Review: The Only Boy by Jordan Locke *2/10 stars*

11:30 PM

The Only Boy

by Jordan Locke


Page Count: 269
Release Date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: 
CreateSpace

Source: I received an e-copy for review from the author via Xpresso Book Tours (Thanks Giselle!)
My Rating: 2/10 Stars


Summary


Mary is stuck in Section One, living with three hundred women in a crumbling hospital. She wonders what life was like two centuries ago, before the Cleansing wiped out all the men. But the rules—the Matriarch's senseless rules—prevent her from exploring the vacant city to find out.

Taylor's got a dangerous secret: he's a boy. His compound's been destroyed, and he's been relocated to Section One. Living under the Matriarch means giving up possessions, eating canned food and avoiding all physical contact. Baggy clothes hide his flat chest and skinny legs, but if anyone discovers what lies beneath, he'll be exiled. Maybe even executed.

Mary's never seen a boy—the Matriarch cut the pictures of men from the textbooks—and she doesn't suspect Taylor's secret. If she knew, she might understand the need to stop the girls from teasing him. If she knew, she might realize why she breaks the rules, just to be near him. Then again, she might be frightened to death of him.

Taylor should go. The Matriarch is watching his every move. But running means leaving Mary—and braving the land beyond the compound's boundaries.

My verdict


Before launching off into the review, I think I should mention that I'm a sucker for dystopia. I jumped at the chance to read and review this as soon as I read the blurb (and that's a nice cover!). A post apocalyptic world where there are no men and all females are genetically engineered in labs! Then, there's Taylor, apparently the only boy. As much as I was excited over reading 'The Only Boy', I knew after a couple of chapters, this just isn't my kind of a book. 

I don't usually prefer to write negative reviews (I might not bother to write one if I don't feel like it), but since I personally requested the book through a review opportunity, I feel like I should. That said, I did not like it. The story had so much potential! The concept was great! But the execution, it seems, fell flat. There's way too much of 'telling', not 'showing'. I couldn't connect with any of the characters either. Mary was plain annoying.  Plus going back and forth between the POVs of the two main characters so fast (and throughout the book) was very confusing for me as a reader, when I was being 'told' stuff and not 'shown' anyway. Despite the freshness of the premise, and the concept, the story itself is just okay. I was sort of "meh..." by the time I finished the first half. I struggled to make myself read further and finish it, hoping it'll get better eventually. It didn't. The love story in there is so full of cliches, it actually annoyed me. The narration is also a bit too fast paced for a reader to be able to really get into the story.

All this combined, made me feel like an unwanted bystander, trying to listen in on a conversation going on beside me. Even if you like dysopian fiction, (especially if you like it) and if you've already read some good dystopian books, I wouldn't recommend this to you. 


Buy the book


Amazon


Happy reading!

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