Sarah Crossan

Imagine what the world would be like if there was a horribly drastic change in the world's environment, all the trees died, and the oxygen level in the atmosphere plummeted so low that people couldn't breathe. This novel explores a world like that. Only a fraction of the population survived this catastrophe and it seems that during the "Switch" everyone fortunate enough to be able to - or permitted to - moved into this sort of dome separated into three zones (the zones are basically separated by wealth) and manufactured air is pumped into the dome so people can survive. There is a sort of caste system going on in this world and the rich can afford all the oxygen they want, while the poor have to curtail everyday activities - like walking above three miles per hour - in order to use less oxygen because they can't afford as much. The world building was good, but there were a lot of unanswered questions (like how did this company called, of all things, "Breathe" even come into existence with this mysterious way of manufacturing fake oxygen) - of course, this is a series, so maybe they will be answered later. Each chapter is told in the POV of one of the three main characters. I would have liked a little more character development, but, again, there are more books to come, so... I will say that some of the 'supporting players' seemed a little over-the-top silly. The Pod Minister, for example, is a drunk who continually says "Ha!" so I don't know how he came into power. And Maude - and the other drifters we actually meet - speak like they have about a fifth grade education - even though Maude was supposed to have been in college at the time of the "Switch." Overall, though, I liked the story - I read it in two days. I would have never read it that quickly if I wasn't really enjoying the read!… (more)

Representation: Side Black character
Trigger warnings: Bullying, near death experience

6/10, usually I enjoy verse novels but I didn't enjoy this one which was a massive shame. All the characters were quite flat, the main character wasn't really that complex but I still enjoyed reading about her anyway. The story is that Kasienka immigrated from Poland to England just to find her father which she found eventually. Further on the story is about Kasienka's new life, there was a plot point about racism but it just mentions it and then brushes it under the rug. The only characteristics she had was being smart, being bullied, having a sister called Briony (who almost died), and being a national level swimmer (her father contributed to this), but other than that she was quite flat.

She developed a romantic attraction to a Black person called William but he was quite flat as well and I didn't feel anything for Kasienka and William. The ending was when Kasienka just won a competition and that's it. I would've preferred if this novel was written in prose rather than verse, it would've impacted me more. If you like a novel about immigration try Refugee by Alan Gratz or Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại instead of this.… (more)

7/10, now that I look back this book was enjoyable at times but it was mostly a monotonous dystopian snoozefest but at least there were some action scenes and other interesting moments that helped me to keep reading this book. There were three characters who probably shouldn't even be called characters but rather they should be called archetypes. Quinn was just a rich boy and Bea and Alina were just the rebellious strong protagonists and led a rebellion against the classic evil oppressive government but why would they suck all the air out just for the few rich people to live, I don't really know. The story begins with Bea and Alina somehow escaping the Pod but I don't know how they escaped since it's supposed to be impossible to escape the Pod and it also mentions some science jargon about the Pod giving its population extra oxygen so they get used to it however some cities outside it can survive on less oxygen which was extremely confusing and there was also one person who made her own oxygen pack to live outside the Pod which was perplexing to me as well. A few hundred sluggish pages later I finally got to the ending where the three main characters fight against the city and then it ends in a cliffhanger, how underwhelming. I would like to read the second book in the series however I highly doubt that my library would get it. If you like dystopian books this one is for you.… (more)