The Pox Party (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Dec 26, 2018 Renata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, historical-fiction, fiction

I never got around to reading this before even though I've loved all of MTA's other stuff! Is it partly because the cover is bad? Yes.

Anyway in classic MT Anderson fashion, this is a fucking bonkers premise, intriguingly executed. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I was in........I was in, and truly devastated by Octavian's journey, as well as those of his fellow slaves. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2007 Marisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, maybefuturecommonbookrecs, grown-up-books

So, so good, maybe even better with a second reading. Some quotes (although many loose impact out of context):

"You must learn to fear. I do this for your own sake. Fear is like happiness, but the smile is wider." pg 24

"He held out a written pass. 'This is what they want us to be,' he said. 'They want us to be nothing but a bill of sale and a letter explaining where we is and instructions for where we go and what we do. They want us empty. They want us flat as paper. They want to be able to carry So, so good, maybe even better with a second reading. Some quotes (although many loose impact out of context):

"You must learn to fear. I do this for your own sake. Fear is like happiness, but the smile is wider." pg 24

"He held out a written pass. 'This is what they want us to be,' he said. 'They want us to be nothing but a bill of sale and a letter explaining where we is and instructions for where we go and what we do. They want us empty. They want us flat as paper. They want to be able to carry our souls in their hands, and read them out loud in court. All the time, they're on the exploration of themselves, going on the inner journey into their own breast. But us, they want there to be nothing inside of. They want us to be writ on. They want us to be a surface. Look at me; I'm mahogany.'
I protested, 'A man is known by his deeds.'
'Oh, that's sure,' said Bono. 'Just like a house is known by its deeds. The deeds say who owns it, who sold it, and who'll buying a new one when it gets knocked down.'" pg 136

"Empedocles claims that in utero, our backbone is one long solid; and that through the constriction of the womb and the punishments of birth it must be snapped again and again to form our vertebrae; that for the child to have the spine, his back must first be broken." pg 170

"When I peer into the reaches of the most distant futurity, I fear that even in some unseen epoch when there are colonies even upon the moon itself, there shall still be gatherings like this, where the young, blinded by privilege, shall dance and giggle and compare their poxy lesions...We are a young country, a country of the young,' he said bitterly. 'The young must have their little entertainments." pg 203 (for those who've read Feed, yes, I believe this is a direct reference to it.)

"And so, for a while, for perhaps some ten minutes, I was not looking at my mother, but at a woman who knew me, and I was a man who knew her; she was a girl of thirteen, newly arrived in a frigid, alien country; a woman who had been that girl; who have given birth in bondage, while men with devices and pencils had observed....We stared at one another, and in that moment, we knew each other for the first and last time." pg 219

"They gave me a tongue; and then stopped it up, so they would not have to hear it crying." pg 309

"...in all things, we are involved in commerce; and all things, Octavian, devour, and all things are for sale; and all things have their price; and all things vie and kill; and that is all we do; and all things must support themselves, or be consumed." pg 340 ...more

Like · see review

Dec 21, 2008 Erin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like · see review

Jul 23, 2010 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: historicalfiction

This is ostensibly a YA book. That's rather a failure of marketing. In this case, do not judge a book by its cover.

I really don't want to say much about this book. I am rather glad that I went into it knowing next to nothing, because that made the shock of the story that much more powerful. Some reviewers don't care for the stilted semi-archaic diction and style, but I found the protagonist's voice to be compelling.

This book made me gasp more than anything I've read lately. Maybe that's a sign o ...more

Like · see review

Jan 24, 2014 Adriel rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, ya-diverse, award-winner

I started out enjoying the rich language and description in this book. The premise was unique, as we the characters, but this book has some flaws. It spends to long setting the stage and then after an exciting bit, goes to a series of letters written in a provincial style that is infuriating to try to follow, and also, I didn't care enough to. I unashamedly skipped most of that part and skimmed to the end. I set out ready to really love this book, and I did enjoy the first 150 pages, but then it ...more

Like · see review

Aug 18, 2007 Annie added it

Shelves: culture-race, historical-fiction

I honestly don't know what I thought of this book. Part of me is so enthralled by the concept that I want to read volume 2. The other part of me found the language so difficult to digest that I wondered very seriously about the marketing aimed at YA audiences, and certainly the awards that grace the cover. The story is interesting, but it doesn't move as fast as most YA books. The cover image haunts my brain when I think about the things that happened to the main character. All in all, I can't g ...more

Like · see review

Dec 29, 2014 Noam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: anglo-america, juvenalia, audiolibros

Once again, narrator Peter Francis James takes an already amazing book (although, not as good as Invisible Man, the last book I listened to that was narrated by James) and makes it even better, bringing it completely to life. I look forward to listening to the audio book of the sequel.

Like · see review

Jan 06, 2009 Jenny rated it liked it

Shelves: longfellow-library

Well written, interesting, just too depressing for me right now. I'll have to go on to MT Anderson's Feed, as I don't seem to find futuristic dystopian fiction as depressing as I do some historical fiction! ...more

Like · see review