Review – Refraction by Naomi Hughes (4.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: November 5, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1624148903
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“After an attack on earth, all reflective surfaces become weapons to release monsters, causing a planet-wide ban on mirrors. Despite the danger, the demand rises, and 17-year-old Marty Callahan becomes a distributor in an illegal mirror trade―until he’s caught by the mayor’s son, whose slate is far from clean. Both of them are exiled for their crimes to one of the many abandoned cities overrun by fog. But they soon realize their thoughts influence their surroundings and their deepest fears begin to manifest.”
Series Info: Stand Alone, from Amazon Vine to review.
Characters (3/5): I didn’t find the characters to be all that compelling or engaging. However, they are more there as a way to drive the story forward than anything else. Marty is absolutely determined to find his brother after the world goes into a post-apocalyptic like state and I did admire his flatout stubbornness.
Story (5/5): The story was unpredictable and a bit mind bending. At first it seems like a straightforward alien invasion type of thing, then everything gets turned in a direction I totally did not see coming. This is one of those books I could not put down. I read it in one sitting and just could not stop reading it, I had to know what was going to happen!!!
Setting (4/5): The setting is kind of a post-apocalyptic Earth. Again, this gets turned on its head as the story progresses, but it is very well done.
Writing Style (5/5): I could not put this book down. It’s very easy to read, the writing flows beautifully, and I could not put it down (have I mentioned that yet!). The book is super engaging, action packed, and I was dying to know what would happen next. I would get to the end of a chapter and be like “Okay, I’ll just read one more chapter” and then I realize I had read another five chapters…soooo addicting.
Summary (4.5/5): This was a very good sci-fi book that was unpredictable and generally a bit of a mind-bender. I tore right through this and had trouble putting it down. I would have given it 5 stars but somehow the plot twists came off as a bit too contrived. I also never engaged with the protagonist all that well. It was a great read and I would recommend if you enjoy sci-fi types of thrillers.
