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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

PODs By Michelle Pickett : A Review & Blog Tour!

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BOOK TITLE: PODs

ISBN: 9781937053284

AUTHOR: Michelle Pickett

GENRE: Fiction

NUMBER OF PAGES: 288

FORMAT: Kindle ebook.

SERIES / STANDALONE: PODs #1

REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20539669-dhivya-balaji

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: The author sent us a gift on kindle. This is part of the blog tour.

REVIEW:
          What happens when a deadly virus threatens to destroy people? What steps must the government take to prevent this from happening? Will these steps be effective? What happens to the families who are ripped apart? These are the questions dealt with in this novel. Michelle Pickett has given us a few pointers to think about in this novel.
          Evangeline is a teenager and only daughter. Her parents try to protect her from all the evils of the world, but one day, the news of a deadly virus that has no cure breaks on television. Evangeline is terrified, of dying, of having to lose loved ones, of leaving her parents and friends, of leaving the comfortable life that she leads. With terror in her mind, Eva waits for the miracle cure to appear. But she is sorely disappointed when the government announces that the cure is impossible.
          The government chooses to save a select few citizens and quarantine them until the virus decimates the nation or at least until a cure is found. Evangeline finds herself one of the (un)lucky few to be chosen in the raffle to be kept safe at the Populace Obliteration Defence (POD) system. Is she lucky to have her life saved? Is it necessary at the cost of leaving her parents forever? Evangeline’s moral dilemma is brought out well. But she chooses to go ahead on her parents’ insistence.
          But once under scrutiny, Evangeline finds that all is not what it seems in the government scheme. The raffle is allegedly rigged to choose a unique set of people. Shut with like minded people in a POD, Eva starts forming a reluctant bond with those people. They form a group of sorts only to be brutally divided. When Eva is allowed back into the country a year later, she finds that the virus is still existent and all that protection would be continued.
          In the tale of love, loss and melancholy, Eva finds herself getting close to a POD occupant and aches for him after the separation. She settles reluctantly into a new life when she finds her first love again. Is she ready to forego her new found life to get back with him? Eva’s decision helps clear her mind and she sees the world is not what it seems. Outside the protected communities, the virus has mutated into worse forms. Eva, being our heroine, tries to fight against the mutant humans, who were once her friends and who are now ready to rip her throat. Along with her love, Eva journeys in search of safety. Whether she perishes or lives to tell the tale forms the rest of the plot.
          Given an interesting story line, the book could have been made a bit racier. A little extra concentration on the fates of the side characters involved would have given a better closure. And it is a point worthy of note that the story does not actually make the reader realise the magnitude of the virus. We are only given a take on the virus and its mutation in thoroughly non medical terms. Readers can research mutation while reading this book to have a better experience and understanding of why the characters are subjected to the various horrors.
          As a summary, the book is a good concept handled slightly way off the mark. It is like food that is bland, it doesn’t taste wrong, but there can be a little more spice. And the predictability could have been skirted around. For a strong topic such as government oppression (the book starts heavily with it) the book seems to lose heart midway and steer off topic sometimes. Otherwise, it is a perfectly relatable read for a relaxed holiday.
WHAT I LIKED: The new concept, the practicality of the story
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: There is a noticeable emphasis on the lead character’s inner turmoil, teenage trouble and raging hormones rather than other things that matter.

VERDICT: Go for it if you like novels to be midway between light and heavy.

RATING: 4/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Michelle is a reader, writer and mother of twin eight year old daughters and a twelve year old son. Between helping her kids with their homework and being a football mom, she writes young adult fantasies, science/fiction and paranormal romances and has recently started dabbling in young adult and new adult contemporary romance.
          She has an obsession on Reese’s peanut butter cups and writes only when she has hoodies on. She loves watching cooking shows but swears that the closest she will get to being a gourmet chef is to make her lead character one!
          She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. And she now lives in a sleepy suburb of Houston, Texas with her extremely supportive, not to mention gorgeous husband, three school-aged kids, a 125 pound labradoodle that thinks he’s a lap dog, and a very persnickety cat.
Her work includes:
The Amazon Bestselling young adult novel PODs
Milayna, March 2014
Milayna’s Angel (Milayna #2), September 2014
The Infected, a PODs novel, November 2014
The Innocent (Milayna #3), April 2015.
She always loves to hear from readers, bloggers and other authors!
Find her here.
Website:    www.Michelle-Pickett.com
Email:                  Michelle@Michelle-Pickett.com
Blog:          www.Michelle-Pickett.com/blog
Facebook:         www.Facebook.com/michellepickettauthor
Twitter:                http://www.twitter.com/michelle_kp
Goodreads:       http://goodreads.com/michelle-pickett

Buy Links for PODs:

Buy Links for Milayna:

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Digital, Paperback

PRICE: Rs 318 for a Kindle edition


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