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Bubo #1
The System
A dystopian story in a post-apocalyptic world.
2045. The world was overpopulated. When the black death happened. Millions died. This time it's mutated and come back worse. The system seeks to save humanity. They pick the brightest minds to work in Medical and Science to help research a cure or vaccination.
Daniel wants to contribute to society and help save humanity. To do so, he must pass the system. A series of tough gruelling tests to give those who are seventeen a work quadrant.
Medical and science is where you want to be. To research and create a cure. Rations and living conditions are better there. Getting there is another matter. On his quest in helping humanity's survival, will he discover that all is not as it seems.
The System seeks to save. Is this the truth or are they hiding something and do they really want to save humanity?
*Re-edited March 2019*
2045. The world was overpopulated. When the black death happened. Millions died. This time it's mutated and come back worse. The system seeks to save humanity. They pick the brightest minds to work in Medical and Science to help research a cure or vaccination.
Daniel wants to contribute to society and help save humanity. To do so, he must pass the system. A series of tough gruelling tests to give those who are seventeen a work quadrant.
Medical and science is where you want to be. To research and create a cure. Rations and living conditions are better there. Getting there is another matter. On his quest in helping humanity's survival, will he discover that all is not as it seems.
The System seeks to save. Is this the truth or are they hiding something and do they really want to save humanity?
*Re-edited March 2019*
- GenresDystopia
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2018
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Jess Peters
27 books117 followersJess Peters, a born in Southend-on-Sea, UK, initially honed her skills as an aviation engineer before transitioning into the realms of literature and screenwriting. From an early age, Jess immersed herself in the art of storytelling, evolving from crafting short stories to formally pursuing writing in 2020 with her book, Alchemy Academy. Now, four years into her creative journey, she is set to embark on a compelling new chapter, dedicated to bringing her envisioned series to the screen.
An accomplished author, Jess specializes in contemporary and paranormal romance. Her completed series, "Riverside Docks Crew" and "Alchemy Academy," showcase her narrative prowess, while ongoing projects like the Mafia series, beginning with "Captured (Dark Empire Book 1)," and the dark paranormal series with "Bound by Shadows (The Wielders Book 1)," reflect her diverse storytelling abilities. Notably, her bestselling series, featuring titles like "Explicitly Owned," "Explicitly Found," and "Explicitly Empowered," offers a spicy and captivating reading experience.
Follow me on twitter @J_Peters_author and on Facebook. (Jess Peters author) and Instagram @jesspeters_author
Blog/website:
www.jessreviews.co.uk
https://www.amazon.com/author/jesspeters
Instagram:
@lordlouis_persian
(yes, there for my cats...)
And don't forget the tortoise @hermes_tortoise
An accomplished author, Jess specializes in contemporary and paranormal romance. Her completed series, "Riverside Docks Crew" and "Alchemy Academy," showcase her narrative prowess, while ongoing projects like the Mafia series, beginning with "Captured (Dark Empire Book 1)," and the dark paranormal series with "Bound by Shadows (The Wielders Book 1)," reflect her diverse storytelling abilities. Notably, her bestselling series, featuring titles like "Explicitly Owned," "Explicitly Found," and "Explicitly Empowered," offers a spicy and captivating reading experience.
Follow me on twitter @J_Peters_author and on Facebook. (Jess Peters author) and Instagram @jesspeters_author
Blog/website:
www.jessreviews.co.uk
https://www.amazon.com/author/jesspeters
Instagram:
@lordlouis_persian
(yes, there for my cats...)
And don't forget the tortoise @hermes_tortoise
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 23, 2018
Review can also be found on my blog here: https://booksonthebookshelf.wordpress...
The System was a fun book to read. I enjoyed reading about the dystopian feel in the book and reading about the various different factions in the story line. Society as they knew it has fallen apart. Depending on where you scored in the various tests in the system would determine which faction you were placed in. Not everyone made it through the final series of tests and some even failed out of the tests quite miserably. The tests were hard, gruelling, and both mentally and physically exhausting. Most wanted to get into the top faction where the best rations and living conditions were.
Daniel was a fun character to read about. He was determined and quite a bright young man, and he had a lot of heart and cared about others. He would do anything for his friends and family, and those he cared about. He wanted to pass the test with amazing scores and strived to make it into the top faction of medical and science. Along the way he grew weary of the system’s true intentions and wanted to see if everything they were all lead to believe was truth or if the system was lying to them all and had other plans.
It was fun to read the story from Daniel’s point of view and see things through the perspective and eyes of a young teenager. It was a refreshing story and I enjoyed the book. I look forward to the next book in the series.
The System was a fun book to read. I enjoyed reading about the dystopian feel in the book and reading about the various different factions in the story line. Society as they knew it has fallen apart. Depending on where you scored in the various tests in the system would determine which faction you were placed in. Not everyone made it through the final series of tests and some even failed out of the tests quite miserably. The tests were hard, gruelling, and both mentally and physically exhausting. Most wanted to get into the top faction where the best rations and living conditions were.
Daniel was a fun character to read about. He was determined and quite a bright young man, and he had a lot of heart and cared about others. He would do anything for his friends and family, and those he cared about. He wanted to pass the test with amazing scores and strived to make it into the top faction of medical and science. Along the way he grew weary of the system’s true intentions and wanted to see if everything they were all lead to believe was truth or if the system was lying to them all and had other plans.
It was fun to read the story from Daniel’s point of view and see things through the perspective and eyes of a young teenager. It was a refreshing story and I enjoyed the book. I look forward to the next book in the series.
January 20, 2019
“It had me feeling nervous. The system was hiding something, I could feel it. I intend to pass this all the way to the top. Then I'll find out the truth and save everyone.”
So...interesting premise made unrecognizable by unreadable writing. A short time into the future, seventeen-year-old Daniel enters the system with the hopes of bettering humanity with a cure for the disease plaguing society. Although ready to endure the tests and trials the system will put him through, he’s not prepared for the truth that will shatter all he thought he know of the world.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Because I teach middle school English classes, proper writing, or rather improper writing, is one my pet peeves when reading a published novel. I read poorly written work by teens on a daily basis; I don’t want to have to sift through and decipher a story amidst horrendous writing traits.
First of all, I have to say how annoying this book was to read with the constant inattention to maintaining a consistent tense. One of the basics of writing, ANY kind of writing, is to pick ONE tense (past/present) and stick to it. The continuous shifting of tenses stands out like a sore thumb throughout this novel.
“She just kept smiling. That grin never faltering. It is actually kind of creepy. A quick glance at her wrist showed she was a solid green. Obviously, she was. You can tell she believes in the system wholeheartedly.”
Along with the tense shifts, the sentence fluency is no better than that of a middle schooler either. I’d guesstimate about 90% of the sentences were simple sentences with a few sprinklings of compound and complex. A lack of variety in sentences means a lack of flow in the writing, which becomes the second reason why this book was extremely annoying to get through. Tack on the repetitive sentence beginnings and you’ve got an average 8th grade free write story.
“The band was then clipped on. It was about one and a half inches wide and quite thin. It was currently displaying a blank screen.”
Honestly, any book that lacks a decent attempt at editing and at least some writing skills isn’t worth my time. On top of that, there’s no character development and a stagnant plot. The book is written as, “I did this. Then I did this. Then this happened,” structure, leaving much to be desired including a bridge for the holes in the story timeline. Actually, if there was a bridge back to the time before I read this, I would take that too.
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 5, 2018
I've struggled with my review of The System. I don't usually read a lot of YA fiction, but thought I'd give this a go as it was written by an indie author and the cover art was, in my opinion, pretty good. I found the story to be a pastiche of the genre, it went where I expected and contained characters I struggled to relate to. I think the author did a good job at setting up the world and being a West Midlands native I was pleasantly surprised to find the story set there. The premise, a virus wiping out mankind and survivors ushered into safe zones, was nothing new (see every zombie or outbreak narrative ever), and it sort of felt like a Hunger Games/Divergent mash-up, with 'The System' standing in for the sinister overlords of those series respectively.
The main character was frustrating. His internal dialogue was sometimes selfish, often irritating, and made it difficult for me to like him. I think he was supposed to come across noble and brave, but he seemed more mean-spirited and obnoxious, especially in his treatment of others. Ben, the fat, overweight, useless, secondary character who is awful at everything except swimming (though, as the main character points out, not as good as him) really had nothing going for him. He wasn't likable and his interactions with the main character, Daniel, made me dislike both of them more. Daniel also took an instant dislike to Liz, though I'm not sure why. He seemed to have a lot of irrational dislikes and strange opinions, making him an incredibly complicated but unsympathetic lead.
The main issue 'The System' suffers from is a lack of good editing. There are frequent spelling and grammatical errors, the tense shifts from past to present to future, sometimes in the same paragraph, and there's a lot of descriptive exposition when some active dialogue would have been better. A solid editor would have fixed a lot of these issues and made the book sharper and more enjoyable.
Now I know I've pointed out a lot of negatives in this review, and it doesn't seem like I've struggled with it too much, but I have. The thing I've struggled with is this. I actually really like this book. Despite the issues I've raised above, or maybe because of them, it's a fairly charming read. It's a lot of fun, almost in spite of itself. I liked that the main character was a bit of a douche, albeit unintentionally I think. It made me wonder what he was going to do next. I liked that Ben was a sad sack and the author constantly referenced his weight and his inability to do even the most mundane of tasks. Ben is just the worst, I love him for that. I like the clunky way the characters speak. They explain things to the most mundane degree and everybody is incredibly patronising to everybody else.
I especially liked the puzzles teacher. She spent a long time explaining cross-words and word searches (still going right over Ben's fat head), and didn't seem to get frustrated at her students' lack of basic general knowledge.
I really really like this book. I think you should read it. I don't think I enjoyed it in the way I imagine the author intended, but I still enjoyed it, and I figure with works of fiction, that's all that really matters. So hurry up and bring on Book 2 in the Bubo Series, I'm waiting!
The main character was frustrating. His internal dialogue was sometimes selfish, often irritating, and made it difficult for me to like him. I think he was supposed to come across noble and brave, but he seemed more mean-spirited and obnoxious, especially in his treatment of others. Ben, the fat, overweight, useless, secondary character who is awful at everything except swimming (though, as the main character points out, not as good as him) really had nothing going for him. He wasn't likable and his interactions with the main character, Daniel, made me dislike both of them more. Daniel also took an instant dislike to Liz, though I'm not sure why. He seemed to have a lot of irrational dislikes and strange opinions, making him an incredibly complicated but unsympathetic lead.
The main issue 'The System' suffers from is a lack of good editing. There are frequent spelling and grammatical errors, the tense shifts from past to present to future, sometimes in the same paragraph, and there's a lot of descriptive exposition when some active dialogue would have been better. A solid editor would have fixed a lot of these issues and made the book sharper and more enjoyable.
Now I know I've pointed out a lot of negatives in this review, and it doesn't seem like I've struggled with it too much, but I have. The thing I've struggled with is this. I actually really like this book. Despite the issues I've raised above, or maybe because of them, it's a fairly charming read. It's a lot of fun, almost in spite of itself. I liked that the main character was a bit of a douche, albeit unintentionally I think. It made me wonder what he was going to do next. I liked that Ben was a sad sack and the author constantly referenced his weight and his inability to do even the most mundane of tasks. Ben is just the worst, I love him for that. I like the clunky way the characters speak. They explain things to the most mundane degree and everybody is incredibly patronising to everybody else.
I especially liked the puzzles teacher. She spent a long time explaining cross-words and word searches (still going right over Ben's fat head), and didn't seem to get frustrated at her students' lack of basic general knowledge.
I really really like this book. I think you should read it. I don't think I enjoyed it in the way I imagine the author intended, but I still enjoyed it, and I figure with works of fiction, that's all that really matters. So hurry up and bring on Book 2 in the Bubo Series, I'm waiting!
January 17, 2019
Dystopian Future Plague...without Much Ado About the Plague!
This book isn't quite what I imagined it would be from the description. It definitely presents a dystopian world, but I thought it would be more about the quest to find out more about the plague. The concept of a futuristic return of Black Death intrigued me, which is why I tried this book with my KU subscription. We do learn about the plague briefly, both how it is different from the original Black Death and how it is impacting the current world. Actually, at the top of the book, we get quite an information dump about the plague, this futuristic world, etc. Then the book's plot starts to resemble Divergent in that it becomes about young adults (and a few struggling adults) learning and competing to see where they'll be placed in their society: higher strata (medical/science because they work to eradicate the plague, politics because the politicians always think of themselves first), middle stratum (teaching), or the lower strata (greenery and engineering). The bulk of the book is all about this learning, competition, and testing, which is called The System. At the end, there is a rather shocking reveal about those who fail out of The System.
The author does a good job building a complex world, and all action and reaction happen because of the societal construct the author sets up.
Unfortunately, the plot and the mechanics of the writing itself detracted heavily from the impact this book could have had. To me, the plot was too much like Divergent, with just details separating them in essence. The text itself was riddled with so many grammar errors (missing or wrong punctuation, changing verb tenses, wrong or missing words, misspellings--even once plague was spelled plaque!) that at times it was hard to read. The author certainly didn't have a copyeditor or even a proofreader; I don't even think she ran it through the free grammar checker Grammarly!
I wanted to like this book because I think having a future plague in a dystopian society is a fascinating story idea. Pity it wasn't actually used much in the plot! More pity, too, that the text was hard to read due to so many errors.
This book isn't quite what I imagined it would be from the description. It definitely presents a dystopian world, but I thought it would be more about the quest to find out more about the plague. The concept of a futuristic return of Black Death intrigued me, which is why I tried this book with my KU subscription. We do learn about the plague briefly, both how it is different from the original Black Death and how it is impacting the current world. Actually, at the top of the book, we get quite an information dump about the plague, this futuristic world, etc. Then the book's plot starts to resemble Divergent in that it becomes about young adults (and a few struggling adults) learning and competing to see where they'll be placed in their society: higher strata (medical/science because they work to eradicate the plague, politics because the politicians always think of themselves first), middle stratum (teaching), or the lower strata (greenery and engineering). The bulk of the book is all about this learning, competition, and testing, which is called The System. At the end, there is a rather shocking reveal about those who fail out of The System.
The author does a good job building a complex world, and all action and reaction happen because of the societal construct the author sets up.
Unfortunately, the plot and the mechanics of the writing itself detracted heavily from the impact this book could have had. To me, the plot was too much like Divergent, with just details separating them in essence. The text itself was riddled with so many grammar errors (missing or wrong punctuation, changing verb tenses, wrong or missing words, misspellings--even once plague was spelled plaque!) that at times it was hard to read. The author certainly didn't have a copyeditor or even a proofreader; I don't even think she ran it through the free grammar checker Grammarly!
I wanted to like this book because I think having a future plague in a dystopian society is a fascinating story idea. Pity it wasn't actually used much in the plot! More pity, too, that the text was hard to read due to so many errors.
March 24, 2019
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
The system is set in the year 2045 when a mutated version of The Black Death returns and wipes out most of humanity. Systems are put in place for individuals who have not contracted the plague and managed to make it there before they were sealed up. Once a child in the safe zone turns 17 years old they are required to do a number of mental and physical tests to determine their job in the safe zone. Medical and science quadrant is the highest and most desirable while engineering quadrant is the lowest and least desirable. Daniel, our protoganist, is determined to get into the top ranking quadrant medical and science, so he can help save society even though he doesn't believe in the system.
The characters in this book were barely tolerable. Daniel shows kindness and compassion towards Ben, a less abled body in danger of failing out. The two end up becoming friends and Daniel sticks by him through the trials of the system. Daniel's compassion towards Ben and Ben's determination when Daniel is pushing him are their only redeeming qualities.
I was very excited to read this book. The plot sounded great and the cover is amazing. I was drawn to this book instantly. My excitement soon faded however, as the poor editing became quite annoying very fast. The characters were not relatable or likeable. It was a great concept that was executed poorly. Unfortunately, I do not recommend this book.
The system is set in the year 2045 when a mutated version of The Black Death returns and wipes out most of humanity. Systems are put in place for individuals who have not contracted the plague and managed to make it there before they were sealed up. Once a child in the safe zone turns 17 years old they are required to do a number of mental and physical tests to determine their job in the safe zone. Medical and science quadrant is the highest and most desirable while engineering quadrant is the lowest and least desirable. Daniel, our protoganist, is determined to get into the top ranking quadrant medical and science, so he can help save society even though he doesn't believe in the system.
The characters in this book were barely tolerable. Daniel shows kindness and compassion towards Ben, a less abled body in danger of failing out. The two end up becoming friends and Daniel sticks by him through the trials of the system. Daniel's compassion towards Ben and Ben's determination when Daniel is pushing him are their only redeeming qualities.
I was very excited to read this book. The plot sounded great and the cover is amazing. I was drawn to this book instantly. My excitement soon faded however, as the poor editing became quite annoying very fast. The characters were not relatable or likeable. It was a great concept that was executed poorly. Unfortunately, I do not recommend this book.
March 27, 2018
Books are a magical thing. They get you invested in people, worlds, scenarios that aren’t even real or plausible and they make you care about them. The System was slow to start but I guess you have to explain what went wrong with the world, it soon got me hooked and gets you wanting to know what these young people are going to do to fix the corruption and how they will help to find a cure.
It's a great book for all ages.
It's a great book for all ages.
June 19, 2018
I liked the book, i dind't put the book away. I kepped reading it. I liked the part about the system en virus, and want to read the other books to this serie. I liked the character Daniel, i dind't like Ben all that much a little whiny.. but i understand the nerves. But i do miss more personal sensation of the characters or something, maybe more sensation escaping the place .. but i do think for the first book to the story it is good explained and i want to read the other books!!
March 25, 2019
Enjoyed this book. The story was good and the tests interesting. I liked the characters and am looking forward to reading the next.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews