Customer Reviews

Prism

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kaida Hutchenson doesn't like the dark, bats, rabies, or caves. She's also not thrilled at the prospect of spending 14 hours in a van traveling to a class trip with two students with whom she has nothing in common. To Kaida, overachiever Zeke Anderson is "proof positive that a person can be too perfect." She finds 14-year-old, cigarette-smoking loner Joy Tallon "pretty, but faded pretty, like her edges had been rubbed away."

The only bright spot in the trip is Mr. Addison, one of Kaida's favorite teachers, who is driving the van. As the hours stretch on, Kaida and the others fall asleep to pass the time. When they are jolted awake by a crash, the students scramble for safety. Terrified and surrounded by darkness and smoke, they flee the fire-engulfed van, not knowing if Mr. Addison has survived.

Alone in the desert, with their cell phones burned up, the trio tries to come up with a rescue plan. While they consider their options, the desert winds turn fierce, and a torrential downpour forces them to seek shelter in a cave. As the rain cascades down harder and harder, they back up farther into darkness. When a light appears in the distance, they race towards it, believing they have found an exit. The light becomes blinding, and a deafening buzzing starts before they are plunged into an abyss.

Kaida awakes in her bedroom, sore and disoriented. Her room seems the same, but her medicine is missing from the bathroom cabinet. Somehow, time has gone backwards. Her field trip is weeks away, yet memories about it, the fiery crash and the cave begin to surface. Confused and wanting answers, Kaida seeks out Zeke and Joy, who share memories of the trip and the accident. Somehow, the three students have stumbled into a parallel universe and must figure out a way to get back to the reality they knew before their trip.

New York Times bestselling mystery author Faye Kellerman has teamed up with her daughter, Aliza, to co-write a creative novel that stretches the imagination. In PRISM, three teenagers are trapped in a nightmarish alternate world, where medicine and health care do not exist and sick people are left to die. This is an interesting and thought-provoking book that should appeal to teens who like to ponder "What if?"

--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt

I am not normally a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, but I do like (most) of Faye Kellerman's books and I do enjoy a good YA so I thought I would give Prism a try.

I really liked the premise of this book. We find three lost souls (aka as Zeke, Joy and Kaida are all going on a school trip, but as luck (or fate) would have it, they will be stuck together on this field trip - and end up in a cave.

That is all Kaida remembers when she wakes up in her own bed - yet, the world around her has completely changed and she can't quite get a grip on what is happening. Western medicine is now taboo and even mentioning 9-1-1 gets her in deep trouble, Kaida hooks up with Joy and Zeke and they realize that they are in a world that has completely changed in an instant - a world where only "natural" medicine is acceptable and that death is all around them. They must find a way back to their own world - but how?

The authors do a nice job of fleshing out the main characters and we get an idea, early on, of each of their strengths and weaknesses.

However, its the basic storyline that actually delivered quite a lot of suspense, especially since this is somewhat of a hot topic - "natural vs western medicines" and the growing interest in a more natural, simpler way of life. This subject is of personal interest to me actually and I thought it interesting that this type of issue would be addressed in a YA novel.

What removed from the enjoyment for me a little bit (and that is where the 3 stars come in) is that I find the set up was not really all that well done. I am not clear as to why western medicines could not be incorporated into the storyline as a secondary means of treating the illness. There is such a hatred directed towards this philosophy, but yet the authors did not do a great job, in my opinion, of explaining or even convincing me of their arguments against the whole western medicine thing - especially as people are dying.

It felt to me as though there was a piece of storyline or informatin missing and I felt it as a thread throughout most of the book.

This is an imaginative and captivating story, written for a young audience, but much enjoyed by my (older) self, as well. An amazingly mature first venture for Kellerman daughter, Aliza - obviously with a little help from the family. At times funny, scary, and inspirational, the novel has messages for us all!

Prism is a collaboration between NYT Bestselling author, Faye Kellerman and her teen daughter, Aliza Kellerman. As a debut novel for the latter, I'd have to say that Prism is not half bad, but there are a few qualms I have with this book. First, I often found Zeke to be a rather superfluous character. As one of the three MCs, I would expect him to have a bit of a storyline of his own, but he didn't really do all that much, all things considered. I also feel like I never really got to know the characters and their driving force. Kaida could be an extremely interesting and riveting character, but I wanted to know why she reacted the way she did to certain situations.

There was also a pattern of things being a wee bit unbelievable at times. Prism is in an alternate world where medicine is illegal, so you'd expect for other things to be a bit different, as well. In fact, I'd expect society to be a bit more backward, but it really wasn't. I guess I was expecting a bit more of a thriller...perhaps something along the lines of The Butterfly Effect? It didn't really measure up to that though. It's a bit like mystery/thriller-light. That said, there are some things I liked about this book. It's a fairly original twist on a supernatural story, the writing is fluid, and it's not a difficult read. (Besides, who can resist that cover?! I couldn't.)

Either way, it's an easy read once you get past the unbelievability of it and just enjoy the writing. Prism definitely isn't bad, and it's a good first stab at a debut for Aliza Kellerman. I'd recommend this as a borrow-only, and I give it a 3 out of 5. It's G-rated enough to read to your kids, and it's a fast enough read for a night or two by yourself.

On the road for a school excursion to the Carlsbad Caverns, one teacher and three teens in their van crash. The teens manage to escape, and seek shelter in a small cave when it begins to rain. But inside, they fall into nothingness...but awaken in their beds as if the whole thing never happened. In fact, their school trip is still a week away. But the world isn't the same now: there's no medical care. If someone gets sick or badly injured, it's pretty much a death sentence. Kaida Hutchenson doesn't want her new friend Joy to die, and so she must track down some forbidden research whilst also pay a spill dealer for something that could save Joy's life. But now all of their lives are at risk of being murdered.

If you've never read a parallel universe novel before, here's a great place to start. The characters may be cardboard cut-outs, but the social conscience is a winner, and this could be an ideal wake-up call for teens to stand up and start caring for their own health, and the well-being of others. Though a bit dragging in parts, it's a killer premise.

This was a very interesting and well written book for young adult readers. It has a unique perspective and builds on a time traveling theme.

I only read three chapters of this book before I returned it to the store, so I won't comment on the plot. The plot actually sounded really good which is why I bought the book in the first place. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the story because I was so distracted by the horrible writing. It was painfully stilted and frequently redundant. If you're looking for a good supernatural thriller, look elsewhere.

Why I read this: This was a CYBIL nominee title and was available on Audible - and it was the shortest audiobook I found on there, so I naturally started with this one.

Plot: Wow, I was NOT expecting the plot that came out of this novel. Full of excitement, this book was sort of dystopian, only set in a different world as well. There's a mystery or phenomenon in this story that just blew me away. I don't quite know why, but I really loved the way this book went.

Characters: Kaida was annoying at first but she grew on me. The love interest she meets in the other world was also really interesting and a great male character. A guy you fall in love with when first meeting him.

Relatability: If you've ever been on a field trip, you can relate to at least part of this book, not sure about the rest. :)


Cover Commentary: Kind of boring to be honest.

seems this family just can't stop writing, even if Faye did have a hand with her daughter in this one - enjoyed this book as did my 8 yr old granddaughter, look forward to see what Aliza churns out in the future!

Faye Kellerman is one of my favorite authors and I have never been disappointed until Prism. Unfortunately I did not read the reviews or even the synopsis for the book before purchasing, as it had Kellerman's name on it.
I was driving from San Francisco to LA and bought Prism as an audio book so I could enjoy the drive. BIG mistake! I found the book to be boring, irritating and not worth wasting the time to listen to or read. If I had anything else to listen to, I would have never have finished the first disc.

I am a voracious reader, and read all authors, styles, and genres. There are very few that I discard before finishing,even the slow ones, but this one I could not tolerate. No longer will I automatically purchase a Faye Kellerman book without checking it out first.

If you are looking for tried and true Faye Kellerman, don't waste your time or money with Prism.