The Social Potato Reviews

The publisher is going to hate me for this... but yeah.

One of the reasons why I didn't write a review right after I read this book was because I didn't really have anything to say, aside from the fact that it was forgettable. I thought I just needed a wee bit more time before officially submitting my insight, despite the dangers of forgetting it even more with the passing of time. But, hey, I live the dangerous life, so bring it on, yeah? #MedyoBadGirl

So here I am, almost more than a month has passed, and instead of providing criticism or praise, I am typing filler to at least give it a fair amount of character count (like I said, I live the dangerous life...). I search near and wide, even going as far as the deepest pits of my mind for anything...ANYTHING at all... but I still cannot scrounge up anything to say about this book. Aside, of course, from the fact that it was forgettable. But way back in University, I mainly survived by cramming (Cram Culture FTW), as when I am pinched for time is when my creative juices start to really come out and overflow, so let's just pretend I am in that situation (I am really typing filler here... #MedyoBadGirl).

So... let's just say this book is kind of Titanic-ish, but instead of a boat in water, it's a huge vessel soaring in the sky, an innovative technology made possible due to a certain kind of beetle that can somehow make stuff fly. There has been a hijacking, and the protagonists are set to find out who masterminded it and to stop it before... you know... things end up horribly wrong.

Sigh... this was really forgettable. Even that summary is mediocre by my standards. But, I digress.

Anyway, if I find something forgettable, it usually means I couldn't connect to the story or the characters, and I think that's what happened here. The narration, I felt, didn't leave much room for me to personally sympathize with their plight, although I'll blame the fact the chapters were kind of all over the place. There were three protagonists and it would often jump from one character to the other, with some dedicated to a backstory that happened back in time during the war, which we will later learn has a significant role in the hijacking. To be honest, I am not fond of this kind of writing as I would rather be emotionally invested in one or two characters, instead of having a broader view of many of them (as per the saying "Quality over quantity"). It didn't help that it also felt kind of monotonous, with little to no internal narration (at least from what I remember, because otherwise, I wouldn't have been bored to death).

I thought the plot was kind of confusing, too. When I was reading it, I remember scratching my heads at certain moments that seemed to come out of nowhere... like they were totally random. I definitely feel this would have worked better if it was targeted for teenagers or adults, as children protagonists handling a serious hijacking seems a bit unrealistic and doesn't leave room for a lot of drama and internal conflict.

Would I recommend this book? Although I didn't hate it, I obviously did not like it either, and it wasn't emotionally fulfilling enough for me to remember all the details even right after I finished it. While I wouldn't be running down the street cursing its name and warning people to get away from it, I also certainly wouldn't be busy urging people to get it, either. I wouldn't recommend something I didn't enjoy, lest alone even remember half of it, to my friends and family. :/ Hopefully, my next read of this author's works would be better.

Final Verdict: (?) 2.5