Fearless

If a book is released as an Advance Review Copy, the publisher is probably trying to generate some advance buzz for it. Get some good reviews going ahead of it and make people want to buy this book. I think that, if that's the case, the book has some obligation to be good.

Fearless is what happens when an adult author tries to write a kid's book, but doesn't really know how. All language gets dumbed down, every little detail gets spelled out, exposition grows like mold. It's like Lott hasn't even read a children's book recently, much less has any skill in the writing of one. The dialogue is horrible. The plot might be okay in another writer's hands, but I have my doubts even about that. The characters--all given nicknames based on their show more personality quirks--are otherwise indistinguishable in terms of voice. The adjective-laden prose is reminiscent of nothing as much as high-school creative writing assignments. His attempts at making the book all dystopian sci-fi involve throwing the word "vidscreen" around as a substitute for TV.

I was going to give this two stars, but as I type up my thoughts and my cataloging of its faults, I can't come up with any reason to rate it even that highly. This is A Bad Book, and I can't see any reason to pretend it's not. show less

Little Fearless is taken from her home, and sent to the City Community Faith School for Retraining, Opportunity and Hope. The school in no way lives up to its name – it is instead a dark, dismal prison, where the girls are worked hard doing the city’s laundry. Little Fearless is the bravest girl in the school, telling stories to the others in an effort to keep their hopes up. Angry about the injustice of the school, Little Fearless plans to escape – sure that once the people outside are made aware of the true conditions inside the school, the girls will be saved.

It’s a challenging story – a dystopian world, where children are betrayed so badly by the adults around them. It’s also quite a depressing tale – about the show more stripping away of identity and the loss of individualism, the power of sacrifice, and the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs.

Due to the heavy dependence on fairytale and fable elements, the structure of the story seems quite formulaic at times, and some sections are a bit over-written. Nonetheless, it’s a good read, with the tension lasting right till the very end. show less

This is a moving fable about Little Fearless who is prepared to risk everything in the pursuit of justice and freedom despite the punishment she and the other girls endure as their identities are insidiously taken from them. While there is no happy ending, it is still a story about courage, hope and truth that will stay with the reader long after the final page is read.

Little Fearless is stuck in a girl's institution that is a school but is really more a prison in a world where the government exerts control by creating fear. Little Fearless holds on to the belief that families are out there somewhere and that the girls deserve freedom (or at least a better life!). She sneaks out of the Institute several time to try to get help and meets resistance.
I've really been on a dystopian kick lately. This book, while it had some good twists at the end, did not rock my world. But it did give me some things to think about.

Had higher hopes for this 1984 knock-off. It had its moments, but failed in the end to make the characters resonate with any kind of real feeling.

a 1984 or Brave New World for Children. Loved it!