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Sunday, April 24, 2011

XVI by Julia Karr

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Yet another dystopian YA novel to grace my bookshelf.  To say the least, I'm delighted XVI is currently perched on my bookshelf, resting with my other Ya novels.  Why?  Because  XVI was  another 2011 knockout.

XVI has some pretty hard hitting themes but it's still an easy and light read.  The futuristic details still keep in touch with our usual mundane tech, making the book way easier to read and understand.  Julia Karr transports us to an unfortunate future setting where once a girl turns 16, it's completely normal for her to have sex (amongst other promiscuous acts).  But Nina Oberon doesn't want to have anything to do with that, especially the Ess-Eee-Exx part.  Nina's been taught to be her own person by her mother, and after some rather unfortunate events she realizes that her mother's wise words are the only things that can save her from the Governing Council.

I don't know if I could say that XVI stands out amongst all the other wonderful dystopian novels I've read this year but it does stand out as one of the best books I've read this year.  It has a wonderful plot (despite all of the YA novels, XVI was unique, to say the least), and I definitely loved the characters.

Although I don't remember everybody's names, I do know that I really liked Sal.  Sal and Nina's other friends added excitement, humor and some pretty intense mystery to the pot.

But I did have one pet peeve throughout the novel, which was that Nina kept making the same mistake over and over again.  Normally, I would call the author out on that, since it's kinda as if they're just dancing around the plot, but Julia Karr managed to make me overlook it because of the exceptional writing and witty characters.

XVI was another great dystopian novel that you should try to get your page-turning fingers on, because it was golden!

4 comments:

  1. Didn't find your hop from this week, so I thought I would post my hello here!

    If you get a chance, I would love for you to come by my blog! Maybe even enter my giveaway!

    KW
    http://www.ekfamilybooks.blogspot.com

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  2. Great review! I can't wait to read this book! It sounds so good!
    I just started my own review blog, and I'm still trying to figure things out and learn how to cut my reviews down some--okay, cut them down A LOT--who want's to read a review over 500 words? Lol. :) If you have any advise or would like to follow my blog, it would mean a lot to me!
    http://909reviews.blogspot.com
    Thank you!
    -Angel

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