Review: The Young World by Chris Weitz

Release Date: July 29th 2014

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Series: The Young World Trilogy #1

Genre: YA Dystopia

Format: Paperback

Source: YA Book Exchange (Trade)

Rating: 3 Stars

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.

You basically have a dystopian New York that has teens running around trying to survive. Sickness swept through and all adults and small children are wiped out. The plot, although not original, had me intrigued. Enter a band of diverse teens who try to save the human race before they become of age and are wiped out as well.

I really wanted to read this book and am slightly disappointed that it didn’t live up to the hype. While I enjoy great plot twists and surprises, some of the characters were a little annoying. I’m eager to pass this one along to my younger cousin who may enjoy it more than me. I love how there are characters from all walks of life in this book. From geeky to gay, the author doesn’t disappoint on that front. Score for diversity!!

Now on to the annoying……

I know that the author has to make these characters come alive and what better way to do that than to give them voices of what teens really sound like (no pun intended on the “like”). Donna’s character annoyed me to no end. There wasn’t a sentence that came out of her mouth that didn’t have the word “like”. Like, okay, really? Geez, it was nerve wracking to read. When I get annoyed by a character, the book rating goes down. This could have easily been a 5 star read, what, with all the twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and the great world building.

There are other characters that I liked, such as Peter. He’s gay and proud, and his gestures and whatnot were so greatly added into the story. I was really hoping to get to know these odd-yet-likable characters more, but it was a bust. Since this is the first book, I’m assuming that it will get better. The ending also felt kind of rushed in my opinion. I would like to see more action happening also with this series. All-in-all, I thought that it was a good read. I will be reading book 2 when it’s released to see where it leads. I’d recommend for dystopia lovers who don’t mind the ramblings of teen girls and the word “like”.

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