Media Type: Ebook (ARC)
Title: The Final Six
Author: Alexandra Monir
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: Hardcover; 352
Release Date: March 6, 2018
Source: HarperTeen / FFBC Tours
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Content Screening: Nothing of note.
HDB Rating: 4 Keys to My Heart
Recommended to: Readers who enjoy Science Fiction with diverse characters and lots of adventure.
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
When Leo, an Italian championship swimmer, and Naomi, a science genius from California, are two of the twenty-four teens drafted into the International Space Training Camp, their lives are forever altered. After erratic climate change has made Earth a dangerous place to live, the fate of the population rests on the shoulders of the final six who will be scouting a new planet. Intense training, global scrutiny, and cutthroat opponents are only a few of the hurdles the contestants must endure in this competition.
For Leo, the prospect of traveling to Europa—Jupiter’s moon—to help resettle humankind is just the sense of purpose he’s been yearning for since losing his entire family in the flooding of Rome. Naomi, after learning of a similar space mission that mysteriously failed, suspects the ISTC isn’t being up front with them about what’s at risk.
As the race to the final six advances, the tests get more challenging—even deadly. With pressure mounting, Naomi finds an unexpected friend in Leo, and the two grow closer with each mind-boggling experience they encounter. But it’s only when the finalists become fewer and their destinies grow nearer that the two can fathom the full weight of everything at stake: the world, the stars, and their lives.
First off, credit where credit is due, I have to applaud Monir for the diversity in The Final Six. It’s so refreshing to not only see both a female and a male main character in this story, but the fact that Naomi and Leo, while they share a destiny, are so different is wonderful. The differences in their views about the competition, their ethnic backgrounds, and their family lives all come together to create a beautiful story about growth through the pursuit of a common goal. I loved how ambitious both of them were because, as I stated above, it’s great to see strong male and female characters side by side. We need more of that.
As for the plot, I can say that the science fiction aspects of this book were really accessible. I loved the addition of VR and AI! The Final Six easily walks that line between sharing the technology of the future and still being something that you can find yourself picturing. It helps, of course, that Monir has an uncanny ability to write beautifully descriptive scenes. The competition manages to pull the reader in quickly, and make you feel like you’re part of the action. I even found myself rooting for the friendship to romance brewing between our two characters, despite the fact that I’m normally anti-romance. Could I have done without that? Probably, but the fact that I didn’t dislike it was a nice surprise.
Why then, you ask, did I rate this at four stars rather than five? First there’s the fact that, despite how different Naomi and Leo are in many aspects, our two main characters are pretty difficult to tell apart in their POVs. If there hadn’t been headers on the chapters letting me know whose mind I was currently in, I would have been lost a lot more. My other issue was, and I know this is just the way that my particular brand of reading brain works, there were so many unexplained things that were just conveniently happening. I mentioned how perfect the descriptive writing was in relation to the competition technology. That’s why I was a little baffled as to why there wasn’t any explanations for how electricity works now, why Earth is being abandoned instead of fixed, and why the treatment only works on teenagers. Am I being nitpicky? Possibly. None of that took away from my overall enjoyment. Still, I have so many questions.
So, after a lot of thought, I settled on a solid four star rating. I haven’t yet read a book similar to this, so I’m pretty happy with the journey I was taken on. The ending is a blatant cliffhanger, so rest assured that there’s another book coming down the pipeline. Maybe that one will answer the rest of my questions? Only time will tell.
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