Book Review: XVI by Julia Karr

XVI by Julia Karr
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. All I knew from the jacket was that in this version of the future Chicago, something terrible happens to girls when they turn 16. The book annoyed me from the first couple of pages with terms that didn't make immediate sense... vert, PAV, tier-two, FeLS, trannies. Seriously, some of these things weren't spelled out until well into the book.

Annoyance number 2 was the characters. Dull and sterotyped. Nina, the good-girl main character. Sal, her brave and mysterious boyfriend. Sandy, her sex and fashion-obsessed best friend. Wei, the smart and tough Asian, complete with martial arts skills.

My third annoyance: the plot. It was just bad, boring and predictable. Even the chase scenes and other dangerous moments were tampered with lackluster dialogue and character reactions.

The abrupt ending, with NOTHING resolved, begs a follow-up. Which there is, called Truth. The truth is, I won't be reading it.

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