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Genius #1
Evil Genius
Cadel Piggott has a genius IQ and a fascination with systems of all kinds. At seven, he was illegally hacking into computers. Now he's fourteen and studying for his World Domination degree, taking classes like embezzlement, misinformation, forgery, and infiltration at the institute founded by criminal mastermind Dr. Phineas Darkkon. Although Cadel may be advanced beyond his years, at heart he's a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to question the moral implications of his studies for the first time. But is it too late to stop Dr. Darkkon from carrying out his evil plot?
An engrossing thriller with darkness and humor, freaks and geeks, Evil Genius explores the fine line between good and evil in a strange world of manipulations and subterfuge where nothing is as it seems.
An engrossing thriller with darkness and humor, freaks and geeks, Evil Genius explores the fine line between good and evil in a strange world of manipulations and subterfuge where nothing is as it seems.
552 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2005
363 people are currently reading
5292 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Jinks
61 books537 followersCatherine Jinks is the Australian author of more than thirty books for all ages. She has garnered many awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award(three times), the Victorian Premier’s Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the Australian Ibby Award, and the Davitt Award for Crime Fiction. Her work has been published in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Thailand.
Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. Her high-school years were spent in Sydney, NSW; in 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her.
From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, NSW.
She has two brothers, and two pet rats. Like most people in Leura, she has become a slave to her garden, but not to the extent that she’ll buy rooting powder.
Catherine has been writing books since she was eight years old. She doesn’t expect to stop writing them any time soon.
Author photo: Catherine Jinks in front of 'Conceptual Networks', by artist Paul du Moulin.
Photo by Paul du Moulin
Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. Her high-school years were spent in Sydney, NSW; in 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her.
From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, NSW.
She has two brothers, and two pet rats. Like most people in Leura, she has become a slave to her garden, but not to the extent that she’ll buy rooting powder.
Catherine has been writing books since she was eight years old. She doesn’t expect to stop writing them any time soon.
Author photo: Catherine Jinks in front of 'Conceptual Networks', by artist Paul du Moulin.
Photo by Paul du Moulin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 837 reviews
September 6, 2018
Evil Genius
(Genius #1)
by Catherine Jinks
I listened to the audible version from the library and the narration was excellent! The whole book was too notch! There were so many twists! I fell in love with the book right away. A genius boy who is lonely and gets into trouble more from boredom than meanness. At the age of 7 he is a hacker and lands him in big trouble. From there... Life just gets worse while he is suppose to be getting help!
(Genius #1)
by Catherine Jinks
I listened to the audible version from the library and the narration was excellent! The whole book was too notch! There were so many twists! I fell in love with the book right away. A genius boy who is lonely and gets into trouble more from boredom than meanness. At the age of 7 he is a hacker and lands him in big trouble. From there... Life just gets worse while he is suppose to be getting help!
August 17, 2007
Few pleasures are quite as sublime as reading a book, enjoying it, and only afterwards realizing that you're familiar with the author. Ask me who Catherine Jinks was before I read "Evil Genius" and you'd have met with a blank stare accompanied by some rapid-fire blinking. Only after I read and enjoyed her latest did I put two and two together. Catherine Jinks = "Pagan's Crusade" = Catherine Jinks = "Evil Genius"! The "Pagan" series is probably one of the best too little appreciated historical fiction series of books for kids out there, so it came as little surprise that Jinks was also the author of this little jewel. "Evil Genius" is high-concept with a high quality product. From here on in, I'm putting Catherine Jinks on the top of my Must Read pile for as long as she keeps on writing.
Cadel Piggott; genius. No two ways about it. He's just a kid, but you should see his resume. Getting caught by the police for hacking into mainframes by the time he was seven. Causing massive commuter blockages at eight. Managing to get his entire twelfth grade class flunked at the age of thirteen. It shouldn't surprise anybody then that Cadel's father is none other than criminal genius Dr. Darkkon, currently serving life in prison. That doesn't stop the man from influencing Cadel with the help of the boy's psychologist (and Darkkon's right hand man) Thaddeus Roth. Now Cadel's enrolled in Darkkon's very own Axis Institute. While there he'll be taking classes in Law ("loopholes"), Personal Presentation ("disguise"), Cultural Appreciation ("forgery"), and Computer Science ("infiltration"). Problem is, Cadel's grown fond of a woman he met while running a fake online dating service. This tiny contact with someone outside his intimate circle proves to be just enough to get him to start questioning his very life. Before he knows it, he discovers secrets that might very well make it impossible to escape from the geniuses around him.
Words. Put them together in just the right order and watch as it becomes easy to distinguish the fantastic authors from the mundane pack. Jinks knows how to write, pure and simple. Take page four of the book. Upon meeting a secretary with teeth the color of coal the book simply states, "Her mouth looked as if it belonged to an older, harsher century." That is so good. To the point and remarkably descriptive. Actually, not to change subjects on you (summary: words = good) but how awesome are Thaddeus's henchmen and henchwomen in this book? People like the huge woman with the nasty black teeth and the man with gills. James Bond himself couldn't have encountered better.
When all is said and done, I liked "Evil Genius" very much indeed. The book is just dying for a sequel, but that doesn't mean this first novel doesn't stand entirely on its own. Jinks, no stranger to the series format, knows better than to end on a cliffhanger or with long dangling narrative threads. Everything is, if not wrapped up, at least successfully drawn to a close by the book's finish. That said, I'm frantic to read the next in the series. Lookie! It's called "Genius Squad" and it sports the tagline "Sometimes when it comes to fighting evil, one genius isn't enough." For those kids enamored of the superhero genre and in need of something a little out of the ordinary, I couldn't recommend a book any higher.
Cadel Piggott; genius. No two ways about it. He's just a kid, but you should see his resume. Getting caught by the police for hacking into mainframes by the time he was seven. Causing massive commuter blockages at eight. Managing to get his entire twelfth grade class flunked at the age of thirteen. It shouldn't surprise anybody then that Cadel's father is none other than criminal genius Dr. Darkkon, currently serving life in prison. That doesn't stop the man from influencing Cadel with the help of the boy's psychologist (and Darkkon's right hand man) Thaddeus Roth. Now Cadel's enrolled in Darkkon's very own Axis Institute. While there he'll be taking classes in Law ("loopholes"), Personal Presentation ("disguise"), Cultural Appreciation ("forgery"), and Computer Science ("infiltration"). Problem is, Cadel's grown fond of a woman he met while running a fake online dating service. This tiny contact with someone outside his intimate circle proves to be just enough to get him to start questioning his very life. Before he knows it, he discovers secrets that might very well make it impossible to escape from the geniuses around him.
Words. Put them together in just the right order and watch as it becomes easy to distinguish the fantastic authors from the mundane pack. Jinks knows how to write, pure and simple. Take page four of the book. Upon meeting a secretary with teeth the color of coal the book simply states, "Her mouth looked as if it belonged to an older, harsher century." That is so good. To the point and remarkably descriptive. Actually, not to change subjects on you (summary: words = good) but how awesome are Thaddeus's henchmen and henchwomen in this book? People like the huge woman with the nasty black teeth and the man with gills. James Bond himself couldn't have encountered better.
When all is said and done, I liked "Evil Genius" very much indeed. The book is just dying for a sequel, but that doesn't mean this first novel doesn't stand entirely on its own. Jinks, no stranger to the series format, knows better than to end on a cliffhanger or with long dangling narrative threads. Everything is, if not wrapped up, at least successfully drawn to a close by the book's finish. That said, I'm frantic to read the next in the series. Lookie! It's called "Genius Squad" and it sports the tagline "Sometimes when it comes to fighting evil, one genius isn't enough." For those kids enamored of the superhero genre and in need of something a little out of the ordinary, I couldn't recommend a book any higher.
February 9, 2024
Cadel Piggot is certainly a genius. When we meet him, he's only seven years old, and already banned from using the computer. *Any* computer. He's been referred to a therapist, at the strong urging of the police. His regular sessions with Dr. Roth seem to help, but his school just isn't challenging enough, no matter how many grades he's allowed to skip. Until the day he's accepted at the Axis Institute …
I really liked this book. Cadel is a fine character, and watching him grow up and figure out what he wants from life is a rewarding experience. The book is certainly a thrill ride, with the ending up in the air until the very final pages. There are so many out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire moments in the last third of the book it's almost ridiculous. But it never gets out of control. Catherine Jinks knows what she's doing and where everything is going. The book is a page-turner and a delight! Recommended!
I really liked this book. Cadel is a fine character, and watching him grow up and figure out what he wants from life is a rewarding experience. The book is certainly a thrill ride, with the ending up in the air until the very final pages. There are so many out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire moments in the last third of the book it's almost ridiculous. But it never gets out of control. Catherine Jinks knows what she's doing and where everything is going. The book is a page-turner and a delight! Recommended!
May 27, 2012
Eh. It was ok, but it seemed like it might be too long and a bit boring in parts for the intended middle-grade audience. At least I think that's the intended audience.
Sort of reminded me of Artemis Fowl...but not as good. Still, I love the idea of an Evil Child Genius. There's a good chance I'll give the next book a shot for that reason alone.
Sort of reminded me of Artemis Fowl...but not as good. Still, I love the idea of an Evil Child Genius. There's a good chance I'll give the next book a shot for that reason alone.
Read
January 31, 2009This book is a book that I really liked and have no idea why. The plot was confusing, Cadel dressing up as a girl should have been weird, most of the characters at the school were disturbing, and yet I loved it. Admittedly the beginning leading into the middle was a bit boring, and I did skim read a little, but I found the end leaving me with that warm fuzzy feeling of "just right". Not many books do that.
I think what sold me was the character's development. The main character Cadel, who I was worried I was going to detest about halfway through, actually became someone I cared for and understood. Jinks really allowed you inside his head. She didn't try to hide the detestable things Cadel did, and she didn't make excuses for him. You really don't like Cadel for a minute or two, an ambitious move for an author. However it's worth it as you begin to see the changes in Cadel as a result of a his blooming relationship with a girl. His development is realistic, and I appreciated that.
Perhaps the most interesting character, however, is Thadeus. This character has no morals coupled with a complete disregard for anyone's feelings. Anyone's, that is, except Cadel's. Thadeus really appears to care about, or even love, Cadel. Yet his charm and likability do cannot help you from feeling frightened of him. He is dangerous.
However I have taken much to much time explaining it. I know it's not perfect, but I liked it. So hopefully you will to.
I think what sold me was the character's development. The main character Cadel, who I was worried I was going to detest about halfway through, actually became someone I cared for and understood. Jinks really allowed you inside his head. She didn't try to hide the detestable things Cadel did, and she didn't make excuses for him. You really don't like Cadel for a minute or two, an ambitious move for an author. However it's worth it as you begin to see the changes in Cadel as a result of a his blooming relationship with a girl. His development is realistic, and I appreciated that.
Perhaps the most interesting character, however, is Thadeus. This character has no morals coupled with a complete disregard for anyone's feelings. Anyone's, that is, except Cadel's. Thadeus really appears to care about, or even love, Cadel. Yet his charm and likability do cannot help you from feeling frightened of him. He is dangerous.
However I have taken much to much time explaining it. I know it's not perfect, but I liked it. So hopefully you will to.
October 23, 2014
I'm not sure why I picked this audio book up, but I'm glad that I did. It was a lot of fun & the characterization of the main character, a child, was very well done. His motivations, extreme intelligence in some areas & complete blindness in others was excellent. It was quite an adventure, too.
The reader was perfect for me. Her accent & high voice fit the book well.
On the downside, the author obviously doesn't know much about computers & they are a major part of the story. Her techno-babble made me cringe at times. Sounded like something I'd hear on TV. Blech.
There are a couple more books in this series. I might listen to the next in a while. Not sure. This story was pretty long for a YA book. I pretty much got my fill & wasn't looking for more.
The reader was perfect for me. Her accent & high voice fit the book well.
On the downside, the author obviously doesn't know much about computers & they are a major part of the story. Her techno-babble made me cringe at times. Sounded like something I'd hear on TV. Blech.
There are a couple more books in this series. I might listen to the next in a while. Not sure. This story was pretty long for a YA book. I pretty much got my fill & wasn't looking for more.
May 6, 2021
This book was really good it was better than expected from a book with this theme it was a very interesting read. The characters were interesting especially Cadel a boy with poor social skills that is just too smart for his own good. He was realistically written for a boy with his circumstances he was by the end a confused boy who just did not know anything who just wanted to get away from everything he started uncovering. I really liked the plot it started by telling of a smart boy who causes trouble who grew into a teenager that was told everything he did was right. The story progresses to Cadel finding out some things becoming both confused and afraid and just wanting out I really liked how all of this was depicted I enjoyed this book I look forward to reading more of the series.
August 18, 2015
Cadel Piggett is a smart boy with a genius IQ and loves computers of all kinds. He can hack into other systems and do other atrocious things and his psychiatrist Thaddeus is guiding him through life. When he finds out that his father is an evil criminal mastermind and runs a school for evil known as the Axis institute, he goes not knowing of his father's dark intentions. Can he stop his father's dark plans before it is too late? Read on and find out for yourself.
This was a pretty good YA audiobook. If you like books about good and evil, def check it out. You can find the audiobook and book version of this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.
This was a pretty good YA audiobook. If you like books about good and evil, def check it out. You can find the audiobook and book version of this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.
December 28, 2015
I am horribly conflicted by this book. While the first part was interesting, watching a young child struggle with his intellect, learning as well as school, it got rather boring when he enrolled in the school for evil geniuses. Which wasn't really what was advertised on the tin. It slowly managed to get to a climax with a few twists and turns, when the action finally got started and the book got interesting, and then it ended, with no real resolution. I am unsure if I will read the next in the series.
November 10, 2014
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Cadel Piggott doesn’t really fit in. His genius IQ and his peculiar obsessions seem strange to his classmates. He’s not a malicious child, but his boredom drives him to challenge himself by hacking into computers and designing intricate pranks. It doesn’t help that his parents are constantly busy and don’t spend any time with him. The only person who really seems to care about Cadel is Dr. Thaddeus Roth, his psychologist. Thaddeus even encourages Cadel’s obsessions and pranks. As Cadel gets older, Thaddeus gradually starts to reveal why he’s interested in the boy — he wants to enroll him in Dr. Phineas Darkkon’s special school: The Axis Institute for World Domination.
Evil Genius, the first in a series of novels by Catherine Jinks, starts out with a delightfully mischievous sense of humor as we watch Cadel studying traffic patterns and bus schedules so he can play clever tricks on his classmates and teachers. The first part of the novel is fascinating and amusing and this lasts for about 100 pages (out of 500) because there’s a long build-up before Cadel goes off to Dr. Darkkon’s school.
However, as soon as Cadel gets to the school, the tone of the novel shifts abruptly and becomes incredibly dark and disturbing. I suppose it’s not surprising that the teachers and students at the Axis Institute are hateful, treacherous, and murderous, but Jinks’ tone had been much lighter until that point and the sudden shift to shocking and dreadful was incongruent with the first 20% of the novel. I had been chuckling happily with my kids until then and I knew that Cadel would be going off to Dr. Evil School, but based on the cover art and the first 100 pages, I had assumed that this would be a rather light treatment of such an institution. Wrong! Once we got to school, I felt like I’d suddenly been slammed into one of Cadel’s firewalls.
This shift in tone was an issue for me, but that’s not Catherine Jinks’ fault. There’s no rule that an author can’t abruptly change the tone of her novel, and it’s even possible that my misunderstanding of the tone was influenced by the audio version I was listening to (which is wonderfully narrated by Justine Eyre). Other readers, especially if they’re warned, will probably welcome the shift.
But I had another issue with Evil Genius. Toward the end of the novel, at which point I passionately hated almost every character in the book, the plot twisted and flip-flopped and did all sorts of strenuous acrobatics which made the horror drag on much longer and more confusingly than it needed to. It was torturous.
However, there were some bright spots peeking out of the darkness of Evil Genius. The writing and character development are excellent. Cadel’s relationship with a girl he gets to know over the Internet is perhaps the most touching YA relationship I’ve ever read. Also, Jinks gives us some things to think about in Evil Genius. For example, she shows us that our own negligent or even well-intentioned actions can have consequences that make our behaviors seem evil to others.
Catherine Jinks set out to do something original and unexpected in Evil Genius, and she accomplished that. Most of my experience with Evil Genius was unpleasant, but that’s due to my personal taste, not to Ms. Jinks’ skills.
Cadel Piggott doesn’t really fit in. His genius IQ and his peculiar obsessions seem strange to his classmates. He’s not a malicious child, but his boredom drives him to challenge himself by hacking into computers and designing intricate pranks. It doesn’t help that his parents are constantly busy and don’t spend any time with him. The only person who really seems to care about Cadel is Dr. Thaddeus Roth, his psychologist. Thaddeus even encourages Cadel’s obsessions and pranks. As Cadel gets older, Thaddeus gradually starts to reveal why he’s interested in the boy — he wants to enroll him in Dr. Phineas Darkkon’s special school: The Axis Institute for World Domination.
Evil Genius, the first in a series of novels by Catherine Jinks, starts out with a delightfully mischievous sense of humor as we watch Cadel studying traffic patterns and bus schedules so he can play clever tricks on his classmates and teachers. The first part of the novel is fascinating and amusing and this lasts for about 100 pages (out of 500) because there’s a long build-up before Cadel goes off to Dr. Darkkon’s school.
However, as soon as Cadel gets to the school, the tone of the novel shifts abruptly and becomes incredibly dark and disturbing. I suppose it’s not surprising that the teachers and students at the Axis Institute are hateful, treacherous, and murderous, but Jinks’ tone had been much lighter until that point and the sudden shift to shocking and dreadful was incongruent with the first 20% of the novel. I had been chuckling happily with my kids until then and I knew that Cadel would be going off to Dr. Evil School, but based on the cover art and the first 100 pages, I had assumed that this would be a rather light treatment of such an institution. Wrong! Once we got to school, I felt like I’d suddenly been slammed into one of Cadel’s firewalls.
This shift in tone was an issue for me, but that’s not Catherine Jinks’ fault. There’s no rule that an author can’t abruptly change the tone of her novel, and it’s even possible that my misunderstanding of the tone was influenced by the audio version I was listening to (which is wonderfully narrated by Justine Eyre). Other readers, especially if they’re warned, will probably welcome the shift.
But I had another issue with Evil Genius. Toward the end of the novel, at which point I passionately hated almost every character in the book, the plot twisted and flip-flopped and did all sorts of strenuous acrobatics which made the horror drag on much longer and more confusingly than it needed to. It was torturous.
However, there were some bright spots peeking out of the darkness of Evil Genius. The writing and character development are excellent. Cadel’s relationship with a girl he gets to know over the Internet is perhaps the most touching YA relationship I’ve ever read. Also, Jinks gives us some things to think about in Evil Genius. For example, she shows us that our own negligent or even well-intentioned actions can have consequences that make our behaviors seem evil to others.
Catherine Jinks set out to do something original and unexpected in Evil Genius, and she accomplished that. Most of my experience with Evil Genius was unpleasant, but that’s due to my personal taste, not to Ms. Jinks’ skills.
December 22, 2008
When we meet Cadel Piggot, he’s only seven years old and he’s just gotten into trouble with the law for hacking into some very well-guarded databases. Cadel’s adoptive parents take him to a therapist, Thaddeus, who becomes one of Cadel’s only trusted confidants. Because of his genius IQ, his lack of social skills (and lack of interest in most other people), and his interest in highly technical subjects, Cadel attends a special elementary/middle school. His teachers try to engage him, but Cadel is only focused on his own interests, and he mostly creeps everyone out. During this time, Cadel learns (from Thaddeus) that his real father is a brilliant crime lord by the name of Dr. Phineas Darkkon. And his father wants him to keep on doing like he’s doing.
By the age of 12, Cadel is already in high school, and none of the high school kids like him either. But, by then, Cadel, under Thaddeus’ and Dr. Darkkon’s direction, is following his own separate course of study – train systems and schedules, and then the complex lives and relationships of his fellow students. He’s mostly interested in how to break these systems, which has rather interesting and disastrous consequences for the systems and people involved. Cadel works a nice piece of revenge on his classmates and none of them – for one reason or another – graduates on time.
After graduation, Cadel is encouraged to enroll in a special college that his father created just for his benefit; it’s called the Axis Institute. There, Cadel takes classes in forgery, computers, money laundering, and other nefarious subjects. His fellow classmates spend their free time causing mayhem and making attempts on one another’s lives. Cadel, however, is deeply involved in a little project he started back in high school – Partner Post. It’s an online dating website with a subscription fee (this is how Cadel makes his money), and Cadel plays the part of the “true matches” – emailing each of his subscribers messages from fake persons. Cadel has developed an online relationship with one of his clients, Kay Lee, and when things go dreadfully wrong at the Institute, they meet up in real life to try and figure out what’s going on.
There is a lot that’s hidden from Cadel, and as stumbles upon the many secrets others have been keeping, he learns that no one has been telling him the truth. Finding the answers for himself allows Cadel to find his own freedom from the people who want to control him. But now he has to decide what kind of person he wants to be. Through learning to care for Kay Lee (aka Sonja), and for his friend Gazzo, Cadel discovers that he isn’t completely misanthropic or evil – which makes him a bad fit to take over his father’s empire.
This was a rather complex novel – lots of character development and technical details. Cadel is initially difficult to identify with, as he’s so alienated from other people and emotionally detached from the implications of his actions, but his technical prowess and, ultimately, his transformation, are fascinating. This should be appreciated by sophisticated teen readers who enjoy a well-crafted technological mystery.
By the age of 12, Cadel is already in high school, and none of the high school kids like him either. But, by then, Cadel, under Thaddeus’ and Dr. Darkkon’s direction, is following his own separate course of study – train systems and schedules, and then the complex lives and relationships of his fellow students. He’s mostly interested in how to break these systems, which has rather interesting and disastrous consequences for the systems and people involved. Cadel works a nice piece of revenge on his classmates and none of them – for one reason or another – graduates on time.
After graduation, Cadel is encouraged to enroll in a special college that his father created just for his benefit; it’s called the Axis Institute. There, Cadel takes classes in forgery, computers, money laundering, and other nefarious subjects. His fellow classmates spend their free time causing mayhem and making attempts on one another’s lives. Cadel, however, is deeply involved in a little project he started back in high school – Partner Post. It’s an online dating website with a subscription fee (this is how Cadel makes his money), and Cadel plays the part of the “true matches” – emailing each of his subscribers messages from fake persons. Cadel has developed an online relationship with one of his clients, Kay Lee, and when things go dreadfully wrong at the Institute, they meet up in real life to try and figure out what’s going on.
There is a lot that’s hidden from Cadel, and as stumbles upon the many secrets others have been keeping, he learns that no one has been telling him the truth. Finding the answers for himself allows Cadel to find his own freedom from the people who want to control him. But now he has to decide what kind of person he wants to be. Through learning to care for Kay Lee (aka Sonja), and for his friend Gazzo, Cadel discovers that he isn’t completely misanthropic or evil – which makes him a bad fit to take over his father’s empire.
This was a rather complex novel – lots of character development and technical details. Cadel is initially difficult to identify with, as he’s so alienated from other people and emotionally detached from the implications of his actions, but his technical prowess and, ultimately, his transformation, are fascinating. This should be appreciated by sophisticated teen readers who enjoy a well-crafted technological mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2010
By the end of last year I was in a total YA funk. I was feeling jaded, and extremely tired of reading about American teens in American schools and all the usual clichés that that comes with. So someone recommended Evil Genius to me as a book that would break me out of my funk - they even said they would eat their hat if I didn't like it.
Well, no need to break out the hat-dipping sauce, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped either, even if it did meet the criteria.
Cadel Piggott is far from an ordinary boy. From a young age he exhibits all the signs of being a genius - the kind with no moral compass because he has no interest in people, and no understanding of them either. His adoptive parents, the grossly overweight and red-faced Stuart Piggott and his preoccupied, vain socialite wife Lanna Piggott, take him to a child psychologist recommended by the court, Thaddeus Roth. Dr Roth is not just a psychologist - he's the right-hand man of Dr Darkkon, a mad scientist now in prison for life in the US. Roth has been watching and waiting for Cadel for a long time: he is after all Dr Darkkon's son, and the two men have great plans for the boy. First, they must hone his genius mind into the right tool, in the right direction: to rule the world.
When Cadel is fourteen he finishes high school, thanks to an accelerated program, and enrolls in the Axis Institute - a place where people with skills society frowns upon, or locks you up for, can be nurtured and perfected. Thaddeus Roth is the Chancellor, and members of the criminal underworld are the professors. His classmates include a young man from Liverpool whose stench is so bad he has to wear a kind of spacesuit to protect everyone from his smell; twins with a penchant for shoplifting, aided and abetted by a telepathic connection; and a young medical student who's trying to turn himself into a vampire.
It's a place where explosions occur often, where students test their potions on each other and where cheating is admired - so long as you don't get caught. While Cadel hones his computer-hacking skills and learns all the secrets of the faculty, his online friendship with a young woman of great mathematical ability called Kay-Lee is the only sign of normalcy in his life - if you overlook the fact that he's pretending to be a forty-something, cynical maths professor in Canada. When Kay-Lee suddenly stops answering his e-mails and then tells him to sod off, he puts all his energy into learning why. The truth comes as a shock, but now he needs a plan. A dastardly, evil plan that will, he hopes, free him of the net that's been so carefully and thoroughly woven around him, and enable him to live his own life.
I didn't realise Jinks was Australian - and reading this, it's not easy to tell, despite the Sydney setting. So it didn't meet my need to read "home-grown" YA, sadly. I also found it a bit dull, especially the first half. Then it starts to pick up, but didn't really go anywhere very interesting. Part of the problem is that Cadel - who doesn't narrate but whose perspective, if you can call it that, is the only one we get - doesn't have much charisma, and his disinterest in other people makes him alienating without being interesting. It was hard to care about him, and for a genius, I thought some of his decisions, especially towards the end, were pretty dumb.
One of my favourite Harry Potter books is The Order of the Phoenix, and a great deal of that book is involved with school - classes, homework, not much action until the very end. But it never fails to engross me. I can't explain it, but I guess it comes down to how it's written. There are large chunks of Evil Genius that follow Cadel around the school, but I found it all too boring. I couldn't keep track of who was who amongst the faculty, and for a while there the story hung in limbo. It's not because this is a long book that I took so long to read it - it's a pretty fast read, for all its page numbers. No, it's simply because I kept losing interest.
It's not all bad of course. I just felt that it had a lot of potential but didn't deliver. There were some riveting bits, and some interesting characters, but overall I wasn't greatly impressed and have no burning desire to pick up the sequel, Genius Squad. I didn't hate it, not at all. I liked it. But mostly I'm just disappointed. After writing this out and failing to remember what I enjoyed about it, maybe it is time to break out the hat-dipping sauce after all. Or maybe I just left it too long to write the review...
Well, no need to break out the hat-dipping sauce, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped either, even if it did meet the criteria.
Cadel Piggott is far from an ordinary boy. From a young age he exhibits all the signs of being a genius - the kind with no moral compass because he has no interest in people, and no understanding of them either. His adoptive parents, the grossly overweight and red-faced Stuart Piggott and his preoccupied, vain socialite wife Lanna Piggott, take him to a child psychologist recommended by the court, Thaddeus Roth. Dr Roth is not just a psychologist - he's the right-hand man of Dr Darkkon, a mad scientist now in prison for life in the US. Roth has been watching and waiting for Cadel for a long time: he is after all Dr Darkkon's son, and the two men have great plans for the boy. First, they must hone his genius mind into the right tool, in the right direction: to rule the world.
When Cadel is fourteen he finishes high school, thanks to an accelerated program, and enrolls in the Axis Institute - a place where people with skills society frowns upon, or locks you up for, can be nurtured and perfected. Thaddeus Roth is the Chancellor, and members of the criminal underworld are the professors. His classmates include a young man from Liverpool whose stench is so bad he has to wear a kind of spacesuit to protect everyone from his smell; twins with a penchant for shoplifting, aided and abetted by a telepathic connection; and a young medical student who's trying to turn himself into a vampire.
It's a place where explosions occur often, where students test their potions on each other and where cheating is admired - so long as you don't get caught. While Cadel hones his computer-hacking skills and learns all the secrets of the faculty, his online friendship with a young woman of great mathematical ability called Kay-Lee is the only sign of normalcy in his life - if you overlook the fact that he's pretending to be a forty-something, cynical maths professor in Canada. When Kay-Lee suddenly stops answering his e-mails and then tells him to sod off, he puts all his energy into learning why. The truth comes as a shock, but now he needs a plan. A dastardly, evil plan that will, he hopes, free him of the net that's been so carefully and thoroughly woven around him, and enable him to live his own life.
I didn't realise Jinks was Australian - and reading this, it's not easy to tell, despite the Sydney setting. So it didn't meet my need to read "home-grown" YA, sadly. I also found it a bit dull, especially the first half. Then it starts to pick up, but didn't really go anywhere very interesting. Part of the problem is that Cadel - who doesn't narrate but whose perspective, if you can call it that, is the only one we get - doesn't have much charisma, and his disinterest in other people makes him alienating without being interesting. It was hard to care about him, and for a genius, I thought some of his decisions, especially towards the end, were pretty dumb.
One of my favourite Harry Potter books is The Order of the Phoenix, and a great deal of that book is involved with school - classes, homework, not much action until the very end. But it never fails to engross me. I can't explain it, but I guess it comes down to how it's written. There are large chunks of Evil Genius that follow Cadel around the school, but I found it all too boring. I couldn't keep track of who was who amongst the faculty, and for a while there the story hung in limbo. It's not because this is a long book that I took so long to read it - it's a pretty fast read, for all its page numbers. No, it's simply because I kept losing interest.
It's not all bad of course. I just felt that it had a lot of potential but didn't deliver. There were some riveting bits, and some interesting characters, but overall I wasn't greatly impressed and have no burning desire to pick up the sequel, Genius Squad. I didn't hate it, not at all. I liked it. But mostly I'm just disappointed. After writing this out and failing to remember what I enjoyed about it, maybe it is time to break out the hat-dipping sauce after all. Or maybe I just left it too long to write the review...
March 4, 2017
Really average. Jinks filled "Evil Genius" with interesting details that didn't lead anywhere, and I felt constantly confused as to why. For instance, there's a kid named Com who never talks, who is "more computer than person," and who is always pecking away at a keyboard in the lab at the protagonist's higher education institute. I kept waiting for him to be an important, unexpected player later in the story, but -- spoiler -- he wasn't. He was a superfluous detail that Jinks inadvertently made to seem more than a mere details. And the book was full of little literary spurs like that, promising details that cried out to be part of the narrative, but ultimately were dead ends leading nowhere.
Moreover, I didn't find Cadel, the protagonist, worthy of much empathy. He just didn't seem very interesting; rather, I found him boxy, one-dimensional, uninteresting, uninspiring. Sonja, his distant friend with cerebral palsy, was much more intriguing even in her bit role, but, alas, Jinks used her as a mere muse to Cadel.
And, finally, "Evil Genius" could never really decide if it was serious, emotionally-impactful YA fiction based on reality or a more whimsical story, just divorced enough from the realm of possibility that it takes on a bit more of a fantastic hue, a la Harry Potter. The Axis Institute of Evil seemed like a place intended to make us laugh a little -- students self-combusted, tried to turn themselves into vampires, and occasionally blew themselves up. But instead of giving the Institute just a touch of lightness, Jinks gave all the proceedings there an air of deathly seriousness, which just came across as weird to me. Professors were killing one another at a place called "the Institute of Evil," but readers are supposed to take it completely seriously. It just seemed like the whole book would've been much improved had Jinks embraced the black humor running through it all -- but instead, it all had a much too serious tone and feel to it.
It was a page turner -- I'll give it that. But unfortunately that fact only underlines that "Evil Genius" is a fantastic but half-baked idea.
Moreover, I didn't find Cadel, the protagonist, worthy of much empathy. He just didn't seem very interesting; rather, I found him boxy, one-dimensional, uninteresting, uninspiring. Sonja, his distant friend with cerebral palsy, was much more intriguing even in her bit role, but, alas, Jinks used her as a mere muse to Cadel.
And, finally, "Evil Genius" could never really decide if it was serious, emotionally-impactful YA fiction based on reality or a more whimsical story, just divorced enough from the realm of possibility that it takes on a bit more of a fantastic hue, a la Harry Potter. The Axis Institute of Evil seemed like a place intended to make us laugh a little -- students self-combusted, tried to turn themselves into vampires, and occasionally blew themselves up. But instead of giving the Institute just a touch of lightness, Jinks gave all the proceedings there an air of deathly seriousness, which just came across as weird to me. Professors were killing one another at a place called "the Institute of Evil," but readers are supposed to take it completely seriously. It just seemed like the whole book would've been much improved had Jinks embraced the black humor running through it all -- but instead, it all had a much too serious tone and feel to it.
It was a page turner -- I'll give it that. But unfortunately that fact only underlines that "Evil Genius" is a fantastic but half-baked idea.
June 15, 2009
This is a book I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own. Partly because I'm just not in the habit of giving books without plot blurbs much attention, and partly because I don't pay much attention to the YA section.
It was absolutely wonderful to read a book written on this level - this is seriously not a book for people who have trouble with simple html formatting, and technobabble (serious and humorous) abounds. The plot is solid and complex, and even when I felt like I had a grasp on what was going on I was still on edge because I felt like there might be a twist coming that would prove me wrong. I did pretty much guess the reveal in the second chapter, but the many twists on the way to it made it quite satisfying.
The pace is pretty steady throughout, fast enough to not be slow, but the story takes its time to unfold. The characterization is fascinating - none of the characters being drawn with a broad brush - and character development is one of this book's strongest aspects. I have only one real disappointment with the book, and that is I felt like one side character got a lot of build up that went nowhere. I hope he appears in the next book. :)
It was absolutely wonderful to read a book written on this level - this is seriously not a book for people who have trouble with simple html formatting, and technobabble (serious and humorous) abounds. The plot is solid and complex, and even when I felt like I had a grasp on what was going on I was still on edge because I felt like there might be a twist coming that would prove me wrong. I did pretty much guess the reveal in the second chapter, but the many twists on the way to it made it quite satisfying.
The pace is pretty steady throughout, fast enough to not be slow, but the story takes its time to unfold. The characterization is fascinating - none of the characters being drawn with a broad brush - and character development is one of this book's strongest aspects. I have only one real disappointment with the book, and that is I felt like one side character got a lot of build up that went nowhere. I hope he appears in the next book. :)
May 30, 2011
What. An. Amazing. Book.
Seriously, I finished this book after feverishly reading it for about three days, and I just sat there thinking about it for about two hours before I could go to sleep. It was brilliant.
Character development, amazing plotlines and twists, brilliant originality... all things that went into Evil Genius. I spent today driving around to multiple bookshops to try and find the sequel, but so far I've only found the third in the series and I'm DYING TO READ IT!
Highly, HIGHLY recommended.
Seriously, I finished this book after feverishly reading it for about three days, and I just sat there thinking about it for about two hours before I could go to sleep. It was brilliant.
Character development, amazing plotlines and twists, brilliant originality... all things that went into Evil Genius. I spent today driving around to multiple bookshops to try and find the sequel, but so far I've only found the third in the series and I'm DYING TO READ IT!
Highly, HIGHLY recommended.
January 1, 2020
I think this (22/12/19) was about the fourth time I read this.
The first few times were in my teens and I was honestly a little bit disappointed by the end. I like to think it's a mark of how I've grown that I see it's more realistic as it is, messy and closer to the real world. Still not perfect but better than I thought, for different reasons.
The first few times were in my teens and I was honestly a little bit disappointed by the end. I like to think it's a mark of how I've grown that I see it's more realistic as it is, messy and closer to the real world. Still not perfect but better than I thought, for different reasons.
July 4, 2011
I can't be bothered wasting my time with this book. I'm a fan of evil, but this story hasn't done anything for me at all. This book dragged on too much and I don't have the patience for it; too many other books out there to read, so I won't waste my time on a book I'm not enjoying.
October 30, 2014
Stuff I Read - Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks Review
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. There's a manga I've seen, Hollow Fields, that has basically the same (what I presumed was the) premise, that there's basically a school for evil geniuses. That's what I got from the synopsis and the inside cover and so that's what I was prepared for, something fast and with lots of explosions. Now don't get me wrong, there were explosions, but this book sets up a much slower boil than I was anticipating. It works well for it, and creates an interesting and layered view of Cadel as a character. But it does make this seem much longer because of it.
The book actually opens up quite early in Cadel's life. He's bored with his life and too smart and as such starts to act out and is funneled into therapy with a man who is clearly kind of sketchy. But he is also the only one to pay attention to Cadel and give him positive reinforcement and all of that. Cadel goes to schools and discovers he likes to mess with people, get them to do things, basically manipulate everything. Which leads to bigger and bigger mischief (if it can be called that when it amounts to causing his whole class of high school to to terrible on their placement exams). It's only after all of that when Cadel is sent to the Axis Institute. And at that point the story starts to pick up a little.
That's not to say that everything before that was bad. Cadel's life and growth are interesting to witness, but it is a bit dull having to wait while he slowly loses his way and for him to slowly gain it back. Because the more he attends Axis, where the other students wind up dead with shocking frequency. But again, the main focus is not on Cadel doing anything. He does some things, but any success he has is normally an accident. I get in some ways why that would be, because if he had done it on purpose then he would be guilty of murder, at least indirectly. But it does take away his agency. He just doesn't do much, flitting from thing to thing.
At the same time, that's basically Cadel's character. That's what he's been made into in order to try and force him to accept his legacy. It's well done for that, but I just couldn't get into it as much as possible, especially once everything started happening at once. It was a fun set up, and it was interesting to see all the pieces fit together and fight it out while Cadel tried to get free. But even that doesn't work out well, and with the ending a jumble of kidnappings, I got a little dizzy keeping it all straight.
In the end, I liked the book, but I think it took too much time to really establish the stakes and get down to it. Part of it could be that this is billed as the first part of a larger series, and I just don't much care for that. But what's here is good. It's interesting and entertaining, just a little tedious at times. I would have liked to see a bit more weird, a bit more crazy, given all the personalities involved. Instead it came across as subdued, and for that I'll give it an equally subdued 6.75/10.
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. There's a manga I've seen, Hollow Fields, that has basically the same (what I presumed was the) premise, that there's basically a school for evil geniuses. That's what I got from the synopsis and the inside cover and so that's what I was prepared for, something fast and with lots of explosions. Now don't get me wrong, there were explosions, but this book sets up a much slower boil than I was anticipating. It works well for it, and creates an interesting and layered view of Cadel as a character. But it does make this seem much longer because of it.
The book actually opens up quite early in Cadel's life. He's bored with his life and too smart and as such starts to act out and is funneled into therapy with a man who is clearly kind of sketchy. But he is also the only one to pay attention to Cadel and give him positive reinforcement and all of that. Cadel goes to schools and discovers he likes to mess with people, get them to do things, basically manipulate everything. Which leads to bigger and bigger mischief (if it can be called that when it amounts to causing his whole class of high school to to terrible on their placement exams). It's only after all of that when Cadel is sent to the Axis Institute. And at that point the story starts to pick up a little.
That's not to say that everything before that was bad. Cadel's life and growth are interesting to witness, but it is a bit dull having to wait while he slowly loses his way and for him to slowly gain it back. Because the more he attends Axis, where the other students wind up dead with shocking frequency. But again, the main focus is not on Cadel doing anything. He does some things, but any success he has is normally an accident. I get in some ways why that would be, because if he had done it on purpose then he would be guilty of murder, at least indirectly. But it does take away his agency. He just doesn't do much, flitting from thing to thing.
At the same time, that's basically Cadel's character. That's what he's been made into in order to try and force him to accept his legacy. It's well done for that, but I just couldn't get into it as much as possible, especially once everything started happening at once. It was a fun set up, and it was interesting to see all the pieces fit together and fight it out while Cadel tried to get free. But even that doesn't work out well, and with the ending a jumble of kidnappings, I got a little dizzy keeping it all straight.
In the end, I liked the book, but I think it took too much time to really establish the stakes and get down to it. Part of it could be that this is billed as the first part of a larger series, and I just don't much care for that. But what's here is good. It's interesting and entertaining, just a little tedious at times. I would have liked to see a bit more weird, a bit more crazy, given all the personalities involved. Instead it came across as subdued, and for that I'll give it an equally subdued 6.75/10.
December 12, 2011
Did I like this book?: This book is unique. This book is very, very unique, like, I have never read a book quite like this one before, and I am very happy about that. I am a guy who normally likes the bad guys in books and movies better than the heroes because being evil is so much more fun. This book is about a special school designed to train villains. So yes, I liked this book a whole lot.
Summary: Again, as with all my reviews, this summary will be short and sweet in order to avoid major spoilers. So, the book starts out by introducing the reader to Cadel Piggott, a seven year old kid, who is way too smart for his age. I mean, super evil genius smart. So smart that at seven he already knows how to do complex hacking on his computer, which gets taken away from him as a result of the hacking. It is obvious at the beginning of the book that people are scared of Cadel, and so it is suggested that his adoptive parents take him to a psychologist. What his adoptive parents don't know though is that this psychologist, Dr. Thaddeus Roth, works for Cadel's real father, who is in prison. Each session, through a video screen, Cadel is taught by this father, Dr. Drakkon, about how to do some pretty villainous stuff, and not get caught. This continues on until Cadel is thirteen, and is ready to go to school at the Axis Institute, a special school, run by Dr. Roth, that is all about how to become the ultimate super villain. I think I will stop the summary there, as from this point in the novel, things really start to get interesting, and take some unique twists that you will not see coming as a reader. I will end this review by saying though that Cadel is a really excellent main character, even if you will dislike him for most of the book because of just how smart and sarcastic he is. I mean, I loved him, but most people will not.
What can this book teach?: This book is excellent for teaching three things, 1: Description and Plot Development as this book is very much plot centric, and Jinks does an excellent job of setting things up in the novel, and describing the school and various classes that the students take. I guess, she had to be good at doing that though, as this book is a part of a series, and things needed to be set up for the sequel. :) 2: This book is very much a unique idea, and it can be used as motivation to help your students expand their imaginations and come up with things that nobody has ever really thought of before, or, if those ideas have been thought of, than to actually write about those ideas, and not be afraid too. 3: Character Development is quite excellent in this novel, and watching Cadel grow up and change throughout the novel is incredibly engaging. This book is an excellent example to use when teaching students how to perform this subtle art.
Recommended?: Quite simply, Yes, this book is a great read, and one that I would definitely recommend to everyone and anyone.
Summary: Again, as with all my reviews, this summary will be short and sweet in order to avoid major spoilers. So, the book starts out by introducing the reader to Cadel Piggott, a seven year old kid, who is way too smart for his age. I mean, super evil genius smart. So smart that at seven he already knows how to do complex hacking on his computer, which gets taken away from him as a result of the hacking. It is obvious at the beginning of the book that people are scared of Cadel, and so it is suggested that his adoptive parents take him to a psychologist. What his adoptive parents don't know though is that this psychologist, Dr. Thaddeus Roth, works for Cadel's real father, who is in prison. Each session, through a video screen, Cadel is taught by this father, Dr. Drakkon, about how to do some pretty villainous stuff, and not get caught. This continues on until Cadel is thirteen, and is ready to go to school at the Axis Institute, a special school, run by Dr. Roth, that is all about how to become the ultimate super villain. I think I will stop the summary there, as from this point in the novel, things really start to get interesting, and take some unique twists that you will not see coming as a reader. I will end this review by saying though that Cadel is a really excellent main character, even if you will dislike him for most of the book because of just how smart and sarcastic he is. I mean, I loved him, but most people will not.
What can this book teach?: This book is excellent for teaching three things, 1: Description and Plot Development as this book is very much plot centric, and Jinks does an excellent job of setting things up in the novel, and describing the school and various classes that the students take. I guess, she had to be good at doing that though, as this book is a part of a series, and things needed to be set up for the sequel. :) 2: This book is very much a unique idea, and it can be used as motivation to help your students expand their imaginations and come up with things that nobody has ever really thought of before, or, if those ideas have been thought of, than to actually write about those ideas, and not be afraid too. 3: Character Development is quite excellent in this novel, and watching Cadel grow up and change throughout the novel is incredibly engaging. This book is an excellent example to use when teaching students how to perform this subtle art.
Recommended?: Quite simply, Yes, this book is a great read, and one that I would definitely recommend to everyone and anyone.
May 4, 2009
Cadel Piggott isn't your typical kid. For one thing, he's extremely gifted intelligence wise. And for another, he's the son of the evil Dr. Darkkon, who is being held in prison for various crimes.
When Cadel's adopted parents take him to see a psychologist following Cadel's attempts to illegally hack into various computer systems, Cadel falls under the influence of Dr. Thaddeus Roth. Unknown to his adoptive parents, Roth is actually part of Darkkon's league of evil and instead of helping Cadel with his issues, Roth is helping Cadel embrace his evil side and learning how to be the evil genius his father desires.
The first half of the book, focusing on Cadel's meteoric rise through each grade and his problems relating to his classmates is the stuff of sheer genius. Cadel's use of psychological manipulation of his classmates, teachers and anyone else he comes into contact with is purely delightful. Seeing how Cadel figures out how to disrupt traffic patterns in his first attempts at evil plots is wonderful, but the real stroke of genius is Cadel's opening an on-line dating service to draw in unwitting victims and to raise money (Cadel keeps the would-be suitors separated geographically so they don't become any the wiser that it's a scam).
It's once Cadel graduates and decides to attend Axis University, a school set up by Darkkon for the training of evil geniuses, that the book becomes a big bogged down. The middle section, dealing with Cadel's various studies and the characters encountered there, doesn't really move as effortlessly as the first third. Thankfully, things pick up in the final third of the novel with Cadel begins to piece together that things might not necessarily be what they seem. The last hundred or so pages are pure action, with revelations coming quickly and plot twists galore.
When Cadel's adopted parents take him to see a psychologist following Cadel's attempts to illegally hack into various computer systems, Cadel falls under the influence of Dr. Thaddeus Roth. Unknown to his adoptive parents, Roth is actually part of Darkkon's league of evil and instead of helping Cadel with his issues, Roth is helping Cadel embrace his evil side and learning how to be the evil genius his father desires.
The first half of the book, focusing on Cadel's meteoric rise through each grade and his problems relating to his classmates is the stuff of sheer genius. Cadel's use of psychological manipulation of his classmates, teachers and anyone else he comes into contact with is purely delightful. Seeing how Cadel figures out how to disrupt traffic patterns in his first attempts at evil plots is wonderful, but the real stroke of genius is Cadel's opening an on-line dating service to draw in unwitting victims and to raise money (Cadel keeps the would-be suitors separated geographically so they don't become any the wiser that it's a scam).
It's once Cadel graduates and decides to attend Axis University, a school set up by Darkkon for the training of evil geniuses, that the book becomes a big bogged down. The middle section, dealing with Cadel's various studies and the characters encountered there, doesn't really move as effortlessly as the first third. Thankfully, things pick up in the final third of the novel with Cadel begins to piece together that things might not necessarily be what they seem. The last hundred or so pages are pure action, with revelations coming quickly and plot twists galore.
March 7, 2012
Not for me. Other people seem to love this book, but I couldn't get myself to care very much at any time over the several arduous days it took me to complete this novel. Were I not reading the title for an assignment, I would have given up.
The first 200 pages are incredibly tedius. The narrative was descriptive and detailed, but boring to me. It wasn't particularly clever or especially intriguing. It felt like standard fare and the effort put into explaining every detail weighed down the story. The plot begins to pick up after this point, but is needlessly complicated and simply confusing. The revealed twist in the final 50 pages was obvious from the get-go, at least to adults or smart young adults.
I do give the author props for having a non-traditional character and presenting her in an even light. While Cadel, I think, feels some pity for Sonja with her cerebral palsy, I never felt as though the story itself was trying to elicit the same feeling from the reader.
On the whole however, I was most disappointed with how little I cared about Cadel. I never felt like he was a real character, let alone a person. He was a means by which the audience views a complicated, secretive world. His supposed development of a conscience felt flat to me. Perhaps this is because this change occurs in the latter half of the book and I had given up on caring by then. His flashes of righteous indignation and anger as well as claustrophobia over his situation rang true, but I felt these emotions were things anyone would have felt in the situation. They didn't inform me about Cadel in particular. He could have been any kid at all with above average intelligence.
This could have been 250 pages and vaguely interesting. Instead it was nearly 500 pages and ensured that I will never read this author again.
The first 200 pages are incredibly tedius. The narrative was descriptive and detailed, but boring to me. It wasn't particularly clever or especially intriguing. It felt like standard fare and the effort put into explaining every detail weighed down the story. The plot begins to pick up after this point, but is needlessly complicated and simply confusing. The revealed twist in the final 50 pages was obvious from the get-go, at least to adults or smart young adults.
I do give the author props for having a non-traditional character and presenting her in an even light. While Cadel, I think, feels some pity for Sonja with her cerebral palsy, I never felt as though the story itself was trying to elicit the same feeling from the reader.
On the whole however, I was most disappointed with how little I cared about Cadel. I never felt like he was a real character, let alone a person. He was a means by which the audience views a complicated, secretive world. His supposed development of a conscience felt flat to me. Perhaps this is because this change occurs in the latter half of the book and I had given up on caring by then. His flashes of righteous indignation and anger as well as claustrophobia over his situation rang true, but I felt these emotions were things anyone would have felt in the situation. They didn't inform me about Cadel in particular. He could have been any kid at all with above average intelligence.
This could have been 250 pages and vaguely interesting. Instead it was nearly 500 pages and ensured that I will never read this author again.
September 27, 2009
I picked up this book after a recommendation from a friend.
The one i picked up had the black cover-very enchanting, and a gripping blurb.
I read the first page (as i usually do when testing a book) it was gripping and very descriptive-so, i purchased the book.
The start was superb. Very visual-and the characters where very believable as well.
After really enjoying the first chapters, the story dragged on.
Some times there would be a very quick change, but then back to its dragging.
I must admit, sometimes it got quite boring.
I found my self drawing to the end. The suspense was picking up, and my interest was quickly returning. And, it didn't leave.
The end was catchy and descriptive. It was quick moving, visual, and i had a good connection with these characters.
I was literally on the edge of my seat during the final chapters, i gasped when my favorite character, Thaddeus told Cadel the truth. I read quickly as possible- forgetting i was reading and more like i was watching-when The police stormed into Cadels house.
Even thought it took me a while to read this book-the font was so small!- it was worth the ending. Superb!
Its recomended that you read this book.
ITs very original, clever and marvelous.
Catherine Jenks cleraly knows what she is talking about with all the scinece and computer terms, though her story telling is fantastic.
I must read GENIUS SQUAD- the next in the trilogy, i must know what happens to Cadel, Gazo and Thaddeus next.
The one i picked up had the black cover-very enchanting, and a gripping blurb.
I read the first page (as i usually do when testing a book) it was gripping and very descriptive-so, i purchased the book.
The start was superb. Very visual-and the characters where very believable as well.
After really enjoying the first chapters, the story dragged on.
Some times there would be a very quick change, but then back to its dragging.
I must admit, sometimes it got quite boring.
I found my self drawing to the end. The suspense was picking up, and my interest was quickly returning. And, it didn't leave.
The end was catchy and descriptive. It was quick moving, visual, and i had a good connection with these characters.
I was literally on the edge of my seat during the final chapters, i gasped when my favorite character, Thaddeus told Cadel the truth. I read quickly as possible- forgetting i was reading and more like i was watching-when The police stormed into Cadels house.
Even thought it took me a while to read this book-the font was so small!- it was worth the ending. Superb!
Its recomended that you read this book.
ITs very original, clever and marvelous.
Catherine Jenks cleraly knows what she is talking about with all the scinece and computer terms, though her story telling is fantastic.
I must read GENIUS SQUAD- the next in the trilogy, i must know what happens to Cadel, Gazo and Thaddeus next.
November 30, 2008
Jinks gives us an interesting premise for the book: a school for teaching certain (and not so certain) child geniuses of the world to dominate society and take care of the future of mankind from the likes of you and me.
The potential for tongue in cheek hilarity is there but not quite fully realized.
For being over 500 pages I found the book to be a quick read and to be enjoyable in parts. However, at times I didn't know if the author was trying to be serious or funny, and there seemed to be a lot of filler. It does set the stage for a sequel, but it wasn't enough to get me to follow through. I didn't have a lot of empathy for the protagonist, Cadel.
Basically, Harry Potter meets Lex Luthor, but it ends up being Harry Potter meets Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
I'm a little surprised at some of the content of this YA book. There are some four-letter words and it's heavily alluded to in a chapter that one of the teachers rapes or has raped girls.
The potential for tongue in cheek hilarity is there but not quite fully realized.
For being over 500 pages I found the book to be a quick read and to be enjoyable in parts. However, at times I didn't know if the author was trying to be serious or funny, and there seemed to be a lot of filler. It does set the stage for a sequel, but it wasn't enough to get me to follow through. I didn't have a lot of empathy for the protagonist, Cadel.
Basically, Harry Potter meets Lex Luthor, but it ends up being Harry Potter meets Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
I'm a little surprised at some of the content of this YA book. There are some four-letter words and it's heavily alluded to in a chapter that one of the teachers rapes or has raped girls.
April 7, 2010
This is a book that boys would like. My husband was intrigued by the cover and the inside cover made him laugh. The bad guys are deliciously evil and our hero Cadel is just as bad.
Evil Genius is the story of Cadel Piggott. At a very young age, Cadel was able to hack into any computer system. He was an outsider, but studied human behavior and interactions. As a result, he developed a dating matchmaking site. He engineered the failure of his senior class at high school as well as the collapse of his school's sports facility.
Cadel gets sent to the Axis Institute, the school of deception. There, he studies courses such as Accounting (Embezzlement), Media Studies (Misinformation), and Law (Loopholes) among others.
The characters are eccentric. The book is action-packed. As I was reading it, I thought that it would make a great movie or TV series.
Evil Genius is the story of Cadel Piggott. At a very young age, Cadel was able to hack into any computer system. He was an outsider, but studied human behavior and interactions. As a result, he developed a dating matchmaking site. He engineered the failure of his senior class at high school as well as the collapse of his school's sports facility.
Cadel gets sent to the Axis Institute, the school of deception. There, he studies courses such as Accounting (Embezzlement), Media Studies (Misinformation), and Law (Loopholes) among others.
The characters are eccentric. The book is action-packed. As I was reading it, I thought that it would make a great movie or TV series.
January 15, 2011
I can't really say that I truly liked this book. I had hopes for a little more humor from the look of the inside cover but it turned out quite a bit more serious. There were a large number of characters, most of which didn't really serve any purpose in the book other than to die. Sadly the few characters that you really wanted to see developed just spastically appeared in VERY brief moments. Lastly, the ending gave me one of those "what??!!! That was it???" type feelings. It did have a somewhat open ending so maybe some of the character tid-bits pan out in the other two books, but I think I'm done with the series. I am glad I just checked this one out from the library because I would have been a bit upset if I had shelled out any cash for it.
September 21, 2018
This was a reread for nostalgia’s sake. I love that it has a great premise but it’s so badly written I had to plow through the last few chapters. It was just a lot of badly written exposition. No character development, confusing plot, unsatisfactory ending even though the letter was a nice touch.
I just wish a better writer had this idea.
Also, for a female author, Jinks sure seems to hate women, considering how she writes them. Mostly caricatures with thick make up and high heels. There’s Sonja I guess. But she was barely present.
On to the second book, Genius Squad. Why? Nostalgia. For some reason I really loved the book when I was much younger but didn’t get around to reading the third book.
I just wish a better writer had this idea.
Also, for a female author, Jinks sure seems to hate women, considering how she writes them. Mostly caricatures with thick make up and high heels. There’s Sonja I guess. But she was barely present.
On to the second book, Genius Squad. Why? Nostalgia. For some reason I really loved the book when I was much younger but didn’t get around to reading the third book.
June 30, 2016
Read the full review here!
September 1, 2024
What a colossal waste of time. Wish I had abandoned this one much sooner but I stuck with it until the end. I just kept waiting for something to actually happen. I also kept waiting for the Artemis Fowl vibes. The most evil thing this book does it to invoke the name / comparison to that beloved series.
Unlike Artemis Fowl books: There’s no heart or humor or self deprecation or smarts or whimsy or magic here. I didn’t like a single character in this book. The only slightly redeeming aspect were the long long letters to Kay-Lee and what the author did with that side character and subplot was so mediocre. It could have been so much more. Also does Catherine Jinks hate women? I mean ALL the characters were terrible in their own way, but the women especially left a lot to be desired.
The first 100 pages is a VERY slow paced intro to our main character, Cadel. He’s an orphan and his adoptive parents are an embittered couple constantly fighting, at least when they are home long enough to do so. Cadel is a genius and he’s so smart that he keeps accelerating beyond his class years. He has no friends because his interests are so far evolved beyond the playground hijinks of his peers.
After a school prank that destroys part of the school and has violent repercussions, Cadel is forced to see a psychiatrist, Dr Thaddeus Roth. This begins his exploration into the morally gray territory known as “Beyond Good and Evil.” There’s some bland regurgitation of Eugenics thrown in for an attempt to make a caricature of a Bond villain. It’s all rather convoluted and doesn’t amount to much.
Cadel studies systems - the road system, the train system, and challenged by Dr Roth he finds the weakest point and attacks not so subtly (with bomb threats) to wreak havoc on the public infrastructure at large. Not such a great use of his genius abilities but somewhat interesting to the reader. The problem is that all the characters are so flat. You never really get to know any of them. Even as Cadel evolves to study social systems and uses his snotty high school classmates as a test case, unbeknownst to them, he’s always the outsider. He never forms any connections. This winds up being part of the plot point later on but makes for a very tedious read in the meantime.
We finally get to the Axis Institute and it turns out most of the students have unique skills but I wouldn’t call any of them geniuses and most of them certainly aren’t even gifted. They’re all just either social outcasts struggling to find their way and some sense of purpose or straight up barking mad in different variations. Even the teachers are criminals and sociopaths and none of them very interesting or taking time to connect with Cadel. Every detail shared about another student or professor at the institute is another detail wasted as it all amounts to nothing. It’s like a long play with a bunch of wacky characters making their entrances and exits and talking to the audience but they don’t talk to one another and there’s no interaction, which means there’s no growth or dynamic action taking place along the way.
Cadel had so many opportunities to take agency and manage a system and BE proactive and he just reacts to everything impulsively and makes terrible decisions. Another reviewer wrote that this book doesn’t know what it wants to be. It starts off as Harry Potter without the magic and more morally questionable ethics lessons. Then it does a Truman Show twist. Then it turns out to be The Fugitive. And in the end it’s got shades of an angst ridden YA romance. It fails at all of them.
Cadel is NOT a genius when it comes to observing / questioning some pretty basic details about his own life. Like his parents. Or Dr. Roth and his motivations behind his questions and the path he is not so gradually or subtly leading Cadel down. And when things go sideways - Cadel doesn’t do anything to FIX them. Apparently he’s only a genius when it comes to breaking systems, not repair. He only explores his adopted parents so far, if he had dug deeper he may have been able to get info to leverage or discovered an ally. Then there’s the rapist lawyer at his school who attacks Cadel when he’s in disguise as a young woman. Cadel could blackmail him. Or even just leverage that as a relationship. Then there’s his classmates who keep having “accidents” and disappearing from the school, along with the teachers. And then there’s the lingering high school teacher who’s on to Cadel and threatens to hold him accountable for his terrorizing experiments, which might be the best thing for Cadel in The long run. Then there’s Cadel’s computer whiz and hacking skills and embezzlement classes and even more classmates in these areas that just never fully materialize to DO anything. There are SO many plot points that emerge and just never go anywhere. I also thought this was going to be a found family story with vibes of the Marvel heroes and that the Evil aspect of the evil genius was just a misunderstood misanthrope with a heart of gold waiting to be discovered. A Grinch awakening of sorts. (Again: read promises of Artemis Fowl vibes.)
The book just never decided what it wanted to be. Or what tone it wanted to take. Most of the time: It’s so dark and violent and serious. Not at all what I was expecting or wanted. Disappointing for so many reasons. Won’t continue the series.
Unlike Artemis Fowl books: There’s no heart or humor or self deprecation or smarts or whimsy or magic here. I didn’t like a single character in this book. The only slightly redeeming aspect were the long long letters to Kay-Lee and what the author did with that side character and subplot was so mediocre. It could have been so much more. Also does Catherine Jinks hate women? I mean ALL the characters were terrible in their own way, but the women especially left a lot to be desired.
The first 100 pages is a VERY slow paced intro to our main character, Cadel. He’s an orphan and his adoptive parents are an embittered couple constantly fighting, at least when they are home long enough to do so. Cadel is a genius and he’s so smart that he keeps accelerating beyond his class years. He has no friends because his interests are so far evolved beyond the playground hijinks of his peers.
After a school prank that destroys part of the school and has violent repercussions, Cadel is forced to see a psychiatrist, Dr Thaddeus Roth. This begins his exploration into the morally gray territory known as “Beyond Good and Evil.” There’s some bland regurgitation of Eugenics thrown in for an attempt to make a caricature of a Bond villain. It’s all rather convoluted and doesn’t amount to much.
Cadel studies systems - the road system, the train system, and challenged by Dr Roth he finds the weakest point and attacks not so subtly (with bomb threats) to wreak havoc on the public infrastructure at large. Not such a great use of his genius abilities but somewhat interesting to the reader. The problem is that all the characters are so flat. You never really get to know any of them. Even as Cadel evolves to study social systems and uses his snotty high school classmates as a test case, unbeknownst to them, he’s always the outsider. He never forms any connections. This winds up being part of the plot point later on but makes for a very tedious read in the meantime.
We finally get to the Axis Institute and it turns out most of the students have unique skills but I wouldn’t call any of them geniuses and most of them certainly aren’t even gifted. They’re all just either social outcasts struggling to find their way and some sense of purpose or straight up barking mad in different variations. Even the teachers are criminals and sociopaths and none of them very interesting or taking time to connect with Cadel. Every detail shared about another student or professor at the institute is another detail wasted as it all amounts to nothing. It’s like a long play with a bunch of wacky characters making their entrances and exits and talking to the audience but they don’t talk to one another and there’s no interaction, which means there’s no growth or dynamic action taking place along the way.
Cadel had so many opportunities to take agency and manage a system and BE proactive and he just reacts to everything impulsively and makes terrible decisions. Another reviewer wrote that this book doesn’t know what it wants to be. It starts off as Harry Potter without the magic and more morally questionable ethics lessons. Then it does a Truman Show twist. Then it turns out to be The Fugitive. And in the end it’s got shades of an angst ridden YA romance. It fails at all of them.
Cadel is NOT a genius when it comes to observing / questioning some pretty basic details about his own life. Like his parents. Or Dr. Roth and his motivations behind his questions and the path he is not so gradually or subtly leading Cadel down. And when things go sideways - Cadel doesn’t do anything to FIX them. Apparently he’s only a genius when it comes to breaking systems, not repair. He only explores his adopted parents so far, if he had dug deeper he may have been able to get info to leverage or discovered an ally. Then there’s the rapist lawyer at his school who attacks Cadel when he’s in disguise as a young woman. Cadel could blackmail him. Or even just leverage that as a relationship. Then there’s his classmates who keep having “accidents” and disappearing from the school, along with the teachers. And then there’s the lingering high school teacher who’s on to Cadel and threatens to hold him accountable for his terrorizing experiments, which might be the best thing for Cadel in The long run. Then there’s Cadel’s computer whiz and hacking skills and embezzlement classes and even more classmates in these areas that just never fully materialize to DO anything. There are SO many plot points that emerge and just never go anywhere. I also thought this was going to be a found family story with vibes of the Marvel heroes and that the Evil aspect of the evil genius was just a misunderstood misanthrope with a heart of gold waiting to be discovered. A Grinch awakening of sorts. (Again: read promises of Artemis Fowl vibes.)
The book just never decided what it wanted to be. Or what tone it wanted to take. Most of the time: It’s so dark and violent and serious. Not at all what I was expecting or wanted. Disappointing for so many reasons. Won’t continue the series.
December 19, 2017
All his life, Cadel has been living with his inattentive and uncaring adoptive parents. He is a genius when it comes to computers and systems, and even controls the whole train system for a day, despite being around 7 years old at the start of the book. Then he meets this doctor who introduces him to the Axis Institute, where he takes classes like Mutation, Pure Evil, Forgery, and Misinformation. His projects start becoming more and more cruel, until he meets an online friend names Kay-Lee who makes him start questioning the morality of his actions. I would recommend this realistic fiction book by Catherine Jinks to people who enjoyed books like N.E.R.D.S (but evil), or books about learning to be evil.
September 14, 2020
Eine Geschichte an die ich einfach oft denken muss und die mir auch beim zweiten mal lesen immernoch wahnsinnig gut gefällt.
Es ist ein locker leichter schreibstil so das man durch die Seiten nur so fliegt.
Auch wenn die Geschichte nicht perfekt ist kann sie mich einfach fesseln und ich bin gespannt was mir die nächsten Teile bringen werden. 😊
Es ist ein locker leichter schreibstil so das man durch die Seiten nur so fliegt.
Auch wenn die Geschichte nicht perfekt ist kann sie mich einfach fesseln und ich bin gespannt was mir die nächsten Teile bringen werden. 😊
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