Purenet by H.J. Lawson ~ #Review

Title: Purenet
Series: The Sanction Series #1 
Author: H.J. Lawson
Release date: December 30, 2014
Source: Copy for review via RAVBT 

Purchase: Amazon | B&N 

Synopsis

Purenet is one of six wealthy Sanctions, formed by the Emperor and the Untouchables after a devastating world war. Only those born in Purenet have the privilege of living under the dome, protecting their bodies from the sun's deadly UVA rays. 

Skylier is desperate to escape her underground confines and save her mother's life. 

On a school visit, she hears something she's not supposed to, and now she realizes that not only is her whole life a lie, but she is in grave danger... She doesn't know who to trust, and her enemies are everywhere... even closer than she realizes.

Now she is in a race against time to save not only her life, but her mother's and those she cares about. And if she fails, she'll suffer a fate worse than death... 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Gah! I really, really wanted to like Purenet. To love it. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case. The idea behind the story is phenomenal and creative, but unfortunately, the way it played out killed my excitement about reading it. Between the characters and the speedy plot, I wasn't able to enjoy reading it.   

Skylier has some spunk to her, and I liked watching events unfold from her perspective. However, the other characters were one-dimensional, and characters really make a book for me. If I don't like who I'm reading about, then it's hard to read the book. In Purenet, they just felt flat with no personality. Two guys end up crushing on Skylier, but I didn't have a preference for either one because I didn't have a chance to get to know either one of them.  

Purenet's plot was way too fast paced - so much was happening it was hard for me to keep up. Scenes changed quickly and made the story seem like it was on hyper drive. It's a short book, and at first I thought it was because the plot whirled by me. But it is actually a short read, and if more time had been spent on developing the characters, the plot, and the world they lived in, I would've loved it. 

I wouldn't have minded the book being longer in that case. As a matter of fact, I think it should have been longer to achieve what I mentioned above. It's better to take your time and tell a fantastic story than to rush through it as though you're in a hurry to get to the exciting parts. Good things come to those who wait, right? 

There was also a lot of telling rather than showing. I know this is hard to do, I really do. But I want to be shown rather than told about the world the author has built. 

Overall, Purenet had a lot of potential to be a terrific and interesting sci-fi/dystopian novel. Unfortunately, the novel didn't reach up to its full potential.  

My Rating: