Review of Pulse: Book One

[BooksandFrogs]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Pulse: Book One" by B.A. Bellec.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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“Pulse: Book One” by B.A. Bellec is a dystopian sci-fi horror set in the near future of 2040. Through a multi-POV storytelling, it touches on an interesting mix of themes, such as capitalism, politics, pandemics, activism and technology. The story centres around a massive music festival organised by a world dominating corporation, and a group of activists with the goal of taking it down. As for the horror factor, we have a few creatures that show up to the party to wreak absolute havoc.
I found the plot quite interesting and I enjoyed the fact that the theme of activism against corruption and money hungry institutions was so loud in a book about gory creature horror. I think there was a good balance of “fighting the Man” and blood and guts everywhere.
Something that can be good for some people and bad for others is that the writing is extremely straight-forward, there was really no room left for interpretation, every thought and feeling of every character was there written for you on the page. I, personally, did not like this. I prefer when there is some space for interpreting a character’s feelings through their actions instead of it all being written down.
I also didn’t feel connected to the characters and, because of that, even though I thought the story had a pretty interesting concept, I wasn’t really invested in it. I wasn’t ever eager to know what would happen to the characters next. Perhaps it was because of the short POVs of the many characters, or maybe it was the high accessibility of the writing that made me take the characters for granted since there would be no need for effort on my part to get to know them.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy the book very much, but I also don’t think that it is a bad book. I found the concept of the story to be really cool, which is why I decided to read it in the first place, and it did not disappoint in that regard. I believe that this author’s writing just isn’t for me. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
I would recommend this book for a younger audience with a rebel spirit and a passion for some blood and gore that just lands on the page when you’re not expecting it to.

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Pulse: Book One
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