Insignia

the new and hottest book that is not only original but/and does not have a shared narrator but is put in a male point of view. its amazing how s.j kincaid has created and written Insignia but now i cant wait for her next one Vortex.

Blurb:

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom's drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.

Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone's been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he's offered the incredible--a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom's instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he'll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he'll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom's always wanted--friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters--but what will it cost him?


Pros:

• Has great plot and is fluent with story line

• Great Characters

• They are also likeable characters

• original

• Male POV

• suspense and thriller

• fun read that all YA readers will enjoy.

• loved start of chapter pages where it is filled with binary

• is a fun read that many serious YA book reviewers will look too deeply into and will eventually dislike but thats not really a con.

• there are none really i was too into it to pick any bad mistakes

Cons:

First Line:

new town new casino-same old plan.

Last Line:

"all right, no killing an eating me okay? i'm ready to go."

Discussion:

i really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down whilst reading i was texting my bff urging her to read it because the characters are humorous, intelligent and know how to fight. as i dont normally read sci fi it was extremely intense and awesome. i really have no cons on it because it was just a book that you could easily flick through and you would never ever pick up on a story line fault unless obviously you are a really intense reader that just cant read for fun and has to write bad reviews which i find kind of selfish but the top four reviews on the internet were all bad, but they are so wrong! this book has spread itself wide covering, friendship, little tid bits of love, geniuses (wanting me to bring out my glasses ), villians, gamers/gaming and dystopia. Insignia has all the cool well executed ideas that definitely -although the world is in war- make the new world look  and sound cool for example the idea of neural processors, gadgets that are ptu in the smart teenagers brains to make them smarter and more complex.great read fantastic book cannot stop raving about it and i really could go on all day about it.

OVERALL SCORE: 5/5 stars (no surprise there)

BTW i have asked to interview SJ Kincaid about Inisgnia and her new book Vortex so excited that she accepted!!!

Hugs and Wishes 

Candi