bookswithjax's reviews
725 reviews

I borrowed this book from a co-worker because we had been discussing the show. He had read the book but hadn't watched and I had watched the show but hadn't read the book. We each raved about our own prospective medias and therefore decided to switch. First of all generally speaking when transferring from book to screen things get lost in translation. Or people are so attached to the book they can't handle even the minute differences. So fair warning the show and the book are different and I am definitely okay with that. I like books that delve into the what if's in life. So what if the Nazi's and Japan had won the war (or did they). What would America be like, how would American's capitulate or retaliate? These are all themes explored in this book and I enjoyed almost every minute of it. The characters were mostly well written and thought out. Tagomi is the "hero" and while likable not your standard idea of what a hero should be. In the book my favorite character was Robert Childan, (who isn't on the show). His story arc was one I enjoyed, maybe because Childan's story had some evolution to it. He was a POV character so we got to read his thoughts. He started out self loathing and racist (just to name a few traits), and by the end of the book he was not the same man, unlike Juliana who I despised. I found her to be a spoiled brat, however she is written as one of the most enlightened characters in the story. I felt a little cheated with her character arc. She never changed she stayed true to who she was from beginning to end and yet because I didn't like who she was in the beginning I definitely didn't like who she was in the end.

Spoiler

It ruins the fact that her character is intelligent enough to figure EVERYTHING out in the end.

Coincidentally my favorite character in the show isn't in the book, hmmm lol Maybe I'm just contrary like that!

I tried to keep this review spoiler free which hinders a bit of the review process for me but I definitely recommend this to anyone who is a Philip Dick fan, a historical fiction fan, conspiracy nut, or a fan of the show! I find both the book and the show to be stand alone pieces of which I love and honestly it's a really short read.

I haven't fully learned how to do the spoiler hide stuff (I will get around to it eventually) so I will keep this review general for the time being. However I LOVED this book!! I currently have a free amazon kindle unlimited trial so I've been reading ALL the books. This is one I'm going to have to buy in the end and re-read as I'm certain there are nuances I have missed. This book is really told from the point of view of an 8 year old boy. It pulls ideas from history/historical fiction and rolls them all into this intriguing new world of fantasy. Nothing is quite as it seems in this story and I am Desperate for the end of May to get here so I can read the second installment. You have political intrigue, family dynamics, blossoming love, and magical powers that have a new twist that I can't wait to learn more about. It's hard sometimes to find original stories and ideas these days, but I think this is a good one. I will be checking out more of Jeff Wheelers books while I wait. Once I figure out the spoiler stuff I'll give a more in depth review.