Bookfever: Review: PODs by Michelle Pickett

Title: PODs
Author: Michelle Pickett
Publication: June 4th 2013 by Spencer Hill Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Dystopian
Format: Arc, 313 pages
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3/5

Copy received from publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.

First of all a thank you to the people are Spencer Hill Press for sending an arc of PODs to me. I honestly had forgotten all about requesting it so it came as quite a great surprise when I received it in the mailbox.

At first I wasn't too hopeful about this book because I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The main reason for this was only the fact that after reading so many dystopian books now, they all seem to blend in together. But luckily for me, I found PODs to be quite original and not like other dystopian books.

PODs starts out a little before people actually know about the big, bad virus. That's one reason why it's so different from other post-apocalyptic books. The other reason is the time distribution. This book takes place of a course of, well, I really don't know how long but it's got to be probably over a year or two. Because when the people are in the pods that's at least fifteen months. Anyway, when they're in the pods we read about what they go through over those fifteen months but that's only a part of this story, there's so much more after that.

The part when they're all in the pods has got to be my favorites. I loved the way they all slowly grew toward each other and how they became a real family.
PODs is written in Eva's point of view and I actually liked her. It's hard for me sometimes to like a female in young adult fiction because we all know how irritating they can be. Eva wasn't the most perfect character I've ever read about but I at least liked her. She was spunky and really strong, considering everthing she had to go through. And she didn't let herself be put aside because she's "womanfolk". Go, girl!
I also liked the other people in the pods, well most of them anyway.

However, I wasn't a big fan of David, who's Eva's boyfriend. I just didn't feel him. And also the romance was a little meh for me. I liked to see more between them than always making out, almost getting hot and heavy and then getting bothered by someone. Also outside of the pods was this an issue. It was really irritating me at one point.
There were some flaws in this book for me like the romance and also that I would like to hear more information in the beginning about the virus because I couldn't get how quickly the gorvernment got things going about the whole pods selection thing. And also I missed the characters from the pods once they were all seperated. I was so sad at that! And even at the end we don't know what all happened to them. I even want to know what happened to that jerk Josh. And I want to know if Eva's parents did die or not. At least Tiffany and her baby were there. I can't wait to read the sequel!

But still even with the flaws, I really liked this book. I read it in les than two days and that's always a good thing with me. I loved reading about Eva and I really liked the writing style. It was really easy to read and I'm really hoping there will be a sequel. I want to read again about all the characters!
Also it's really scary how this actually could happen. A virus that wipes out the entire human race.

Overall, PODs was a fast-paced, easily read, exciting dystopian/science-fiction-ish book that I know a lot of people are going to like. Like a lot of books it has some flaws but the action and great characters definitely make up for it. I would recommend it to dystopian book fans all around.

"The sequel to PODs, "The Infected, a PODs novel," will release through Spencer Hill Press in November 2014 in paperback and e-book format."

Michelle has been an avid reader since a young child. She began writing for personal enjoyment in college, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in accounting. Deciding sitting in a cubical all day was cruel and unusual punishment, she decided to do what she really wanted to--share her passion for reading and writing with others. She wrote her debut Young Adult novel, PODs, in 2011. Michelle was born and raised in Michigan. She now resides in a small community outside Houston, Texas with her husband, four children, a 125-pound lap dog, and a very grumpy cockatiel. Michelle writes adult and Young Adult Sci-Fi romance.