#a traumatized underdeveloped teenager its not jarring or scary its just boring. like sitting through civics class

[cordyceph]

nonono you guys dont understand i have been on and off reading a book that i think may be the worst book ever written.

it follows Ruby, a timid child swept up in a dystopian hell created by a disease that left millions of children dead and parents panicking. those that survived the disease, like Ruby, were sent off to prison camps to be "rehabilitated" or simply contained. sometimes killed

the book eventually follows her escape and survival with other runaway kids yada yada its all boring as hell really

the thing that pisses me off so greatly is the sorting system for the children. its a color system, green to red, which is implied several times to be equal to their danger. but the individual classifications are also different powers? oranges have the ability to influence peoples thoughts and emotions, blues are telekinetic, yellows are electro kinetic. but wouldnt someone who can throw things with his mind be scarier and more dangerous than someone who sometimes fritzes technology? the scaling system doesn't have any nuance, either, so its frustrating

i lied. the worst part is Ruby herself. she's been isolated from the world for six years, since she was ten years old, yet she is able to comprehend the gravity of how many children died. shes able to process emotions in a very adult way despite being sixteen with severe ptsd and no real role models

oh, and her name is Ruby. in a system where we never see another red class child, only oranges. her name is Ruby Elizabeth David. i want to strangle the author with dental floss.

there's only one thing worse than an awful book, and that is an awful book with ONE tantalisingly compelling element