Review: Truth (The Geneva Project #1) by Christina Benjamin + Giveaway! || Twilight Sleep

Truth by Christina Benjamin
Series: The Geneva Project #1
Published by Crown Atlantic Publishing on September 15, 2012
Genres: fantasy, middle grade, post apocalyptic
Source: Provided by author
Buy it: Amazon • Add it: Goodreads

Trapped on a flood ravaged island full of orphans, natives and wealthy citizens of the prosperous city Lux, a young girl named Geneva finds herself enslaved at an orphanage with no future and a past she can’t remember. That all changes when she meets someone who promises her that there’s more in store for her than she ever could have imagined. Her once dull life rapidly spirals out of control as she starts to acquire new magical powers that may be the key to unlocking an ancient legend along with her true identity. But first she must master these powers, all while trying to keep them secret from her friends and the evil head mistress at the orphanage. Before she knows it, Geneva is in over her head and has inadvertently wrapped her friends into her web of magic and lies and now all of their lives hang in the balance once the head mistress finds out her plan to prove that the legend of Lux may not be a legend at all! Who will Geneva trust and how far will she go to save her friends and find out her true identity?

This story is so full of mystery and intrigue! Christina does a fantastic job of keeping her readers in suspense – I loved that even while some questions were getting answered, others were being created. And the ending left me wanting – but in a good way. I felt like the story was “whole” but at the same time I would I have liked to see a little more development concerning the mystery of the island. Of course, this could just be me getting ahead of the story because, you know, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS, LIKE NAO.

In TRUTH we meet the character #65 (a.k.a Jane 65, a.k.a, Tippy, later revealed to be of the true name Geneva) whose drab life at an orphanage outside the luxurious city of Lux (haha, see what I did there?) very suddenly takes a turn down Crazy Avenue and speeds its way toward What Is Going On Right Now Lane as she realizes that maybe she’s not the plain jane little girl that she, and certainly everyone else, thought she was. Geneva faces a lot of huge changes, decisions, and experiences – she begins to make new friends, faces losing an old friend, gets caught in some life-threatening situations, and even finds herself wondering if she’s falling in love. Her new life becomes a whirlwind of action and emotion and there were times when I found myself asking, “How is this tiny little girl even coping right now??” But cope, she does. Like a boss. One of my favorite scenes of the whole book is when she and Nova lay the little animal they tried to protect from one of the scary tiger-like guardians to rest. That scene was filled with so much spirit and emotion that I found myself moved nearly to tears. I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll know what I mean when you read the book. ;-)

TRUTH, book one of The Geneva Project series, was a good intro into the world of Hullabee Island, the city of Lux, and the incredibly interesting story of Geneva. I struggled a little bit with the story because I knew very little about the book when I agreed to read it and I just assumed that it was YA. I think it’s safe to say that this is not a YA book. It’s middle grade (MG). So keep that in mind if you are planning to read it – it will probably save you some confusion and create a better basis for any rating and/or review you might give it.

As it is, I’m going with 3 1/2 stars. Some of the writing was a little hard to digest because it read very child-like. I could be completely wrong, but I felt like Ms. Benjamin was really just trying too hard to make some of the characters, the MC in particular, sound their age. I hope that in the next book she will have relaxed into the story so that the dialogue flows a little better. But despite all that, still a very good read and I absolutely cannot wait for the second book!

Note: The author provided me a copy of this book for review, but her generosity in no way influenced the integrity of my review.

Giveaway

Christina Benjamin, being the amazingly gracious person/author she is, has provided a signed copy of Truth (The Geneva Project #1) for one lucky reader here at Twilight Sleep!

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Review: Truth (The Geneva Project #1) by Christina Benjamin + Giveaway!

Tagged with: 3-stars

8 Comments

Jan Farnworth
August 19, 2013 at 11:21 am

Looks like another great book. I am trying to start up my own book review blog. I saw you mention netgalley the other day so I took the plunge. My book blog is http://www.jrsbookreviews.wordpress.com. I have two books almost done to write reviews on and one is a netgalley book and the other is a library book.

Shannon
August 30, 2013 at 3:23 pm

Hey there, Jan! Congratulations on starting your own book blog – it’s a lot of hard work but it can be very rewarding as well so I really hope you enjoy! Definitely check this book out if you get a chance! I can’t wait for the second one. :]

Christine @ Oh, Chrys!
August 19, 2013 at 3:37 pm

Sounds like an interesting book, but I am not into MG at the moment. I do think a lot of times the writing sounds forced in an attempt to be representative of the audience. However, it is great that MG readers have a strong female character to read about. Tippy sounds like a badass!

Shannon
August 30, 2013 at 3:29 pm

I hadn’t read a MG in so long that it was really strange once I realized this was one. But other than the voice issues, it really was an enjoyable book. And yes, Tippy is definitely a strong female character!

Erin Albert Books
August 19, 2013 at 7:51 pm

Thanks for the info! I don’t often read MG, with the exception of early Percy Jackson! ;)

Shannon
August 30, 2013 at 3:32 pm

I think Percy Jackson might have actually been the last MG I read! I enjoy MG, I just usually read YA because there are more of them – more genres, more issues being talked about, more mature voices, etc.

Erin Albert Books
September 1, 2013 at 10:12 pm

Percy is 16 now, so I’d say he’s YA too at this point. ;)

Mario Argent
September 1, 2013 at 1:25 pm

It looks so so good, I wish read it soon.
Sorry If my english is’t so good but it isn’t my mother language.
A huge hug!