First Line: "A girl sat just three chairs down from Noah talking to her hand."
Plot: In this gripping tale of nanotechnology, two sides are warring for control over the minds of the most powerful people in the world. Spunky teen billionaire heiress Sadie and solid, righteous average-teenager Noah are dragged into the chaos, recruited by the "good guys", a team of young adults who call themselves BZRK. They fight to prevent the "bad guys" from taking over the world, but in the process have to use tactics with questionable morality while trying to convince themselves there's a difference between what they do and what the "bad guys" do.
Comments: Firstly, BZRK was surprisingly graphic - not a good book for the squeamish reader. It vividly and bluntly describes grisly deaths as well as an unromantic view of the human body as seen from the microscopic level. The descriptions are intriguing and clear, but can also be viewed as gross.
Initially, the nanotechnology aspect of the story (which is a hugely important theme, as the plot only furthers through the use of nanotechnology) is not explained well. Actually, it isn't explained well anywhere in the story, but it's especially confusing in the beginning. The idea of nanotechnology is thrown at the reader without context, background, or really any help whatsoever. You really just have to skip over the mystifying parts because you won't find the answers to your questions. However, the idea of nanotechnology is used very well in this story - it was a new perspective and seemed vaguely realistic. It was interesting, if also a little terrifying.
The main characters, Sadie and Noah, don't seem very well fleshed out. They feel molded to fit the plot and too little like real people. Their immediate serious romance is ridiculous, in my eyes. True, they've been drowning in a totally strange, stressful situation and can find comfort in each other's shared experiences, but it just doesn't make sense to me how they so quickly trust each other completely and seemingly fall head over heels in love after a few days.
The other characters were pretty good, if all a little predictable. I liked the variety of people - like impassive, precise Vincent and competitive, obnoxious Bug Man - and their code names made me pay more attention to them. I wanted to know their real names, so their personalities stood out more vividly to me and made them seem more human.
The ending felt too easy and simplified. BZRK is the first in a series, so it was left sort of open for a sequel, but I think what used to seem like insurmountable odds were suddenly, unrealistically flipped in the "good guys'" favor just to tie up loose ends. For Sadie and Noah, at least. Their potentially deadly adventure ended way too easily, I thought.
I liked that the "good guys" worried about whether or not they actually were good guys, since they had to use tactics similar to those used by the "bad guys". They said it was for the sake of humanity, but they all still realized that they weren't totally innocent. I thought that was very realistic. Though the "good" vs. "bad" was very clearly separated, it wasn't completely black and white - this is good because real life is a mix of gray.
Rating: I rate BZRK a seven out of ten. The story was intriguing but the characters didn't work very well for me. I probably won't continue reading the series.
Plot: In this gripping tale of nanotechnology, two sides are warring for control over the minds of the most powerful people in the world. Spunky teen billionaire heiress Sadie and solid, righteous average-teenager Noah are dragged into the chaos, recruited by the "good guys", a team of young adults who call themselves BZRK. They fight to prevent the "bad guys" from taking over the world, but in the process have to use tactics with questionable morality while trying to convince themselves there's a difference between what they do and what the "bad guys" do.
Comments: Firstly, BZRK was surprisingly graphic - not a good book for the squeamish reader. It vividly and bluntly describes grisly deaths as well as an unromantic view of the human body as seen from the microscopic level. The descriptions are intriguing and clear, but can also be viewed as gross.
Initially, the nanotechnology aspect of the story (which is a hugely important theme, as the plot only furthers through the use of nanotechnology) is not explained well. Actually, it isn't explained well anywhere in the story, but it's especially confusing in the beginning. The idea of nanotechnology is thrown at the reader without context, background, or really any help whatsoever. You really just have to skip over the mystifying parts because you won't find the answers to your questions. However, the idea of nanotechnology is used very well in this story - it was a new perspective and seemed vaguely realistic. It was interesting, if also a little terrifying.
The main characters, Sadie and Noah, don't seem very well fleshed out. They feel molded to fit the plot and too little like real people. Their immediate serious romance is ridiculous, in my eyes. True, they've been drowning in a totally strange, stressful situation and can find comfort in each other's shared experiences, but it just doesn't make sense to me how they so quickly trust each other completely and seemingly fall head over heels in love after a few days.
The other characters were pretty good, if all a little predictable. I liked the variety of people - like impassive, precise Vincent and competitive, obnoxious Bug Man - and their code names made me pay more attention to them. I wanted to know their real names, so their personalities stood out more vividly to me and made them seem more human.
The ending felt too easy and simplified. BZRK is the first in a series, so it was left sort of open for a sequel, but I think what used to seem like insurmountable odds were suddenly, unrealistically flipped in the "good guys'" favor just to tie up loose ends. For Sadie and Noah, at least. Their potentially deadly adventure ended way too easily, I thought.
I liked that the "good guys" worried about whether or not they actually were good guys, since they had to use tactics similar to those used by the "bad guys". They said it was for the sake of humanity, but they all still realized that they weren't totally innocent. I thought that was very realistic. Though the "good" vs. "bad" was very clearly separated, it wasn't completely black and white - this is good because real life is a mix of gray.
Rating: I rate BZRK a seven out of ten. The story was intriguing but the characters didn't work very well for me. I probably won't continue reading the series.
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