Showing posts with label abel keogh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abel keogh. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Third by Abel Keogh

Genre: Dystopian
Published: April 2011, 263 pp.
Source: Review copy from publisher (Cedar Fort)
Review:  3/5 stars

Brief Summary:  In the not too distant future, Ransom Lawe and his wife Teya struggle to make ends meet in a world where, due to global warming and other environmental disasters, food, energy, and...children are rationed.  Families are allowed to have only two children and, as you may guess, Teya becomes pregnant with a third child.   
My Thoughts:  The Third by Abel Keogh caught my attention from the very first chapter.  The world he has created seems very possible and that makes it unnerving.  It was refreshing for me to read a dystopian novel with adult main characters instead of teenagers.  In ways I could relate more to the characters and what their lives are like since they are parents like me.  However, in other ways I felt like I was never really invested in the characters and I didn't care about them very much.  They seemed to make so many stupid decisions and mistakes that I got to the point that I wasn't very sympathetic.  So, while I did enjoy and like the book,  I think I would have liked it more if I could have liked the main characters more.
Recommendations:  I would recommend this book to any of you dystopian fans out there.  It is especially nice to read a little dystopian that's not YA for a change.
Ratings: 2.3.1 There is a scene in which a character is intending to rape someone.  There is some violence in some scenes where a character is beaten up and there is a physical threat to a baby.  I don't remember any profanity.

Thanks for reading!