So I wasn't really sure what to except from ACID. I'm always like this when I read a new author. My expectations are either skyrise-high or bottom-of-the-ocean-low. For this book, they were fairly low. That's weird. I don't know why. It wasn't that I thought it would be a bad book, it's just that I'm pretty particular when it comes to YA books (I think it's because I'm almost out of the intended 'YA' category now, sadface :( ) and I only like certain voices. I like first person past tense. (Although my appreciation of present tense is slowly growing. Thanks, Hunger Games.) I also like description. I don't like 'teenage' voices, where they whine and stuff. It's annoying. So I was kinda worried about ACID. Then I started.
Reading ACID (I'm just beginning to wonder if it's actually capitalised when other people write about it. It is on the cover, both covers I've seen. Oh. I don't know. Anyway.) is similar to how I imagine getting caught in a hurricane would be. One moment you're walking along. You stop to tie your shoelace or something. Then BAM you're getting whisked away, thrown up in the air, and dropped, and caught, and thrown again. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, ACID is a quick read. Really quick. It took me two days. And I'm not the quickest reader. And normally, I get bored. So I was excited when I got gripped by ACID. I love it when a book grabs me.
ACID is about this girl, Jenna Strong, who's the only girl in an all-male maximum security prison. (You should have seen my friend's faces when they learned this. I think most girls nowadays dream of being in an all-male maximum security prison. They were disappointed when the guy Jenna comes across there isn't fit. But then she punches him in the face and all it restored.) It's set in the future, when ACID, a police force, have taken over and forced Britain to being this terrifying police state. One of the great things about ACID, is the world is really well built. There are loads of cool ideas, like LifePartnering, when your husband/wife is picked by the government. They also dictate how much TV you have to watch and have really censored media and books. When you're reading, the world is so well built, I felt like I might close the book and find myself walking through it.
Anyway, Jenna soon breaks out of the prison and is on the run from ACID. (Pretty quickly too, which I found somewhat of a shame. I think this is because on the blurb I read, it built up the only-female-in-an-all-male-prison aspect of it, which sounds quite exciting. But in truth this part doesn't last long - 3 chapters - which I think is somewhat disappointing. You don't really get much chance to connect to characters at the start of the book, which means when someone is hurt early on, and Jenna gets all upset and blames herself, you're just kind of thinking 'Am I supposed to care about them?' So there ya go.) One of the other things I liked about ACID is Jenna's personality. So many YA heroines are just so whiny. Or they think about things too much. Their thoughts are like quicksand, drowning you. Jenna's not like that; she changes her mind pretty quickly, and doesn't tend to dwell on things. Not only did this make her a pretty unique - and not annoying - character, it also helped with the pace of the story, which is REALLY FAST. Like really, I'm not even kidding. It just keeps speeding along. Emma Pass seems to make some pretty radical decisions too, which other YA novels don't tend to dare to do. Like she radically changes Jenna's appearance - like, hair transplant, face surgery, even eyes - not once, but twice. This, I thought was cool. I mean imagine that as a film. You're just warming to this actress, and BAM! It's suddenly another actress, but same character! :O (ACID would make a good film, I must say. And I hope, if it was made into a film, they would change the actress. I know they wouldn't, because Hollywood think we're stupid, but seriously, just getting her a wig or dying her hair wouldn't be enough. Like seriously.) And Jenna doesn't even moan about this! If I woke up, looked in a mirror, and had been surgery-d to be all different, I'd be a little WHATTHEHELLWHY. But Jenna's just like "Oh. Cool." See? Not whiny. I bet a lot of other YA heroines would spend a whole page like, "My hair, my long brown hair. I'd never really liked it that much anyway - it was just so, brown, and boring, and lifeless - but it was mine. Now, my hair is...blonde! I'm not a blonde person, I never have been. Why do they think they get to make these decisions for me!" blah blah blah.
Plus, there's loads of twists in the book which I never saw coming (though one of my friends says she did, but we'll have to see about that...) Anyway there's definitely two that are total surprises! (Unless you're a genius.) So that's exciting. In fact, the book's going along really well...
The problem is, then you hit the end. And the end is where it kind of, slipped a little for me. It's not a bad ending. I'd say it's a good ending. Explosions and stuff. It's just, I didn't feel the ending lived up to the rest of the book. Here's why:
So you really like Jenna, and you're thinking, 'Yeah, I like you, you're a kickass girl, you don't need any stupid love-triangles to further the-' and then suddenly this thing (which I won't mention for spoilers, because I still think you should read it) happens, and then you're like 'What? No. Jenna? Jenna. Jenna, don't do that. It's silly. It's stupid. It's a bad idea. Seriously. No, seriously. I already said. It's a bad idea. Wait, why? Why? Why? Oh. Right. Cool. The end.' It's not out-of-character for her, exactly. It's just a little weird, and perhaps a little...underwhelming. It's still good though. It's just the rest of the book is good, you're a little surprised.
But overall, ACID is really really good. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for something quick, easy and exciting to read :) Probably not if you're looking for something deep and sci-fi-y though.
I just got really scared thinking I saw a spider, but it was just the shadow of my
That is all :) Hope this wasn't too long and ramble-y.
And go get ACID! (The book, I mean. :P )
