Saturday, September 14, 2013

Review: When the World Was Flat (And We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach

Title: When the World Was Flat (And We Were in Love)
Author: Ingrid Jonach
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.
Review by Nara


I feel like a lot of people who read this book will give up before it gets good. Let me explain: the first third of this book is weird. And slow. Really, really slow. There's an instalove, there's a semi love triangle, there's a weird stalking thing going on, there are unexplained happenenings, there are annoying supporting characters- basically just anything that one usually doesn't like about a book- BAM it's there. BUT (and this is a massive but) these things are all completely forgiven once you find out the background of the story, because when this one secret is revealed- wow, everything makes sense. And EVERYTHING is forgiven.

I personally didn't really like the way we were kept in the dark for pretty much the entirety of the book. I mean, in a way, the secrecy meant that the reveals were even more satisfying, but at the same time, I feel that it was slightly annoying. I think that a lot of people would have given up on the book quite early on. Before the reveals, the book almost seemed to me like a normal, rather cliched contemporary novel instead of the science fiction and geekiness that was promised. But when the secrets start creeping out- damn, it gets good. (And yep, the sci-fi aspect kicks in at this point too.)

Apart from Tom and Lillie, I don't think I liked any of the characters. (Actually even Lillie wasn't that great at times. She had this habit of thinking things in threes, and it was kind of annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. See what I mean?) Some of them were downright irritating. Seriously. One of Lillie's best friends had this HORRIFYING habit of going through books and marking grammatical errors IN RED PEN. THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE. If I had a hit list YOU WOULD BE FREAKING NUMBER ONE. HOW DARE YOU DEFACE BOOKS I AM A GIANT SQUID OF ANGER!

*ehem* let's move on. In terms of the romance- after the major instalove has been overcome, the romance is pretty cute. And actually, I don't know if I'd call it an instalove because there's a reason why it happens, and she's technically already in love with him before she sees him and GAHHH CONFUSION.

Anyway, to conclude, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll want to give up on the book early on. But stick with it- the second half makes it all worth while!

Liked it

Ratings
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4/5





18 comments:

  1. Aw, no! I don't think I'd be able to get through the first third, to be honest. You probably know that I'm very impatient and can't tolerate things such as insta-love and a love triangle (no matter how semi it may be) and these freaky STALKING shit.

    "She had this habit of thinking things in threes, and it was kind of annoying." I bet this would be annoying, but how do you think in threes? O_O And UGH for that friend! Let's go hunt her down, Nara. Then draw on her face. With RED PEN. *cackles madly*

    Anyway, glad that the second half made up for the first half, at least, but I doubt I'd be giving this book a go. I admire your patience, but GAH, I don't have it! D: Great review, though!

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    1. lol basically she kept repeating things in her mind. e.g. There is a tree. A tree. A tree. AND IT WAS ANNOYING!

      YES! *gets out the red pen*

      haha fair enough, yeah if you're not a patient person, it might be better not to read the book :P

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  2. I have seen a lot of DNFs for this book. Most of those put me off this title actually, but now you have me curious about it again. Even though you didn't really like any of the characters, I'm glad that everything made sense after a while. I don't know if I'd have the patience to wait it out though. Thanks for the helpful review, Nara!

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    1. It's interesting because there's a reason for the instalove, and for the stalking thing, and the unexplained happenings! It all just makes sense after the massive secrets are revealed!

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  3. I have heard nothing about this book but I'm glad that it worked out for you! I'm not thinking of picking this one up if there's insta love and a slow beginning- I'm not the patient type :|

    Fab review, hon! <33

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    1. haha to be honest, I'm not really that patient either :P I probably would have DNFed it myself, because the first half was so mediocre.

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  4. Most books I DNF are quite early, so I think this book would end up in the DNF pile for me too. It's a shame that books spare the good part for the end, because many people would give up before they reach that point. I requested this on NG, but from one day on the other it was expired, but that's okay. I don't think I'll read it :) Thanks for the honest review and I'm happy you liked it despite the difficult beginning!

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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    1. Yeah, it does annoy me a bit that sometimes authors have a really bad start, but then suddenly bring out something that makes it good. It would be better if they didn't leave everything until the very end!

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  5. Oh, I've read this one, and I think its safe to say that you liked it so much better. Eep! I didn't like the relationship between Tom and Lillie, because it felt like they had no real connection, not even when everything was explained D: I actually agree that the second half was so much better than the first, because I was a little less confused, and the author laid off on the slut shaming for a while (this was probably the most annoying part :( ). I still don't actually understand why I didn't understand the science behind the book even after reading it, and it just seemed like there was a massive plot hole I couldn't quite put a finger on. But you know what, that's probably just me being slow and ignorant XD Anyway, I thought the premise was pretty original! And great review Nara! I'm happy you liked it better :D

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    1. Aww you aren't slow and ignorant! It was a bit tricky to understand the science at first- I had to think about it for a bit! I wasn't really sure how scientifically accurate it was anyway haha.

      Yeah, the slut shaming was a bit annoying. The friends just really annoyed me in general though :/

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  6. I was reading that first paragraph, going 'nope, nope, nopedy-nope', and THEN. Book that will fool me? Must read! I'll just have to struggle through the beginning and then see for myself.

    Great review!

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    1. The beginning will definitely be a struggle. It's kind of slow as well. But I think the second half makes up for it :)

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  7. I don't mind slow pacing, but instalove, love triangle and stalking? And Lillie sounds very annoying... Still, you said it'd get better, so I might give this a chance....one day... I do like sci-fi :)

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    1. I love sci-fi! That's why I wanted to read this book, and so I was pretty disappointed when there wasn't really any sci-fi stuff in the first half. But when it kicks in, the book gets pretty good :)

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  8. I keep seeing this book on many blogs, so I thought I'd read a review, because the cover is really eye-catchy. If I judged a book by its cover, I'd probably buy this one, but, fortunately, I judge it by its description. And this book's description sounds so cliched! I'm not ok with instalove and love triangles either, so I'll pass. But your review made me just a bit curious. I must admit that sometimes I read books that are not that good, but I forgive all their flaws because of some clever twist... If I ever pick this one up, I'll read it to the end to see what happens. :)

    Oana @All Fantasy Worlds

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    1. I always judge books by their covers :P Can't help it hehe. Sometimes I don't even read the blurb, I'm just like great cover? *adds to GR shelf*

      The twist in this one is quite clever! And sci-fi filled :) I quite liked it!

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  9. Interesting! I love sci-fi and I love Einstein so your description caught my attention right away. I'm not sure I'll choose to start it though, knowing how many annoying tropes and how much frustrating being kept in the dark you have to get through to get to the good part.

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    1. Yeah, I think this book probably won't be for everyone. If you don't have much patience/can't stand the initial flaws then you probably won't end up liking the book. If not though, the good parts are pretty good!

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