'Bomb' Will Blow You Away

'Bomb' by Sarah Mussi

Review by Christopher Moore

 

 

Summary:

I'm Genesis Wainwright. I'm a sixth-form student. I come from Somerset. My mum is the best mum in the world. I play the guitar (badly). My best friend is Holly. I'm searching for answers to the Meaning of Life. I believe in True Love. AND I'M IN LOVE WITH NAZ. I want to be a performance poet. And I'm crazy about motorbikes.

I can remember everything.

Except last night.

When Genesis goes on a blind internet date, she just wants to get over her ex-boyfriend Naz. She just wants someone to like her again. But when Genesis wakes up the morning after the date, she can't remember a thing. She doesn't know where she is, or how she got there. And she can hardly move because she is strapped into some kind of body armour ...

Before she has time to figure it out, she receives an order through an earpiece stuck in her ear. And then a voice sounds in her head: 'You have been chosen for an assignment ... The vest you're wearing is packed with high explosives. And with one mobile call we can detonate it.'

To her horror Genesis has become an agent of mass destruction, a walking weapon in the hands of a terrorist cell.

The countdown to detonation has begun: Genesis must re-examine everyone and everything she loves and make terrifying choices ... in the face of certain death.

 

 

Review:

 

The best YA books are those that stir a reaction - an emotion - in the reader. Bomb is a book that will make you sick to your stomach, give you heart palpitations, make you really feel for Mussi's protagonist, Genesis, and downright scare the absolute crap out of you. The story is dark and twisted and much like Mussi's previous book Riot, which explores forced sterilisation and overpopulation in a not-so-distant England, she pulls no punches. From the first page, she demands the reader's attention.

 

I thought it might veer into predictability by the halfway point but instead, I followed Genesis on her rollercoaster journey that had me almost tearing out the final pages with dread. In particular, I commend the in-the-moment, fast-paced, action that drives the story forward; something not every author can do and not something that I have seen successfully sustained over an entire novel. Mussi intertwines this effortlessly with Genesis' character. Living in London, I love how Mussi effortlessly anchors the story in London without removing us from the suspense of the story and the emotional connection between Genesis and the reader.

You can't help but root for Genesis. Regardless of what you might think, you feel her pain and her fear and you really have no idea how it's going to end. I love Genesis. Given her situation, she decides not to play the victim. She chooses to resist. She taps into her own power and weaponises herself against the enemy. She's clever and calculating and we need more heroines like her in the world of YA.

I rarely curse but in the immortal words of Louise O'Neill, this book is a "total mindfuck". It plays on your emotions. It's dark and gutsy but ultimately, it's a compelling read that will hold huge appeal for male readers but also, it is something that I would hugely encourage girls to read too. It doesn't have sparkly vampires. It doesn't contain star-crossed lovers. It's a bleak story, full of action and suspense and the perfect book for anyone that loves chills and thrills.

Rating: 5/5 Stars  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

 

Christopher Moore:

 

 

Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog and is best known as the YAblooker. He is a twenty-four year old book blogger who has previously worked in marketing and consumer insight for various publishing houses and writes in his spare time. He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.

 

 

Follow Christopher on Twitter: @YAblooker

Find Christopher on Goodreads: Christopher Moore

Follow Christopher on Instagram: @yablooker
 





LBOY2015 Shortlist Review #5: 'Riot' by Sarah Mussi

'Riot' by Sarah Mussi

Review by Christopher Moore

 Summary:

England is struggling under a recession that has shown no sign of abating. Years of cuts has devastated Britain: banks are going under, businesses closing, prices soaring, unemployment rising, prisons overflowing. The authorities cannot cope. And the population has maxed out.

The police are snowed under. Something has to give. Drastic measures need taking.

The solution: forced sterilisation of all school leavers without secure further education plans or guaranteed employment.

The country is aghast. Families are distraught, teenagers are in revolt, but the politicians are unshakeable: The population explosion must be curbed. No more free housing for single parents, no more child benefit, no more free school meals, no more children in need. Less means more.

But it is all so blatantly unfair - the Teen Haves will procreate, the Teen Havenots won't.

It's time for the young to take to the streets. It's time for them to RIOT:

OUR RIGHTS, OUR BODIES, OUR FUTURE.


Review:

The novel is more plot- than character-driven but that's fine and the sterilisation of the school leavers from poorer classes is so strong that it actually ensnares and intrigues the reader from the first gruesome pages. The story reads like a sucker-punch to the face. It's bold with a fast-paced narrative and plenty of action.

Mussi flicks emotional switches at the right times though, allowing us to identify with her characters even though her characters read, for me anyway, as physical, ideological representations in this dystopian Britain. That's not to say they're bad characters and in fact, I think it mostly works for this kind of story.

Tia is an interesting enough narrator though I felt at times, there was some repetition with her language; in particular the "flipping" curse word stripped her of some of her credibility as a teen - and in general, I felt like she could have been pushed even further (to the extent that Day was in Marie Lu's Legend trilogy). She also lapses into Americanisms which conflicts with the London setting. The only other thing that irked me was that the antagonist read a bit cartoony when I wanted more depth to match the gravity and severity of the law that's being implemented.


Overall, it's a fast-paced story with a good backstory and setting that will please fans of Sophie Kenzie and Marie Lu.

 Rating: 4/5 Stars  ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Christopher Moore:

Christopher is a co-founder of the YAfictionados blog and is best known as the YAblooker. He is a twenty-four year old book blogger who has previously worked in marketing and consumer insight for various publishing houses and writes in his spare time. He loves to travel and will read anything YA-related and some general fiction and fantasy.

Follow Christopher on Twitter: @YAblooker

Find Christopher on Goodreads: Christopher Moore