Sunday 12 April 2015

Book Review: Bomb

Author: Sarah Mussi
Rating: 3/5
Publication date: May 7th 2015

When Genesis goes on an internet date she is only anxious that this latest guy won't be 'The One'. She's not at all worried about meeting a dodgy bloke or getting in too deep. And when her date appears she texts her best mate, Jackson, to let him know that she thinks this time, he just might be 'The One'. And he texts her back with a huge: I LIKE.
It's the one all right. But not in the way she expects.
For when Genesis wakes up the next day, she can't remember a thing. She can't remember where she is, or how she got there. And she can hardly move because she is strapped into some kind of body armour ... and then a voice sounds in her head: 'Get on to the 37 going north. You are strapped to a vest made entirely of explosives. At the push of one button I can detonate you right where you stand.'
To her horror, Genesis has become an agent of mass destruction. The countdown to detonation begins now... (taken from Goodreads).

I received Bomb through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I think it may have been a draft edition due to my copy being 100 pages over what is stated on Goodreads. I'm hoping that this condensed version is a lot more gripping than what I read. I felt that some parts were extremely gripping but the whole novel lacked this on a whole. Some chapters were very much there purely for transition. 

The themes of Bomb revolve around terrorism and radicalisation but from a victim's point of view. The scary thing was, the victim was an ordinary teenage girl. It was easy to relate to her, which made the whole plot more terrifying as we are able to put ourselves in her position. 

There was one thing I did not like about the narrator and that was her love for coming up with metaphors for life at the oddest of places. She was obsessed with applying literary ideas to everything despite being in a life-threatening situation. 

The classic YA love-triangle cropped up in this. You know, the one where the girl loves the guy who puts her in danger whilst the good guy is constantly trying to help her but she doesn't realise until quite some time later. I found myself sympathising with the good guy more than I did for the narrator. 

The main story takes place under twenty four hours! It wasn't until I finished it that I thought about that more. If you need the scene setting more without giving away any spoilers, this is the time period for a mission in connection to the terror group. I think the beginning of the novel was extremely dragged out up until twelve o'clock when time seems to just slip away within the story as the final deadline is within reach. For me, that's when the real action began!

Overall, I recommend this for those who are interested in the themes that crop up throughout the novel. It's definitely not for everybody purely because of how realistic the situation could be.



Thank you for reading.



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