PODs by Michelle K. PickettPublished by: Spencer Hill Press on June 4, 2013
Genre: Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic, Zombies
Pages: 288
Source: ARC From Publisher
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★½
Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul.
After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.
Before anything else, I have a warning for you about PODs. The synopsis you see on Goodreads/Amazon describes like 95% of the ENTIRE book (instead of maybe the 25-45% you usually get). It literally leaves nothing to be explored or discovered when actually reading the book. It kills any kind of surprise by telling you exactly where the plot is going every step of the way. If you want a chance to enjoy the book a bit more, do yourself a favour and do not read the synopsis. I actually chopped off the last paragraph of it in the quote above, in an attempt to at least hide the last quarter of the book from you…
Now onto the book…
I think PODs had a great idea, but it failed in execution. We’re left with a rushed story, a repetitive plot, almost zero world building, an insta-love-type romance and a main character who gets increasingly more aggravating.
I didn’t connect with the romance at all, which was a huge problem for me since the romance is definitely the focus of the book. Since the first 132 pages span over fifteen months everything happens way too quickly and the development is really shallow. Eva and David go from being strangers to being “in love”, but we don’t see any of that development. It literally feels like one minute they’ve never spoken, and 5 pages later they’ve been dating for 5 months. So then when Eva started saying things like this, I just lost it:
We talked. That’s all we did was talk. We know each other, David. Probably better than some married couples.
Page 178
They apparently know each other so well, but as a reader, I felt like I didn’t know either of them! And I never saw them talk. I didn’t see them exchange a lot of sweet, intimate moments, that could built into love. That didn’t exist at all. They had like 2 pre-dating moments, but then all of a sudden, they’re in love! Overall I just feel like all the relationships suffered because of how much time is crammed into such a short space.
A huge part of the middle of PODs is dominated with this romance, and the whole time I just kept thinking, When will the zombies come out? And for me—someone who usually isn’t that into zombie books—that’s saying something.
And speaking of zombies, another thing that annoyed me was the lack of world building after they got out of the PODs. Just imagine… a virus takes over the world, select people go into PODs, then they come out over a year later.. what’s your first question? Well, mine is, “What is the world like now?” But as soon as they left the PODs, we got NOTHING. Is the whole country a ghost town? Are the buildings abandoned? In ruins? Do you see people anywhere? Literally NONE of those questions were answered. And then they group up into communities, but again we get very little information. How is the government running things? What are some of the rules and the regulations? What is every day life like? We got nada. It was all about finding David, being with David, blah blah. From day one it’s practically “Resume life as usual.” Eva gets a house, goes to work, goes grocery shopping, people are getting engaged and having babies.. It’s like there was no virus at all (and no explanation).
The rest of the book consists of loads of Eva and David making out and almost having sex, but not. And when they’re not making out, they’re fighting about sexism. Eva constantly complains that the guys are being sexist. Anytime David says something like, “Wait here, I’ll go check it out,” Eva replies with something like, “Yeah because I’m a helpless female who can’t be put in any danger *eyeroll*”. And honestly, I thought both of them were unbearably annoying. They spend the whole book arguing about whether or not Eva can fight the zombies. David doesn’t want her to because she might get hurt, but she wants to because she wants to protect herself and be useful. I get her point, but god, the CONSTANT arguing over the same thing drove me nuts!
Overall, I think PODs could have been a great book, because it has kind of a cool idea. I like that the government had the PODs system in place—I think it’s pretty interesting. But the lack of character development, the bad romance, and the rushed story line just kind of killed it.. By the last quarter of the book I was so tempted to DNF it and just move on. I was completely bored, sick of the romance and makeout sessions, and I could see the plot repeating itself (makeout session, zombie attack, makeout session, zombie attack…).
The Verdict
Yeah, I saw your review on Goodreads like two days ago. Thank goodness too because I turned down a blog tour for it because of you. Everything you said made me scared to even touch it. It really sucks too because it sounded sooo cool.
I know, this book sounded AWESOME! It could have been so great! I would have even been okay with the romance dominating it if I actually liked the romance.. but since I didn’t, that just ruined it.
I’m reading this now. It’s not capturing me that much. I’m about 70 pages in and I’m kind of bored! I hope it gets better for me. Sorry you didn’t like it
Aw man! I hope it gets better for you! *fingers crossed*
I’m avoiding this now. I saw two other negative reviews and I REALLY hate instant love and when the romance takes over the plot. So I read the synopsis and it sounded pretty good a while ago. Since you said it was practically the entire book- another reason why I’m not reading it.
Great review, Ashley! Thanks for the heads up <33
Yeah, insta-love is the worst! Literally this book is making out, making out, zombies, making out, making out, zombie attack, making out….
Ickablehgh. I’m so annoyed with this book and I haven’t even read my copy yet. First Jessi’ s review and now yours…*cough* big bloggy sista peer pressure *cough* LOL. But seriously. It looks terrible. I only have a sliver or morbid curiosity left in me. But everything I hate is detailed b’day in your review soon just gonna have to pass.
I’m sorry it was so painful for you. It sounds like a gag book!
<333 Inky
Psst. Have so much epicness at BEA!!!!!
Yeah I’m so bummed!! I loved Jessi’s review so much! It was awesome because we coincidentally read it at the same time and coincidentally had the exact same thoughts about it LOL!
I’M SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR BEA!!! *spaz*
Haha. I just realized how many freaking typos I made on my kindle. Oh well. Haha that is seriously awesome! I did skim it a little because like I said..morbid curiosity. But merp. Nothing to see there.
DUDE YOU SHOULD BE!!!!! You’re gonna have so much fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it! 😀 I’m excited for you! <333
Yikes! So I’m not going to be reading this anytime soon. I hate it when the synopsis reveals the entire plot. Ugh!
So do I!!! I got like 70% through the book and was like, “Wait a minute.. I haven’t learned anything new that the synopsis didn’t tell me.” 🙁
“We talked. That’s all we did was talk. We know each other, David. Probably better than some married couples.” OMG, I love when books spell out exactly what’s happening because the writing isn’t good enough for you to discover it yourself, don’t you?
“The zombies were terrifying”
“stella was beautiful”
All that to say, I will be giving this one a skip. Thanks for the review!
Hahah I love your comment! That’s exactly how it was. When she said that line I was like, “Wait, that’s news to me…”
Dang it. I’m reading this one right now for the blog tour and I can’t keep my focus on the story. The summary was really deceptive. I don’t know how long I can hang on, but hopefully it’ll be long enough for me to finish. I would hate to DNF this one.
I’ll cross my fingers that you can get through it!!
I don’t like when the whole story is given in the blurb and that’s why most of the time, I’ll go in blind. But I wouldn’t have liked the story either ways, the constant arguing and unanswered questions regarding the world would drive me to DNF this book. I’ll remember to skip this one when it’s out. Thanks for the review, Ashley!
Ooh no, I have been sooo eager to read Pod’s but everything you mentioned not liking would also grate on my nerves.
Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts! A fab review.
Um, why would they even reveal that the people turned instead of dying in the blurb. Like seriously, that would have been an awesome “oh shit, I didn’t see that coming” moment.
This is the second review for this that I’ve read, and the second review that has just disliked every aspect! While parts of this sounded really interesting, the awful parts sound awful enough that I don’t think I’ll be giving it a shot.