Name: Ashton Reed's review of The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber
Item: The Evaporation of Sofi Snow
Rating: 4
Author: Ashton Reed

Mary Weber

For fans of Ender's Game and Blade Runner comes a story of video gaming, blood, and power. Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi's dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth's corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi's the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she's convinced he's been taken to the ice-planet. Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there. For Miguel--Earth's charming young playboy--the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight's bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he's a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford. From the award-winning author of the Storm Siren Trilogy, step into a diverse cast of characters spanning from the electric metropolises of earth to the chilling alien planet above, in a story of re-finding yourself in the midst of losing the one thing you love. Before it all evaporates.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow

Ashton Reed

Delaney Rietveld

This isn't a book I would probably recommend to friends because I really wasn't pulled into the story until the last 50 pages or so. I found the characters to be underdeveloped. Like, so many characters died after the explosion and there was basically no reaction from their friends!! I probably will read the sequel to see if it gets any better, but it's definitely not my favorite book I've read so far.
Although, I love that the author dedicated this book to victims of human trafficking. I thought the story was a great way to bring awareness to that cause.

The line between virtual & reality is about to EVAPORATE. In a world where skycams follow your every move and the details of your life are uploaded each hour, Sofi knows that her eyes are the only caring ones watching her brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, she works behind the scenes to protect Shilo as he competes in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb destroys the gaming arena, she is helpless to rescue him—and certain that his disappearance was no accident. Despite all the evidence of Shilo’s death, Sofi ’s nightmares tell her he is still alive. Could the dreams be truer than what everyone else claims? For Miguel—a charming young playboy from Earth—the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets. In the aftermath of the bombing, he fears he has lost Sofi forever, even as he wonders if she is really who she seems. Now he’s a target for blackmail. The game is simple: help the blackmailers or lose more than anyone can fathom—or than Earth can afford. Step into a universe of diverse characters, alien invasions, and high-stakes video gaming. Because when technology reigns, nothing is as true as it seems—and fantasy can become reality after all.

Sheila Goicea

See this FULL review on my blog along with others at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com

Content Warning: Human Trafficking and Organ Harvesting.

I've seen a lot of reviews on this book about how confusing it was, and how readers felt blindsided by the plotline. I'd like to highlight that I had similar feelings, especially the further the plot advanced. 



Before I get into my review, here's a short synopsis: 

Set in a futuristic world, post-World War, corporations in alliance with an alien race orbiting Earth govern the world. Children of one of the heads of the Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena, Sofi and her brother Shilo are forced to compete in the bloody virtually Colosseum-style games. 

A techie, Sofi operates the game behind the scenes, navigating her brother through the physical portion. When the games go awry, and a bomb decimates the battlefield, Shilo goes missing. Sofi believes he is still alive, while everyone else doesn't. Shilo's data is wiped clean and there are no trails to figure out where he's gone. But Sofi has vivid dreams, giving her glimpses to where Shilo may have been taken to; the ice planet of the Delonese. 

Needing help from a foreign ambassador to get to the planet, Sofi must enlist Miguel's help, who is not only an ambassador but an ex-lover. Tensions high, the two must figure out how to get past their past in order to find Shilo, and to escape the blackmailers hunting Miguel. 

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This book took a turn that I was completely not expecting. I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, however, the way the book began and the way that it ended didn't flow well. I'd like some more clarification and answers to some of the big questions enticing the reader throughout! There is no doubt that the author took a stab at creating a creative plot. However, without necessary flow, it makes it a confusing read. Part of the frustration comes from the "romance," rather, past-romance between Sofi Snow and Miguel that keeps trying to take center stage when it needs to stop trying so hard. Their strained relationship creates more tension for the plot, but also creates another backstory that isn't hashed out well, if at all. 

Now, I know this story takes a lot from The Hunger Games trilogy. 



And that was a huge drawback for me especially in the first quarter of the book. While Sofi doesn't necessarily remind me of Katniss, Miguel is a spitting image of Finnick in the way he acts and obtains information from those around him. Sofi, too, is very promiscuous (and I'm not sure why she needs to be) from what seems to be out of her own satisfaction. Despite these resemblances, I thought the idea that the world post WWIV being run by massive corporations was creative, and even possible. I like when futuristic worlds are created to be tangible, not just fantastic. Considering how much pull some companies and industries have in today's world, it creates the idea that something like this could happen. 

The interesting part is the addition and appearance of the alien Delonese race and their planet which rotates the Earth like an extra moon. They align themselves with the governing parties to become allies of Earth. Despite this, their foreign appearance doesn't really come on the scene until later in the story. 

As the plot moves on, the similarities to The Hunger Games are fewer and further between. The biggest draw-back in the world building is the physical description of it---because there hardly any. The story jumps from scene to scene, with little description given to the reader about where they were and are. Moving from scene to scene gave me vertigo. 

The characters themselves are unrealistic. Both Sofi and Miguel are situated in roles that don't seem realistic for teenagers to be in. Perhaps Sofi could be some tech genius---they are out there. But Miguel? He's a foreign diplomat at the age of sixteen, already highly esteemed, as well as a well-known playboy. At sixteen. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's plausible. 

The last 80% of this book is where I started to get interested. However, I found its finale to be nondescript, rushed, and again, without explanation. How does Sofi really evaporate? Yeah, I'm not sure either. I hope we find out in the sequel. If I don't get some answers there, then I won't continue on with the series if more is planned to come. 

Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual Content: Nothing explicit, yet "sleeping around" is talked about a lot.
Violence: Moderate - there are the "games" in the beginning where several characters die in rather gross ways. Although they aren't graphic, the implications are there. 

★★½

Paige Green

Rating: 4/5

Genre: YA dystopian/sci-fi

Recommended Age: 16+ (some sexual references)

Pages: 352 Pages

Author: Mary Weber

Amazon

So I could NOT get enough of Warcross and Ready Player One, so fortunately I found this book to help tide me over until the next installment of Warcross and the Ready Player One movie comes out. While this book does not specifically focus on its game Fantasy Fighting (which is bloody and also reminds me of another dystopian book called The Hunger Games), it does have that gritty gamer vibe that I loved from Warcross and Ready Player One. I also loved how developed all of the characters were and how much world building there was in this book. 

However, I did have problems getting into this book. I felt that the pacing was a little slow in this book and I felt that some of the parts in this book were a little overcomplicated. I’m also confused as to the game portion of this book. Like Hunger Games, Warcross, and Ready Player One had an explanation to these games while in this book it’s just like “well we’re bored… let’s have kids kill each other!” And why are children sellable in this future and why is the world split into corporations? That wasn’t very well explained in this book either.

Verdict: I loved the feel of this book, but I was left with more questions than answers. The characters, the diversity of the characters, and the world building definitely pull the majority of this book though.

I'm back for another review! Why all the reviews? Because I'm super behind. I guess it's a good thing that I have been reading as slow as I have been because if I was reading faster, I would have even more books to review! UUGGGHH anyway, I'm getting back into the groove, so here's - drum roll please - The Evaporation of Sofi Snow !!!! *says in deep announcer's voice*

​I really enjoyed this book! I did have a few problems with it, which I will address in a second, but when we get to the core of it, I really did enjoy reading this book. For one, the premise intrigued me, though it didn't make a whole lot of sense. The idea that a whole new planet comes and kind of takes over the world and reforms our government is one that, surprisingly, the YA world hasn't seen yet, as far as I know. 

I also love the characters! I thought every character had some kind of unique trademark and an interesting backstory. It gets me so pumped when the main character is this awesome chic who kicks butt, and Sofi definitely delivers. She's extremely smart and can hack her way into anything. But she has her flaws, too, of course, but I think that all the characters had that amazing redeeming moment at the end. And the sibling relationship! Yes, yes, yes!

Oh, I definitely have to mention the plot twists! I'm proud to say that I saw it coming the whole time. Just saying. Not because they weren't good, because they were really good, but I'm still proud of myself (haha). (view spoiler)[I knew that boy who was her friend (whoops, I forgot his name...) was in love with her and had some kind of ulterior motive. I take pride in my predicting abilities (hahahaha). (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, on to why the book is a four-star and not a five

There were so many times where I was so confused I read the same page over and over and over and eventually just had to skip it because I gave up. Especially in the beginning, I didn't understand the world and all the technology lingo enough to imagine what was happening in my head. Plus, it started off kind of like a rocket - the pacing wasn't too fast, necessarily, but she started off too strong when I still didn't understand the world enough. I just wish the technology was more understandable, especially in important scenes when they're knee-deep in it and I don't know what they're saying.

Honestly, that was the main thing, but it's kind of a big thing. Plus, this is one of those books where it didn't blow me away, but I genuinely enjoyed reading it and want to know what's going to happen next.

Thanks NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ebook! 

Au revoir, beautiful bookworms!



Oh, and if you enjoyed this review, be sure to follow my blog at https://tomyfellowbookworms.weebly.com and follow my bookstagram @ashton_reads ! Thanks for everything!

Ashton Reed &
The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber

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