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BOOK REVIEW
The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
I give the book a 4.8/5...I know strange but I couldn't quite give it the perfect mark.
I loved the book so much but I really wish that it could have been longer. The whole time I was reading it I knew it would be short and I kept feeling like nothing would be resolved and while most of it did one of the biggest things that didn't was the fact that Normals and Proovs are still seperated from each other. So I keep thinking that maybe there's a sequel but I actually think the writer meant to let the audience write the own ending in their head...which is why I didn't want to give the book a 5/5 because I'm a sucker for perfect endings. lol...unless it really is a series and it'll be wrapped up in the next book.
But aside from the lack of a perfect ending. I think the book was overall very entertaining. I really liked the whole idea of what our world would be like if it really did have that huge earthquake that scientists perdict could happen at anytime. In this book, it was a miracle that humans even existed after the catastrophe in the first place. Pretty much the whole world was destroyed...hence the reason that scientists created genetically improved humans so they could survive the radioactive gas that was around at first after the big quake that set off all the volcanoes in the world. It was very realistic and I couldn't help but get entranced by the storyline because when it's believable...it just makes it that more interesting.
Of course the whole "no books" thing just sounds like my biggest nightmare because I love reading and I can't imagine not being able to experience the joys of opening up a book and getting into the storyline and characters. Not only that but the idea of losing your memories and who you are to a stupid mind-probe...a sort of drug in a sense...just freaks me the heck out!
I think the greatest thing about this book was the hope it gives the reader. The whole time the character Ryter is trying to make Spaz understand why there's a reason to belive that things will be better in the future and in the end Spaz finally does understand and it concludes with him looking forward to changing the world and making his story known. The whole book consists of Spaz stating that Ryter is "Zoomed" for having such crazy ideas but it isn't until the poor man is gone that he realizes how wrong he's been...I mean he starts to believe while he's in Eden and his sister, Bean, is cured of Lukemia but he never truly grasps the concept until he has to take Ryter's place and tell the world the truth. And it's obvious right before it happens that Ryter knew that all along...and what would become of him.
That reminds me of another aspect I loved. The author made Bean extremely intelligent, enough to be able to understand a game of chess and master it after only an hour of watching it. He made her so smart that she beat a Proov, who are genetically improved to perfection. In the end it is obvious that Normals and Proovs are more alike than either side had even thought possible and ends on the high note that they might live together as equals someday in the future.
Another reason I wish that there was more to the story is the friendship between Lanaya and Spaz. They seemed to really like each other and even maybe more than just as friends-they bugged each other too though-and I was hoping to see a love story develop out of it but it never happened...so yeah. I was a little disappointed at that. But not enough to dreg the rating down any lower cause I really did love this book. Like I've said before in many of my previous book reviews, I'm a sucker for romances.
So I do reccomend this book with it's crazy futuristic turf wars and paradises. You'll get a kick out of all of it I'm sure and the characters are lovely....and sometimes creepy depending on the setting. I still can't get over the leader of the Monkey Boys. Lying there..and oh man I don't even want to go into the details cause it's all there in the book and reading it once is difficult enough. Anyway, pick it up if you feel the need for a little adventure in the books because it is very adventerous, and optimistic, and downright entertaining.
