Jordana Frankel

I was a tad skeptical going in to THE WARD but I have loved the dystopian genre lately and I thought I would throw it into my reading mix. WOO HOO So glad I read it. What a wild story. It was extremely different and daring. The characters were excellent and the setting was beyond anything I have read before and totally believable the way that Jordana writes it.

Ren lives in the ward. She is daring and outgoing and beyond determined. She wanted to be a mobile racer so she found a way and has show more won every race thrown at her until now. The way Ren and the mobile racers drive will leave your heart racing if nothing else. The ward where Ren resides is where the poor and diseased live. It is run down and they don't receive a lot of resources. The whole world that is THE WARD lacks fresh water so it is highly coveted and highly searched for. Water is collected from rain so most people in the ward have never had fresh water in their entire lives.

Ren ends up being the one to find a cure to the plague that is rampant in the world and most of the book is spent with her trying to get more and come up with a way to get it to everyone who is sick even though people are trying to stop her. I enjoyed it, there was plenty of action and suspense. I enjoyed the characters. There is some 'mean girl' type behavior but it wasn't bad enough to annoy me. There are a few instances where some better explanation of events would have benefited. There is a bit of romance thrown in too.

I really enjoyed this book. I don't have many complaints about it and I already listed the ones I have. I'm excited to see what will come next in the series so I will be keeping my eyes out for book 2 (there is a book 2 right?). show less

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Emily Reads Everything

This book picks up right where The Ward ends. It’s not a stand alone novel. When I first picked it up, I knew I was missing something. Luckily The Ward was easily available so I was able to grab that up and read it first. This book was so engrossing. It was such a fun and easy read. Even though I suddenly had two books to read, it wasn’t a chore at all.

In the world of the Isle, water is a commodity. It is in such short supply that it has become a show more currency. If you can afford enough clean water, you can stay out of the sickhouses and avoid the plague. Hopefully. Especially since transmitting the plague is outlawed. They couldn’t make being sick illegal but they did outlaw transmission. Making someone else sick can send you straight to quarantine. Ren only cares about saving her sister of the heart, Aven. She’s willing to do anything, even reveal a miraculous secret fountain of youth.

I loved the premise of this book! So interesting and unique. Water is something that is taken for granted. We never think about how important it is for our life and our health. Just look at the news coming out of Flint, Michigan. Without water, you have nothing.

Also, Renata is so kickass. The best part about her is how loyal she is. She will do anything. Go to any lengths to protect Aven. Everything Ren does is for Aven. Ren and Aven’s relationship was so close. It was fantastic. However, it also was also a negative. Her greatest strength was also her greatest weakness. She is so interested in saving Aven and sheltering her from the world that she ignores everything else. She approaches life with a single minded intensity that is dangerous. She rushes head long into situations without considering the ramifications.

I really liked this book. Fantastic theme. Amazing friendships. You should read it!! show less

3 1/2 stars
Ever since I was about eight years old, I've had the same recurring nightmare that can be pretty much summed up by this picture:



Needless to say, over the years I have developed a rather intense fear of deep water, waves, the ocean in general and drowning. I know this latter fear is probably shared by all remotely sane human beings but I'm talking about an irrational fear of it. Basically, I tend to avoid watery situations altogether. Now, let's ask: what is good dystopian fiction? show more Is it not that which portrays nightmare futures which, even though not always realistic, are told convincingly enough that you can completely believe in it? [b:The Ward|12399857|The Ward|Jordana Frankel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351415847s/12399857.jpg|17381190] is my nightmare future. The idea, for me, that dystopia = flooded world makes every bit of sense and manages to absolutely terrify me.

On top of my personal fears, [b:The Ward|12399857|The Ward|Jordana Frankel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351415847s/12399857.jpg|17381190] is an addictive and exhilarating read which should appeal to fans of books like [b:Legend|9275658|Legend (Legend, #1)|Marie Lu|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333909141s/9275658.jpg|14157512] and [b:Divergent|13335037|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg|13155899], but it will also satisfy readers who feel every dystopian release is exactly the same as the last. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, mostly because I had started reading with the question "how good can another dystopia be?" floating around in my mind. I think the novel's unique spin is down to the elements found more often in fantasy - something that may not appeal to readers who prefer more realistic dystopian worlds.

I think one of the most important feelings you have to capture in dystopian fiction - and many books neglect to - is that sense of frustration, despair and anger at the society the characters live in. The vast majority of this book's readers hail from countries that have strict legal systems, that are protected by a police force, that allow you to voice your concerns. In [b:The Ward|12399857|The Ward|Jordana Frankel|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351415847s/12399857.jpg|17381190] we are reminded just how lucky we are. The reader experiences the anger Ren feels at the Governor and the society in which she lives, we experience her frustration at being unable to help the ones she loves and, most importantly, we rally behind her when she plans to take on the big guys.

You might be wondering why a book I'm speaking so highly of got only three and half stars. In fact, the majority of this book deserves at least four if not higher. So it is with a great shuddering sigh that I have to talk - again - about the portrayal of female characters. I do not understand why this has to happen in nearly every single novel. But here we are again with a scenario where every female character is hot and evil except for the protagonist and her sister. The protagonist - Ren - sees herself as unattractive and often compares herself to these other hot girls, but the guys all want her anyway. The hot mean girls are, of course, sluts and the proud owners of some silicone: "her dress is less dress, more handkerchief. I bet Kent doesn't know that her breasts aren't naturally that gravity defying." I always find it strange that we're supposed to see the "plain" MC as the "nice girl" when she's being so bitchy about other women. If it wasn't for Ren's relationship with her sister, I might have seriously hated her.

The story's main focus is on Ren and her sister (who's not her biological sister but her closest friend); the latter is infected with the HBNC virus and depends completely on Ren for survival. Ren supports them both by racing and, on occasion, accepting secret missions from the government. However, an unexpected discovery pulls Ren into a situation she could never have anticipated. Suddenly she finds herself questioning everything and everyone. Who can she trust? How far is she willing to go to save Aven? And just who are the real "bad guys"?

The mobile racing is told excellently and also offers the opportunity to take a look at the sexism that faces women who perform male-dominated roles. I'd wondered if detailed descriptions of races would bore me, but the author keeps it fast-paced, dangerous and exciting enough that there's no time to be bored. Then again, the same could be said of the whole book. As well as the action scenes, Frankel also captures Ren and Aven's relationship perfectly. Ren's desperation to keep Aven alive and her despair over the possibility of losing the one person she truly loves is heartbreaking.

I personally think this is a great book overall. It isn't without faults but they matter less and less as the story progresses and Ren's choices become bigger and bigger. The more information that is revealed, the better it gets, in my opinion. Hopefully, the sequel will be just as good. show less

Rising sea levels are a very real danger around the world – though perhaps snot in the way that the author necessarily describes. Though, granted, after the hurricane we saw last year in New York City you might begin to wonder.

The Ward takes place in the 2100s after a catastrophic event caused the sea level to rise dramatically. It’s set in a NYC that is largely underwater and survivors live in the ruins of old buildings tall enough to poke out of the water over the remains of the old show more city. That sounds bad enough but to add to the hardships of the people in the city there is a terrible plague infecting the poorer quarters. It’s gotten so bad that the richer parts of the city have completely quarantined the lower wards. No one gets in or out and it’s been that way for years now. The only people who can cross the border are those working for the specialized police force – nicknamed the Blues – who tyrannize the people under quarantine and arrest those who are contagious as if being sick is the worst crime imaginable.

It’s in these poorer quarters that our hero, Ren, lives. She’s a plucky thing and an orphan whose made a place for herself in this crazy world as best as she could. In the poorer quarters there are people who have made a living out of racing futuristic hybrid crafts across the ruins of old buildings and skyscrapers. Ren is a racer – one of the best. She races to win and uses those winnings to make her best friend – a girl she met in the orphanage and who she considers a sister – comfortable in the last days of her illness. She also works for the Blues now as a water scout searching for what she thinks are just fresh water deposits hidden away in springs in the city. But there’s a whole lot more at stake – the future of everyone wealthy and poor – and Ren is just finding that out.

Now she finds herself in a tough position with the weight of the city on her shoulders. Throw in the fact that her bookie is suddenly starting to notice her that way, there’s this really hot and cryptic boy named Callum hanging around, and things just seem to get more and more complicated for her. And that’s all before she realizes the truth of what’s going on with the fresh water spring she’s just discovered…

So, the Ward?

It’s an interesting book.

I don’t entirely understand how most of the things in it work. Like, how are you searching for fresh water springs in abandoned buildings? I just don’t understand how that is in any way geologically possible. Nor am I entirely sure how the physics of racing work in this world but none of that really mattered. I could follow it. I enjoyed it a lot. Up until it started taking a supernatural sort of turn. Then it started to lose me.

I mean, some of the stuff just didn’t make a whole lot of sense and seemed really out of place to me in the whole grander scheme of things. .

What is cool, though, is Ren the racer. I like that they’ve got a girl racer whose sort of showing up the boys on a regular basis. In most racing stories the girls are on the sidelines and there is this assumption a lot of the time that girls just wouldn’t be interested in something like that. Which I think is absolutely wrong. Girls can be just as much of adrenaline junkies as boys and they can appreciate action in a book, too. Harrowing races, daring escapes, action and adventure? Girls like that, too. The only problem I have is how much Ren focused on how plain she as and how pretty other girls were and how much she wanted boys to notice her. So many YA books do that. I wish they wouldn’t. Being pretty isn’t everything. It shouldn’t be, either.

Ren is an awesome, strong female lead. Just let the girl be bad ass!

That said, the Ward was a good read. Not the best post-apocalyptic story out there but if you like the genre it’s definitely worth a read. I don’t regret it at all. The book is all kinds of exciting and it keeps up a very fast pace that keeps readers interested the whole time. It sets up for a sequel, too, though I don’t know if there is any plan for one to actually be released. They should, though. I think it would introduce readers to a lot more of this world the author had built and provide a whole new opportunity for fast paced action and girls being awesome.

In short, it’s a lot of fast paced action for the girls. Worth a read for the adrenaline junkies out there! show less