You’ll never believe what they’re hiding…
4.5 out of 5 stars
“A jubilee can be understood as a re-creation, or more simply as a new beginning or reset. We are now once again about to begin a jubilee year.” – Gerard O’Neill (from the Author’s Note). Jubilee Year is a novel about friends, and family, and figuring out the biggest secret the government has kept from its citizens for too long.
Jubilee Year is a character driven story that is a roller coaster from beginning to end. You really aren’t sure what is going to happen to the main characters, or the world. The first few chapters were incredibly slow, but I stuck it out because I knew that the character building was going somewhere. I’m glad I held on, because what came next blew my mind. This book scared the hell out of me, not because it was jumpy or there were zombies around every corner. This book scared the hell out of me because I whole-heartedly could see this happening. From the cover-up to how this book ended (and beyond because O’Neill has 2 more books planned for this series).
I’m an American, and the story was set in Australia, other than a few choice slang words and some geographical information (thank you Google), this book was definitely readable for audiences outside of Australia.
The characters were funny, likable, hate-able, and just downright believable. I really enjoy when someone takes the time to explain some of the characters motives and how they tick. With that being said, I did mention earlier that the beginning was a little slow. I don’t know if I would have gotten the full breadth of the characters without the slower beginning.
Overall, Jubilee Year was an unexpected book for me. I love the cover art (as a graphic designer myself, kudos to the artist). There were only two “bad” take-aways for me. One was the longer intro/character build, and two is that a lot of action happened, but I want more. If you’re a long-time reader of my reviews — you know I hate an ending that isn’t an ending. This story had a proper ending per say, but I could have used a little more. With that being said, I will be looking for the second and third book in this series because I want to know what happens!
What if the world were about to end, but they weren’t going to tell you? Eighteen-year-old Storm lives in a small country town in Australia, next to one of the most famous telescopes in the world. When he falls for Penny, the daughter of the chief scientist at the observatory, he discovers a global conspiracy of silence. He learns a mini-star system approaches Earth, and the penalty for any scientist who talks about it is death.
If Storm and his companions are to survive they must stay out of the way of the government’s security forces, assassination squads working for powerful hidden entities, and the internment camps for dissenters. Even his special ability is not going to be enough. He must accept help when it’s offered. But others are not who they seem to be and neither is the reality of a world Storm thought he knew.
Gerard is a New Zealand born and raised novelist. He enjoys family life in the not-always-as-sunny-as-they-tell-you harbor city, of Sydney, Australia. Gerard enjoys kendo. He reads a wide range of books, especially science fiction, and when he has free time (what’s that?) for the outdoors he likes to climb mountains, or if they are not available tall hills will do.
Visit his website for more information about his books:
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