Pulse (Pulse, 1)

So I picked up this book because Patrick Carman was coming to the B&N near my house for a book signing, and I wanted to see if I could finish this before he got there. I honestly did not expect to finish, let alone be so into the story that I finished it in TWO DAY. It was good. I love that there's a female lead that, while into boys, doesn't just keep following after ones she determines to be jerks. She stands up for herself. She sticks to it. I also love the exploration of the power of touch, and what a comfort it can be to reach out your hand and have someone want to hold yours in return. The love story was believable and not overdone. I thought it was great!AND, in case you're wondering, Patrick Carman is seriously one of the nicest people ever. He made sure to spend time talking to each and every person that came up to get a book signed, AND he brought cake on a stick! (Pretzel stick dipped in frosting. Gotta love an author who brings sugar to their signing!) He spent at least five minutes talking to me about my own book I've just finished, AND referred me to Lindsay Cummings (who's first YA is coming out summer next year) because she was at the signing, too. And p.s. she was also super nice and super helpful. Can't wait to read the book she wrote! But in the meantime, you should check out Pulse. Interesting, realistic take on what the future could look like in the next century.

Patrick Carman is pure genius when it comes to storytelling. I fell hard and fast for Pulse. The concept was refreshing, addictive, and highly interesting. I just can't get over how much I loved this novel. We learn that in the future, so many things will cease to exist, relying only on tablets. With the way the world seems to run nowadays, I can see this as a possibility one day. Shopping in stores is unheard of. It's something people used to to in the past. The empty buildings are the proof. Books? Who needs them when you have a tablet? School? That's just a building that Faith Daniels goes to while she learns from her tablet every day. Drugs? Yes, you even experience those on a tablet. So very interesting. Meanwhile, the schools are getting smaller, Faith has now had to relocate three times due to downsizing, and her newest school has but one hundred and fifty students and shrinking. It's only a matter of time till it shuts down like all the others. And where are the parents in this matter? They have no real care for the children anymore. The main thing is when they have decided to move over to the States. There is no turning back. Rumor has it, in the States, everything is better. But it's a choice to be made. Faith knows her day isn't going to come. The Drifters have something to do with that. And when two new students show up at school, everyone seems to know that there's something different about them. But just what is it and how will it come to effect Faith?So many hidden secrets are hidden in the pages of Pulse. There are so many characters to grow attached to, so many that hold secrets from Faith. When it all starts coming to surface, you'll find yourself shocked and desperate to know more.

In 2051, the world is a much different place. After global-warming caused major changes in the world (California is now gone), The USA now consists of only two states: The Western state and the Eastern state. Faith Daniels lives in neither. She is part of an outlying group whose family has refused to sacrifice their freedom by moving into, what they believe, is a controlled way of life. Faith and her friend Liz have changed schools several times, mainly because as more and more families join the states, the student population dwindles to the point that keeping the school open is pointless. When they start at Old Park Hill, Faith is immediately drawn to tall, freakishly handsome, Wade Quinn and he to her. But Faith has also captured the attention of mysterious loner, Dylan Gillmore. Wade's sister, Cora, has a thing for Dylan and is none too happy that Faith is in the way. But Faith has bigger worries coming her way. Strange things are happening around their run-down city. More and more people are joining the states, and someone is watching Faith at night as she sleeps. They know faith has "the pulse" -- the ability to move things with her mind. But this talent can be hard to control, and Faith will have to learn to master it if she wants to save herself and her friends from an even bigger threat.The world building in the book is insane. It felt very familiar and plausible. Everyone in the book is tied to one another through a tablet -- much like an expandable iPad. They make all of their purchases with it, study on it, read on it, watch TV on it and even communicate with it. It's not so different from where we are now. The mention of old malls, and abandoned stores such as Old Navy and Macy's made it seem even more familiar and that much more haunting.All of the characters were interesting, but I never fully connected with any of them. Faith is the focus of the story, but I was actually more captivated by Wade and Cora. The two of them are deliciously evil. Liz, Faith's BFF could have been developed more. She was probably the flattest of all of the characters. I liked Hawk, Faith's new, geeky, computer-hacker friend, and I liked the mystery surrounding Dylan.With that said, I have to admit that I almost DNF-ed this one. The writing style wasn't gelling with me. There was a lot of head-hopping and despite the awesome world-building, I wasn't connecting with the characters or the story. About 130 pages in, my curiosity was peaked enough to continue on to the second part of the book. It was then that the action and development picked up a lot. By the time I hit part three, I was totally invested, and by the time I finished, I was completely hooked.Despite a clunky beginning and a style that just didn't grab me, I ended up really liking the story, even though I wasn't completely invested in Faith. There's a lot happening between the pages and if you can make it through the setup, you're in for a wild ride. It took some time, but it did finally grab me. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series!

This book was pretty cool. It's almost like one of those books where it's the future and you wish you had come up with that future like hunger games and divergent. And that it had super powers involved was really cool. There were a few things that I didn't like though. One of those things was that it was written in a girl's point of view when the author was s guy. Now I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, and actually most books are like that where the author is writing from the opposite gender, but he...I don't know, it's hard to explain. You might understand me if you read the book. The other things that I didn't like was that I stopped in the middle of the book. But I think that was because of school projects. And if you're wandering yes I finished the book.