Invictus by Ryan Graudin Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers on September 26th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 464
Source: NetGalley, Blog Tour
My content rating: YA (Characters have sex but it's not shown)
My rating:
Time flies when you're plundering history.
Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he's ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.
But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far's very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.
I have adored every one of Ryan Graudin’s books, so when I saw that she had a new one coming out the choice of whether or not to pick it up for review was a no-brainer. All of Graudin’s books are so completely different that I never know what to expect with her. This newest book is a time-traveling sci-fi adventure!
What Fed My Addiction:
- Time-traveling adventures. This book handles time travel incredibly well. It doesn’t gloss over the science of how it would work, but it doesn’t go into overwhelming detail either. Plus, there are exciting trips to historical events like the sinking of the Titanic! (And I kind of loved Graudin’s explanation of how stealing from the past makes sense—under very specific circumstances.) Add to that all of the complexities of the characters having to make sure they don’t change history and you get some pretty intense time-traveling!
- No secondary characters. While it might seem like Farway is the star of the show (and he is in some ways), we get POV’s of all of the major characters—Farway, Imogen, Gram, Priya and Eliot. Instead of feeling overwhelming, I appreciated getting to know all of the secondary characters better. (Plus, we got to learn things from Eliot that we wouldn’t have known otherwise!) I felt connected to all of the characters in the book this way.
- The romance. We had one romance that started up before the book started and another that we got to hope for as the book went on. And no triangles! I adored Priya and Far together.
- The twists—and that ending! Once you find out what’s actually going on in this book, things start to get truly exciting! I won’t say anything more than that.
What Left Me Hungry for More:
- Bit of a slow start? While there was definitely some mystery being built up in the first half of the book over who Eliot is and why she’s interested in Farway, I’ll admit that I wasn’t completely engaged until we started to get a few answers. (I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was bored, but I was… waiting for something more.) About halfway through the book we discover something major is happening that affects absolutely everyone in the book, and that kicked the plot into high gear and majorly raised the stakes, though, and from there on out the story was phenomenal.
- Doesn’t exactly feel like YA. The characters are 17, but they didn’t really feel 17 to me. They were all a little too expert at their fields and their personalities felt older as well (with the possible exception of Imogen, who seems a little younger in her insecurities—though I think she’s actually the oldest). They are out of school, so maybe you could consider it New Adult sci-fi? (But New Adult has a lot of connotations that don’t really fit this book.)
This book delivers intense time travel adventures that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
My Haiku
I thought it might be fun to write a haiku for this one. Here it is:
About the Author
Ryan Graudin grew up in Charleston and graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in Creative Writing in 2009. She is the author of six young adult novels, including the Carnegie nominated Wolf By Wolf duology, Invictus and The Walled City. She resides near Charleston with her husband and wolf-dog.
3 winners will receive a finished copy of INVICTUS, US Only.
Please read Rules & Regs in Rafflecopter
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
9/25/2017- Mary Had a Little Book Blog– Review
9/26/2017- The Petite Book Blogger– Review
9/27/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland– Review
9/28/2017- Mom with a Reading Problem– Review
9/29/2017- That Book Gal– Review
Week Two:
10/2/2017- Feed Your Fiction Addiction– Review
10/3/2017- The Book Nut– Review
10/4/2017- Omg Books and More Books– Review
10/5/2017- Wonderland Novels– Review
10/6/2017- Ohana Reads– Review
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26 responses to “Invictus by Ryan Graudin: Review & Giveaway (Plus My Invictus Haiku)”
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Ooh I like your haiku. I’m glad to hear you really enjoyed this one, despite the slower start. I really want to read this!
Thanks! I thought writing the haiku was fun!
Lovely haiku! I like time-travel books, so I’ll have to check this one out. Great review!
Thanks! I had fun writing a haiku review. I figured that was one poem I could manage.
I like time-travel, I like ancient Rome, so this sounds good!
Rome was definitely heavily involved in this one!
Nothing I like better than a good time-travel story!
Then this is right up your alley!
Hi Ryan! I’m looking forward to reading Invictus. Thank you
Hope you get the chance to read it!
I haven’t read anything by her but it sure sounds like I’m missing out. Thanks for this review!
I love Graudin. The Blood for Blood Duology is amazing!
Okay, I’m going to have to give Graudin a try. I’ve read good things about her writing and Invictus, even if it starts slow, sounds very interesting. AND I LOVE THE HAIKU!!
Thanks! I was pretty happy with the way the haiku turned out. I feel like it went with the book really well. 🙂
Ooh, I keep hearing great things about Invictus – can’t wait to read this!
Hope you love it!
Being a Whovian, I like the synopsis 😉 P.S. Great haiku!
Thanks! It was fun to write!
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Great review. I know this is a book I want to read because Ryan Graudin is a genius but when I picked it up I couldn’t quite get into the story. All the good things I see written about this one makes me think I need to give it another shot and the fact I now know it’s a little slow to start with you waiting for more to happen definitely helps. I like to know what to expect so I can prepare myself.
It took me a little while. I really do feel like the style is closer to adult sci-fi, so if you’re not a fan of that, it might throw you a bit. BUT I totally loved it by the end!
I love books that portray time travel in a way that makes sense and is easy to understand. And the rest of it sounds really intriguing too, going back to the Titanic oh wow! I definitely need to pick up a book by this author!
My favorite of hers is Blood for Blood. Definitely check that one out!
When you said there were no secondary characters you scared me for a second there! But then I read the review and realise you mean that the secondary characters didn’t feel like secondary characters because of how much detail there was in them. Phew! I have this one on my TBR because there were so many raving reviews about it that I couldn’t overlook how wonderful it sounded. I am especially impressed with time travel being handled so well.
Ha! Yes, I guess that could have been misleading at first.