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Viral Nation

av Shaunta Grimes

Serier: Viral Nation (1)

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
20118133,991 (3.84)2
"After a virus claimed 95 percent of the global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed. Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover's refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future. When one of Clover's missions reveals that West's life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West's fate, they'll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company's rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined... and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever"--… (mer)
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Interesting dystopian tale that portrays the female protagonist who has autism extremely well. In fact her being so is a key part of the plot and the author does a great job of making her thought and behavior patterns accurate. The plot is solid and the action and tension well laid out. ( )
  sennebec | Apr 1, 2020 |
Viral Nation takes place in a world where most of the population has been obliterated by an unnamed virus. America now exists under a sort of benevolent totalitarianism. Crime is dealt with swiftly and harshly, so there is very little of it, at least not anywhere people seem to care about. The justice system is a lot like the one in [b:The Minority Report|65018|Minority Report|Philip K. Dick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1170626052s/65018.jpg|63086], except that instead of using a team of psychics to predict when crimes will occur, "Time Mariners" retrieve information from the future via a temporal gateway, and (theoretically) crimes are dealt with before they happen.

At the heart of the story is Clover Donovan, an autistic sixteen year-old girl who is cared for by her brother while their father works away from home (their mother died of the virus when Clover was an infant.) Clover is the best thing about the book, at least for the first half or so. I felt she was portrayed well by the author--realistic and likeable, even if she isn't always nice (although this is usually because she has trouble recognizing social cues and often misspeaks.) That's until her condition is revealed to be a gimmick which is never explained, and which comes off as a patronizing attempt to make autistic people feel special. We're eventually told that only autistics can travel through the time portal. At first I thought this meant that only they could cope with it mentally, but it turns out that only they can literally pass through it at all. Anyone else is held back, even somehow being pushed through and out of the submarine craft they travel in. So, only autistic people and objects can pass through? ...okay.

I thought the story was great in the beginning, but as I neared the end I came to like it less and less. It became obvious that there was no way the story was going to be completed by the end of the book. That revolution mentioned in the summary? It doesn't even get started until the last few chapters. Yes, I know it says "first in a new series" clearly on the front cover, but there is no kind of closure at all. Novels are not a serial medium. If you want to do that, write comics. I feel like I've gotten nothing out of reading this. Will I be rewarded in the second installment, or will I have to wait for the third? ( )
  chaosfox | Feb 22, 2019 |
It was a plague. It was the plague that wiped out most of the world's population. The United States is now fifty, small, walled cities, under the protection of the U.S. government and Waverly-Stead Company. Waverly-Stead saved everyone. Ned Waverly found a portal to two years in the future and from there brought back the cure. John Stead created it. Together they gave it to everyone and the world began again. It's a simple thing to stop by a corporate facility and get your daily booster shot; everyone even has ports implanted in the back of their necks so they don't need to suffer the pain of a needle.

Clover Donovan wants nothing more than to go to Waverly-Stead Academy. She's got the grades, she just has to make it through the interview. When the Academy meets her and her service dog, and realizes she's autistic, suddenly they don't want her anymore. But that's okay, because something bigger is waiting for Clover. She gets recruited by the Company to be one of those who travels through the portal to retrieve news and information. She'll get more money, more rations, and maybe she and her brother West can live a more comfortable life.

But things are not as simple as they seem. On a trip to the future, someone she's just met in the present gives Clover something to read. It's a zine and it tells her more than she ever knew about the Company and what they're really doing. Then the future brings bad, bad news for West and he, Clover, and their friends flee the walled town of Reno looking for the truth.

I adored this book. I read far later into the night than I should have while reading it. Clover, West, and their friends kept me interested, as did the plot and various subplots running through the story.

Regarding Autism and Autistic characters: I don't personally know anyone on the spectrum so I can't say for sure if the writing about Autism was accurate, but it was respectful and felt very real to me.

(ARC provided by publisher) ( )
  tldegray | Sep 21, 2018 |
My Opinion: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

Clover is a high functioning autistic 16 year old girl living in a very difficult world. After a virus wipes out most of the world's population, the remaining citizens live in walled cities and make do with little food and really, little everything. Her brother, West, takes care of her and is her world since their father is buried in his work ever since their mother died of the virus right before the cure became available. Clover has always dreamed of going to the Waverly-Stead Academy but is forced to turn down her acceptance when they won't let her keep her service dog, who is her closest friend and companion and who keeps her from losing it when the outside world becomes too much for her to handle. She is then recruited to join the Time Mariners, a team of operatives who work for the Company, the agency who engineered and distributed the vaccine to the deadly virus and who now control all of the provisions including food, jobs, etc., and who now also control all of the rules the people must live with. The Time Marines time travel to gather news about the future, including crimes that will be committed. Whenever someone is found to have committed a crime in the future, they are killed in the present to prevent the crime from happening at all. When Clover's brother, West, is one of the people sentenced to death for a murder that he supposedly will commit in the future, Clover and he go on the run, along with a "band of fellow misfits and outsiders" to find out what is really going on with the Company. (I don't know if my description does it justice, but trust me, as you read the story, this all makes sense!)

First off, I absolutely loved Clover! It's pretty rare that a person with developmental disabilities is featured as a main character in a book, but she is very much the driving force behind the hunt for the truth. Even though she would prefer to be by herself, with just her dog and brother for company, she goes way outside of her comfort zone in terms of working with people she doesn't really know or trust, and fighting against authority, neither of which come easy or naturally to her. I also admired that the author never used Clover's autism as a way to manipulate the story line or as a way to garner sympathy for her - she was never depicted in any way but as a very strong 16 year old girl who happened to be autistic, and although I've read some reviews that have said it was difficult to like Clover because of her off putting personality, I didn't find this to be true at all. If you want to talk about personal growth, I can tell you that Clover grew immensely from the beginning of the book to the end, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series because I'm excited to see her continue this growth.

Now for the world building and plot: The post-apocalyptic/dystopian world in which the characters live is described in such a way that you feel yourself becoming immersed in it as you read, which is always what you hope for when reading a fictional account of a world that has gone to hell in a hand basket. You feel the desperation of the people and the hopelessness. I would give this book an A+ for world building! The plot is well written, evenly paced, and very exciting to read. I was drawn into the book immediately and stayed in it well after I'd finished reading it. Because of the characters and the plot line, and the excellent writing, this book sticks with you and makes you continue to think about it even after you've put it down for the last time. All of these things combined made it an exciting read for me and the reason that I would recommend it to lovers of YA dystopian/post-apoc fiction.

I give this book a very enthusiastic 5 stars and look forward to continuing the series :D

P.S.: I love the cover and give bonus points for that!! ( )
  jwitt33 | Jun 18, 2015 |
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: The dystopian and time travel genres merge in this thrilling novel by Shaunta Grimes. Fast-paced with engaging characters, fans of both genres are in for a treat.

Opening Sentence: “Keep her away from me.”

The Review:

This book has been on my to read list for quite a while, so I was ecstatic to find it in my inbox for me to read and review. Thankfully, all of the good things I had heard about this novel had not been exaggerated. I was sucked into the story right away and had a hard time putting the book down.

Sixteen years ago, a virus swept the nation. We were on the verge of extinction. Then, news of a cure began to spread. A man named Waverly had found a portal to two years in the future, which allowed him to find and bring back plans for a cure. He worked with a scientist to synthesize the cure, which was then given to everyone. Provided people show up for daily injections of the cure, the virus will never come back.

Now, the Company runs everything. Time Mariners within the Company routinely travel through the time portal, retrieving information on crimes that will occur, so that criminals can be caught and executed before the crime can take place. Everyone survives on rations that are earned through daily labor. Life is peaceful.

Sixteen-year-old Clover is autistic. Her older brother West has taken care of her ever since their father obtained a job as an executioner for the Company. One day, Clover is ecstatic to receive news that her test scores are good enough for her to obtain entrance to the Academy, something she has always wanted. Upon visiting the Academy, Clover learns she is going to be training to become a Time Mariner. During one of her trips into the future, she is shocked to discover that West is going to kill the daughter to the Academy headmaster. Clover has sworn to not attempt to change the course of history, but how can she stand by and wait for her brother to be executed for a crime he has not yet committed? Now, Clover, West, and a group of misfits must embark on a journey to change the future. Along the way, they’ll discover that the Company has many secrets and life may not be quite as ideal as they once thought.

The story is told mainly from Clover and West’s points of view, with occasional snippets from their father. I’m really not familiar with autism other than what the TV show Parenthood has shown about Asperger’s, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of Clover’s portrayal. I will say that the way Clover acted seemed very realistic to me. I often found myself feeling the emotions she was feeling, which is a sign of great narration and character development in my eyes. Clover is a very brave girl, with a strong head on her shoulders. She doesn’t let her condition hold her back. What more can you ask for in a heroine of a young adult novel? I didn’t feel quite as connected to West, but even so, his feelings for his sister come shining through. Every decision he makes is done with her in mind. Not many 19 year olds have that kind of dedication to their siblings.

I will admit, as much as I love Doctor Who, time travel sometimes confuses me because I tend to start thinking about how actions in the future affect what’s going on in the present and vice versa, and I eventually feel like my brain is going to explode. That being said, time travel is handled very well. It’s explained in a way that’s not confusing and is actually very intriguing. Readers who haven’t had much exposure to time travel-related themes shouldn’t have a hard time here.

This is a very interesting universe that Grimes has created. It’s not complicated to understand and is incredibly captivating. Our two main characters are mature yet not so mature that they seem to old for their supposed ages, which is a very fine line in young adult literature. The story moves quickly, and there are some shocking moments. I’m very much looking forward to the next book to see what happens in Clover and West’s world!

Notable Scene:

“This is for the best.”

“The best for who?” The envelope had Langston Bennett written across the front.

“The best for all concerned, Miss Donovan.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

Kingston pushed his hair back and settled his hyperactive eyes on the door for a moment before he looked at her. “Your brother is a day laborer on the cantaloupe farm, isn’t he?”

Clover nodded slowly.

“I’m sure you could pick with him. Every job’s important.”

Clover took the letter and barely resisted the urge to crumple it into a ball and bounce it off Kingston’s sweaty forehead. “This isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, Miss Donovan. Ask your brother. West Donovan scored nearly as well as you did on his exams.”

“That isn’t true. He didn’t pass.”

Kingston looked at her another long moment, then reached under his desk with one hand. Within seconds, the office door opened and the man with the combover was standing there. “Ms. Donovan needs an escort to the Company building.”

“I don’t need an escort,” she said. The man who’d walked her into Kingston’s office had seemed kind of feeble. Now his eyes had gone steely and his jaw was set in a hard line. Clover shrank back from him a little bit.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Kingston reached to shake her hand.

She pulled away from the visibly moist palm and walked out of his office, Mango following at her side. “You’re expected within the hour.”

FTC Advisory: Berkley/Penguin provided me with a copy of Viral Nation. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )
  DarkFaerieTales | May 4, 2014 |
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"After a virus claimed 95 percent of the global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed. Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover's refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future. When one of Clover's missions reveals that West's life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West's fate, they'll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company's rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined... and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever"--

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