Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich
Release Date: December 4th, 2014
Straight-laced, sixteen-year-old Rebecca can’t wait for her Acceptance. A fancy ball, eligible bachelors, and her debut as an official member of society. Instead, the Machine rejects Rebecca. Labeled as a future criminal, she’s shipped off to a life sentence in a lawless penal colony.Release Date: December 4th, 2014
A life behind barbed wire fences with the world’s most dangerous people terrifies Rebecca. She reluctantly joins a band of misfit teens in a risky escape plan, complete with an accidental fiancé she’s almost certain she can learn to love.
But freedom comes with a price. To escape a doomed future and prove her innocence Rebecca must embrace the criminal within.
Sarah Negovetich
Sarah Negovetich knows you don't know how to pronounce her name and she's okay with that.
Her first love is Young Adult novels, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it's accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better cliché.
Sarah divides her time between writing YA books that her husband won’t read and working with amazing authors as an agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her life’s goal is to be only a mildly embarrassing mom when her kids hit their teens.
FIND SARAH NEGOVETICH
My Thoughts
Sarah first approached me back in October about reviewing her upcoming novel. I read the synopsis and thought it sounded pretty awesome. I responded back to Sarah, and an awesome partnership was born. While it took me quite a bit longer than I anticipated to get this novel read and reviewed, every second was worth the wait. Holy smokes, what a phenomenal way to end 2014! This book actually ended up being one of my favorite reads!
In true One Guy's Guide to Good Reads, allow me to get the negatives out of the way first. While I ended up truly loving this novel, it didn't start out that way. For some reason, it really took me a bit to get into this story. I'm not sure if it was my mindset or what, but I really couldn't get into it. I have to say that the dystopian genre is getting to be pretty bloated, so it takes something pretty amazing to grab my attention. There is only so many times I can read about a futuristic War-torn United States before I am going to lose my mind. Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched... Need I go on? This novel really reminded me a lot of some of the other extremely popular dystopian series out there. It really wasn't until we got passed the introductory stage of the book that I became interested. It wasn't due to any bad writing or anything negative on Sarah's part, I was just looking for what made Rite of Rejection different. And then I found it. That's where any and all comparisons stopped.
My only other complaint about Rite of Rejection is kind of a moot point, but bear with me here. So in RoR there were more than a few moments that were.... cringe worthy. Moments where I was like "is this really about to happen...?" or "Oh no, I hope that doesn't...." and then they actually don't. Sarah is tricky. Seriously several times in this novel I thought the book was going to take one direction, then at the last moment something came out of left field and 'rightened' out the plot. I dig it. I like being kept on my toes, but those few moments of hesitation were almost more than I could handle!
Complaints over. Let's rave.
So the characters in Rite of Rejection were phenomenal. I loved each and every one. As you guys all know, I have a soft spot for villains and as it turns out, this time was no exception. My favorite character in RoR was actually the villain. I can't say who or why because it would be a huge spoiler in the plot line, but seriously. It happened. Sarah's character development in this novel was spot on. The way I felt about these characters was genuine. Every triumph had me cheering, while every pitfall gave me the blues. We all know how important characters can be to a storyline, and Sarah did a great job incorporating phenomenal ones into hers. I also loved how the characters did a really great job of representing society in different facets. Unlike other dystopians, in RoR, it is through the characters in which we learn about the surrounding world and life, not the plot. That was very unique to me. It's amazing how much Sarah was able to say with so few words.
The originality of this read is what really made it stand out for me. Dystopians are everywhere these days so you really have to do something special for me to take this much interest. Sarah did. Never before have I ever seen such an idea implemented in a novel. This was absolutely fantastic. Sarah is on top of her A-game and Rite of Rejection is a work that definitely stands on its' own. I have mad respect for that. There is no need for any comparisons here, in fact, others should be trying to live up to this standard. If every dystopian author put half as much work into their novels as Sarah clearly did here, we would have such an over-inflated sub-genre.
The last big thing I want to bring up is the setting in RoR. So if you guys read the synopsis and have heard about the book, you've heard of the PIT. The PIT is where the "outcasts" of society are sent to live after their Acceptance 'Rejection". The world that Sarah creates inside the pit is amazing. It was truly like I was there. Imagine the worst post-apocalyptic city you can, covered in trash, filth, crawling with rapists, and never knowing what may lurk around the corner. Yes. That. Seriously. The mood that Sarah set for the settling was perfect. I seriously think that was my favorite part of this novel.
I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in this series. Fair warning, book one ends on a rather abrupt note with a massive cliffhanger. Don't say I didn't warn ya. I was so upset to see it end there!
In the end, Rite of Rejection proved to not be just an amazing book, it proved to be one of my favorite reads of 2014. Seriously. I saved one of the bests for last in this instance because I wouldn't have changed a thing. Loved. This. Book. It should be no surprise then, that I am granting Rite of Rejection an extremely well-deserved 5-star review! You guys have got to check out this debut novel from Sarah Negovetich, you will not be disappointed!
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Alright you guys, that's all I have for you on the topic of Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich. Have you guys read it yet? If not, definitely add it to your TBR lists, Sarah Negovetich is an author you are definitely going to want to keep your eyes on! If you have read it, let me know what you thought in the comments below!
Huge shout out to Sarah for contacting me about this book a few months ago, it's been an awesome ride so far ma'am, working with you has been quite an honor! Have I mentioned that Sarah is the awesome lady I intern under? Yeah. She's an awesome author/agent AND she's my boss-lady. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe her!
Now... that was my last post for 2014. Until next time (and 2015), Happy Reading!
-Ethan
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