Shaykitteh's World of Books

What is is with trains & dystopian novels?

My first thought when I started reading this novel was "Divergent did it better" when I read about teenagers jumping onto trains to ride the rails. But there are differences... in the Divergent universe, the Dauntless not only ride trains to prove their bravery, but also to get around the city. In The Tube Riders, they just seem to jump onto the trains and then jump off of them at the end of the station. It seemed pretty pointless to me. Reading further, I was able to see that the whole point of being a Tube Rider was more about being a family. Yes, it's a neat trick and you could get hurt, but that's not the point of this book. The point is how people from different walks of life come together to become a close-knit group.

Though this book was slow to get into, the elaborate plot slowly emerges. Jess, the girlfriend of a Tube Rider Simon, decides to come Tube Riding with them one day. This day, they end up having to ride past their station due to a rival gang being tipped off to their location. They escape, riding the sides of the train, and get off at the next abandoned station. There, they see a man being murdered, and Jess recorded the entire event on her illegal camera. Unfortunately, the man who was murdered was important, so the Tube Riders are now on the run from a rival gang as well as the government.

The first half of the book dragged, which is why I'm only giving 4 stars, but the second half picked up quickly and you're able to see how the plots wind around each other. Who is the mysterious Governor and why is he trying to build space ships? How is he connected to the ruler of the rival train gang? Will the Tube Riders be able to escape, and will Marta be able to find out what happened to her brother?

The kindle edition of this book can be picked up for free at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007LVFSP8/?tag=shasworofboo-20