Official Review: What are You Willing to Risk

Christina O Phillips · Post by **Christina O Phillips** » 19 Oct 2020, 14:55

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "What are You Willing to Risk" by P. L. Camery.]

2 out of 4 stars

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What Are You Willing to Risk? by P.L. Camery is labeled as a young adult science fiction/fantasy novel, heavy on the young adult part of the genre.

What Are You Willing to Risk? is set in a dystopian world ruled by someone with the title of The Guardian. The people live in a caste system which limits what they can study and do as a job in their life, among other things. The main characters are Lawrence, his sister Destiny, his best friend Cal, and new-to-their-group Mavis. The four teens are members of different caste levels, but what unites them is the fact that they are also rebels.

I liked the idea of the story. The world was unique, though slow to be explained. The reader enters the setting in the middle of its existence and its history is slowly revealed through conversation and bits of lectures from the classes the young adults attend. The conflict between the rebels and the Guardian felt genuine, so I could understand why the characters were rebelling and going on their missions and I wanted them to succeed. I also liked the portrayal of the female characters as they were not weak nor overly reliant on the male characters, which can happen in some story tropes.

However, the novel did not feel finished, and I do not mean the unsatisfactory ending. It felt like more could have been explored or talked about in the world it is set in. The relationships between the characters did not feel organic; for example, the romance between two of the main characters felt forced. I did not get to see Lawrence and Mavis fall in love, but rather got to see them tell each other that they loved each other. The friendships did not even feel real, as the dialogue felt like scripted conversations rather than genuine human interactions. There were numerous punctuation issues: enough that at times, I found it distracting and could not get as invested in the novel as I would have liked.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Because of the incorrect punctuation and the unevenness of the story (the first half of the book felt drug out while the most interesting part of the rebellion was too brief), I cannot give this book a higher rating. It is not lower because this is a unique story that some readers (young adults, people who like sci-fi stories about rebels) could find some enjoyment in.

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What are You Willing to Risk
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