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Phoenix Island #1
Phoenix Island
The judge told Carl that one day he'd have to decide exactly what kind of person he would become. But on Phoenix Island, the choice will be made for him.
A champion boxer with a sharp hook and a short temper, sixteen-year-old Carl Freeman has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. He can't seem to stay out of trouble, using his fists to defend weaker classmates from bullies. His latest incident sends his opponent to the emergency room, and now the court is sending Carl to the worst place on earth: Phoenix Island.
Classified as a terminal facility, it's the end of the line for delinquents who have no home, no family, and no future. Located somewhere far off the coast of the United States and immune to its laws, the island is a grueling Spartan-style boot camp run by sadistic drill sergeants who show no mercy to their young, orphan trainees. Sentenced to stay until his eighteenth birthday, Carl plans to play by the rules, so he makes friends with his wisecracking bunkmate, Ross, and a mysterious gray-eyed girl named Octavia. But he makes enemies, too, and after a few rough scrapes, he earns himself the nickname "Hollywood" as well as a string of punishments, including a brutal night in the sweatbox. But that's nothing compared to what awaits him in the Chop Shop: a secret government lab where Carl is given something he never dreamed of.
A new life. . . .
A new body. A new brain.
Gifts from the fatherly Old Man, who wants to transform Carl into something he's not sure he wants to become.
For this is no ordinary government project. Phoenix Island is ground zero for the future of combat intelligence.
And for Carl, it's just the beginning. . .
A champion boxer with a sharp hook and a short temper, sixteen-year-old Carl Freeman has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. He can't seem to stay out of trouble, using his fists to defend weaker classmates from bullies. His latest incident sends his opponent to the emergency room, and now the court is sending Carl to the worst place on earth: Phoenix Island.
Classified as a terminal facility, it's the end of the line for delinquents who have no home, no family, and no future. Located somewhere far off the coast of the United States and immune to its laws, the island is a grueling Spartan-style boot camp run by sadistic drill sergeants who show no mercy to their young, orphan trainees. Sentenced to stay until his eighteenth birthday, Carl plans to play by the rules, so he makes friends with his wisecracking bunkmate, Ross, and a mysterious gray-eyed girl named Octavia. But he makes enemies, too, and after a few rough scrapes, he earns himself the nickname "Hollywood" as well as a string of punishments, including a brutal night in the sweatbox. But that's nothing compared to what awaits him in the Chop Shop: a secret government lab where Carl is given something he never dreamed of.
A new life. . . .
A new body. A new brain.
Gifts from the fatherly Old Man, who wants to transform Carl into something he's not sure he wants to become.
For this is no ordinary government project. Phoenix Island is ground zero for the future of combat intelligence.
And for Carl, it's just the beginning. . .
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2014
About the author
John Dixon
4 books132 followersJohn Dixon's first two novels, PHOENIX ISLAND and DEVIL'S POCKET, won back-to-back Bram Stoker Awards and inspired the CBS TV series INTELLIGENCE.
A former boxer, teacher, and stone mason, John lives in West Chester, PA, with his wife, daughter, and freeloading dog. When not reading or writing, he obsesses over boxing, chess, and hot peppers.
A former boxer, teacher, and stone mason, John lives in West Chester, PA, with his wife, daughter, and freeloading dog. When not reading or writing, he obsesses over boxing, chess, and hot peppers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
January 23, 2014
Actual rating: 3.5
This book is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies meets Island of Dr. Moreau meets Battle Royale. It's got a bunch of juvenile delinquents, it's got a lot of fighting, a lot of underlying tension that comes with throwing a bunch of kids together. There is a mad scientist doing ungodly things to the human body, battles for survival, duels to the death in a hostile, swampy island. This book is not for everyone, I would more generally recommend it to younger male crowd. It is light on the romance, but the existence of romance at all serves to discombobulate me because it truly had no role at all here.
There is a lot of physical violence and a lot of torture. It left me very uncomfortable and in pain for the main character---which surprised me a bit, because I usually love violence and blood and guts. It is the equivalent of seeing your favorite character get beaten to a bloody pulp; you cannot help feeling tormented on their behalf. The violence was spectacularly done, it is bloody, it is painful, and it agonized me as I was reading about it. More than once, I just wanted to jump into the middle of the book and shield the main character from the pain he was experiencing.
The Summary: Carl is a good kid, who's gotten into one too many fights. Like many juvenile delinquents, it's not entirely his fault, Carl's troubled youth is a matter of circumstance. Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, Carl is not one of them. His mother, dead of cancer. His father, a dead policeman. He is an orphan. Nobody cares about him, so Carl cares for others---too much. A champion boxer, Carl has an innate sense of justice that has him beating up bullies, and this last battle is the last straw for him in the juvenile deliquency system. Carl has only one option: Phoenix Island, a juvenile boot camp until he reaches 18, after which his name will be cleared, and he will be free to live out his dream to be a police officer---or a North Carolina jail, to which there will be no escape.
He has no choice, Carl is sent to Phoenix Island with a load of other juvenile delinquents. It soon becomes obvious that they are all orphans.
The Setting: A subtropical, swampy island. Danger lies everywhere. There are bird-eating spiders. There are sharks. There is no escape.
The Characters: The author does a remarkable job of giving us psychological insights within the minds of the characters in the books. Juvenile delinquents they may be, but simple, they are not. It takes a hard life to create a juvenile offender. It takes a rough upbringing to create a sociopath and a bully, whether adult or child. Teenaged delinquents learn early on to be manipulators, to play the system, to play the people.
Carl is one of the most sympathetic main characters I have encountered in a novel. He is such a good kid, well-meaning at heart, with aspirations to be a future police officer. In a normal family, he might have had a brilliant future. As an orphan, he is shit out of luck. Carl is brave, he stands up for the underdog, he suppresses his pain, he braves things through. He has bad impulses, but he knows better. He feels the urge to do something stupidly brave in the defense of a friend, but he pushes it down, knowing it will get him into trouble, but hating himself for it. He is tortured, he is kind, he is human, and I loved him, for the most part. Carl has such self-awareness.
The Romance: Yep. Carl pretty much had my eye rolling into the back of my head when he falls into insta-love with the beautiful girl, the sad-looking girl, with gray eyes and a fucking white streak in her hair.She looked frightened and stunned and exhausted, yet still beautiful, with sad-looking eyes the color of wet gravel and long hair as dark as his mother’s had been, though a patch of pure white marked her bangs. White hair. And her, what? Sixteen?For fuck's sakes, give me a fucking break. It is a correctional facitity. A military-style boot camp where kids are duking it out to the death. And you still have the fucking time to make googly eyes at each other and hang out with each other when you are constantly being fucking monitored?
The hints of absolute unnecessary romance and how that insta-love preyed on Carl's mind and make stupid decisions decreased my enjoyment in this book.
They can shoot me through the bars of this sweatbox or hang me from the flagpole or throw me to the sharks, but they cannot make me cry or beg. I will not show them weakness. I will stay strong. If they kill me, they will remember my strength; I will force them to live with the memory of my strength forever.There is no room for pussies on Phoenix Island.
And if I live, I will escape from Phoenix Island, and I will tell the world. I will bring these people down.
This book is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies meets Island of Dr. Moreau meets Battle Royale. It's got a bunch of juvenile delinquents, it's got a lot of fighting, a lot of underlying tension that comes with throwing a bunch of kids together. There is a mad scientist doing ungodly things to the human body, battles for survival, duels to the death in a hostile, swampy island. This book is not for everyone, I would more generally recommend it to younger male crowd. It is light on the romance, but the existence of romance at all serves to discombobulate me because it truly had no role at all here.
There is a lot of physical violence and a lot of torture. It left me very uncomfortable and in pain for the main character---which surprised me a bit, because I usually love violence and blood and guts. It is the equivalent of seeing your favorite character get beaten to a bloody pulp; you cannot help feeling tormented on their behalf. The violence was spectacularly done, it is bloody, it is painful, and it agonized me as I was reading about it. More than once, I just wanted to jump into the middle of the book and shield the main character from the pain he was experiencing.
The baton crackled, and two needles of energy plunged into Carl’s forearm. Electricity coursed through him and locked his muscles rigid, filling him with sparking, yellow pain. Parker grinned through his anger. “Not bad for the first one.”I wouldn't feel so defensive about the main character if I didn't like him. I absolutely loved Carl. This book does such an amazing job of building up believable, imperfect, sympathetic characters. All of the teenagers in this book are juvenile delinquents, thieves, murderers. The psychological profiles of the kids in this book were spectacularly well done and absolutely believable.
The first one...And then the horror of it dawned on him; Parker had no intention of stopping no matter what Carl did. He was going to keep shocking Carl until Carl couldn’t take it anymore.
The Summary: Carl is a good kid, who's gotten into one too many fights. Like many juvenile delinquents, it's not entirely his fault, Carl's troubled youth is a matter of circumstance. Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, Carl is not one of them. His mother, dead of cancer. His father, a dead policeman. He is an orphan. Nobody cares about him, so Carl cares for others---too much. A champion boxer, Carl has an innate sense of justice that has him beating up bullies, and this last battle is the last straw for him in the juvenile deliquency system. Carl has only one option: Phoenix Island, a juvenile boot camp until he reaches 18, after which his name will be cleared, and he will be free to live out his dream to be a police officer---or a North Carolina jail, to which there will be no escape.
He has no choice, Carl is sent to Phoenix Island with a load of other juvenile delinquents. It soon becomes obvious that they are all orphans.
You are all orphans. Why had they taken only orphans? He thought of the kick he had received, the rough handling of Davis. Here they were, on Phoenix Island, somewhere outside of the United States and its laws.They are very much outside of US laws. The boot camp is run military-style, but there is an endless routine of beating and torture that would not have been tolerated in an ordinary boot camp. Carl tolerates it just fine. He is in good shape, he just wants to stay under the radar and ride out his time until he is 18 to earn his release, but it is not to be. Amidst the beating, the daily physical and emotional pain, Carl discovers something, a diary that a former inmate has left behind. A diary that hints that there is something more to Phoenix Island than just the boot camp it supposedly is. That Carl's sentence was possibly planned.
We’re as dead to the world as our parents, Carl thought. These people can do anything to us.
That made no sense.Nothing comes of his misgivings until the day a particularly sadistic guard decides he wants to play a game of electrocution with Carl's body. Carl is tortured to the point of breaking. Then he snaps. Then all hell breaks loose. Carl thought he was going to die, but that's just the beginning. He meets a strange man; it is yet to be seen whether he is a savior or a madman. Maybe both, depending on the context.
Unless . . .
Odd misgivings warbled through him.
Something weird was going on. Really weird. Bad weird.
The date suggested that whoever wrote this was either psychic or had been planning his placements months in advance...
“If Dr. Vispera had been born in London or Detroit, he would no doubt have risen through the ranks of respected physicians and scientists and established himself in more conventional ways. Unfortunately for him—and even less fortunately for his symphony of victims—he was born in place that valued power over science. Sometimes, the only difference between a Nobel Prize winner and a war criminal is geography. Do you understand?”Like a phoenix, Carl rises, bigger, stronger. Whether his future will be better is yet to be seen.
The Setting: A subtropical, swampy island. Danger lies everywhere. There are bird-eating spiders. There are sharks. There is no escape.
“That jungle will eat you alive. Bad things live out there. Bad, bad things. This fence right here? It’s not to keep you in. It’s to keep them out. You go AWOL here, it’s a death sentence.”The jungle is even more hostile than the people residing on it.
The Characters: The author does a remarkable job of giving us psychological insights within the minds of the characters in the books. Juvenile delinquents they may be, but simple, they are not. It takes a hard life to create a juvenile offender. It takes a rough upbringing to create a sociopath and a bully, whether adult or child. Teenaged delinquents learn early on to be manipulators, to play the system, to play the people.
Girls like Rice, though, didn’t even think about the outside. They had turned inward, had become truly institutionalized. They didn’t get scared; they got interested. They didn’t look for a way out; they looked for ways to manipulate the system, ways to push buttons. There was no reforming them—and certainly not by shouting.It offers a tremendous amount of insights into bullies, their enjoyment of inflicting torture.
Decker just kept staring, a terrible amusement playing across his face. It was a cold humor Carl had seen in other bullies. The toughest ones. The ones with real confidence. Counselors and teachers told you bullies were insecure and cowardly, and, sure, some were. But guys like Decker, guys who got that look in their eyes, were neither insecure nor cowardly, and they weren’t just acting out for attention. Guys like Decker were confident and tough and mean to the core, and they hurt people because they liked causing pain.That is not to say that all of the kids in this book are bad. There are kids who simply were born under a bad sign, the result of a system that failed them. Kids who truly want to do well, but somehow keep ending up in trouble through sheer bad luck. Kids who just want to get better, to start their life over on a clean slate.
Carl is one of the most sympathetic main characters I have encountered in a novel. He is such a good kid, well-meaning at heart, with aspirations to be a future police officer. In a normal family, he might have had a brilliant future. As an orphan, he is shit out of luck. Carl is brave, he stands up for the underdog, he suppresses his pain, he braves things through. He has bad impulses, but he knows better. He feels the urge to do something stupidly brave in the defense of a friend, but he pushes it down, knowing it will get him into trouble, but hating himself for it. He is tortured, he is kind, he is human, and I loved him, for the most part. Carl has such self-awareness.
And all these years, that’s what Carl thought he’d been doing: keeping his promise to his father. Standing up for the weak.Which brings me to where Carl lost my sympathy. And it is so predictable.
But he’d been fooling himself.
Carl’s historical pattern of self-destruction did point toward a deep personal weakness—all those fights, all those placements, all the trouble he’d gotten himself into here..always a bully, always a victim, always Carl stepping into the middle.
But Carl’s weakness wasn’t his need to help the victims. His weakness was his need to destroy the bullies.
He’d been fighting not out of love but hatred.
The Romance: Yep. Carl pretty much had my eye rolling into the back of my head when he falls into insta-love with the beautiful girl, the sad-looking girl, with gray eyes and a fucking white streak in her hair.She looked frightened and stunned and exhausted, yet still beautiful, with sad-looking eyes the color of wet gravel and long hair as dark as his mother’s had been, though a patch of pure white marked her bangs. White hair. And her, what? Sixteen?For fuck's sakes, give me a fucking break. It is a correctional facitity. A military-style boot camp where kids are duking it out to the death. And you still have the fucking time to make googly eyes at each other and hang out with each other when you are constantly being fucking monitored?
The hints of absolute unnecessary romance and how that insta-love preyed on Carl's mind and make stupid decisions decreased my enjoyment in this book.
November 28, 2022
This was a hard book to read as it could both have been a 3.5 star read and a 5 star read. It's a lord of the flies kind of story and was in many parts very intriguing and I got really invested. Some parts however didn't quite pull me in and the info dump part in the middle or so was quite annoying. It started very good but then felt like the info just kept going on and on. Not my cup of tea but I can understand it had a purpose. But overall I quite enjoyed the story and want to read the next one
March 9, 2015
One of the things that drew my interest to this title was that CBS based their new television series, Intelligence, on it before the book was even released. But from what I've seen of the trailers for the show, it has very little to do with the story it was based on. It seems to me as though they just took one tiny idea out of the book, and came up with something entirely different. I'm not saying that to be condescending, just to warn you that you won't be reading a CIA/spy thriller if you decide to give this book a try. I should also mention that even though I knew the book was the basis for a show, I had never actually seen the trailers for the show prior to reading the book. It wasn't until after I finished that I even bothered to look the show up. I think it worked well for me not to have any expectations, because I really enjoyed Phoenix Island for what it was.
For the majority of the book, there isn't any sci-fi or futuristic tech stuff. In fact, that kind of thing doesn't even come into play until the book is almost over.
Nope. For the vast majority of the book, the story is mostly about Carl trying to survive this hellish boot-camp for kids. All of the kids who have been sent there are troubled, and none of them have family that will bother to check up on them. So the fact that this place is waaay off the grid goes unnoticed by the rest of the world.
But Carl isn't really a bad kid. He's definitely got some issues controlling his anger, though. He landed in the facility because he put several kids in the hospital...and it wasn't the first time. But every time he's snapped and gone all Crazy-Fist on someone, it's because they were bullying someone weaker.
Ok, violence isn't the answer, but how can you not root for a kid who kicks the crap out of bullies?
However, just because Carl isn't a junior psychopath doesn't mean that all of the kids at Phoenix Island are just misunderstood. Some of them are run-of-the-mill delinquents, and some of them are just plain scary.
Creepy kids are my own personal nightmare. Brrrr!
I can't be the only one out there who feels that way, right?
Right?
At first, Carl assumes that although this place is awful, the instructors won't let anything get out of hand. But as the reality of the place starts to sink in, he begins to have his doubts. Then he finds a diary that was hidden away by another kid who came to Phoenix Island before him, and the entries shock him to the core. Phoenix Island was supposed to be a chance for him to wipe the slate clean and start over again. Except it stats to look like that's not going to be a possibility. In fact, it looks like he'll be lucky to get out of there at all.
If you were hoping for a book about super-spies, you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for a dark and gritty read about teenagers in a Lord of the Flies situation, then you're going to love this one!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital arc for review.
For the majority of the book, there isn't any sci-fi or futuristic tech stuff. In fact, that kind of thing doesn't even come into play until the book is almost over.
Nope. For the vast majority of the book, the story is mostly about Carl trying to survive this hellish boot-camp for kids. All of the kids who have been sent there are troubled, and none of them have family that will bother to check up on them. So the fact that this place is waaay off the grid goes unnoticed by the rest of the world.
But Carl isn't really a bad kid. He's definitely got some issues controlling his anger, though. He landed in the facility because he put several kids in the hospital...and it wasn't the first time. But every time he's snapped and gone all Crazy-Fist on someone, it's because they were bullying someone weaker.
Ok, violence isn't the answer, but how can you not root for a kid who kicks the crap out of bullies?
However, just because Carl isn't a junior psychopath doesn't mean that all of the kids at Phoenix Island are just misunderstood. Some of them are run-of-the-mill delinquents, and some of them are just plain scary.
Creepy kids are my own personal nightmare. Brrrr!
I can't be the only one out there who feels that way, right?
Right?
At first, Carl assumes that although this place is awful, the instructors won't let anything get out of hand. But as the reality of the place starts to sink in, he begins to have his doubts. Then he finds a diary that was hidden away by another kid who came to Phoenix Island before him, and the entries shock him to the core. Phoenix Island was supposed to be a chance for him to wipe the slate clean and start over again. Except it stats to look like that's not going to be a possibility. In fact, it looks like he'll be lucky to get out of there at all.
If you were hoping for a book about super-spies, you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for a dark and gritty read about teenagers in a Lord of the Flies situation, then you're going to love this one!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital arc for review.
January 21, 2014
"Welcome to the post-human age."
It's the Marines meets Maze Runner meets Unwind meets Fight Club (the cover even reminds me of the FC cover) meets some weird version of The Island of Dr. Moreau/Jurassic Park (without the animals) mashup - in this book's version of "it really sucks to go to juvvie."
The show Beyond Scared Straight would probably love to have some of Phoenix Island's tactics at their disposal.
I'm itching to shelve this book as horror lite, but I'll go with science fiction and a nod to dystopia (even though the "off-island" world isn't on the same abnormal scale that Phoenix Island is).
Who would miss them? They were just a bunch of throwaway orphans.
Since the book was something of a slow-starter, I'm not sure if I was on board enough to start caring about what happened to the characters by the time the action finally started kicking in. With some retooling, Phoenix Island would probably work better as an adult offering. I expect YA books of this category to hit harder and faster out of the gate, whereas I am more patient to wait out a slow build with adult literature.
However, all is not lost. This is exactly the type of book that my teenage son would have loved a few years ago. At the first hint of danger and/or violence to come, he would have stayed glued to the pages, waiting for it to happen. He would have cared less about character attachment, and more about seeing how the shit was going to hit the fan. While he and I both read and enjoyed books like Unwind and The Maze Runner, we definitely had different reasons for why we liked those books. In retrospect, Unwind is still a book I think about, while Maze Runner has dulled with time for me (because I've read much better from the genre since then), and I'd actually put it on par now with Phoenix Island, which might not be as good of a compliment as it would have been a couple of years ago.
"They look like the damn Hitler Youth."
Even though I'm sort of half-and-half on this book (the second part was pretty good - I'm just sad that it took me so long to get invested), I'm going to go ahead and recommend Phoenix Island to anyone who wants to get away from the Matched, Delirium, Wither type of romantic sci-fi and delve into something grittier.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.
December 30, 2013
Initial reaction: Very nicely plotted action/adventure thriller. I'll admit it kept me on the edge of my toes many times wondering what would happen and some of the scenes were deliciously dark, despite a few pacing issues. Nonetheless, this will certainly make an interesting jumping point for the TV series that's based on it. I enjoyed the read.
Full review:
John Dixon's "Phoenix Island" took me by surprise in terms of how immersive and enthralling an adventure it portrayed. The story centers on 17-year old Carl Freeman as he's punished for crossing the line one too many times. As a young boxer, he uses his abilities to defend the weak and recalls his former police officer father. Yet after his last scuffle sends a boy to the hospital, he gets shipped off to Phoenix Island. The Island appears to be something of a military boot camp at first, a place for delinquent youths who are orphaned, at the end of their rope or, like Carl, have crossed the line one too many times in detriment to their futures. Carl thinks he'll do his time and get out - stay within the rules and he should be fine.
But Phoenix Island isn't what it seems on the surface. With nightmarish creatures, brutal commanders, and secrets in journals and word of mouth through the ranks, Carl has to survive long enough to make head for tails of what Phoenix Island wants from him, and it's more than he or anyone could bargain for.
This novel has the right balance of action and creep factors to draw the reader. Carl's a sympathetic character, and he builds up a decent enough rapport with other Phoenix Island goers - I liked Ross and Octavia as well. He figures out that something is amiss with the Island fairly quickly, and the torment scenes and action sequences are portrayed very well. I did have some issues with some of the pacing in the story in spells, particularly towards the end where it's not as smooth in the transitions as the novel was in the beginning and middle, but I really liked the journey.
Well-developed and intriguing dystopian thriller - probably among the best I've read this year, and I hope to read more from John Dixon in the future.
Overall score: 4/5 stars
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Gallery Books.
Full review:
John Dixon's "Phoenix Island" took me by surprise in terms of how immersive and enthralling an adventure it portrayed. The story centers on 17-year old Carl Freeman as he's punished for crossing the line one too many times. As a young boxer, he uses his abilities to defend the weak and recalls his former police officer father. Yet after his last scuffle sends a boy to the hospital, he gets shipped off to Phoenix Island. The Island appears to be something of a military boot camp at first, a place for delinquent youths who are orphaned, at the end of their rope or, like Carl, have crossed the line one too many times in detriment to their futures. Carl thinks he'll do his time and get out - stay within the rules and he should be fine.
But Phoenix Island isn't what it seems on the surface. With nightmarish creatures, brutal commanders, and secrets in journals and word of mouth through the ranks, Carl has to survive long enough to make head for tails of what Phoenix Island wants from him, and it's more than he or anyone could bargain for.
This novel has the right balance of action and creep factors to draw the reader. Carl's a sympathetic character, and he builds up a decent enough rapport with other Phoenix Island goers - I liked Ross and Octavia as well. He figures out that something is amiss with the Island fairly quickly, and the torment scenes and action sequences are portrayed very well. I did have some issues with some of the pacing in the story in spells, particularly towards the end where it's not as smooth in the transitions as the novel was in the beginning and middle, but I really liked the journey.
Well-developed and intriguing dystopian thriller - probably among the best I've read this year, and I hope to read more from John Dixon in the future.
Overall score: 4/5 stars
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Gallery Books.
November 5, 2014
This book blends in shades of Lord of the Flies, Mad Scientists and Bootcamp. Carl is a orphaned teen who just cannot stay out of trouble. He does fight for the underdog. If he sees someone being bullied he can't help himself. (boxing champion) He even takes out an entire football team for bullying a kid he didn't even know. He ends up in court again after many encounters and is given "bootcamp" at Phoenix Island. No outside contact with foster family at all, no emails, no phone calls, nothing. Until he is 18 years of age.
Once he gets to the island different things begin to happen that makes him begin to question how his drill sargents have so much power. Some of the talk between the teens became somewhat corny to me at this point. I did really like the Ross character. I wish the author had taken even more time with him.
The book ends up twisting and turning in several different directions. I've read that there is a tv show coming out that is based on this book but I looked at it and it seems to be nothing like this book. I would have loved to see how they would go with this story.
All in all it's a decent book. I did think at once point that if they used the word Hooya one more time that my head would split open and start spinning around.
January 14, 2014
Okay, I admit it. The unimpressive cover aside, Phoenix Island hooked me line and sinker with its blurb that just screams Danger! Conspiracies! Evil governments! Kids running for survival! Underdog Triumphing All! Bootcamp of doom! You see, my insatiable thirst for these themes all started with a particular manga called Deadman Wonderland, where a group of people (some kids) are put into a shady government facility for their crimes. One of these people is a young boy who was falsely accused of murdering his classmates, and when he was placed in this institution, he quickly found out it was also a carnival where people watch prisoners compete in games - games where one wrong move will lead to your impalement or death or being shark food... among many (terrible) others. I know, it sounds pretty horrible, but these are not what I loved this manga for. What I loved about this manga was how a lone young man, who was seen as weak by many, found the courage and the determination to pave a path for himself against a strong current despite all odds. I loved the feeling of rooting for a character and feeling absolute joy when you see him or her succeed the challenges that come their way, that anxiousness when you see them encounter a harder one.
I guess that's why Phoenix Island resonated with me so much. It may not have games of hell where if you move one inch to the left, that huge axe attached to the ceiling may decapitate you, but like Deadman Wonderland, it features a cast trapped in a government facility with seemingly no means of escape. They only have themselves to rely on. That, and their very resolve.
Carl Freeman, a sixteen-year-old boxer, is considered a delinquent with no home to go back to. He has transferred from foster home to foster home, all because he dared try to help victims from bullies with his fists. When he finally sent a bully to the Emergency Room, the judicial system saw him fit to join other delinquents in a terminal facility called Phoenix Island. When Carl gets there, he quickly realizes that there is more to this facility that what meets the eye - beyond the drills, beyond the soldiers physically, verbally, and psychologically abusing them, and beyond the seemingly simple principles of the leader known as "The Old Man".
I liked the main character. Carl was far from perfect (short temper, can be carried away by his emotions easily), but you could truly see he's a good guy at heart. Early in the book, we get to know about his tragic past especially regarding his parents as well as his urges to help those who are weak - acts of justice which at the same time got him in trouble, leading us to feel for and sympathize with him. Many times in the book he was belittled and jeered at by his peers and by certain soldiers, and many times, he willed himself to not react, to take it all in, to endure because the stakes were high, to take the beating so that others won't. I admit many times I felt frustrated, because come on man, you have the power to cut these bitches apart! ... but at the same time I felt proud he stood his ground. He was hot-tempered, that much was true, but when it mattered the most, he knew what to do even if it meant putting his life on the line. I admired his determination and his resolve, and suffice to say, he made the book work for me.
The other characters, Ross and Octavia, were interesting, too. Ross, I was especially proud and fond of. He was the real underdog between the three - physically weak, small, and thin, but he probably has the biggest heart. Despite having so many disadvantages and knowing the consequences, he stood up for his friends and fought for them. Octavia, the love interest, was pretty meh to me. She was a strong character, but I felt she could've used a little more polishing.
Aside from Carl and Ross, another thing I really liked about this book was the awesome action scenes. Come on, guys, be honest - we don't see a lot of authors who could write a long action scene and make them bloody good, exciting, and most of all, not repetitive. Thankfully, Dixon delivered and made me shiver in excitement. Man, I've lost count of the times I squealed in glee (and trepidation) because all the fighting happening in the book was so good. It was realistic, it was brutal, it was bloody, and you don't know if the hero and friend will come out alive at all. I think that's a testament of its greatness.
What I didn't really appreciate was the one dimensional of some of the antagonists. Sergeant Parker a.k.a. enemy number one, was too simple in his... evilness. Yeah, he made life hell for the protagonists, threw insults that could even make cold-hearted people cry, but damn... he was evil just for the heck of it. Despite being there majority of the time, there was no depth in him and we were never given an explanation why he acts the way he does. Stark, on the other hand... I'm not sure I'd call him complex. He was interesting yet he was kind of boring, too, but only because I've seen his kind many times before in other books and video games. "I'm here to purge the world of the weak, for they are the ones that bring us down! We, the strong, shall remain and pave the world towards a new, brighter, better era!" yada yada yada... it was kind of disappointing as I was hoping for something new.
But nevertheless, overall, it was enjoyable. There are a lot of twists and exciting scenes that will surely keep everyone at the edges of their seats! I reckon people who enjoyed Lord of the Flies will also enjoy this one.
I guess that's why Phoenix Island resonated with me so much. It may not have games of hell where if you move one inch to the left, that huge axe attached to the ceiling may decapitate you, but like Deadman Wonderland, it features a cast trapped in a government facility with seemingly no means of escape. They only have themselves to rely on. That, and their very resolve.
Carl Freeman, a sixteen-year-old boxer, is considered a delinquent with no home to go back to. He has transferred from foster home to foster home, all because he dared try to help victims from bullies with his fists. When he finally sent a bully to the Emergency Room, the judicial system saw him fit to join other delinquents in a terminal facility called Phoenix Island. When Carl gets there, he quickly realizes that there is more to this facility that what meets the eye - beyond the drills, beyond the soldiers physically, verbally, and psychologically abusing them, and beyond the seemingly simple principles of the leader known as "The Old Man".
I liked the main character. Carl was far from perfect (short temper, can be carried away by his emotions easily), but you could truly see he's a good guy at heart. Early in the book, we get to know about his tragic past especially regarding his parents as well as his urges to help those who are weak - acts of justice which at the same time got him in trouble, leading us to feel for and sympathize with him. Many times in the book he was belittled and jeered at by his peers and by certain soldiers, and many times, he willed himself to not react, to take it all in, to endure because the stakes were high, to take the beating so that others won't. I admit many times I felt frustrated, because come on man, you have the power to cut these bitches apart! ... but at the same time I felt proud he stood his ground. He was hot-tempered, that much was true, but when it mattered the most, he knew what to do even if it meant putting his life on the line. I admired his determination and his resolve, and suffice to say, he made the book work for me.
He knew what he had to do.
He had to break his pattern of weakness.
He had to start keeping his promise to his father.
He had to stop fighting the bullies and start helping the victims.
He had to defend, not destroy.
Love, not hate.
The other characters, Ross and Octavia, were interesting, too. Ross, I was especially proud and fond of. He was the real underdog between the three - physically weak, small, and thin, but he probably has the biggest heart. Despite having so many disadvantages and knowing the consequences, he stood up for his friends and fought for them. Octavia, the love interest, was pretty meh to me. She was a strong character, but I felt she could've used a little more polishing.
Aside from Carl and Ross, another thing I really liked about this book was the awesome action scenes. Come on, guys, be honest - we don't see a lot of authors who could write a long action scene and make them bloody good, exciting, and most of all, not repetitive. Thankfully, Dixon delivered and made me shiver in excitement. Man, I've lost count of the times I squealed in glee (and trepidation) because all the fighting happening in the book was so good. It was realistic, it was brutal, it was bloody, and you don't know if the hero and friend will come out alive at all. I think that's a testament of its greatness.
What I didn't really appreciate was the one dimensional of some of the antagonists. Sergeant Parker a.k.a. enemy number one, was too simple in his... evilness. Yeah, he made life hell for the protagonists, threw insults that could even make cold-hearted people cry, but damn... he was evil just for the heck of it. Despite being there majority of the time, there was no depth in him and we were never given an explanation why he acts the way he does. Stark, on the other hand... I'm not sure I'd call him complex. He was interesting yet he was kind of boring, too, but only because I've seen his kind many times before in other books and video games. "I'm here to purge the world of the weak, for they are the ones that bring us down! We, the strong, shall remain and pave the world towards a new, brighter, better era!" yada yada yada... it was kind of disappointing as I was hoping for something new.
But nevertheless, overall, it was enjoyable. There are a lot of twists and exciting scenes that will surely keep everyone at the edges of their seats! I reckon people who enjoyed Lord of the Flies will also enjoy this one.
December 20, 2015
I'm tempted to give it five stars. Very tempted. But the elated, hyper feeling a book can leave you with at the end is not the only thing that counts, and this one had moments and elements that didn't quite convince me.
Overall, though, it's fucking awesome.
Carl's story is terrifying and uplifting, hopeful and horribly dark.
It's a story of survival against all odds, courage and pride.
It's a "boys' story", the kind of thing I tend to avoid because of the (mistaken) idea that they don't have the kind of insight, character development and complexity I want in my YA.
It's violent and heartbreaking and it made me want to smash objects and hurt people (only fictional people, I swear). By the time I was halfway through the novel, I'd become emotionally invested in a way that I hadn't expected in the beginning, when I thought I was starting what was simply an entertaining little sci-fi flick with a sympathetic character.
But I grew to love Carl, and most of all respect him - it's something I rarely find myself thinking with such certainty about a character, but this boy's got guts, and pride, and strength, and I admire the hell out of him. He's clever and brave, and he goes a bit silly when he thinks about our girl Octavia, but then that's what a teenage boy does (isn't it? I wouldn't know. I'm not a teenage boy) and it only makes him more lovable in my eyes.
The environment Carl finds himself thrown into is described in a way that makes you feel it on your skin and breathe it and taste it, even when you don't want to. At a certain point, I was forced to physically put the book down and breathe, because bugs. BUGS. On Carl's skin in the book, and my skin in my head.
I don't know what it was, because I haven't read this in any other review, but I could feel myself suffocating and hurting and crawling with bugs whenever Carl felt these things, and it was exhilarating and weird and amazing. Maybe I was just in the mood, maybe it's superbly written in one of those undefinable ways, maybe it's simply the fact that it involves some of the things that scare me the most - whatever it is, it terrified me and I loved it.
Don't get me wrong though: this is not a horror novel in any way. Or, okay, in a very small way. But at heart, it is two things: a well thought out sci-fi/dystopian universe and a journey of self-discovery and growth. It's a story about how a specific environment can change and ruin people and about how people can change the environment they're in and the people they're with, in both good and bad ways.
It is, as I said, violent, and kind of gross at times, with powerful, visual fight scenes and human monsters that ring true most of the time - and even when they don't, they're still scary as hell.
The hint of romance felt unnecessary, but it was barely there and there were parts of it that felt like a breath of fresh, flower-scented air in the middle of a marshy jungle. (Literally. There is a marshy jungle.) There's something about Octavia that didn't quite convince me and click with me, but the girl has a backbone and in the end I found myself rooting for her too and being glad she existed.
Be warned: John Dixon doesn't shy away from killing his characters off - both the good and the bad ones. But it's a good kind of hurt, as everyone who has read HP will understand.
I didn't want this to be a series, and I started Phoenix Island thinking it was a standalone, but now I just want more.
Overall, though, it's fucking awesome.
Carl's story is terrifying and uplifting, hopeful and horribly dark.
It's a story of survival against all odds, courage and pride.
It's a "boys' story", the kind of thing I tend to avoid because of the (mistaken) idea that they don't have the kind of insight, character development and complexity I want in my YA.
It's violent and heartbreaking and it made me want to smash objects and hurt people (only fictional people, I swear). By the time I was halfway through the novel, I'd become emotionally invested in a way that I hadn't expected in the beginning, when I thought I was starting what was simply an entertaining little sci-fi flick with a sympathetic character.
But I grew to love Carl, and most of all respect him - it's something I rarely find myself thinking with such certainty about a character, but this boy's got guts, and pride, and strength, and I admire the hell out of him. He's clever and brave, and he goes a bit silly when he thinks about our girl Octavia, but then that's what a teenage boy does (isn't it? I wouldn't know. I'm not a teenage boy) and it only makes him more lovable in my eyes.
The environment Carl finds himself thrown into is described in a way that makes you feel it on your skin and breathe it and taste it, even when you don't want to. At a certain point, I was forced to physically put the book down and breathe, because bugs. BUGS. On Carl's skin in the book, and my skin in my head.
I don't know what it was, because I haven't read this in any other review, but I could feel myself suffocating and hurting and crawling with bugs whenever Carl felt these things, and it was exhilarating and weird and amazing. Maybe I was just in the mood, maybe it's superbly written in one of those undefinable ways, maybe it's simply the fact that it involves some of the things that scare me the most - whatever it is, it terrified me and I loved it.
Don't get me wrong though: this is not a horror novel in any way. Or, okay, in a very small way. But at heart, it is two things: a well thought out sci-fi/dystopian universe and a journey of self-discovery and growth. It's a story about how a specific environment can change and ruin people and about how people can change the environment they're in and the people they're with, in both good and bad ways.
It is, as I said, violent, and kind of gross at times, with powerful, visual fight scenes and human monsters that ring true most of the time - and even when they don't, they're still scary as hell.
The hint of romance felt unnecessary, but it was barely there and there were parts of it that felt like a breath of fresh, flower-scented air in the middle of a marshy jungle. (Literally. There is a marshy jungle.) There's something about Octavia that didn't quite convince me and click with me, but the girl has a backbone and in the end I found myself rooting for her too and being glad she existed.
Be warned: John Dixon doesn't shy away from killing his characters off - both the good and the bad ones. But it's a good kind of hurt, as everyone who has read HP will understand.
I didn't want this to be a series, and I started Phoenix Island thinking it was a standalone, but now I just want more.
September 22, 2016
*3,5 stars*
Psikopatça taraflarıyla kendini bi tık daha sevdirdi kitap. Böyle ölümüne manyak bi kitap falan değildi, sadece bazı kısımları "öğk" dedirtti bana. (aklıma geldi yine bi midem bulandı)
Konusu bakımından özgündü diyemeyeceğim sanırım çünkü çok alıştık sanki böyle adaya bırakılmalara, biçare kalmalara falan... Bu seferki askeri kamp kıvamında bir adaydı ve bilim kurguyu da içinde barındıran tarafları vardı. Belki o yönden bi özgünlük var diyebiliriz.
Bana kalırsa gayet akıcı bir kitaptı. Bakmayın şimdi benim 18 günde bitirdiğime hshsbjsk Reading slumptan dolayı okuyamadım ama zaten üç dört kere falan elime almışımdır kitabı. Yani yeter ki okumak isteyin, kitap sizi alıp götürüyor.
Çok büyük beklentilerle başlamazsanız sevilesi bir distopya olabilir.
Psikopatça taraflarıyla kendini bi tık daha sevdirdi kitap. Böyle ölümüne manyak bi kitap falan değildi, sadece bazı kısımları "öğk" dedirtti bana. (aklıma geldi yine bi midem bulandı)
Konusu bakımından özgündü diyemeyeceğim sanırım çünkü çok alıştık sanki böyle adaya bırakılmalara, biçare kalmalara falan... Bu seferki askeri kamp kıvamında bir adaydı ve bilim kurguyu da içinde barındıran tarafları vardı. Belki o yönden bi özgünlük var diyebiliriz.
Bana kalırsa gayet akıcı bir kitaptı. Bakmayın şimdi benim 18 günde bitirdiğime hshsbjsk Reading slumptan dolayı okuyamadım ama zaten üç dört kere falan elime almışımdır kitabı. Yani yeter ki okumak isteyin, kitap sizi alıp götürüyor.
Çok büyük beklentilerle başlamazsanız sevilesi bir distopya olabilir.
December 20, 2013
Check out Scott Reads It!
I'll be honest the main reason I wanted to read Phoenix Island was because I had heard it was the inspiration for CBS's Intelligence. If I hadn't heard about Intelligence, this book probably wouldn't have landed on my radar. Despite the fact that it's been published by an adult imprint (Gallery Books), Phoenix Island is definitely a YA novel. Phoenix Island is just as clever and inventive as The Lord Of The Flies and The Maze Runner; this is one of the most intense dystopians novels I've ever read.
What makes Phoenix Island so frightening is the fact that the plot events are extremely plausible; I wouldn't be surprised if there is an island in some remote part of the world just like Phoenix Island. Usually sci-fi and dystopian novels don't feel authentic, they usually feel extremely feel far-fetched and unlikely, but Phoenix Island is frighteningly real.
Though Carl has his fair share of faults, he is a character that I rooted right from the start. I admired Carl's loyalty, ambition, and unrelenting sense of hope throughout this novel. I also loved the way Dixon had written Rivera, Stark, and Ross. Stark is one of the most terrifying and despicable villains I've read about recently; I was worried for Carl's sake whenever he was with Stark. I always love an underdog and so, Ross has to be one of my favorite characters in this novel. Ross might not be as brave or as strong as Carl, but I appreciated his gutsiness. The only character I felt a bit disappointed with was Octavia because I felt like there was so much more to her character than Dixon let on.
There's no denying that Phoenix Island pays homage to the classic Lord Of The Flies by William Golding and I loved the nods to the everlasting classic. Even though Phoenix Island feels like it's inspired LOTF, PI is an extremely original and intriguing novel. John Dixon has written such an atmospheric novel and he did an excellent job at making the island feel so authentic. Phoenix Island raises so many important questions about good vs. evil, society's treatment of criminals, and power.
Phoenix Island is extremely well-written and fast-packed making this an extremely enjoyable read. Some components of the plot are on the predictable side, but truthfully it didn't bother me at all. I watched the TV show trailer after finishing this book and it definitely looks as if the adaptation will be very different from it's source material. I'm really hoping that Intelligence lives up to the high standards that John Dixon set with Phoenix Island.
I'll be honest the main reason I wanted to read Phoenix Island was because I had heard it was the inspiration for CBS's Intelligence. If I hadn't heard about Intelligence, this book probably wouldn't have landed on my radar. Despite the fact that it's been published by an adult imprint (Gallery Books), Phoenix Island is definitely a YA novel. Phoenix Island is just as clever and inventive as The Lord Of The Flies and The Maze Runner; this is one of the most intense dystopians novels I've ever read.
What makes Phoenix Island so frightening is the fact that the plot events are extremely plausible; I wouldn't be surprised if there is an island in some remote part of the world just like Phoenix Island. Usually sci-fi and dystopian novels don't feel authentic, they usually feel extremely feel far-fetched and unlikely, but Phoenix Island is frighteningly real.
Though Carl has his fair share of faults, he is a character that I rooted right from the start. I admired Carl's loyalty, ambition, and unrelenting sense of hope throughout this novel. I also loved the way Dixon had written Rivera, Stark, and Ross. Stark is one of the most terrifying and despicable villains I've read about recently; I was worried for Carl's sake whenever he was with Stark. I always love an underdog and so, Ross has to be one of my favorite characters in this novel. Ross might not be as brave or as strong as Carl, but I appreciated his gutsiness. The only character I felt a bit disappointed with was Octavia because I felt like there was so much more to her character than Dixon let on.
There's no denying that Phoenix Island pays homage to the classic Lord Of The Flies by William Golding and I loved the nods to the everlasting classic. Even though Phoenix Island feels like it's inspired LOTF, PI is an extremely original and intriguing novel. John Dixon has written such an atmospheric novel and he did an excellent job at making the island feel so authentic. Phoenix Island raises so many important questions about good vs. evil, society's treatment of criminals, and power.
Phoenix Island is extremely well-written and fast-packed making this an extremely enjoyable read. Some components of the plot are on the predictable side, but truthfully it didn't bother me at all. I watched the TV show trailer after finishing this book and it definitely looks as if the adaptation will be very different from it's source material. I'm really hoping that Intelligence lives up to the high standards that John Dixon set with Phoenix Island.
October 13, 2016
Psikopat, vahşi olması gereken bir kitap nasıl klişeliklerle dolu olabilir?
Olan olaylar resmen klişe kaynıyordu. Carl'ın attığı her adımda sonrasında ne olacağını anladım. Kimler ölecek, kimler yaşayacak, oraya giderse ne olacak, bu tarafa kaçarsa karşısına kim çıkacak çok belliydi. Kitabın içinde gizem namına hiç bir şey yoktu. Tamamen tahmin edilebilir bir kitaptı. Han vahşet vardı da diyemem ki. Ben daha ağır bir vahşet bekliyordum. Evet hafif bir kitap değil orası doğru ama genel olarak pek de birşey olmadı. Ceza olarak bir ter kutsu var o kadar. Av mevsuzu biraz ağırdı bana göre ki o kısmı da yazar anlatmadı.
Carl'ın Parker'ı düelloya çağırmasına neden olan bir olay var. Böyle bayaaaa ağır bir durum. Carl resmen hiç tepki vermedi sayıl��r. Bir tek diğer arkadaşını kurtarmak için Parker'ı düelloya davet etti.Bazı yerlerin çok uzatılması bazı yerlerin de öylesine geçilmesinden hoşlanmadım.
Bu kadar eleştirdikten sonra gelelim iyi yönlerine neden 2 değil de 3 puan verdiğim kısmına
Yazarın oluşturduğu mekanı ve kitabın konusunu sevdim.Okurken beni pek yormadı. Konu yavaş ilerlese de sayfalar çabuk ilerliyor. Akıcı bir anlatımı var yazarın. Özellikle boks kısımları birebir yansıtılmış. Yazarın da boksör olduğunu düşününce aksi olamazdı zaten diyorum. Kitaptaki karakterleri sevdim ben. Carl, Ross, Octavia hatta Acil Servisi bile.
Mutlaka okuyun diyemem ama GO! Kitabın fiyatları baya uygun. Denk gelirseniz alın bence. Günümüz aşktan, yada sürekli okuduğunuz tarzda kitaplardan sıkıldığınızda araya sıkıştırılabilecek bir kitap
Olan olaylar resmen klişe kaynıyordu. Carl'ın attığı her adımda sonrasında ne olacağını anladım. Kimler ölecek, kimler yaşayacak, oraya giderse ne olacak, bu tarafa kaçarsa karşısına kim çıkacak çok belliydi. Kitabın içinde gizem namına hiç bir şey yoktu. Tamamen tahmin edilebilir bir kitaptı. Han vahşet vardı da diyemem ki. Ben daha ağır bir vahşet bekliyordum. Evet hafif bir kitap değil orası doğru ama genel olarak pek de birşey olmadı. Ceza olarak bir ter kutsu var o kadar. Av mevsuzu biraz ağırdı bana göre ki o kısmı da yazar anlatmadı.
Carl'ın Parker'ı düelloya çağırmasına neden olan bir olay var. Böyle bayaaaa ağır bir durum. Carl resmen hiç tepki vermedi sayıl��r. Bir tek diğer arkadaşını kurtarmak için Parker'ı düelloya davet etti.Bazı yerlerin çok uzatılması bazı yerlerin de öylesine geçilmesinden hoşlanmadım.
Bu kadar eleştirdikten sonra gelelim iyi yönlerine neden 2 değil de 3 puan verdiğim kısmına
Yazarın oluşturduğu mekanı ve kitabın konusunu sevdim.Okurken beni pek yormadı. Konu yavaş ilerlese de sayfalar çabuk ilerliyor. Akıcı bir anlatımı var yazarın. Özellikle boks kısımları birebir yansıtılmış. Yazarın da boksör olduğunu düşününce aksi olamazdı zaten diyorum. Kitaptaki karakterleri sevdim ben. Carl, Ross, Octavia hatta Acil Servisi bile.
Mutlaka okuyun diyemem ama GO! Kitabın fiyatları baya uygun. Denk gelirseniz alın bence. Günümüz aşktan, yada sürekli okuduğunuz tarzda kitaplardan sıkıldığınızda araya sıkıştırılabilecek bir kitap
September 19, 2016
3.65/5
Yorumu için: http://kronikokur.blogspot.com.tr/201...
Yorumu için: http://kronikokur.blogspot.com.tr/201...
January 15, 2014
When Carl Freeman’s policeman father was shot by a criminal, and forced to endure the rest of his life in a wheelchair, along with needing full time care from Carl and his mother, then Carl’s mother died of cancer, something broke in Carl. Feeling the need to protect his father, protect the underdog even when he didn’t know him, caused Carl far more trouble than he should have had to endure in his short life. So by the time he was sixteen years of age, his father had died, he had found his outlet with a man who taught him to be a great boxer, and he’d also been in a lot of trouble with the law. Then a judge gave him one last chance – the boot camp on Phoenix Island for wayward young people such as himself – once he turned eighteen he would leave a much better person, his dream of becoming a policeman like his father closer to reality.
But Phoenix Island was more than just a boot camp! The cruel and merciless drill sergeants ran the place with iron-fisted precision. No-one, but no-one broke the rules – if they did the consequences were dire. Carl felt the need to have a couple of friends; the support they could give each other might come in handy. So Ross, a constant joker and Octavia, a lovely young girl with whom Carl felt an affinity became two people he could trust. But trust was a transient thing – the constant drills, training sessions, lack of food and sleep caused some to toughen up, but others to fail. Then there were the bullies who took great joy in tormenting the weak…
Who was this “Old Man” who was spoken of with awe? Where did the injured and failed teens go? And what was that building they had passed when they’d arrived on the Island – the Chop Shop? With its zombie-like inhabitant…..
What an amazing debut! Gripping, tense and totally engrossing, I found it hard to put down. A psychological thriller, I’m not sure I would classify it as Young Adult, but for me, thoroughly enjoyable. The plot is brilliant, the characters brutal – I have no hesitation in recommending Phoenix Island highly!
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
But Phoenix Island was more than just a boot camp! The cruel and merciless drill sergeants ran the place with iron-fisted precision. No-one, but no-one broke the rules – if they did the consequences were dire. Carl felt the need to have a couple of friends; the support they could give each other might come in handy. So Ross, a constant joker and Octavia, a lovely young girl with whom Carl felt an affinity became two people he could trust. But trust was a transient thing – the constant drills, training sessions, lack of food and sleep caused some to toughen up, but others to fail. Then there were the bullies who took great joy in tormenting the weak…
Who was this “Old Man” who was spoken of with awe? Where did the injured and failed teens go? And what was that building they had passed when they’d arrived on the Island – the Chop Shop? With its zombie-like inhabitant…..
What an amazing debut! Gripping, tense and totally engrossing, I found it hard to put down. A psychological thriller, I’m not sure I would classify it as Young Adult, but for me, thoroughly enjoyable. The plot is brilliant, the characters brutal – I have no hesitation in recommending Phoenix Island highly!
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
January 9, 2014
This is a thrilling, fast-paced novel. John Dixon does a great job telling an intriguing story with unexpected twists that had me wondering what would happen next throughout the entire book. This is exceedingly well written with an impressive cast of characters and fantastic imagery. The characters, settings, and situations are described so well it is easy to imagine exactly what these people and places are like.
At times I couldn’t tell who the enemy was. I found myself going back and forth on a few characters. Others I loved or hated the entire time. To me, this is a testament to great character development. The plot weaves and winds in such a way that I had no idea what was coming. At several points, I changed my mind on how I wanted the story to end. I was captivated from cover to cover.
I thought this book was superb. I sincerely hope the story continues.
I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.
At times I couldn’t tell who the enemy was. I found myself going back and forth on a few characters. Others I loved or hated the entire time. To me, this is a testament to great character development. The plot weaves and winds in such a way that I had no idea what was coming. At several points, I changed my mind on how I wanted the story to end. I was captivated from cover to cover.
I thought this book was superb. I sincerely hope the story continues.
I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.
April 23, 2015
I read this a couple of years ago in galleys and gave it an enthusiastic blurb: "Lord of the Flies meets Wolverine and Cool Hand Luke. A tribute to the indomitable human spirit that challenges the mob and chooses values over expediency."
November 22, 2015
Phoenix Island by John Dixon
First in the Phoenix Island series
3 stars
Whimsical Writing Scale: 3
Swoon Worthy Scale: 3
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3
Villain Scale: 2
Character Scale: 3.25
Plotastic Scale: 2.75
Cover Thoughts: The cover is very rough and dirty fitting. It fits the book well. Not my kind of cover, but I love that it fits the book and its atmosphere.
Thank you, Mr. Dixon for being kind enough to send me a copy of your book because my Kindle galley expired before I could download it! You rock!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hate when I get accepted for books but I get on my NG too late download them.D:
First in the Phoenix Island series
3 stars
Carl is sixteen years old and he has been in plenty enough trouble in his short life time. When he finds himself in court again the judge sentences him to Phoenix Island. Phoenix Island will reform him and it’s the place where orphans who also happen to be delinquents are sent. There are a lot of strange things going on at Phoenix Island and it’s up to Carl to save his friends and figure out the dark secrets surrounding the island. I did enjoy Phoenix Island, but I didn’t love it. The book started out pretty slow and it reminded me a lot of Holes. You know judge sends kid to mysterious camp in the middle of nowhere.
Holes is better though. At least the movie is I haven’t ever wanted to read the book. Phoenix Island does have good qualities it is very suspenseful where it needs to be and it keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I wouldn’t say it’s completely captivating though because while the suspense is brilliantly done it can also be incredibly boring and dry in certain parts. Towards almost the middle of the book (page 63 to 125) it picked up a lot and there was a chapter or two immediately following that were completely entertaining and then it fell. It fell and it floundered to find equilibrium with this new plot. It eventually worked, but it struggled. The writing was decent and I think it helped even the plot out eventually but it took longer than necessary.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 3
The main male character is Carl. Carl is decent enough in terms of being a good character. I didn’t connect to him or find him all that interesting. He had good and negative points. I liked the reasoning behind why he feels the need to beat bullies up. It was a remarkable reason and Carl has great back story. Of course, he also is incredibly boring to read about because he is a he-man. He tries to seem philosophical but he is too into his muscles at times and it messes up the balance.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 3
The main female character is Octavia. I like Octavia. In fact, her POV was the more interesting one out of the two. I’m not really sure why there are two POVs in the first place because it was completely unnecessary but she was much more interesting than Carl in her few chapters. I especially enjoyed the chapters during the Blue Phase.
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3
The Villain- I can’t decide how I feel about the villain in Phoenix Island. He has potential to be a great villain, but in reality he is just another wanna-be-villain wanting to be Voldemort.
Villain Scale: 2
The only character I loved in this whole novel was Ross. He was funny and he was a good friend to Carl and even Octavia. His comedy was dry, but he did say a few funny things that made me smile.
Character Scale: 3.25
I think Phoenix Island is a good book and I do recommend it for fans of Holes because I feel like that is an audience that would really enjoy it especially younger boys or even teenage boys who don’t read often. It’s something they would really enjoy. I liked it, but I’m picky about books and hard to please recently. I do plan on recommending these books to my younger cousins because I know they would love these. I will give the sequel a shot though because I’m curious about Carl’s future and even Octavia’s.
Plotastic Scale: 2.75
Cover Thoughts: The cover is very rough and dirty fitting. It fits the book well. Not my kind of cover, but I love that it fits the book and its atmosphere.
Thank you, Mr. Dixon for being kind enough to send me a copy of your book because my Kindle galley expired before I could download it! You rock!
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I hate when I get accepted for books but I get on my NG too late download them.D:
January 3, 2016
I'm abandoning ship at 40%. There are so many better books I could be reading and I just can't with this one.
Phoenix Island is the story of Carl, a junior boxing champ who is sent away to a hardcore boot camp called, you guessed it, Phoenix Island. It's his very last chance before he lands himself in grownup prison. Unfortunately Phoenix Island turns out to be less of a camp & more of a secretive, brutal military dumping ground for orphans.
There are three central reasons why I don't think Phoenix Island is for me.
One, I don't like Carl, or any of the characters really. I didn't feel any approaching depth or growth. People moved around and did things and said things but that was pretty much it. None of it felt remotely real to me.
Two, lack of humor & personality. It's just so dull and dry and I was bored out of my skull through most of what I read. The writing told me that Octavia & Carl were having a cute teenage flirtation, but failed to show it.
Finally, and this is the biggest one for me, the violence. I don't mind violence in general. It's often a very useful storytelling tool. The story starts with Carl in the judge's office, awaiting sentencing for his latest offence. According to the judge, "The boys with broken noses will be okay, but the ones with busted ribs and wired jaws are out for the season." Carl seems to feel that because he only attacks bullies, this kind of violence is justified. What I really wanted from the book was for Carl to examine his own capacity for violence. Sure, in the first hundred or so pages Carl hasn't beaten anyone else to a bloody pulp, but his own penchant for violence hasn't been mentioned once. He has an admirable desire to protect others, but Carl hasn't shown an inkling of introspection. I strongly suspect that, despite the level of violence in the story, there will no internal commentary on violence and Carl's justification of it.
I'm afraid Phoenix Island just isn't my sort of place.
I received a free copy of Phoenix Island from Goodreads to read and review. Thanks Goodreads!
Phoenix Island is the story of Carl, a junior boxing champ who is sent away to a hardcore boot camp called, you guessed it, Phoenix Island. It's his very last chance before he lands himself in grownup prison. Unfortunately Phoenix Island turns out to be less of a camp & more of a secretive, brutal military dumping ground for orphans.
There are three central reasons why I don't think Phoenix Island is for me.
One, I don't like Carl, or any of the characters really. I didn't feel any approaching depth or growth. People moved around and did things and said things but that was pretty much it. None of it felt remotely real to me.
Two, lack of humor & personality. It's just so dull and dry and I was bored out of my skull through most of what I read. The writing told me that Octavia & Carl were having a cute teenage flirtation, but failed to show it.
Finally, and this is the biggest one for me, the violence. I don't mind violence in general. It's often a very useful storytelling tool. The story starts with Carl in the judge's office, awaiting sentencing for his latest offence. According to the judge, "The boys with broken noses will be okay, but the ones with busted ribs and wired jaws are out for the season." Carl seems to feel that because he only attacks bullies, this kind of violence is justified. What I really wanted from the book was for Carl to examine his own capacity for violence. Sure, in the first hundred or so pages Carl hasn't beaten anyone else to a bloody pulp, but his own penchant for violence hasn't been mentioned once. He has an admirable desire to protect others, but Carl hasn't shown an inkling of introspection. I strongly suspect that, despite the level of violence in the story, there will no internal commentary on violence and Carl's justification of it.
I'm afraid Phoenix Island just isn't my sort of place.
I received a free copy of Phoenix Island from Goodreads to read and review. Thanks Goodreads!
January 19, 2014
A great book! Full of action and suspense and characters that you can care about. The plot made sense and the ending was perfect for the story (and those that have read my reviews, know this is something I rarely say!). It's YA book, but adults would like it as well. This book is the creative inspiration for the TV show Intelligence on CBS - the show is not like the book at all as they changed the main protagonists age, name and who he is working for, but the tech is the same.
The main character, Carl is 16 years old, and he's a believable character as a junior boxing champ who is sent to Phoenix Island since he has a juvie record for fighting bullies in school (my hero!) - but he soon finds out the island isn't just a military camp to rehabilitate bad kids, but a training camp for mercenaries. Lots of fight scenes that are realistic - the author John Dixon is an ex-boxer and mixed martial artist who founded a training school at Penn State University. So the man knows what he's talking about.
Yes John is a friend, but I've no qualms recommending his book. I did an interview with John on my blog if you like to read how his debut novel became the inspiration behind a TV show. Here's a link: http://officialmariavsnyder.blogspot....
The main character, Carl is 16 years old, and he's a believable character as a junior boxing champ who is sent to Phoenix Island since he has a juvie record for fighting bullies in school (my hero!) - but he soon finds out the island isn't just a military camp to rehabilitate bad kids, but a training camp for mercenaries. Lots of fight scenes that are realistic - the author John Dixon is an ex-boxer and mixed martial artist who founded a training school at Penn State University. So the man knows what he's talking about.
Yes John is a friend, but I've no qualms recommending his book. I did an interview with John on my blog if you like to read how his debut novel became the inspiration behind a TV show. Here's a link: http://officialmariavsnyder.blogspot....
January 18, 2014
My reading of PHOENIX ISLAND quickly turned into a moral dilemma. As it is often the case when I read Young Adult fiction, I objected the Shakespearean treatment of adolescent issues but the writing of John Dixon has two quirks that most YA fiction novels don't have:
1) It is highly aware that adolescence is a period where everybody dramatizes everything.
and
2) It delivers wicked, entertaining story, which should be the main purpose of every novel.
PHOENIX ISLAND puts its protagonist, teenage orphan Carl Freeman, in front of a fascinating moral dilemma of his own, as he fights his way throught a military organization with a knack for psychological abuse. I was reminded of Olivier Hirschbiegel movie DAS EXPERIMENT at times. The worst displays of cruely are not always those that are narrated and I thought Dixon drew an interesting portrait of corporate disfuction.
I will probably always raide my fist in anger at those books who portray bullying like some kind of genocide of the soul, but PHOENIX ISLAND is as close to common sense as it gets, regarding that issue. I really liked this novel and get ready for this...I'd read the imminent sequel.
1) It is highly aware that adolescence is a period where everybody dramatizes everything.
and
2) It delivers wicked, entertaining story, which should be the main purpose of every novel.
PHOENIX ISLAND puts its protagonist, teenage orphan Carl Freeman, in front of a fascinating moral dilemma of his own, as he fights his way throught a military organization with a knack for psychological abuse. I was reminded of Olivier Hirschbiegel movie DAS EXPERIMENT at times. The worst displays of cruely are not always those that are narrated and I thought Dixon drew an interesting portrait of corporate disfuction.
I will probably always raide my fist in anger at those books who portray bullying like some kind of genocide of the soul, but PHOENIX ISLAND is as close to common sense as it gets, regarding that issue. I really liked this novel and get ready for this...I'd read the imminent sequel.
February 26, 2014
Phoenix Island
An overwhelming book filled with anxiety of does it going to have a sequel or what, full of actions and alot more.
Why you wouldn't want this (but believe me, you are so going to love it)
- It is predictable.
- It is weak on romance part I actually hated Octavia at first.
- Their age was doubtful at times.
Why you wanted to read this:
- It is predictable though the result always exceeds my expectations.
- You don't need the romance in here.
- Their age was doubtful at times but they are all orphans, so age actually doesn’t matter in here.
- Full of actions and every bit of actions is realistic.
- Minor characters has their own recognitions, they are not just a passer-by characters.
- You will see almost all types of bullies here, no need to wonder far.
There are alot more of reasons why you wanted to read this but this is not good with those who have weak heart.
The Characters
Carl - our hero in here. I actually don't understand his reasons at first why'd he done that and such, later it'll be revealed on what’s what. He is in everybit of sympathetic person. I believed that not a lot of people live like him and I know none actually. His advocacies were the one I will never understand at first and later realizes that he has reasons. As the judges describes him
Octavia - Carl's love interest. Has little narration on this book too. Had me eye-rolling at first because of Carl's introduction on her. You might not like her but she was an understandable type of person.
Ross - We all know this type of kid, the clown one, funny in all his remarks, the life of the story (for me).
Davis - the first bully you'll encounter. Had his things going wrap around his hands, you will hate him, you’re going to remember someone on him, but I ended up liking him he's character has redemption on this.
Commander Stark - yup, President Snow (THG), Dr. Barnes (The Testing), Mayor Prentiss (Chaos Walking) and alot more. We all has this big names to compare on him, he is the same. The leader, the manipulative one but looking back he has his reasons too and that reason is... same; political, manipulating all the people...
The Settings
Set on Island named Phoenix Island, a tropical place, a paradise to wild animals and a prison to some orphans. A place where future specialize SWAT team on training called Phoenix Force.
Phoenix Island on my assumption in geography is far off the coast of the United States, near Pacific Ocean more of in Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean? Am I right? Because of tropical settings. The weather somehow makes sense but boat??? you got to be kidding me, there might have it but no matter how they survived off the Island, small boat will not survived on Ocean. Trust me, I grow up on island. We have big boats run by gasoline and sort, but small boats is for island to island only and there's no island near Phoenix Island and with sharks like those. hmn...
Lets go back to weather, if they are on this island for too long typhoons, super typhoons is possible especially if it’s really somewhere in Pacific. I ain't sure about Atlantic.
The Plot
Believable.
Once upon a time in our country there were islands for prisoners and for sick people that need to be secluded. I guess these days this Island does not exist, but I am doubtful with the first one. So Phoenix Island theory is possible.
But man, I hope nobody formulates like this. It is sick. No matter how good it'll serve our country its way-way against human rights. Let’s just stay this story on fiction.
Overall an enjoyable read, my heart almost stopped (haha, jk), characters is believable and has an interesting premise.
Overall Rating: 4/5
An overwhelming book filled with anxiety of does it going to have a sequel or what, full of actions and alot more.
Why you wouldn't want this (but believe me, you are so going to love it)
- It is predictable.
- It is weak on romance part I actually hated Octavia at first.
- Their age was doubtful at times.
Why you wanted to read this:
- It is predictable though the result always exceeds my expectations.
- You don't need the romance in here.
- Their age was doubtful at times but they are all orphans, so age actually doesn’t matter in here.
- Full of actions and every bit of actions is realistic.
- Minor characters has their own recognitions, they are not just a passer-by characters.
- You will see almost all types of bullies here, no need to wonder far.
There are alot more of reasons why you wanted to read this but this is not good with those who have weak heart.
The Characters
Carl - our hero in here. I actually don't understand his reasons at first why'd he done that and such, later it'll be revealed on what’s what. He is in everybit of sympathetic person. I believed that not a lot of people live like him and I know none actually. His advocacies were the one I will never understand at first and later realizes that he has reasons. As the judges describes him
“…Either you are insane or, at the very least, downright idiosyncratic. It’s like you have a superhero complex or something. Mild-mannered school-boy by day, raging lunatic by night.”
Octavia - Carl's love interest. Has little narration on this book too. Had me eye-rolling at first because of Carl's introduction on her. You might not like her but she was an understandable type of person.
Ross - We all know this type of kid, the clown one, funny in all his remarks, the life of the story (for me).
Davis - the first bully you'll encounter. Had his things going wrap around his hands, you will hate him, you’re going to remember someone on him, but I ended up liking him he's character has redemption on this.
Commander Stark - yup, President Snow (THG), Dr. Barnes (The Testing), Mayor Prentiss (Chaos Walking) and alot more. We all has this big names to compare on him, he is the same. The leader, the manipulative one but looking back he has his reasons too and that reason is... same; political, manipulating all the people...
The Settings
Set on Island named Phoenix Island, a tropical place, a paradise to wild animals and a prison to some orphans. A place where future specialize SWAT team on training called Phoenix Force.
Phoenix Island on my assumption in geography is far off the coast of the United States, near Pacific Ocean more of in Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean? Am I right? Because of tropical settings. The weather somehow makes sense but boat??? you got to be kidding me, there might have it but no matter how they survived off the Island, small boat will not survived on Ocean. Trust me, I grow up on island. We have big boats run by gasoline and sort, but small boats is for island to island only and there's no island near Phoenix Island and with sharks like those. hmn...
Lets go back to weather, if they are on this island for too long typhoons, super typhoons is possible especially if it’s really somewhere in Pacific. I ain't sure about Atlantic.
The Plot
Believable.
Once upon a time in our country there were islands for prisoners and for sick people that need to be secluded. I guess these days this Island does not exist, but I am doubtful with the first one. So Phoenix Island theory is possible.
But man, I hope nobody formulates like this. It is sick. No matter how good it'll serve our country its way-way against human rights. Let’s just stay this story on fiction.
Overall an enjoyable read, my heart almost stopped (haha, jk), characters is believable and has an interesting premise.
Overall Rating: 4/5
January 6, 2014
Gritty, dark, magnetic! Phoenix Island by John Dixon takes crime and punishment and delivers a twisted knock-out punch that will leave you reeling long after that last page is finished! Carl Freeman is a sixteen-year-old orphan who has been bounced around the system “we” have designed to protect children like him. His temper often gets the best of him, but his intentions are good, as he repeatedly stand up to bullying with his fists, making his juvenile record as thick as Webster’s Dictionary, with almost as many entries. His “last chance” for rehabilitation is a remote, boot camp style facility, that if he tows the line, does his time, will clear his record and start him on a new life as a productive citizen. But what truly goes on at Phoenix Island? Are the depths of depravity, the sadistic leaders, the brutality of the punishments and the “training” a well-guarded secret? Does anyone ever leave the island and truly rise like the fiery re-birth of the mythical Phoenix? Will Carl’s need to protect those who need protection become his death sentence? Are these “recruits,” all delinquent orphans with no one to wonder about them ever released? What happens on the other side of the island? Are these kids actually more like petri dishes for the growth of scientific horrors?
John Dixon can write! He can create a world where sweat, blood and tears are real, pain is felt and life is terrifying. Mr. Dixon has given us characters that are alive and breathing, with unique personalities, quirks and ticks that you can find on any busy street, at any time. His characters are damaged, yet some have the inner strength to question, take risks, make stands, learn loyalty, and risk it all to try to do what needs to be done. There are leaders, followers, and the just plain terrified. I felt for every single one of them, and the life they were ensnared in.
When you find an author with an amazing story, you read it, you recommend it, you remember it, you wonder what happened to the characters after that last page. Phoenix Island is one of those books for me.
I received an ARC edition from Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books
ISBN: 9781476738635
Genre: YA Sci-fi/Dark Fantasy
Number of Pages: 320
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
John Dixon can write! He can create a world where sweat, blood and tears are real, pain is felt and life is terrifying. Mr. Dixon has given us characters that are alive and breathing, with unique personalities, quirks and ticks that you can find on any busy street, at any time. His characters are damaged, yet some have the inner strength to question, take risks, make stands, learn loyalty, and risk it all to try to do what needs to be done. There are leaders, followers, and the just plain terrified. I felt for every single one of them, and the life they were ensnared in.
When you find an author with an amazing story, you read it, you recommend it, you remember it, you wonder what happened to the characters after that last page. Phoenix Island is one of those books for me.
I received an ARC edition from Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books
ISBN: 9781476738635
Genre: YA Sci-fi/Dark Fantasy
Number of Pages: 320
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
December 23, 2013
I must admit that the reason I requested Phoenix Island for review was because I had seen previews for Intelligence, the upcoming show the book inspired. See based on the book blurb, Phoenix Island isn't exactly my cup of tea. For one I'm not big on young adult books and if I do read something in the genre, it's urban fantasy or paranormal romance. Phoenix Island is neither of those things but I took a chance because I was intrigued. Boy am I glad I took that chance.
Phoenix Island was emotionally gripping, dark, gritty, intense, and chock full of awesome. I was hooked from the first chapter where I met Carl Freeman, an orphan with anger issues and 18 assault arrests under his belt. At sixteen years old he's been in-and-out of foster care, bounced from one-state-to- another, and been in various different juvenile facilities. Thing is Carl is a good kid. He's just misguided, alone, and refuses to let anyone be bullied if he can stop it. Then Carl is sentenced to a military bootcamp facility called Phoenix Island where he will stay until he's eighteen.
From the opening introduction to Carl's new home, the sadistic Drill Sargent he immediately pisses off, and the creeptastic zombied-out kid he sees off in the distance, Carl notices Phoenix Island just may be hell on Earth. Sadly that thought isn't far off track. It's hard to make friends in a place where everyone seems out to get you, but Carl pushes through and eventually makes a couple; a wise-cracking boy named Ross and a strange girl named Octavia.
I was blown away by the depth of depravity these unfortunate, "throwaway" kids were put through on Phoenix Island and more than once I kept thinking of the closing lyrics to Hotel California by The Eagles, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave". Poor Carl hoped Phoenix Island would turn him into a different person; he just wasn't expecting to lose himself in the process.
Hands down the most unique and brilliant young adult book I've ever had the joy of reading, Phoenix Island, is part psychological thriller and part science fiction. I am hooked! After that cliffhanger ending, I can't wait to see what happens to Carl next. I'm also curious what this book and the show Intelligence will actually have in common as they seem so very different.
*eARC PROVIDED BY GALLERY BOOKS VIA NETGALLEY*
Phoenix Island was emotionally gripping, dark, gritty, intense, and chock full of awesome. I was hooked from the first chapter where I met Carl Freeman, an orphan with anger issues and 18 assault arrests under his belt. At sixteen years old he's been in-and-out of foster care, bounced from one-state-to- another, and been in various different juvenile facilities. Thing is Carl is a good kid. He's just misguided, alone, and refuses to let anyone be bullied if he can stop it. Then Carl is sentenced to a military bootcamp facility called Phoenix Island where he will stay until he's eighteen.
From the opening introduction to Carl's new home, the sadistic Drill Sargent he immediately pisses off, and the creeptastic zombied-out kid he sees off in the distance, Carl notices Phoenix Island just may be hell on Earth. Sadly that thought isn't far off track. It's hard to make friends in a place where everyone seems out to get you, but Carl pushes through and eventually makes a couple; a wise-cracking boy named Ross and a strange girl named Octavia.
I was blown away by the depth of depravity these unfortunate, "throwaway" kids were put through on Phoenix Island and more than once I kept thinking of the closing lyrics to Hotel California by The Eagles, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave". Poor Carl hoped Phoenix Island would turn him into a different person; he just wasn't expecting to lose himself in the process.
Hands down the most unique and brilliant young adult book I've ever had the joy of reading, Phoenix Island, is part psychological thriller and part science fiction. I am hooked! After that cliffhanger ending, I can't wait to see what happens to Carl next. I'm also curious what this book and the show Intelligence will actually have in common as they seem so very different.
*eARC PROVIDED BY GALLERY BOOKS VIA NETGALLEY*
July 25, 2015
This book sounded so good that I couldn't wait to borrow it from a friend and devour it. Sadly the teeth marks that I left in the binding were due to frustration about how much I disliked this book!
This book was more like the Boot Camp Diaries than a dystopian thriller. A group of juvenile criminals unwanted by society for various alleged crimes are dumped on an island boot camp where they need to survive until being released at 18. We had military marches, military discipline, military songs, military chants, military officers bullying the recruits, asshat kids trying to kill the new arrivals...It was just BORING. Page after page of military orders and marches just destroyed half my brain cells. There was plenty violence and brutality but I felt it was just shoved in for shock value as it did little to advance the lack of plot. The plot itself just seemed to be bad people abuse kids in violent ways, over and over. It's not much to keep you entertained or engaged.
There were no characters that I gave a damn about. They were all rude and obnoxious and you just wanted a bunch of rabid jungle animals to rush out and eat everyone. Carl, our hero has serious anger management issues and likes to beat people up. OK so he beats up thugs, but the point is, he was warned to behave or be dumped out of society but he chooses not to listen and then moans about his punishment. His violence puts people in hospital which basically means he is a dangerous thug who will kill someone some day and the judge is tired of giving him chances to reform. The characters never felt likable or developed in any way and were pretty one dimensional. They are a really boring bunch who talk nonsense most of the time.
So how did the author decide to liven things up? Our hero Carl goes all instaluv with a female he meets there. Oh goodee! Not. This cliche just makes my brain explode! As romance goes, there was no chemistry and it felt so out of place that I wondered what the point was. I felt as if the author had a checklist of things he felt he needed to add to the book and was stubbornly shoving them in regardless of whether or not it would fit the story.
This book did not work for me on any level. It was one of the poorer books that I read in the genre and I have no interest in reading anything else by the author.
This book was more like the Boot Camp Diaries than a dystopian thriller. A group of juvenile criminals unwanted by society for various alleged crimes are dumped on an island boot camp where they need to survive until being released at 18. We had military marches, military discipline, military songs, military chants, military officers bullying the recruits, asshat kids trying to kill the new arrivals...It was just BORING. Page after page of military orders and marches just destroyed half my brain cells. There was plenty violence and brutality but I felt it was just shoved in for shock value as it did little to advance the lack of plot. The plot itself just seemed to be bad people abuse kids in violent ways, over and over. It's not much to keep you entertained or engaged.
There were no characters that I gave a damn about. They were all rude and obnoxious and you just wanted a bunch of rabid jungle animals to rush out and eat everyone. Carl, our hero has serious anger management issues and likes to beat people up. OK so he beats up thugs, but the point is, he was warned to behave or be dumped out of society but he chooses not to listen and then moans about his punishment. His violence puts people in hospital which basically means he is a dangerous thug who will kill someone some day and the judge is tired of giving him chances to reform. The characters never felt likable or developed in any way and were pretty one dimensional. They are a really boring bunch who talk nonsense most of the time.
So how did the author decide to liven things up? Our hero Carl goes all instaluv with a female he meets there. Oh goodee! Not. This cliche just makes my brain explode! As romance goes, there was no chemistry and it felt so out of place that I wondered what the point was. I felt as if the author had a checklist of things he felt he needed to add to the book and was stubbornly shoving them in regardless of whether or not it would fit the story.
This book did not work for me on any level. It was one of the poorer books that I read in the genre and I have no interest in reading anything else by the author.
December 21, 2013
Sixteen-year-old Carl is an orphan with a talent for fighting and a hatred for bullies. As a result, he finds himself arrested for assault (not for the first time) and is sentenced to Phoenix Island, a boot camp for young delinquents, until the age of eighteen. But Carl soon begins to have doubts about this camp. For one thing, no one seems to know where it’s located; for another, all of the kids are orphans like himself.
Still, Carl is determined to make the best of a very bad situation even after he gets on the wrong side of a particularly vicious drill sergeant on the first day. But then he finds a journal, written by an earlier camper which tells a very weird and very scary tale of the Island and what happens to the orphans who end up here. Despite all his best efforts to survive until he or another camper can return to civilization and let others know the truth about Phoenix Island, Carl finds himself the pawn of a madman with a plan for global domination.
I know all of this sounds a little, well, over-the-top crazy, I mean, c’mon world domination by an island of delinquent orphans? Really?! But, trust me, Phoenix Island is one heck of a page turner. It grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go until the end. I was completely sucked into the story.
Carl is an extremely likeable protagonist and, although other characters tend to be less well-drawn, they make for some insanely addicting reading, especially Carl’s friend, Ross, who can’t control his joking when under stress and then there’s the charismatic madman who is the mastermind behind the plot.
I heartily enjoyed Phoenix Island and was happy to discover that the ending leaves an opening for a sequel not to mention an upcoming TV series. It should be noted, however, that this is not a novel for younger kids. There are some pretty violent and even brutal scenes which might be too upsetting for them. However, for those 14 and up, it’s one wild and crazy ride.
Still, Carl is determined to make the best of a very bad situation even after he gets on the wrong side of a particularly vicious drill sergeant on the first day. But then he finds a journal, written by an earlier camper which tells a very weird and very scary tale of the Island and what happens to the orphans who end up here. Despite all his best efforts to survive until he or another camper can return to civilization and let others know the truth about Phoenix Island, Carl finds himself the pawn of a madman with a plan for global domination.
I know all of this sounds a little, well, over-the-top crazy, I mean, c’mon world domination by an island of delinquent orphans? Really?! But, trust me, Phoenix Island is one heck of a page turner. It grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go until the end. I was completely sucked into the story.
Carl is an extremely likeable protagonist and, although other characters tend to be less well-drawn, they make for some insanely addicting reading, especially Carl’s friend, Ross, who can’t control his joking when under stress and then there’s the charismatic madman who is the mastermind behind the plot.
I heartily enjoyed Phoenix Island and was happy to discover that the ending leaves an opening for a sequel not to mention an upcoming TV series. It should be noted, however, that this is not a novel for younger kids. There are some pretty violent and even brutal scenes which might be too upsetting for them. However, for those 14 and up, it’s one wild and crazy ride.
September 19, 2013
Είναι καλογραμμένο, το κείμενο είναι κατανοητό και βατό χωρίς να γίνεται "φτηνό" και η ιστορία διατηρεί μια σταθερή πορεία εξέλιξης, χωρίς να κάνει κοιλιά ή να αφήνει κενά ή να δημιουργεί απορίες που μένουν άλυτες. Είναι με άλλα λόγια, πολύ ειλικρινές και ξεκάθαρο ως κείμενο και περνάει πολύ ωραία μηνύματα σχετικά με το builing, της οικογενειακής κακοποίησης και όχι μόνο.
Ο Carl είναι τόσο αξιαγάπητος χαρακτήρας που δεν μπορείς να μην δεθείς μαζί του... είναι αδύνατον!!! Μοιράζεσαι τα άγχη και τις αγωνίες του, συμπάσχεις μαζί του και ανησυχείς γι' αυτόν, σαν να θες να τον προστατέψεις και να απελπίζεσαι επειδή ξέρεις ότι δεν μπορείς.
Το concept της ιστορία είναι πολύ καλό, ίσως όχι ιδιαίτερα πρωτότυπο αλλά ως προς την βάση που έχει τοποθετηθεί, πολύ καλά εκτελεσμένο. Και παρά που υπάρχουν σκηνές βίας δεν είναι "φτηνιάρικες", δεν έχουν σκοπό να προκαλέσουν και να σοκάρουν, ούτε να δημιουργήσουν εντυπώσεις αλλά να κάνουν πιο ξεκάθαρη την κατάσταση.
Οι περιγραφές της εκπαίδευσης, των μαχών κλπ. είναι συγκλονιστικές. Σε καθηλώνουν και σου κόβουν την ανάσα. Σε κάνουν να καρδιοχτυπάς και η αγωνία σου βρίσκεται συνεχώς στο αποκορύφωμά της χωρίς να την ελέγχεις. (βέβαια στο σημείο των περιγραφών να κάνω μια ένταση... ίσως θα έπρεπε το νησί και οι περιβάλλοντες χώροι να περιγράφονται λίγο πιο διεξοδικά ωστόσο, αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι δεν έχουμε πλήρη εικόνα).
Ναι μεν υπάρχει Love story αλλά ευτυχώς, αποφεύγονται τα σαχλά σαλιαρίσματα και έτσι δεν χάνεται το point αλλά αντίθετα, βλέπουμε ψυχογραφικά την εξέλιξη της σχέσης δεδομένων των συνθηκών που την καθορίζουν.
(Αναλυτικό review αν τελικά κυκλοφορήσει...)
Ο Carl είναι τόσο αξιαγάπητος χαρακτήρας που δεν μπορείς να μην δεθείς μαζί του... είναι αδύνατον!!! Μοιράζεσαι τα άγχη και τις αγωνίες του, συμπάσχεις μαζί του και ανησυχείς γι' αυτόν, σαν να θες να τον προστατέψεις και να απελπίζεσαι επειδή ξέρεις ότι δεν μπορείς.
Το concept της ιστορία είναι πολύ καλό, ίσως όχι ιδιαίτερα πρωτότυπο αλλά ως προς την βάση που έχει τοποθετηθεί, πολύ καλά εκτελεσμένο. Και παρά που υπάρχουν σκηνές βίας δεν είναι "φτηνιάρικες", δεν έχουν σκοπό να προκαλέσουν και να σοκάρουν, ούτε να δημιουργήσουν εντυπώσεις αλλά να κάνουν πιο ξεκάθαρη την κατάσταση.
Οι περιγραφές της εκπαίδευσης, των μαχών κλπ. είναι συγκλονιστικές. Σε καθηλώνουν και σου κόβουν την ανάσα. Σε κάνουν να καρδιοχτυπάς και η αγωνία σου βρίσκεται συνεχώς στο αποκορύφωμά της χωρίς να την ελέγχεις. (βέβαια στο σημείο των περιγραφών να κάνω μια ένταση... ίσως θα έπρεπε το νησί και οι περιβάλλοντες χώροι να περιγράφονται λίγο πιο διεξοδικά ωστόσο, αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι δεν έχουμε πλήρη εικόνα).
Ναι μεν υπάρχει Love story αλλά ευτυχώς, αποφεύγονται τα σαχλά σαλιαρίσματα και έτσι δεν χάνεται το point αλλά αντίθετα, βλέπουμε ψυχογραφικά την εξέλιξη της σχέσης δεδομένων των συνθηκών που την καθορίζουν.
(Αναλυτικό review αν τελικά κυκλοφορήσει...)
January 7, 2014
John Dixon comes out of his corner fast and hits hard! This book will have you seeing stars. Dixon tells the tale of Carl Freeman, a kid with anger management issues and a delinquent record who has just been given his last chance at rehabilitation. Or so he thinks. In reality, he is a lost boy before he even reaches the island.
It's hard to resist comparing Phoenix Island with other works like Papillon, Lord of the Flies, and--with a touch of military sci fi--maybe even a little bit of 007, but Dixon's writing has a character all its own and a unique voice that straddles fast-paced thriller and, at times, poetic descriptive lushness. Most of all, however, this book's roots are in the very human struggle of a troubled boy who wants to do and be good while being set up as a tool for the baddest of the bad. Phoenix Island is not about youth prisons, great escapes, or ambitious savagery as much as it is about the heart of a young man trying his best to find redemption in the face of terrible opposition. John Dixon gives this kid heart in spades while never easing up on the flurry of hits that keeps the reader against the ropes.
I can't recommend this one enough!
NOTE: I read an advance readers copy provided by Gallery Books.
It's hard to resist comparing Phoenix Island with other works like Papillon, Lord of the Flies, and--with a touch of military sci fi--maybe even a little bit of 007, but Dixon's writing has a character all its own and a unique voice that straddles fast-paced thriller and, at times, poetic descriptive lushness. Most of all, however, this book's roots are in the very human struggle of a troubled boy who wants to do and be good while being set up as a tool for the baddest of the bad. Phoenix Island is not about youth prisons, great escapes, or ambitious savagery as much as it is about the heart of a young man trying his best to find redemption in the face of terrible opposition. John Dixon gives this kid heart in spades while never easing up on the flurry of hits that keeps the reader against the ropes.
I can't recommend this one enough!
NOTE: I read an advance readers copy provided by Gallery Books.
January 2, 2014
Wow, this is a really great book! I didn't do much yesterday besides read this book.
This book is about a 16 year boy. His parents have both died, and he has been bounced around from foster home to foster home. Getting into trouble for fighting in every placement. They send him to Phoenix Island, a bootcamp for wayward children, he is told. Then things get wacky and the action starts.
This book is exciting from start to end. Good job John Dixon!
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review in a goodreads giveaway*
This book is about a 16 year boy. His parents have both died, and he has been bounced around from foster home to foster home. Getting into trouble for fighting in every placement. They send him to Phoenix Island, a bootcamp for wayward children, he is told. Then things get wacky and the action starts.
This book is exciting from start to end. Good job John Dixon!
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review in a goodreads giveaway*
September 9, 2016
Şimdi oturdum bloga da yazısını giriyorum.
Genel olarak fikrimi söylemem gerekirse; okurken çok beğendim,konusu,yazarın dili gayet akıcıydı.Bitirirken de heyecanla okudum.Ama tamamiyle bittirdikten ve zaman geçtikten sonra aklımda kalan düşünce "eh" oldu.
Okunabilinir bir kitap.
Hatta okurken sizi baya sürükler.
Sadece bu türü seviyorsanız.
Yorum http://ruyakitaplik.blogspot.com.tr/2...
Genel olarak fikrimi söylemem gerekirse; okurken çok beğendim,konusu,yazarın dili gayet akıcıydı.Bitirirken de heyecanla okudum.Ama tamamiyle bittirdikten ve zaman geçtikten sonra aklımda kalan düşünce "eh" oldu.
Okunabilinir bir kitap.
Hatta okurken sizi baya sürükler.
Sadece bu türü seviyorsanız.
Yorum http://ruyakitaplik.blogspot.com.tr/2...
December 4, 2013
Unbelievably terrific debut, well suited for adults and teens alike. Breakneck pace, great dialogue, smart as hell. Go for it. You won't regret it.
October 25, 2013
John Dixon's PHOENIX ISLAND first came to my attention when I heard that a Young Adult novel has inspired a new CBS television series starring Josh Holloway (LOST) and Marg Helgenberger (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) - before the book had even released. It seems that with the recent success of THE HUNGER GAMES series, studios have been aggressively pursuing the next big YA property. Of all the YA novels that have been optioned PHOENIX ISLAND is the first I've heard of to get picked up for TV - and before it has had a chance to gain a fanbase no less! It's enough to get a reader excited, that's for sure.
PHOENIX ISLAND is the story of Carl, an orphan with a history of violence. He's a fighter and he only targets bullies, but in a "civilized" society his talents are frowned upon. After the most recent in a long list of assault charges Carl is shipped off to Phoenix Island, a hardcore bootcamp for society's rejects. Bootcamp beats the alternative, an adult penitentiary, and Carl is eager to get a fresh start on life. Shortly Carl realizes that Phoenix Island is far more sinister than he could have ever expected. If the vicious drill sergeants don't do him in, Carl's fellow orphans might. The island holds a fair share of secrets, none of them too pleasant. Carl's only hope is to keep his head down and avoid attention but after a lifetime of fighting injustice this is easier said than done and soon he becomes embroiled in a madman's plot for global domination.
It didn't take long to warm up to PHOENIX ISLAND's protagonist Carl. His life has been transformed and surrounded by violence from a young age. He has found himself in trouble for meeting bullies head on. This overwhelming need of his drives everything he does but when he gets to bootcamp he tries to turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately Carl finds himself thrust into conflict regardless of his desire to leave violence behind. Dixon's knowledge of boxing separates Carl from a lot of other YA heroes. He has a talent and it makes him special. He's not The Chosen One as you'll frequently find in the genre. His skills can only be gained through practice. Carl undergoes a bit of self discovery behind his own motivations and never once does he devolve into angst despite the odds stacked against him. It's refreshing. He is both competent and likable, making smart decisions throughout.
I was slightly less impressed with the other characters. I liked Carl's joker buddy Ross, but felt he was underdeveloped. David and Campbell could have also benefitted from more depth. Brief segments of the story are told from the perspective of Octavia, a female orphan and Carl's love interest. Because she gets her own POV, Octavia doesn't feel as flat at some of the other characters. As for the relationship between Carl and Octavia - I'd suggest that it develops a little too quickly but it never devolves into the irritating hot mess you're likely to find in other YA stories. Drill Sergeant Parker makes for a great antagonist - readers will just love to hate him. The Old Man is also a good villain with his unique philosophy and warrior's code.
PHOENIX ISLAND is YA fiction without the kid gloves. It can be a brutal book. The bootcamp training is every bit as hardcore as you might find in the real world. The instructors are wicked, turning the kids against each other in order to weed out the weakest links. There is fighting - real actual fighting. There is blood and death and depravity. It's nowhere near as heavy as the material found in Paolo Bacigalupi's THE DROWNED CITIES but it is present. What I truly appreciated is that Dixon was able to depict violence and yet manage to give it the appropriate level of consideration. One of my greatest complaints about THE HUNGER GAMES is how very shallow its representation of death is. PHOENIX ISLAND sidesteps this and manages to tell an impactful story of bullying, institutional violence, and child soldiers. Still, some of the deaths lack the appropriate impact because the characters aren't as three dimensional as they could be.
Those without a stomach for martial fiction may want to think twice before dipping a toe into the waters of PHOENIX ISLAND. The novel doesn't celebrate (or condemn) the military, but a good portion of the novel revolves around training for combat. The purpose of the island is to create an army of super soldiers. I personally enjoy this but I think it's worth making aware to potential readers.
I was most impressed with how the novel ends. I tore through the book in two days and the conclusion of the novel left me feeling fulfilled despite the fact that it opens the door for a sequel or series of sequels. There are still mysteries to reveal and themes to explore. PHOENIX ISLAND is an impressive debut novel. It's up there with VARIANT by Robison Wells and THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray as some of the best YA fiction to come out in recent years. Judging by the trailers I have seen for CBS's Intelligence, I'm not sure how much the two properties will have in common but I am excited to find out. Congratulations to Dixon for such a stunning accomplishment and best of luck to the studio behind the show.
Recommended Age: 14+
Language: No foul language that I picked up on.
Violence: Definitely - mostly fist fighting.
Sex: Nope.
Nick Sharps
Elitist Book Reviews
PHOENIX ISLAND is the story of Carl, an orphan with a history of violence. He's a fighter and he only targets bullies, but in a "civilized" society his talents are frowned upon. After the most recent in a long list of assault charges Carl is shipped off to Phoenix Island, a hardcore bootcamp for society's rejects. Bootcamp beats the alternative, an adult penitentiary, and Carl is eager to get a fresh start on life. Shortly Carl realizes that Phoenix Island is far more sinister than he could have ever expected. If the vicious drill sergeants don't do him in, Carl's fellow orphans might. The island holds a fair share of secrets, none of them too pleasant. Carl's only hope is to keep his head down and avoid attention but after a lifetime of fighting injustice this is easier said than done and soon he becomes embroiled in a madman's plot for global domination.
It didn't take long to warm up to PHOENIX ISLAND's protagonist Carl. His life has been transformed and surrounded by violence from a young age. He has found himself in trouble for meeting bullies head on. This overwhelming need of his drives everything he does but when he gets to bootcamp he tries to turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately Carl finds himself thrust into conflict regardless of his desire to leave violence behind. Dixon's knowledge of boxing separates Carl from a lot of other YA heroes. He has a talent and it makes him special. He's not The Chosen One as you'll frequently find in the genre. His skills can only be gained through practice. Carl undergoes a bit of self discovery behind his own motivations and never once does he devolve into angst despite the odds stacked against him. It's refreshing. He is both competent and likable, making smart decisions throughout.
I was slightly less impressed with the other characters. I liked Carl's joker buddy Ross, but felt he was underdeveloped. David and Campbell could have also benefitted from more depth. Brief segments of the story are told from the perspective of Octavia, a female orphan and Carl's love interest. Because she gets her own POV, Octavia doesn't feel as flat at some of the other characters. As for the relationship between Carl and Octavia - I'd suggest that it develops a little too quickly but it never devolves into the irritating hot mess you're likely to find in other YA stories. Drill Sergeant Parker makes for a great antagonist - readers will just love to hate him. The Old Man is also a good villain with his unique philosophy and warrior's code.
PHOENIX ISLAND is YA fiction without the kid gloves. It can be a brutal book. The bootcamp training is every bit as hardcore as you might find in the real world. The instructors are wicked, turning the kids against each other in order to weed out the weakest links. There is fighting - real actual fighting. There is blood and death and depravity. It's nowhere near as heavy as the material found in Paolo Bacigalupi's THE DROWNED CITIES but it is present. What I truly appreciated is that Dixon was able to depict violence and yet manage to give it the appropriate level of consideration. One of my greatest complaints about THE HUNGER GAMES is how very shallow its representation of death is. PHOENIX ISLAND sidesteps this and manages to tell an impactful story of bullying, institutional violence, and child soldiers. Still, some of the deaths lack the appropriate impact because the characters aren't as three dimensional as they could be.
Those without a stomach for martial fiction may want to think twice before dipping a toe into the waters of PHOENIX ISLAND. The novel doesn't celebrate (or condemn) the military, but a good portion of the novel revolves around training for combat. The purpose of the island is to create an army of super soldiers. I personally enjoy this but I think it's worth making aware to potential readers.
I was most impressed with how the novel ends. I tore through the book in two days and the conclusion of the novel left me feeling fulfilled despite the fact that it opens the door for a sequel or series of sequels. There are still mysteries to reveal and themes to explore. PHOENIX ISLAND is an impressive debut novel. It's up there with VARIANT by Robison Wells and THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray as some of the best YA fiction to come out in recent years. Judging by the trailers I have seen for CBS's Intelligence, I'm not sure how much the two properties will have in common but I am excited to find out. Congratulations to Dixon for such a stunning accomplishment and best of luck to the studio behind the show.
Recommended Age: 14+
Language: No foul language that I picked up on.
Violence: Definitely - mostly fist fighting.
Sex: Nope.
Nick Sharps
Elitist Book Reviews
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