
This book is
an YA tag does not admit it. Full of typo, but still a good read. Will most likely read the next book . Hope it's as good
!
This book is
an YA tag does not admit it. Full of typo, but still a good read. Will most likely read the next book . Hope it's as good
!
October 4, 2016
I'm a little confused about what I should feel about this book.
It seems there was a lot that I felt was lacking in the book. What is a pulse? How do people end up with the pulse? What is this pulse? What are the different powers that person can have and how far can they be stretched?
I felt this book was a mish mash of too many things tried out all at once. There was a dystopian world where there was something wrong that was happening. Life is a mess and it is difficult to live your life without resorting to some form of crime. There is drugs, corruption and the military. And it was at some point in the future where the world order was completely unhinged.
I mean I remember reading through this book, and wondering is there something more that is coming at the end of it? The book comes with a completely misleading blurb which really does nothing for you as a reader. I mean there is so much more this book could have become, but then it ends up being a disappointment.
This book was a disappointment. I would have liked to see this book talking about the Pulse. It certainly seemed like a book where there would be a few more books talking about a world order. But it seemed to completely lose track. I felt the storyline was disjointed and things that happened in the book were not explained enough to me as a reader.
So Alex is someone who values her freedom. But who does not? The whole book is centered around Alex and yet I don't know anything about the world that has been created. It's so weird.
This book just felt like it had a huge hole somewhere in it. Both in the story and it left a hole in my mind.
It seems there was a lot that I felt was lacking in the book. What is a pulse? How do people end up with the pulse? What is this pulse? What are the different powers that person can have and how far can they be stretched?
I felt this book was a mish mash of too many things tried out all at once. There was a dystopian world where there was something wrong that was happening. Life is a mess and it is difficult to live your life without resorting to some form of crime. There is drugs, corruption and the military. And it was at some point in the future where the world order was completely unhinged.
I mean I remember reading through this book, and wondering is there something more that is coming at the end of it? The book comes with a completely misleading blurb which really does nothing for you as a reader. I mean there is so much more this book could have become, but then it ends up being a disappointment.
This book was a disappointment. I would have liked to see this book talking about the Pulse. It certainly seemed like a book where there would be a few more books talking about a world order. But it seemed to completely lose track. I felt the storyline was disjointed and things that happened in the book were not explained enough to me as a reader.
So Alex is someone who values her freedom. But who does not? The whole book is centered around Alex and yet I don't know anything about the world that has been created. It's so weird.
This book just felt like it had a huge hole somewhere in it. Both in the story and it left a hole in my mind.
February 3, 2017
Far outside my usual style, this definitely sits solidly in YA territory, though it definitely surprised me in a positive way.
The story follows the sterotypical YA protagonist who is both mundane/underwhelming, yet at the same time not only is she special but singled out to be the best. It's also got the teenage crush + love triangle that permeates these sort of stories, tropes abound. However moving beyond that, the actual story/premise were good, not only that, but the final quarter is intense and brutal. I kept mentally prepping for the next corner turned in the plot to undo everything with some sort of deus ex machina, taking things back to easy happiness - instead each plot turn seemingly kept folding in on itself, further into an inescapable dark hole for the protagonist. Definite kudos to the author for taking it that way.
There are some spelling/grammar errors, other than misuse of passed/past a couple times, they seem mostly genuine typo & editing issues versus writing, so I didn't find them too bothersome. There are also a huge number of loose threads held over from the beginning section of the story that never really get answered or explained in any way. The story framing was probably my biggest issue there, both general story structure and loose ends would have likely been solved by opening the story with Alex waking up in the airplane immediately launching into the real story, then briefly backtracking/flashback into the lead-up, but instead of that we get about 40-50 pages of lead-up that both takes too long fitting things in and at the same time seems noticably rushed. If you can get through that rough beginning though, I definitely think the story was worth sticking with in the end.
Over all, if this is a first published work as it appears to be, I'm glad I came across it and will be curious to see future work.
The story follows the sterotypical YA protagonist who is both mundane/underwhelming, yet at the same time not only is she special but singled out to be the best. It's also got the teenage crush + love triangle that permeates these sort of stories, tropes abound. However moving beyond that, the actual story/premise were good, not only that, but the final quarter is intense and brutal. I kept mentally prepping for the next corner turned in the plot to undo everything with some sort of deus ex machina, taking things back to easy happiness - instead each plot turn seemingly kept folding in on itself, further into an inescapable dark hole for the protagonist. Definite kudos to the author for taking it that way.
There are some spelling/grammar errors, other than misuse of passed/past a couple times, they seem mostly genuine typo & editing issues versus writing, so I didn't find them too bothersome. There are also a huge number of loose threads held over from the beginning section of the story that never really get answered or explained in any way. The story framing was probably my biggest issue there, both general story structure and loose ends would have likely been solved by opening the story with Alex waking up in the airplane immediately launching into the real story, then briefly backtracking/flashback into the lead-up, but instead of that we get about 40-50 pages of lead-up that both takes too long fitting things in and at the same time seems noticably rushed. If you can get through that rough beginning though, I definitely think the story was worth sticking with in the end.
Over all, if this is a first published work as it appears to be, I'm glad I came across it and will be curious to see future work.
October 3, 2016
Enjoyable read
Good story, some big punctuation
Issues and spell
Ing errors where it needs better editing b
It still a good read
Good story, some big punctuation
Issues and spell
Ing errors where it needs better editing b
It still a good read
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews