Michael ( Ed. ) Franz

The characters and their relationships felt underdeveloped.

Several times there were big reveals that should have had an emotional impact on the characters right before a chapter break and the next chapter would pick up like nothing had happened. Why have the reveal if you don't want to do anything with it or even have the characters react to it? I think this might have contributed to the characters feeling flat, since they didn't get to have strong, defining reactions to anything.

Despite the stakes being literally life and death for everyone, they felt low. The tension was not there when the characters were killing guards, sneaking in and out of the Wastelands, seeing things they shouldn't see, etc. all the time without much show of how this might put them in danger or otherwise have negative consequences.

I thought the premise was a fun idea and the dystopian world could have been interesting with a little more development, but the plot and the characters really needed more work.… (altro)

Skid Kids is the exciting story of young mutants who must battle it out in a cut-throat roller-derby-style competition for the pleasure and entertainment of the humans and a chance at freedom.

“Skid Kids” is an exciting young adult story of the dystopian world of the mutants’ Wastelands and Westport, where the remainder of humanity is gathered. The walled city of Westport, or ‘The Station’ as the mutants call it, is governed by the powerful ‘National Freedom Party,’ their leaders entrenched in maintaining the status quo and apt to do anything to keep it so. But not all humans believe that mutants are less than animals, dangerous, and require extermination; they remember they used to be humans, too. The mutants were created when they were caught in “The Cleanse,” the Station’s attempt to purify the contaminated air trapped inside the city of Westport. As the latest season of the Skid Track League approaches, the citizens of Westport sympathetic to the plight of the mutants are finally prepared to act on their beliefs. To the young mutants, the start of the Skid Track League represents hope, and it’s their only hope. The Skid Track team of mutants that comes in first at the end of the season is awarded their freedom.

Author Michael Franz has created a vivid world of opposites in the Wastelands and mutants and Westport and its people. His descriptions of the circumstances of the mutant population are almost tangible and desperate. The opulence and insulation of Westport, the city of the hope of the mutant rollers, is not what it seems. The cracks in the myth of freedom are slowly revealed as Zander and his young sister, Kensy, get drawn into the political machinations going on in Westport.

And speaking of Zander and Kensy, the brother and sister duo are the main characters of the story and are surrounded by a variety of interesting and sympathetic supporting friends. You can’t help but root for the mutants (on most all of the competing teams). They are that likable and relatable. Yes, there’s a bad apple or two (both mutant and human), but what would the plot be without them? It took a little longer for me to get on board with the Westport folks, but eventually, I did as the two stories entwined.

Although "Skid Kids" features mostly young adult characters (mutants don’t live long), I think readers of all ages will enjoy it. I found it an absorbing story and whipped through the over 400-page-long tale, feeling quite annoyed when I had to put it down to return to necessary tasks like sleep.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.… (altro)