This book was different. I am new to the Dystopian fiction genre and have found myself intrigued by a few of the book in this genre. This one was different and while I liked it I think I connected with the story but not the characters maybe there was something that I missed or maybe I was not supposed to connect with them. This book was interesting and I think that the story line could have had more to it and I would have connected with these characters. This was not what I thought it would be and the cover is very deceiving! ( )

4 STARS
The Forever Contract(A Dystopian YA Novella)
The story is good but short. I wanted to read more, find out what happens next.
The world is in a drought for years. No one has grass, it is illegal to have your own garden. Thier are food shortages, water shortages. You can buy gel packs that work in your body instead of water.
A system was developed where you sign a contract snd your body goes in a warehouse,hooked up to feeding tubes and you get uploaded to a virtual world. You can have anything you want thier. You can be whatever you want. never in pain,thirsty or hungrey.
You have to be 17 to sign most did on thier birthdays. Casey will be turning 17 soon.
She wants to go in. but her boyfriend James does not trust the system. Her brother joined and tells her its great.
James is working with others to get the truth out about the system but Casey thinks it is fine. James takes her to the warehouse to see her brothers body.
I like James and Casey and want to see more of them and find out more about life is like for them. It is really short only 56 pages. It does a good job telling the story.
It is a clean book.
Thier is lots of drama and action as they get caught breaking in to see the bodies.
I was given this ebook to read from Librarything and asked to give a honest review of it.
Publisher: Planet Explorers Publishing (July 30, 2012) ASIN: B008R9DDZ0 ( )

This is a short novella in the burgeoning YA dystopian fiction genre.

There are some really good ideas here. The underlying main concept is fantastic. A world where you can choose to have your consciousness uploaded into a virtual world. Still being able to interact with those in the “real” world via computers screens is fascinating. The idea of watching those you know in their self-created virtual worlds. Even the reasoning behind why this is happening works – water shortages that cause wars, arid land that won’t support crops. Then throw in an undercurrent of suspicion. A few that don’t believe everything they are being told. The set up and the background are great.

Where this novella lets the reader down is in the execution.

Perhaps it is because the concept is too large to be contained in a novella, but the entire story feels rushed and lacking.

The bare bones are there but nothing is given depth or fleshed out. The main characters, Casey and James, are mere facades. They are not real people yet who encourage the reader to become attached. The potential is there.

Casey is a young woman about to make a huge life altering decision. Her boyfriend James is facing the same decision. But the entire tension between their differing views is played out in grade school type dialogue that is far too simplistic for what should be complex and deeply layered emotions.

The same happens in what should be climactic moments. They end up falling flat because the reader has not suspended that disbelief and embraced the world Sawyer is trying to create.

This disappointed me. I wanted more. If the time were taken to develop this into a full length series (if properly fleshed out I easily see 2 books just with what story is already there and a 3rd or even 4th book of what is hinted and left unanswered) it could be mesmerizing. I want to know what the secrets are. What caused the water wars? What is really going on in Chicago? What is the real purpose behind the uploads? What was James’ mom doing?

There is a lot of potential. But it cannot be recognized until the story, the world and most importantly the characters are fully realized. This means giving the depth and complexity they now lack.

I was given a free copy of this novella to review. And while happy to have had the chance to glimpse what could be, I would not have purchased this in its current form. ( )

I don't know about this one. I really liked the story idea, and I wanted to like the actual novella, but it fell a bit short for me. I think it would have made an excellent full-length novel, but as it was written it came across as an ok abridged version. I felt like a lot of the things that happened in this book didn't really fit with the story, or were part of a story line that didn't seem to go anywhere. Even for a novella, it felt unfinished. Another reviewer mentioned the main character just pulling a gun on someone out of nowhere. That also felt really forced and awkward to me. That said, the story was a really interesting idea, and I would be interested in reading more from this author. I suppose since the book is only 99 cents on Amazon (or free for Prime members) you really can't go wrong. It is definitely worth the money. ( )

I received this book via a librarything.com giveaway. I really enjoyed this novella. I liked how it went back and forth between different characters perspectives. The story was fresh and interesting. Looking forward to read more novellas from this author. ( )