Book Review: XVI

XVI- Julia Karr

Release Date: January 6, 2011

Publisher: Speak

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 325

Buy the Book: Amazon

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world-even the most predatory of men-that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past-one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Summary is taken from the XVI, Goodreads page.

My Review:

To begin, I have to say that I was a little bit hesitant on reading XVI and I don't see why because the book was just wonderful! Julia Karr is a great writer. In XVI, she created a whole knew dystopian world filled with gadgets and uber vocabulary!

XVI is set in Chicago, in the year 2150. In this futuristic world, the government as we know it has been brought down and know the society is run by a Governing Counsel. The GC is pretty much your typical dystopian government. They are very secretive and manipulative. In this case their main way of manipulating the citizens is through media. In the novel when a girl turns sixteen she get the XVI tattoo indicating that she is legal to have sex.

I really liked the world Julia Karr created. The book had a very interesting and intriguing plot. The characters were well developed and realistic. Our main character Nina I thought was very strong-willed and respectable. I liked that in a society where teenage girls were all considered as sex crazed she stood on the contrary because she knew herself and understood that she wasn't ready yet.

The other characters such as Sal, Wei, Mike, Sandy and Derek were also great characters. I sympathized for Sandy because I believe that although she acted like what Julia Karr referred to as a "sex-teen". She didn't really know better as her mother was encouraging her to be that way and pretty much her whole society agreed with what the media was saying. I mean they even taught it at school. Sal on the other hand I thought was a pretty likable character. I found him to be more of the typical love interest but still pretty fun to read about. As for the rest of the characters I really liked them too. I enjoyed reading about their different backgrounds and I wish we got more of that. Also, the main antagonist in this story is Ed. Who is Nina's mothers boyfriend and her little sisters biological father. Ed I thought was also a very typical type character. In this case he was the typical evil bad guy. But still I think it worked for the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, the plot was great and very engaging. One thing I wish there was more of was a more thorough back story as to how this dystopian society came to be. And what was the reason to cause the government to treat young girls this way. But there is a second book to this one so hopefully the questions that are left unanswered here may be answered in the next book. Anyways, as I said before XVI is a great book and I recommend it to those who enjoy dystopian literature.

Here is more on the sequel, Truth:

Truth- Julia Karr

Release Date: January 19, 2012

Publisher: Speak

Age Group: Young Adult

Nina Oberon’s life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council–ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won’t be anyone’s stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out...and the consequences can be deadly.

Summary taken from the Truth, Goodreads page.