“Being Born with A Rusty Spoon in Your Mouth” can’t help but be compared to “The Hunger Games”. The parallels between the stories are many, right down to the spelling of the main villain’s location – The Capitol. Reservations arose about reading the novella after the first chapter in case I was reading a poor cousin to Suzanne Collins’ best seller, but persistence is key. There are small differences in the story, enough to make it worth the short read. Giant gaps in the plot required the reader to make assumptions about what happened a few times and unrealistic events gave a good laugh every so often. Overall, it has holes in the plot and it’s over melodramatic. The illustrations, however, are brilliant and go some way to balancing the poor editing. If you’re a young teen yearning for adventure, love and see yourself as a heroine in a grand adventure, this is a novella for you. ( )

After the end of civilization was we know it, Marx's class struggle becomes real. A gifted Helper girl is drafted to work for the Rich enclave, where a wimpy boy infatuated with someone who looked like her helps her infiltrate the enclave during a gory battle. It's fast-moving, easy-reading, with lots of action and adult content (killing), and the pictures are good. It deeply disappoints me that, when so many people seem dissatisfied, nobody even thinks of negotiating improvement--everyone's mind just goes straight to killing. Humankind has regressed a long way in this novelette.

When prodded about this Early Reviewers book I'd forgotten it. Was it the one that was supposed to have been mailed? No--checking back, I find that I received it last winter, e-mailed the writer that I was discouraged by the "default to violence" element, and asked if changes could be made. Apparently not. I think the story's well told, and I'd like to give it more stars...but I haaaated it. Even a note to the effect that this kind of thing might happen if people kept taking Marx's ideas seriously might have redeemed the book, to some extent. There was none. And I think war is never a good idea. ( )

This is a short Cli-Fi novella that focuses on two young kids and a typical rich versus exploited poor scenario.

Due to the length, a lot of explanation is glossed over or skipped. The reasons for the climate situation, how the separation of rich and poor happened, what the war is about are never addressed.

The drawings are nicely done. If there were more, it could be a good graphic novel.

This is available as a Kindle Vella series. That makes sense. It has short, staccato chapters with lots of action. Perfect for a few minutes read each day.

Content: murder, bloody death scene,

Reprentation: all characters appear to be white, slender, cis. All families are hetero. ( )

I can't say I enjoyed this book. While it has potential, it read as a very unpolished first draft. While there weren't a huge number of mistakes, it felt unfinished. How did the gists develop? Why? How is there so much difference in air pollution over so small a space? The world is also just confusing in general. The author tried to do far too much in too few pages and it didn't really work.

I did like the art though! I'd love to know if the author did it or if they got someone else to do it. If it's the latter they definitely deserve credit! For something like this I would definitely recommend mentioning who illustrated it as it was the best part of the book in my opinion. ( )

This could be an interesting story but lacks a lot of detail. It felt more like a summary and not a complete story. The idea is there, but it just needs a whole lot more. Definitely needs some major fleshing out of the characters, I feel like I don't really know who they are. ( )