Survival

Name: Survival
Rating: 3 (4 reviews)
ISBN: 9780648228226

By Rachel Watts

Publisher Description

The world has suffered economic collapse and multiple environmental crises. In a flooded city, Ava Murasaki is searching for her activist sister Sophia. Meanwhile, Valerie Newlin lives in the secure complex of the Scylla Corporation, the world's only remaining multinational. There, she finds evidence of something horrifying in the Corporation medical research data. Set in a searingly real near-future, Survival is a story of what people will face for those they love.

Finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2018.

Survival is accompanied by four of Watts' previously published dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories.

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Survival Reviews

3.0

Monika Łowkis

Created about 7 years ago

“Ignorance is cheap. And then it costs you everything. Summary Survival takes place in a post apocalyptic future, in a world destroyed by the rising sea levels. The goverment has fallen and now Scylla Corporations is in control. Ava is looking for her sister who disappeared a year ago. Valerie finds proof of horrifying things done by Scylla and she escapes with the evidence. An unlikely frienship is formed. Is it possible for two girls to stand a chance against an omnipresent corporation? Writing The writing style is pretty simple, but effective. I had no problems with visualising what I was reading. Characters I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't like or dislike them. I didn't really care what happened to them. They lacked depth and it made me feel disconnected from the story. Plot The plot is interesting and action packed. There were a few moments where I was rolling my eyes, because after all they were fighting against a powerful, oppresive corporation and it didn't really feel like it. But I was having a lot of fun. And the unique setting - a city half-submerged under water - added a lot to the story. Overall This is a really fun, quick read. It's definitely not a book that will stay with you for a long while, but it's fun nonetheless. My biggest complain is that we don't really know why the world looks this way. It was never explained. The setting is so interesting that I feel like the book suffered a lot because of the lack of information. I recieved a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review”

Ingrid | Chapters & Scenes

Created over 7 years ago

“Cover: I really love this cover! It is as if something exploded and yeah it really suits the story. Want to know why? Read the book!!! Synopsis: Ignorance is cheap. And then it costs you everything. The world has suffered economic collapse and multiple environmental crises. In a flooded city, Ava Murasaki is searching for her activist sister Sophia. Meanwhile, Valerie Newlin lives in the secure complex of the Scylla Corporation, the world's only remaining multinational. There, she finds evidence of something horrifying in the Corporation medical research data. Set in a searingly real near-future, Survival is a story of what people will face for those they love. A devastating vision of a post-climate change world in which governments have collapsed and corporations rule with an iron fist. Writing: The writing was very simplistic. It didn't really have difficult words. I had no problem with imagining how it would look like if I were a character myself in the book. Characters: I couldn't connect to the characters at all... They were ok. I didn't really care what happened to them or would happen to them. Plot: I thought that the plot was interesting. I was annoyed at some times, because they did some stupid things, but that is quite normal xD. Overall I had fun reading this book and I really loved the setting of it! It really adds to the story it tells! So in short: Survival is a quick read. It isn't the best book in the world and it won't stay with you for a long long time, but it was still a fun book to read. I did however think that the book could give us a lot more information”

Jenni.13

Created over 7 years ago

brittany saferight

Created over 7 years ago

“Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest opinion. "Surviving doesn't mean becoming monsters." Rachel Watts has a knack for dystopian writing. I am not generally a fan of these kind of books because I have a harder time connecting to the characters and situations, but Watt's writing is done so well that I found myself not only intrigued by the story, but also enjoying it. Her short stories at the end are just as appealing. This is a very fast paced novella that takes you to a very frightening futuristic setting. I like that the story focused around two girls instead of merely one, and that their stories came together to connect them and their fight against the Corporation. Survival is truly the perfect name for this book (and I'm kind of in love with the cover, so there's that). An issue that I always find I have with novellas is the lack of time. Novellas by definition are much shorter than novels, and therefore I never feel like the author has quite enough time to introduce readers to what is going on, and there seems to be even less time to create reasonable character development. Most often in novellas the characters have just seemingly changed between two pages, one moment being something and the next being something entirely different. The character issues here weren't too hard to look past because there was so much going on that it probably wouldn't have even made sense to slow down and analyze the changes in the characters like Valeria or Ava. The changes just happen and you do notice them but it's kind of a passing thought with everything else going on in the book. However, I do wish there would have been more of an introduction into what exactly was going on. Of course the author has to keep an air of mystery in the beginning because readers can't yet know exactly what is happening in the Corporation, but a little more background in the beginning about how the city came to be what it was would've been a good addition. That's really my only issue with this story. With all of this being said though, I really liked the book. I hope that the author intends for this to become a series, because I think that keeping the story going could help with the two issues I just mentioned about character development and background information. Another book (or two) will really help the reader build the world in their mind. I also think that this book creates an atmosphere that readers will want to remain in until the heroes of the story prevail.”

About Rachel Watts

Rachel Watts is an award-winning journalist and a writer of literary and speculative fiction. She holds a Master's Degree in Media and Communication and teaches creative writing to adults and teenagers. Her short stories and non-fiction have been published by Westerly, Island, Kill Your Darlings, Tincture and more. Rachel Watts lives in Perth, Western Australia.