Friday, April 12, 2013

Review: The Rules by Stacey Kade

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The Rules
Stacey Kade
Series:Project Paper Doll #1
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Publication date: April 23rd 2013
by Disney-Hyperion

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

-A copy was provided by Disney-Hyperion for review-
 
Meet Ariane: the alien hybrid that shares a similarity with my dear beloved friend, Carrie (yes, the evil one!). This is one heck of a fun book. Having been raised in a lab her whole life, Ariane now has to live among humans… in high school–how horrifying! Instead of concentrating on the alien conspiracies or sci-fi aspect, The Rules involves mostly a lot of high school drama where Ariane is trying hard to stay invisible, but a certain… she person… is making this incredibly hard. After digesting this book I think it will all depend on what you’re expecting from it. Some of the Goodreads tags at the moment include Sci-fi, Dystopian, Fantasy, Alien, Romance. At once it’s all, and none, of those things. If I had to tag it, I’d say it’s best described as a high school paranormal novel. No matter, here is what you will be getting from reading it:

— A mostly character oriented plot that does not really have that much sci-fi to it. Sure she’s an alien hybrid and we do begin the novel in the lab she’s being held in, learning where she was raised and what they made her do, but other than that we’re thrown into a high school bully story where Ariane is simply trying to stay off the radar–but the high school Queen B gets in the way. This worked for me because, for one, I wasn’t really expecting anything when I went into this book, and for another, high school mean-girl type stories are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing a bitch get what she deserves?

— A semi-strong romantic subplot that is sweet and substantial. Ariane is not supposed to fall in love, nor trust anybody, so we do get a bit of the forbidden fruit kind of romance which I always find engaging. It may not be the most swoon worthy romance I’ve ever read but it does involve believable emotions, a likeable love interest, and a pacing that makes it possible to see their connection grow.

— We’re treated to two perspectives in this novel: Ariane and Zane. While it remains Ariane’s story, it’s fun to be able to experience and understand both sides. Zane is an interesting character that surprised me quite a bit by being very different from the type I was expecting. He’s genuine and well-intentioned; I appreciated that about him. As for Ariane, overall, she is sweet-natured. She wants to do what’s best and protect her friend, but because of her sticky situation she often has to put herself first. It’s good to have someone who is loyal, but not all about self-sacrifice–because really that’s just realistic. I also liked how she was smart enough to realize that this so-called friend is really not a friend at all.

— Fast paced, fun, entertaining, but not particularly impressive as far as the complexity of the plot. The issues I did have with this book is not what we do get–the characters are fun, the plot is interesting, and the pacing is just right–it’s what we don’t get–intel on these aliens, history or world building, believable science, shocking plot happenings (though we do get one fairly good twist). I wanted to know a lot more about the aliens, especially. If you’re going to introduce such an intriguing concept, it requires something to back it up: where they came from or the science behind it all for starters. As for the evil corporation behind it all, I was never really intimidated by them, to be honest. What they’re trying to accomplish is unclear and I think this decreases their threat. Constantly mentioning a powerful, scary entity doesn’t make one so.

The Rules may be technically a sci-fi novel, but its primary focus is on the entertaining factor of a high school contemporary with mild paranormal elements. Nevertheless, It’s fast paced and easy to fly through, making it a good read if you’re expecting the right story. 

3 Hot Espressos

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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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27 Responses to “Review: The Rules by Stacey Kade”

  1. Mary @ BookSwarm

    No, it wasn’t particularly complex but it was a light, fast and fun read, so it worked for me. 🙂 I liked the dual POVs and *really* wished the mean girl weren’t such a cliche.

  2. Jenn Renee

    I really enjoy a good character driven,fast paced,entertaining book. I love sci-fi and love a good story with a well built plot but I will settle for character drive, as long as there is that. (at least every know and then) awesome review. I can’t wait to read it.

  3. Sirtsu

    I love that you and Jenny pointed out the Carrie-ish similarities. I have never seen the movie, probably since I was so very young when I saw that prom or whatever dance scene when I saw it on TV, but I have heard of it plenty of times. Hahaha, those high school queen biatch stories are so fun sometimes. I love it when they get what they deserve. One may be a bitch, but Karma is the top bitch! A believable romance is what I always look for in stories. I like my romance, what can I say. I also like my back story strong and this kinda makes me sad that authors don’t really develop it. I think this may be explored in the sequel though. I have never been particularly interested in this one, but you, Jenny and Jenni sure push me into that direction.

  4. Amy

    I really like that both you and Jenni have mentioned that it’s more like a contemporary with paranormal aspects to it. You know how I love my contemporary reads. I have also been getting more into sci-fi, so I am interested in that too. I think I would enjoy this, though I don’t think it would be a 5 star read or anything like that. Awesome review pumpkin!!

  6. Nick

    Jenni and you both had a similar reaction to this book. It’s a little disappointing that the book focuses more on the high school drama and romance rather than the sci-fi elements. Maybe, I’ll enjoy the book a teensy bit more than you did if I go into the book expecting just a romance book. Still, it does sound like you had fun reading this.
    Lovely honest review, Giselle!

  8. Mel@Thedailyprophecy

    I think I’m going to like this. Alien books aren’t very attractive to me, but I like how it’s on the background. The romance sounds good, I like dual POV’s and I like character oriented plots now and then 🙂 Great review Giselle!

  9. Kris Chen

    This sounds like a fun book. Characters are important to me in a novel; for this, it’s great to hear that the story is character oriented. However, when I hear the words sci-fi and aliens, I expect the backstory behind the science and aliens to be explained, so I’m not sure how I’d feel about this while reading the book. Well, I don’t know until I try 🙂

    Kris @Imaginary Reads

  10. Molli Moran

    This sounds both fun, and not what I was expecting. I might end up being somewhat bummed because I was hoping for a true sci-fi read, and not so much emphasis on school/her falling for Zane. BUT so many people, including you, have said that the love story here is really sweet, so I’m definitely going to read my copy soon.

    Thanks for the lovely review, Giselle!

    Molli | Once Upon a Prologue

  11. Jenni @ Alluring Reads

    Yeah the romance was sweet, but I don’t think I would have found it so without getting Zane’s POV so I think that was a strong writing tool used by the author. The world building was pretty lackluster though, I wish we got more information on where Ariane came from and what exactly GTX was.

  14. Alexa Y.

    Alien books are rare for me in terms of reads, but this one sounds pretty good. The characters sounds great, and I do like the fact that it seems like the alien part is more an extra factor and not really the entire driving force of this story!

  15. Sapir V

    I’m really glad to hear that this book is more contemporary than paranormal. Right now I’m totally fed up with paranormal books… but I’m really into contemporary and high school drama now (:
    I will probably pick this up!!
    Great review. I LOVE your blog ♥

    Sapir @ Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl

  17. Jen (A Reading Daydreamer)

    WHAAAT I think it’s kind of lame how this book turned out to be more contemporary than sci-fi. That’s a major disappointment right there. However, I’m glad you were able to enjoy the characters and romance. The dual POV is always a plus if done right. I don’t know if I’ll be picking this up since I know what to expect now, but perhaps if I’m in the mood for something quick. Thanks for the lovely review, Giselle!

  18. Shooting Stars Mag

    I haven’t really read much sci-fi so the fact that it’s a bit more contemporary is fine by me. I’m still not sure it’s exactly the right book for me. Sounds like a fun read, though. Probably perfect for the summer in some ways.

  20. Kristin@BloodSweatandBooks

    There is that C word I always dread seeing. I just don’t really enjoy contemporaries 🙁 Might still give this one a shot because of it being a fast, fun read and fun mixed with paranormal could still be worthwhile.

  21. Kelley (Another Novel Read)

    Every review I’ve read for this book, so far, has expressed pretty similar thoughts on it. Which is good, because I think that makes this book an easy one to pick up. I know what to expect, and so I know if/when I’ll want to read it. Love that! 🙂

  22. Candace

    The complexity of the plot was a tad disappointing, but I was able to get past the simplicity of it and enjoy it quite a lot. I actually really fell for the romance. Much more than I ever expected. It was a pretty fun read even though it’s not heavily sci fi. I’m looking forward to the next one!

  26. Christina

    Meh. I may read this eventually, but I am disappoint. It’s like I’d almost rather take the time to read the ones that are fives from some people but ones from others than read the ones that have gotten a flat three from everyone. :/