The Sowing Blog Tour: Review

Book: The Sowing by K. Makansi
Publication Date: August 19, 2013
Series: The Seeds Trilogy (#1)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: When Remy Alexander is fifteen, her older sister is murdered in a cold-blooded classroom massacre. When the Okarian Sector hides the truth behind the attack, Remy's family goes underground to join the clandestine and growing Resistance movement. Now, three years later, Remy is beginning to find clues about why her sister was murdered. But at the same time, Valerian Orlean, the boy Remy once loved, is put in charge of hunting and destroying the Resistance. As Vale fights to protect his people and Remy seeks justice for her sister, the two are set on a collision course that could bring everyone together - or tear everything apart.

Overall Review:
The Sowing caught my eye because it seemed like just the kind of dystopian I liked. One character beaten down or hurt badly (figurative and/or literally) by society so they then work to try and put a stop to their government and start an uprising. The other character stuck directly in this messed up society, not really knowing exactly how bad it really is. Once these characters meet, it sets a collision course for both of them that neither saw coming. The interesting thing about The Sowing though is that this government is all about food. They artificially make food and stick all sorts of hormones and chemicals in the food to make the person getting it exactly the way they want them. The Resistance, the group going against the government, wants to start growing food again the natural and quite frankly, normal, way. Normally you'd think, eh it's just food so the government can't be that bad. They are. They are willing to kill anyone and everyone who runs the risk of tearing down all that they've done. It was so interesting to see a totally different side to dystopian societies. I actually really enjoyed this original and new set of pace to a widely popular genre. The one thing that got to me though was how slow of a read The Sowing was. It definitely caught and held my interest but sometimes the writing or just what was going on at the time made reading it very slow and sometimes boring. I would love to say that this could've been a one sitting type of book, but I wanted to put it down and give it a rest sometimes just because I was not at all a fan of the pace. The Sowing was full of world building, character development, action, suspense, and drama but it's still so hard to enjoy all that when the whole thing just drags on!

Remy was a very complicated character in my opinion. She was smart, but not very intelligent in math and science which is basically how the entire world was run in this story. She could be nice but at the same time she could be such a whining baby. I felt really bad for her at times because so many people either treated her like crap or just made her out to be stupid, and she wasn't. She definitely stood out in a crowd due to her interests and just the way she acts and carries herself. There were times I really liked her or felt so bad for her, but then there were other times when she was being completely idiotic and I felt the need to smack the back of her head! She grew up a lot throughout her journey in The Sowing but she still has a lot of growing up to do. I can't say that I disliked her as a character, but I certainly didn't love her either. For me, she was complicated because sometimes she was the kind of character that was just kind of there for me while other times I was rooting for her and looking forward to reading from her POV. I don't know if that's ever happened to me before, it's definitely strange!
Vale was a very complicated character too. He was a good guy, just entirely too naive at times. In the beginning he saw things in such black and white terms, without once considering all the gray areas in between. Sometimes he could be a bit of a punk but really I just think he was a boy who wanted to make everyone around him proud, he wanted to prove he was worth something. He causes quite a bit of trouble for Remy but I can tell he genuinely feels bad about it. Again, he was the kind of character that most of the time I loved reading his POV and I just enjoyed him so much while other times I just wanted to smack him! He could be entirely too dense and indecisive sometimes! When it came the things around him, he could make great and detailed plans almost right on the spot, but when it came to important things about him he stalled and tried to get out of making any kind of decision at all. He grew a lot and definitely matured as the book went on, but like Remy he has some growing up and maturing to do. As well as a lot to make up for!

The pace was entirely too slow for my tastes, especially since the story itself was so interesting. Despite how much I enjoyed reading, I often times got bored because things moved entirely too slow. I'm not sure if it was the writing style or maybe there was just too much filler-y stuff going on, but this time a slow pace did not work out at all. The Sowing is definitely the type of dystopian I'm into, not that there's a whole lot of different types but you get what I mean. The Sowing is also pretty different from others because this one's main topic is food. Normally with dystopians you have governments treating people like crap or slaves, and it does happen a little in The Sowing, but this government focuses more on the food and the corrupt way they make it and then give it to their citizens. Definitely not a dystopian I've read in the past! The Sowing is full of shocking revelations, action, adventure, suspense, and death. It was so enjoyable to read! Remy is very complicated because on one hand I really enjoyed her character and felt for her since so many people treated her poorly, but on the other hand there were times she was so snotty and annoying that I just wanted to slam my head against the book! Same with Vale, except I liked him a lot more. They're both very complex characters with even more complex stories but they both grow up and discover things about themselves and their society that they never knew. While Remy can't stand Vale, and for a good reason (sort of), I think if they really took the time to talk and be friends like they used to that they'd make a really great team. I'm excited to see how things play out for them in the sequel! I am sorry to say that I'm not a huge fan of the cover. It's nothing personal but I just have a thing with green covers. Green covers work for me only sometimes and it's very rare for it to occur, and sadly this green cover just doesn't do it for me. I do like the symbol, though! Just not all the greenness!


Overall Rating:
I give The Sowing a 3.5 out of 5 star rating. I would've definitely bumped the rating up to 4, or maybe even 4.5, if it weren't for the damn pace. An interesting story can only go so far if the overall read is slow! But despite that issue, I really did enjoy this book--maybe even more than I thought I would! I'm really excited to read the sequel, especially since The Sowing ends so openly! If you like dystopians but are looking for something just a little different in them, then you should really give The Sowing a chance! I definitely recommend it! Thanks for reading!

3.5/5 stars

~Kayla~



AUTHOR BIO:
K. Makansi is the pen name for the writing triumvirate consisting of Amira, Elena, and Kristina Makansi. Two sisters and their mother, the three women developed a passionate interest in science fiction as a way to write about issues of food sovereignty and food justice. Elena is pursuing a degree in environmental studies at Oberlin College in Ohio, and will graduate in May of 2014. Amira was a history student at the University of Chicago whose day job working in the cellar of a winery (and constantly being splattered with wine) keeps her busy when she’s not writing. And Kristy owns and operates Blank Slate Press, an independent publishing company based out of St. Louis, and is a partner at Treehouse Publishing Group, a company providing editorial and design services to aspiring authors. When not writing or reading, the three can be found having animated discussions around the dinner table, sharing a good bottle of wine, or taking long walks in the park eagerly plotting out their next book.


Author Links:
http://theseedstrilogy.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7173640.K_Makansi
https://www.facebook.com/TheSeedsTrilogy
https://twitter.com/akmakansi

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251354/