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Available
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Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2014), 384 pages
Description
Science Fiction. Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. HTML: Only teens have survived a mysterious catastrophe in the first YA novel from acclaimed film producer, director, and screenwriter Chris Weitz Welcome to New York, a city ruled by teens. After a mysterious sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when another tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure to the sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip to save humankind. The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central Park ... and discovers truths they could never have imagined..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member csweder
Wow. This book was impressively cliche. Some super pandemic has killed everyone except teenagers aged 12-17 (because, once you turn 18, you--like clockwork--develop the disease and die). Sound far fetched? It is. And I love dystopia novels, but this was not very well developed.
The characters were
Through the course of the book, they are captured several times on their way to "find a cure." But they are not stopped. Everyone buys their mission.
I will admit I was tainted. When I read on the cover of the book that it was written by the director of the Twilight series...it was downhill before it started.
The characters were
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cliche and stereotypical. There is the ultra feminist female lead who is hiding something from her past, the reluctant leader who is in love with her, the jock-jerk who wants to beat them up, the brainiac (called Brainbox of all things), and the gay guy who is looking for a boyfriend. And--for me the most unforgivable part is that they do not think, speak or act like teenagers. And it is not due to their being pushed into this adult world without any supervision. It is due to an author who doesn't understand what teenagers are like. Worst line of the book? "It was the most bogus of the bogasities." Yes, that was in there. Through the course of the book, they are captured several times on their way to "find a cure." But they are not stopped. Everyone buys their mission.
I will admit I was tainted. When I read on the cover of the book that it was written by the director of the Twilight series...it was downhill before it started.
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LibraryThing member benuathanasia
So...a post apocalyptic world that teenagers rule. This doesn't do anything new with the subgenre - it appears to have just borrowed from all the others, reordered different pieces, re-named different characters. If you like the concept, but want to see it actually done well with interesting
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characters, check out The Tribe (a television series), Lord of the Flies, The Girl Who Owned a City, and a few dozen others. Plus there's the bonus of oddly-placed racism. The white-majority formerly-affluent section of the city is all-accepting, all-inclusive. But the black-dominant and Hispanic-dominant sections? Nope, race-wars. Show Less
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
Moderately well written, but not entirely thought out. If all the children below age 12 died out during the plague there should not be any that age several years into teotwawki. Duh! The last couple of chapters made little sense as they rushed past and the ending was a total cheat. It made a loud
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clanging sound that did not harmonize with anything in the rest of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member kgriffith
I'm not sure why I bothered finishing this one. It never got any better and the ending is flat. Apparently there's already a book 2 and 3 is on the way, but I'm not subjecting myself to that.
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Many stories explore what happens to civilization when the world collapses. The Young World is no different in that element. However, Mr. Weitz takes his version one step further by establishing a post-pandemic civilization with no hope and no chance of survival. This one twist creates a society in
One of the most intriguing aspects of The Young World is the fact that it could take place tomorrow. The references to Before are all modern, including technology, music, fashion, and the like. The potential for a global pandemic is always flitting around in the background as a possible danger, and Mr. Weitz capitalizes on this when creating his world. This familiarity with Jeff’s and Donna’s world adds an extra layer of terror to the proceedings precisely because it is so easy to imagine happening.
The Young World follows the same format as so many of its predecessors. What sets it apart however are the intriguing possibilities raised by the last chapter. Yes, there is the ubiquitous cliffhanger ending, but readers will not mind it. The ending raises a lot of questions and has the potential to be a complete game changer for the story. It is the potential that will keep readers from crying out in frustration at yet another abruptly ended story.
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which there are essentially no rules. Survivors make them up as they go along depending on the group of people with whom they surround themselves. That there are factions fighting for limited resources is no surprise. That there are factions who separate themselves out into decency and pure terror is also no surprise. Thankfully, the interactions between them are intense in spite of their predictability.One of the most intriguing aspects of The Young World is the fact that it could take place tomorrow. The references to Before are all modern, including technology, music, fashion, and the like. The potential for a global pandemic is always flitting around in the background as a possible danger, and Mr. Weitz capitalizes on this when creating his world. This familiarity with Jeff’s and Donna’s world adds an extra layer of terror to the proceedings precisely because it is so easy to imagine happening.
The Young World follows the same format as so many of its predecessors. What sets it apart however are the intriguing possibilities raised by the last chapter. Yes, there is the ubiquitous cliffhanger ending, but readers will not mind it. The ending raises a lot of questions and has the potential to be a complete game changer for the story. It is the potential that will keep readers from crying out in frustration at yet another abruptly ended story.
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LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: This book had problems, certain ones that made me want to throttle one of the characters. However, the plot twists and turns kept me interested enough to read on and I ended up enjoying it.
Opening Sentence: It’s another gorgeous Spring day after
The Review:
Meet the group of Washington Square, survivors of a disease that killed all but those in their teenage years. When you reach 18, though, you fall pray to it. When Jefferson and Donna, along with three other friends, find that the disease originated close by, they go on a mission to find a cure. Of course, people and things will get in their way. Some of their group will die. All of their group will kill to get to where they need to be. And possibly, they might save the world.
The Young World has a plot that is generally very used up. Disease kills everything, only a few survivors left, trying to survive, the whole shabang. They even have, like in Partials, girls that are unable to produce children. For the first half of this book I was vaguely interested but not extremely invested because of how often this dystopia crops up. As more and more happens, I enjoyed it, but still felt some essential element missing. Maybe it was character development. Most of the characters, at the start of the book, are the same people they were at the end. Give or take a few. For those that did change, it wasn’t a gradual one; rather, it was like a switch was flicked. I’m his friend, I love him, at the slightest provocation — and then for the rest of the book it didn’t waver.
Something that was unique about the story was the way it was narrated. Jefferson has a strong grasp on his values and beliefs, and had a voice that spoke them all. I have to say that I could relate to Jefferson more because, well… Donna talks like girls. You know how in this era girls will say “do you, like, want food?” Adding likes and whatnot? The likes are added into her part and you do not notice how annoying it is for a thousand likes on every page until you’re reading through it. If I sound like that then heaven help the people who aren’t used to it (though I hope that by reading my vocabulary is a little more advanced)! She even has a little speech at the beginning about why, like, it isn’t such a bad word, like, you know, it helps relate stuff and, like, yeah. I respected her more towards the end as her actions overpower how she narrates, but at the beginning, nada.
The other characters were also interesting with original personalities. I really enjoyed Brainbox who managed to make me laugh once or twice with his awkward social skills. Brainbox is a super smart boy with a knack for building generators and understanding science that no one else begins to get. He’s the kind of guy who pieces together everything about fifty pages before everyone else and when he realizes they haven’t got it yet, helps to clue them in. The next is SeeThrough, a little ninja who is small but powerful. Her father used to run a karate business, so she might look puny but she knows how to defend herself. And then Peter. I really loved Peter. He’s gay and proud, and also made me giggle a few times. Donna is closest to him of the group.
Altogether? The Young World was a pretty good book, worth a read if you can stand three million “likes” in a chapter. The plotline wasn’t very original, but twists and turns kept me guessing and interested enough to continue reading. The ending was sped up more than the rest, giving me a rushed feel that didn’t give me the closure I wanted. I even didn’t understand at first what was happening — then I reread. Yes, I liked this book. Yes, there are things that could have been changed. Things that were done super well was the complicated plot and world-building. Also, I could always tell which character was narrating. Improvement could have been added to character development (make it more gradual), and the ending. And of course, the likes.
Notable Scene:
I look down at the slice of roast in front of me.
The roast is an oblong hunk of meat, browned at the edges, sweating pink juice onto a platter. The smell that rises from it is sublime.
My mouth waters as I gag.
“You could say that about other taboos,” says Alpha.
Then, a moment before the part that I call “I” can say it, I realize I am looking at a cooked human thigh.
FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of The Young World. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: This book had problems, certain ones that made me want to throttle one of the characters. However, the plot twists and turns kept me interested enough to read on and I ended up enjoying it.
Opening Sentence: It’s another gorgeous Spring day after
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the fall of civilization.The Review:
Meet the group of Washington Square, survivors of a disease that killed all but those in their teenage years. When you reach 18, though, you fall pray to it. When Jefferson and Donna, along with three other friends, find that the disease originated close by, they go on a mission to find a cure. Of course, people and things will get in their way. Some of their group will die. All of their group will kill to get to where they need to be. And possibly, they might save the world.
The Young World has a plot that is generally very used up. Disease kills everything, only a few survivors left, trying to survive, the whole shabang. They even have, like in Partials, girls that are unable to produce children. For the first half of this book I was vaguely interested but not extremely invested because of how often this dystopia crops up. As more and more happens, I enjoyed it, but still felt some essential element missing. Maybe it was character development. Most of the characters, at the start of the book, are the same people they were at the end. Give or take a few. For those that did change, it wasn’t a gradual one; rather, it was like a switch was flicked. I’m his friend, I love him, at the slightest provocation — and then for the rest of the book it didn’t waver.
Something that was unique about the story was the way it was narrated. Jefferson has a strong grasp on his values and beliefs, and had a voice that spoke them all. I have to say that I could relate to Jefferson more because, well… Donna talks like girls. You know how in this era girls will say “do you, like, want food?” Adding likes and whatnot? The likes are added into her part and you do not notice how annoying it is for a thousand likes on every page until you’re reading through it. If I sound like that then heaven help the people who aren’t used to it (though I hope that by reading my vocabulary is a little more advanced)! She even has a little speech at the beginning about why, like, it isn’t such a bad word, like, you know, it helps relate stuff and, like, yeah. I respected her more towards the end as her actions overpower how she narrates, but at the beginning, nada.
The other characters were also interesting with original personalities. I really enjoyed Brainbox who managed to make me laugh once or twice with his awkward social skills. Brainbox is a super smart boy with a knack for building generators and understanding science that no one else begins to get. He’s the kind of guy who pieces together everything about fifty pages before everyone else and when he realizes they haven’t got it yet, helps to clue them in. The next is SeeThrough, a little ninja who is small but powerful. Her father used to run a karate business, so she might look puny but she knows how to defend herself. And then Peter. I really loved Peter. He’s gay and proud, and also made me giggle a few times. Donna is closest to him of the group.
Altogether? The Young World was a pretty good book, worth a read if you can stand three million “likes” in a chapter. The plotline wasn’t very original, but twists and turns kept me guessing and interested enough to continue reading. The ending was sped up more than the rest, giving me a rushed feel that didn’t give me the closure I wanted. I even didn’t understand at first what was happening — then I reread. Yes, I liked this book. Yes, there are things that could have been changed. Things that were done super well was the complicated plot and world-building. Also, I could always tell which character was narrating. Improvement could have been added to character development (make it more gradual), and the ending. And of course, the likes.
Notable Scene:
I look down at the slice of roast in front of me.
The roast is an oblong hunk of meat, browned at the edges, sweating pink juice onto a platter. The smell that rises from it is sublime.
My mouth waters as I gag.
“You could say that about other taboos,” says Alpha.
Then, a moment before the part that I call “I” can say it, I realize I am looking at a cooked human thigh.
FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of The Young World. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Mr. Weitz poses an interesting question. What if the only living humans were adolescents? How would they survive and who would have the necessary skills to stay alive? The story action is a modern day quest, and the end will have you clambering for the next book in the series.
LibraryThing member mariannelee_0902
As far as dystopians go, The Young World doesn’t necessarily have an entirely original plot. It’s being directly compared to Gone by Michael Grant. I read and enjoyed Gone, which I guess is why this book didn’t really wow me much.
I had to force myself to read this book because I was bored. I
“I am going to be a reliable narrator. Like, totally. You can trust me.”
Both narrators are whiny and annoying in their own way. Jefferson is annoying in his “got to save them all” attitude. He’s really self-righteous and must save everybody and do everything. This is the apocalypse! There’s no time to think of everybody else. Donna is annoying because she overuses the word “like” and says one thing while she means another. She goes off on random tangents and then randomly resumes what she was saying.
There was a lot of name-dropping throughout the book, and pop culture references as well. At times it was fine, but others it just seemed like it was just there to be there.
What I did like about this book is that it had the classic “dystopian” feel. It also had great world building. I really liked that even if there weren’t adults present, the teens found ways to coexist without destroying the world (Lord of the Flies taught them well). The end explains the mysterious sickness, and I’m curious as to how the next books are going to be developed.
Overall, while I don’t think the plot was entirely original, and I didn’t connect to the main characters, if you haven’t read a book like this before, you’ll probably enjoy it more than I.
I had to force myself to read this book because I was bored. I
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couldn’t connect to any of the narrators in the book. In fact, I was more than annoyed by the fact that the narrators seemed to be self-aware of the fact that they were narrators.“I am going to be a reliable narrator. Like, totally. You can trust me.”
Both narrators are whiny and annoying in their own way. Jefferson is annoying in his “got to save them all” attitude. He’s really self-righteous and must save everybody and do everything. This is the apocalypse! There’s no time to think of everybody else. Donna is annoying because she overuses the word “like” and says one thing while she means another. She goes off on random tangents and then randomly resumes what she was saying.
There was a lot of name-dropping throughout the book, and pop culture references as well. At times it was fine, but others it just seemed like it was just there to be there.
What I did like about this book is that it had the classic “dystopian” feel. It also had great world building. I really liked that even if there weren’t adults present, the teens found ways to coexist without destroying the world (Lord of the Flies taught them well). The end explains the mysterious sickness, and I’m curious as to how the next books are going to be developed.
Overall, while I don’t think the plot was entirely original, and I didn’t connect to the main characters, if you haven’t read a book like this before, you’ll probably enjoy it more than I.
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LibraryThing member WorldforReading
I had my doubts before starting The Young World, largely because I felt I had read this story before. However, this fast-paced dystopian adventure story was entertaining and unique enough that I didn’t much mind the somewhat familiar plot elements. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, an
The story is told through two alternating narrators: Jefferson, who’s half-Japanese, is a thoughtful, socially conscious teen and de-facto leader of his group once his brother succumbs to the virus. His narration adds depth to the novel as he reflects on the various responses to the loss of technology shown by his peers, the many ways pre-virus society was flawed, and the hope of building a better civilization than one lost. He also spends time thinking about his feelings for Donna. In contrast we have Donna, the medic of the group, whose flippant and matter-of-fact narration provides some humor. Despairing and more than a little judgmental, Donna is still overwhelmed by grief for her family, her little brother in particular, and doesn’t feel capable of deeply caring for anyone ever again. While Jefferson is heroic in a movie-lead kind of way, Donna is more flawed but I found her sympathetic. The two POVs are very distinct, both in voice and in displayed font, something I really appreciated.
Rounding out the cast is Peter, Donna’s African American gay Christian friend, Brain Box, the genius who discovers the document that may lead to a cure for the disease, and a Chinese American girl nicknamed “SeeThrough” who wants to prove herself to the group and has a relationship with Brain Box. These characters aren’t quite as developed as I would like, due to the fact that we are very much in the heads of the Jefferson and Donna, who characteristically focus on their own issues rather than the state of the group. However each character does have their moments: Peter, for example, saves the day a few times and Brain Box and SeeThrough each have their heroic time to shine
Plot-wise, the story begins after the virus has run its course and the survivors have organized themselves in various ways. This allows the action to pick up right away as the group leaves the home they've built in Washington Square and head uptown to the main branch of the library to obtain answers about the origins of the virus. On the way they must pass through the dangerous territories of other groups, leading to many tense action sequences that bring to mind Mad Max and The Walking Dead. As a New Yorker I particularly enjoyed the accurate details given in describing this journey, including a sequence that includes the poor polar bear from the Central Park Zoo. The writing is serviceable, although a sentence goes wrong occasionally. Example: “We glimpse each other in the meat of our bodies.” p.27. No. Absolutely not.
The thing I feel elevates The Young World to being more than the sum of its parts is the social commentary present throughout the story. It is my opinion that all good dystopias critique present society in some way. Here, among other things, there is blatant criticism of capitalism present in the description of the violent and exploitive Bazaar created by the Uptowners , children of the 1%. There’s also some reflection on privilege, reliance on technology, and the ubiquitous nature of brands. All of this is slipped in between tense scenes of battles, chases, and a quest to solve a mystery, as well as jokes and more emotional scenes. The Young World is a summer blockbuster of a book with a surprisingly thoughtful center, and I found it to be very entertaining.
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action-packed journey through teen-ruled Manhattan, and some reflections on the privileges of modern society, this book is one I tore through in one sitting.The story is told through two alternating narrators: Jefferson, who’s half-Japanese, is a thoughtful, socially conscious teen and de-facto leader of his group once his brother succumbs to the virus. His narration adds depth to the novel as he reflects on the various responses to the loss of technology shown by his peers, the many ways pre-virus society was flawed, and the hope of building a better civilization than one lost. He also spends time thinking about his feelings for Donna. In contrast we have Donna, the medic of the group, whose flippant and matter-of-fact narration provides some humor. Despairing and more than a little judgmental, Donna is still overwhelmed by grief for her family, her little brother in particular, and doesn’t feel capable of deeply caring for anyone ever again. While Jefferson is heroic in a movie-lead kind of way, Donna is more flawed but I found her sympathetic. The two POVs are very distinct, both in voice and in displayed font, something I really appreciated.
Rounding out the cast is Peter, Donna’s African American gay Christian friend, Brain Box, the genius who discovers the document that may lead to a cure for the disease, and a Chinese American girl nicknamed “SeeThrough” who wants to prove herself to the group and has a relationship with Brain Box. These characters aren’t quite as developed as I would like, due to the fact that we are very much in the heads of the Jefferson and Donna, who characteristically focus on their own issues rather than the state of the group. However each character does have their moments: Peter, for example, saves the day a few times and Brain Box and SeeThrough each have their heroic time to shine
Plot-wise, the story begins after the virus has run its course and the survivors have organized themselves in various ways. This allows the action to pick up right away as the group leaves the home they've built in Washington Square and head uptown to the main branch of the library to obtain answers about the origins of the virus. On the way they must pass through the dangerous territories of other groups, leading to many tense action sequences that bring to mind Mad Max and The Walking Dead. As a New Yorker I particularly enjoyed the accurate details given in describing this journey, including a sequence that includes the poor polar bear from the Central Park Zoo. The writing is serviceable, although a sentence goes wrong occasionally. Example: “We glimpse each other in the meat of our bodies.” p.27. No. Absolutely not.
The thing I feel elevates The Young World to being more than the sum of its parts is the social commentary present throughout the story. It is my opinion that all good dystopias critique present society in some way. Here, among other things, there is blatant criticism of capitalism present in the description of the violent and exploitive Bazaar created by the Uptowners , children of the 1%. There’s also some reflection on privilege, reliance on technology, and the ubiquitous nature of brands. All of this is slipped in between tense scenes of battles, chases, and a quest to solve a mystery, as well as jokes and more emotional scenes. The Young World is a summer blockbuster of a book with a surprisingly thoughtful center, and I found it to be very entertaining.
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LibraryThing member wb4ever1
I am more than a few years out of the demographic that THE YOUNG WORLD is aimed at, but I enjoy reading the occasional YA fantasy/scifi series, such as the GONE books by Michael Grant, and I am a sucker for a good end of civilization apocalypse story. Those are the elements that led me to pick up
The story is told through the POV’s of two characters, Jefferson and Donna, survivors of one of those made to order viruses beloved by authors of end of the world fiction, one that conveniently kills all of the adults and younger children, while apparently anyone going through puberty is immune; the problem being that once puberty is done with you, the virus gets you. Set in New York City a couple of years after the epidemic that ended the world as they knew it, Jefferson, Donna, and the rest of their small tribe precariously try to get by amid the ruins of civilization, while the rest of the world around them has gone full Mad Max. When one of the tribe thinks he has found some clues that might lead to a cure, five of the teens set out on a journey, under Jefferson’s leadership, to try and save themselves. Soon they are exchanging gunfire with gangs, escaping cannibals in a library, attempting to blend into a Times Square market where everything, including human flesh is for sale, all in an attempt to get to Long Island and a chance at salvation. It’s the kind of through the paces plot we’ve seen many times before in books where it is not the destination, but the journey.
The characters are mostly YA archetypes, Jefferson is the nice guy who wants to do right, while Donna is the insecure girl who puts up a false bravado to mask her feelings; there’s a gay dude who can’t stop reminding everyone they are gay, the requisite brainy nerd who somehow manages to figure out things that stumped a roomful of researchers at the CDC, and an Asian girl who is, of course, good at martial arts. The dialogue is not very believable, it reads like a movie script. And this being the first book of a trilogy, there is no final resolution at the end, but the usual twist that no one saw coming, mainly because there was no foreshadowing at all. The author, Chirs Weitz, directed TWILIGHT: NEW MOON, and co-wrote AMERICAN PIE, so he knows how to create pop culture teens; he also co-wrote ROGUE ONE, the best Star Wars film since EMPIRE.
The biggest problem I have with THE YOUNG WORLD, and many other books of its type, is that the back story is much better than the main story; what I mean is, the story of how the Sickness spread through New York and then around the world, and ended civilization, is much more compelling. I’d rather meet Jefferson and Donna and all the rest before their world ends, see the people they once were, and how they dealt with the apocalypse that befell them, how they managed in those first hours and then days when there were suddenly no parents, and no rules, and no authority to make them do anything. To me, that would have been the better story; it’s how Stephen King did it in THE STAND, the GONE WITH THE WIND of all epidemic ends the world stories.
Still, THE YOUNG WORLD is a quick read and an easy read, and if it does not hit the ball out of the park, it is a solid base hit for fans of the genre, and I will read the sequel, THE NEW ORDER, just to see how that twist plays out.
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THE YOUNG WORLD and give it a try despite some rather negative reviews online, and while I understand where those readers were coming from, I think the majority of them were too harsh.The story is told through the POV’s of two characters, Jefferson and Donna, survivors of one of those made to order viruses beloved by authors of end of the world fiction, one that conveniently kills all of the adults and younger children, while apparently anyone going through puberty is immune; the problem being that once puberty is done with you, the virus gets you. Set in New York City a couple of years after the epidemic that ended the world as they knew it, Jefferson, Donna, and the rest of their small tribe precariously try to get by amid the ruins of civilization, while the rest of the world around them has gone full Mad Max. When one of the tribe thinks he has found some clues that might lead to a cure, five of the teens set out on a journey, under Jefferson’s leadership, to try and save themselves. Soon they are exchanging gunfire with gangs, escaping cannibals in a library, attempting to blend into a Times Square market where everything, including human flesh is for sale, all in an attempt to get to Long Island and a chance at salvation. It’s the kind of through the paces plot we’ve seen many times before in books where it is not the destination, but the journey.
The characters are mostly YA archetypes, Jefferson is the nice guy who wants to do right, while Donna is the insecure girl who puts up a false bravado to mask her feelings; there’s a gay dude who can’t stop reminding everyone they are gay, the requisite brainy nerd who somehow manages to figure out things that stumped a roomful of researchers at the CDC, and an Asian girl who is, of course, good at martial arts. The dialogue is not very believable, it reads like a movie script. And this being the first book of a trilogy, there is no final resolution at the end, but the usual twist that no one saw coming, mainly because there was no foreshadowing at all. The author, Chirs Weitz, directed TWILIGHT: NEW MOON, and co-wrote AMERICAN PIE, so he knows how to create pop culture teens; he also co-wrote ROGUE ONE, the best Star Wars film since EMPIRE.
The biggest problem I have with THE YOUNG WORLD, and many other books of its type, is that the back story is much better than the main story; what I mean is, the story of how the Sickness spread through New York and then around the world, and ended civilization, is much more compelling. I’d rather meet Jefferson and Donna and all the rest before their world ends, see the people they once were, and how they dealt with the apocalypse that befell them, how they managed in those first hours and then days when there were suddenly no parents, and no rules, and no authority to make them do anything. To me, that would have been the better story; it’s how Stephen King did it in THE STAND, the GONE WITH THE WIND of all epidemic ends the world stories.
Still, THE YOUNG WORLD is a quick read and an easy read, and if it does not hit the ball out of the park, it is a solid base hit for fans of the genre, and I will read the sequel, THE NEW ORDER, just to see how that twist plays out.
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LibraryThing member MsHooker
[The Young World} by [Chris Weitz] is a well written post apocalyptic story with a twist. All adults are die in a plague leaving the young to survive for themselves it becomes very much like [Lord of the Flies]. Also as the young people become a certain age they contract the plague that killed the
This book was enjoyable and a quick read. It fits very well in a very popular YA genre.
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adults. When they find that this plague was man made they fight to find the cure and save their friends and themselves.This book was enjoyable and a quick read. It fits very well in a very popular YA genre.
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LibraryThing member roses7184
I'll admit it, I requested this book simply because it was all about teens ruling a dystopian world. Sure, I've read stories similar to The Young World before. It still never stops me from wanting to read the next one. I love seeing how each new author tackles the important points of a society like
First off, kudos go to Chris Weitz for explaining how the Sickness came about. Is it something that is likely to happen in real life? Probably not. Am I happy that I wasn't left wondering how on Earth only teens were left in the world? Yes, absolutely. If, as an author, you take the time to share with me where your whole story stems from, I'm happy to follow along. I'll suspend disbelief to enjoy the tale that you've woven. Just give me something to latch onto. Weitz did just that, and it made me one very happy reader.
I was also fairly enamored with the society aspect in this story. The stark contrast between the small community that Jefferson and his brother set up, and the other bands of kids around them, was interesting. I liked that, depending on who was in charge, each group of teens had their own laws, their own caste systems, essentially whatever it was that tenuously held them together. It made for a read that raised a lot of questions, and I appreciated it.
What I didn't like so much, as reflected by my rating, was the way that the narrative was done. Jefferson and Donna were our two main characters, and they couldn't be more different if they tried. Jefferson was quiet, intelligent, and mostly peaceful. Donna was rowdy, opinionated, and honestly kind of annoying at times. I didn't mind that story skipped back and forth between these two. I only wished that they didn't have such different ways of relaying their pieces of the story. It was disorienting, and frustrating.
In fact, I wasn't a fan of most of the characters. They felt like cut-outs. Like people who were included in order to make sure the group was rounded out. You have your brainy/jack of all trades guy, your unassuming girl who is actually a ninja, the flamboyant guy for comedy relief, and then Jefferson and Donna to round it all out. I didn't dislike these characters. I just never connected with them. So three stars to The Young World for great world-building and for actually letting me in on the secret of the Sickness! I see a lot of people definitely enjoying this book. I say, give it a shot.
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this. How the authors perceive young people, and how they would behave if a catastrophic event like this actually happened. I was eager to see what Weitz would do, and I had high hopes for this book.First off, kudos go to Chris Weitz for explaining how the Sickness came about. Is it something that is likely to happen in real life? Probably not. Am I happy that I wasn't left wondering how on Earth only teens were left in the world? Yes, absolutely. If, as an author, you take the time to share with me where your whole story stems from, I'm happy to follow along. I'll suspend disbelief to enjoy the tale that you've woven. Just give me something to latch onto. Weitz did just that, and it made me one very happy reader.
I was also fairly enamored with the society aspect in this story. The stark contrast between the small community that Jefferson and his brother set up, and the other bands of kids around them, was interesting. I liked that, depending on who was in charge, each group of teens had their own laws, their own caste systems, essentially whatever it was that tenuously held them together. It made for a read that raised a lot of questions, and I appreciated it.
What I didn't like so much, as reflected by my rating, was the way that the narrative was done. Jefferson and Donna were our two main characters, and they couldn't be more different if they tried. Jefferson was quiet, intelligent, and mostly peaceful. Donna was rowdy, opinionated, and honestly kind of annoying at times. I didn't mind that story skipped back and forth between these two. I only wished that they didn't have such different ways of relaying their pieces of the story. It was disorienting, and frustrating.
In fact, I wasn't a fan of most of the characters. They felt like cut-outs. Like people who were included in order to make sure the group was rounded out. You have your brainy/jack of all trades guy, your unassuming girl who is actually a ninja, the flamboyant guy for comedy relief, and then Jefferson and Donna to round it all out. I didn't dislike these characters. I just never connected with them. So three stars to The Young World for great world-building and for actually letting me in on the secret of the Sickness! I see a lot of people definitely enjoying this book. I say, give it a shot.
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LibraryThing member Mirandalg14
Too many hours I will never have back.
I really didn't like the writing style. It was choppy and blah. I don't like to read a book like a screen play. The characters were flat and boring. I couldn't connect with any of them, nor did I care about them at all.
This had such great promise, but the
I really didn't like the writing style. It was choppy and blah. I don't like to read a book like a screen play. The characters were flat and boring. I couldn't connect with any of them, nor did I care about them at all.
This had such great promise, but the
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execution was horrible. Show Less
LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
I like how two different narrators tell the story. It keeps things more interesting. He’s serious, and she’s more high energy. Staying with either for the entire story would have been too much.
In their world everyone dies from a disease they call the sickness when they become an adult so there
I thought this book was pretty entertaining, but I think teens will probably like it better than adults.
In their world everyone dies from a disease they call the sickness when they become an adult so there
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is no adult supervision. The kids and teens that survived the fall of society have come together like clans. They help each other with daily living, but they also sometimes have to trade and war with other groups.I thought this book was pretty entertaining, but I think teens will probably like it better than adults.
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LibraryThing member lillibrary
"It's another gorgeous spring day after the fall of civilization." Black humor, diverse characters. and a vividly descriptive contemporary New York setting help push this novel to the front of the post-apocalyptic pack. The whole quest and the perils the group encounter along their way to saving
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the world make for a fast-paced and absorbing read. Science fiction, with enough pop cultural references and political reasoning to make the book's premise uncomfortably plausible. Highly recommended for reluctant readers because the pacing, short chapters, and action sequences will easily rope them in and keep them engaged. The first of a trilogy, The Young World concludes neatly but leaves readers with a whole new conundrum to ponder. I'm definitely on board for book #2. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
I'm about done with dystopia these days. It seems like every storyline bears strong resemblances to a storyline I feel like I just put down. That said, I'd requested a copy of THE YOUNG WORLD by Chris Weitz several months ago and, as such, I felt like I needed to at least give it a shot. I am very,
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on July 9, 2014
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very pleased to say that it had me laughing out loud throughout the book and, honestly, when I'm that amused, I don't give a fig if it's a story that has been overdone to death. Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on July 9, 2014
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LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
I like how two different narrators tell the story. It keeps things more interesting. He’s serious, and she’s more high energy. Staying with either for the entire story would have been too much.
In their world everyone dies from a disease they call the sickness when they become an adult so there
I thought this book was pretty entertaining, but I think teens will probably like it better than adults.
In their world everyone dies from a disease they call the sickness when they become an adult so there
Show More
is no adult supervision. The kids and teens that survived the fall of society have come together like clans. They help each other with daily living, but they also sometimes have to trade and war with other groups.I thought this book was pretty entertaining, but I think teens will probably like it better than adults.
Show Less
Original language
English
Original publication date
2012
Physical description
384 p.; 6.38 inches
ISBN
0316226297 / 9780316226295
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