The Electric Kingdom (Hardcover)

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book from Viking Press and Bookish First in exchange for an honest review. When I first heard about this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had never read anything by this author before. I was very pleasantly surprised. This book was a completely original (at least to me) sci-fi tale. The characters are very well written and you really feel deeply connected to them. I truly enjoyed all of the twists and turns of the story. There were a few times throughout the book that I thought I had it figured out and new what was going on and what would happen next yet the author continued to surprise me. Though I'm fairly certain that this is a standalone novel, I do hope for a sequel book or something else set in this world. This universe felt very familiar and scientific with just enough "fiction" to make it extremely enjoyable. I had a blast reading this book.

My favorite part of the book and why I liked the Deliverers chapters so much is because it added so much unknown to the story. This did have me engaged because the Deliverers chapters were told from a first-person point of view and it was told in a way that you already knew the information. This way you are gaining knowledge about what is happening without knowing why or the background of this character. For me I really enjoyed how much unknown was weaved into the story. Throughout, you slowly get more and more information that you can piece together. Even though you dont know the whole story and know that you are missing information it doesnt make the story less hard to understand. I do appreciate this about the book. I have had some books where because you dont know what they are talking about you just get lost and miss any piece of information that would start to piece it together. This one wasnt like that. I was still able to follow the story line without having all the information. I was also able to piece the information together as it was given. I also like that a lot of things were described to you, not told right out. This allows you to gather the information and come to a logical conclusion, but to be honest it felt like a middle grade book instead of a YA. Just the terminology and thinking and actions of the characters made it not very appealing for me to read. The way that they interacted with each other felt forced and not very natural. The relationships seam very spontaneous with no logical reasons behind them. With the romantic relationships it felt like how 5 year olds would go up to each other and say your my girlfriend/boyfriend. I kind of got that the only reason they started dating is because there was no one else left to date and because they are teenagers so, why not. I also didnt think the characters were developed very well. I didnt have a very good sense of who they were and so I attained no emotional attachment to any of them. I also think that the story lacked action. Most of the book it was just the kids wondering through the woods. Weird because it also lacked description? So, it lacked action, and describing details, which is very odd. I did really enjoy the ending and how all the loose ends were tied up and how all those little things you now understood, but to get to that point felt like a long drive. I also think that the Kit perspective could have been left out. I understood why it was added, to add another perspective to the whole situation and to tie the relationships of the characters together but his story line didnt add much to the book, other than words. So overall I think it was a great idea and the ending was perfect in my book, but the main core of the stories plot and the characters, needed further working on.