Gravity by Melissa West: Review

 

Goodreads Summary: In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

 

“No one talks about it. No one talks about them at all.”

How do you choose between what you’ve been training for your entire life, and what you know is right? That’s what Ari must figure out in Gravity by Melissa West.

After World War IV, Earth has been decimated by nuclear warfare. In order to survive, humans must make a treaty with aliens, called Ancients, where the Ancients, who have a connection with trees, regrow the earth, in exchange for humans letting them “Take” their antibodies each night. In time, the two species will coexist on earth. Except the humans don’t want to coexist.

In this world, government roles are hereditary. Ari Alexander is going to be the next commander. She’s been training her entire life, and upon her father’s death, she will take his role, as well as marrying her best friend Lawrence Cartier, the future president. Everything has been set out for her.

Enter Jackson, the arrogant popular boy from school, revealed to be the Ancient who takes from Ari each night. He shows Ari that humans don’t have a chance if they try to attack Ancients. And so Ari must help him by betraying battle secrets, betraying her family, or watch as humans are destroyed.

Gravity is largely romance driven; it felt more like a paranormal romance to me than an action dystopian novel. The storyline of falling for a bad boy is long overdone, and this story isn’t particularly original. However, I found myself falling for Jackson anyways, for his commanding outside and kind inside.

There is a bit of a love triangle forming, and I thought it was unnecessary. It’s not really a love triangle though, since there are five people involved (yikes!). Love pentagon?

There’s lots of world building and information on the Ancients. Some of it doesn’t all add up, which I think is intentional since the info comes from different sides, enemy sides, and the ending of Gravity leads me to believe that the sequel will disclose lots more information. I wish that there had been more revealed about just how the world progressed to this dismal state, but since this is a trilogy, I trust it will be disclosed later.

There are some pretty horrific things happening in this book, particularly from the humans to the Ancients. It will really make you think about what it is to be human, and if all people deserve the same treatment.

What really annoyed me about this book, however, was Ari’s voice. It’s told in first person narration from her point of view, and personally, her voice came across as whiny. There was also a lot of telling instead of showing, and some of the dialogue sounded like a middle school girl’s diary.

My favorite part was definitely the ending. I thought it was unique, and not what I expected. I also certainly saw character development in Ari, and she was slightly less whiny by the end. The book picked up immensely at the end.

Overall, I enjoyed Gravity. It was not one of my favorite books, nor was it particularly original or deep. However it was a fun read, and I sped through it in a day. I do think I’ll continue with the trilogy to find out what befalls Ari and Jackson next.

3.5 out of 5 blue galaxy stars

 

You can read my review on Goodreads here.

Check out Gravity on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

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