by Bethany Wiggins
Series: Stung #1
Pages: 304
Release Date: April 2, 2013
by Walker
Goodreads / Purchase
There is no cure for being stung.
Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she awakens, her world no longer exists. Her house is abandoned and broken. Her neighborhood is barren and dead. And there is a tattoo on her right hand. A tattoo Fiona doesn’t remember getting…but somehow she must conceal at any cost. Because humanity has been divided.
Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded, while a select few live protected inside a fortresslike wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.
And Fiona has awoken branded, on the wrong side of the wall, and…normal.
From the author of Shifting comes this remarkable reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where the sting of a bee, rather than the prick of a needle, can destroy the world.
They are whited out so you can only read them if you highlight the text
This is why I don’t like rereading books I enjoyed when I was younger. Times have changed, my mind has changed, and my standards for writing have increased. Even though I didn’t enjoy this book as much this time around, I didn’t hate it. I noticed the writing was choppy, the storyline was simple, the romance was poorly developed, and the dialogue was absolutely laughable at times…but I still enjoyed it. Yes, there were plot holes and sometimes situations were solved too easily, but so what? I still liked it! The idea for the book? GENIUS. [SPOILER: A vaccine that was designed to protect the elite actually ends up driving them crazy. I love it. I’ve never heard of bees being the beginning of an epidemic, that is so creative.] The ending tied up everything, explaining away how coincidental Bowen and Fiona’s meeting was and the whole premise of the book. It all made sense in the end and, looking back, the mystery of what exactly had happened and the role Fiona played in it was really well done. [SPOILER: But how was Jonah able to suppress the beast and protect Fiona? Why does Fiona have these bursts of superhuman strength without turning? Does she just have all the best parts of the disease? How is the vaccine designed to stop the bee flu also able to heal bullet wounds? What happened to Arrin? How exactly did Grayson find a cure?] There were definitely some loose ends and plot holes that REALLY bug me.
And Fiona…I’m torn. On the one hand, I understand she was asleep when the world went to shit and has no idea what has been going on and hasn’t had to develop any survival skills, but come on, at least try to learn. [SPOILER: She spent this entire book cowering behind Bowen, her brother, or Arrin. Yeah, she knew how to shoot a gun, but the only time she did, she shot Bowen!] I understand that not everyone can be badass and fight and shoot and stand up for themselves, but I would have at least liked to see her show some initiative when it came to being able to ensure her own survival. [SPOILER: When Bowen told her to get to the wall and turn herself in if he wasn’t back in a set amount of time, I honestly almost laughed, because there was no way she could have gotten herself out of the building, let alone a couple blocks over, alive.] She was completely helpless and totally fine with everyone else risking their lives to protect her. It was almost like the narrative set up the expectation that all the men would bend over backwards to protect her. Everyone threw themselves in front of her and made her the priority, and that just didn’t sit right with me. [SPOILER: She didn’t even seem appreciative, like I would have thought she would have shown some concern for Jonah’s safety when he was protecting her in the pit, but there was none.] She was concerned about Bowen and didn’t think of him simply as her bodyguard, but if the man you love is constantly putting himself in danger to protect you, wouldn’t you want to try and take some of the responsibility off his shoulders? [SPOILER: I know she was aware of this fact and felt bad about wearing the Kevlar vest instead of him, but she didn’t do anything about it.] I know that’s just how the author wrote her and times have changed since the book came out in 2013, but still. She just seemed like a bland character who’s only personality quirk is she plays piano and stares at her neighbor while he makes out with girls. Maybe she will improve in the future. Bowen was awesome, but he was flat too. [SPOILER: He was this great guy who’s personality test showed he had a tendency for protecting women (yes, that is a REAL quote from the book).] I mean come on, try to be a little less blatant. He was a good guy though, and he had more depth than Fiona. He had a backstory, he had a family who impacted and changed him. And from what I can tell, he was hot as hell. Is that a shallow way to think? Well, that’s how the character was written.
Their romance was very…sudden. [SPOILER: The argument could be made that, since Bowen and Fiona knew each other when they were younger, it would make sense they would get together so quickly. I might buy that…if they didn’t say they loved each other after two freaking days.] I guess I just have higher expectations for romantic development since I’ve become more dedicated to book and television series that have the time to build these relationships well. Not all books have that option, especially if they are stand-alone or a duology. But even so, they could have made that declaration later on in the book. But I guess the author needed a reason to justify why Bowen was risking his neck every two seconds to keep her alive. Once they were together, though, they were pretty cute. Fiona didn’t not care about him, she was willing to sacrifice herself for him several times. I guess what she couldn’t provide in survival skills she compensated for with selflessness, which I respect. I liked them together, and I didn’t particularly dislike either of them, it’s just Fiona rubbed me the wrong way sometimes.
This was by no means a bad or unenjoyable book, it’s just not the most well-written piece of literature to ever exist. Which is fine, not all books have to be masterpieces, some can just be unjustifiably enjoyable and that is enough. And also, who am I to talk about writing quality? I can barely write a book review.
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Other books by Bethany Wiggins
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