By Kenneth Oppel
5 Stars
Bloom by Kenneth Oppel is part of the Overthrow trilogy. It follows the stories of Anaya, Petra, and Seth through a third-person perspective. It all began with worldwide rain. Soon after, an invasive species of plants started growing - which would eventually be known as black grass. But something just wasn't right. It wasn't similar to any other plants anyone had seen. It grew at an unexplainable rate. And the black grass was everywhere. No one could figure it out. Each hour brought something new as the black grass evolved into multiple new plant species, or 'types.' In just a few days, the plants were able to wrap around buildings, crowd out food crops, and spread toxic pollen everywhere. With the help of various species, the black grass swiftly wiped out thousands of humans worldwide. The black grass wasn't just abnormal - it was deadly. Anaya, Petra, and Seth seemed to be the only ones immune. That wasn't the only thing - they discovered a shared attribute that may be vital in the fight against these plants. But why them? As the world fell apart, these three teens had no choice but to draw closer together if they were to have hope in stopping the invasion.
This is such a cleverly written, gripping novel. Oppel shows all perspectives of the story by inclu
ding the point of view of all three characters. I am not necessarily into sci-fi novels, but this book and trilogy has definitely changed my mind. Bloom is fast-paced and extremely interesting, leading me to finish this book in merely three days. My only dislike has to do with the sci-fi aspect. Because of the genre of this book, the author had to be very creative by creating an imaginative storyline. When this is put in combination with the fast pace of the novel, there were some parts in the book that were a bit hard to understand. Overall, this book is extremely interesting, and I would absolutely recommend it.
Reviewed by Sarah
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