Pastworld is a theme park that is run by the Buckland Corporation. It is a complete authentic reproduction of 17th century London. Everything is authentic, the dress, the lack of electricity, even the 17th century laws. Everyone who visits Pastworld has to be authentic, right down to the luggage they carry and the toiletries they use, the entire theme park has been designed that way.
But despite the fact that Pastworld has a few electronic security measures, crime runs rampant within the park. Underground "unofficial" beg and steal from the "gawkers" or visitors to the park, and sometimes do worse than just steal however. There is a notorious criminal that is terrorizing the park. He's known only as the "Fantom" and he murders his victims before removing organs and heads to terrorize the city. But the Fantom has more in mind than just causing some discomfort to the park gawkers, he's looking for someone. A young girl who has no idea she's living in a theme park, someone who can help him carry out his evil plot...
To start off with, I liked the general theme of Pastworld. It sort of reminded me of a cross between "The Truman Show" and a Charles Dickens/Sherlock Holms mystery novel. I thought Ian Beck had a lot of good ideas going for Pastworld.
However, I just could not get into Pastworld. First off, I felt that it was overly violent for a YA audience. I get blood, that's fine, but dismembering, decapitations, and removing organs? Really? I got the idea with the murders, I felt the extra embellishments of violence were unneeded to make the point.
I also felt zero connection to the characters. I found it annoying that the character of Eve, someone who was central to the entire plot of the book was only written about in diary format. Pastworld kept skipping from third person to first person and it distracted from the plot as opposed to adding to it. I just felt that the characters were sort of glossed over in an attempt to further the plot. I didn't feel like any of them had any depth and because of that, I really stopped caring.
Overall, I found Pastworld to be pretty disappointing. It's a shame really because Ian Beck had a really great and original idea that unfortunately just didn't come to fruition for me.
But despite the fact that Pastworld has a few electronic security measures, crime runs rampant within the park. Underground "unofficial" beg and steal from the "gawkers" or visitors to the park, and sometimes do worse than just steal however. There is a notorious criminal that is terrorizing the park. He's known only as the "Fantom" and he murders his victims before removing organs and heads to terrorize the city. But the Fantom has more in mind than just causing some discomfort to the park gawkers, he's looking for someone. A young girl who has no idea she's living in a theme park, someone who can help him carry out his evil plot...
To start off with, I liked the general theme of Pastworld. It sort of reminded me of a cross between "The Truman Show" and a Charles Dickens/Sherlock Holms mystery novel. I thought Ian Beck had a lot of good ideas going for Pastworld.
However, I just could not get into Pastworld. First off, I felt that it was overly violent for a YA audience. I get blood, that's fine, but dismembering, decapitations, and removing organs? Really? I got the idea with the murders, I felt the extra embellishments of violence were unneeded to make the point.
I also felt zero connection to the characters. I found it annoying that the character of Eve, someone who was central to the entire plot of the book was only written about in diary format. Pastworld kept skipping from third person to first person and it distracted from the plot as opposed to adding to it. I just felt that the characters were sort of glossed over in an attempt to further the plot. I didn't feel like any of them had any depth and because of that, I really stopped caring.
Overall, I found Pastworld to be pretty disappointing. It's a shame really because Ian Beck had a really great and original idea that unfortunately just didn't come to fruition for me.
Reviewed by Andrea for TeensReadToo.com
Pastworld is a "theme park" set in the Victorian times of London. The visitors, called Gawkers, get submerged in that lifetime. They must follow strict rules to keep to the authenticity.
The story is about Eve, a girl who was shut away in a house in Pastworld and only let out with her guardian, who runs away to join the circus. She doesn't remember much of her childhood, but she dreams of being free. The story is also about Caleb, a visitor to Pastworld whose life is turned upside down when he's a witness to a murder. Before long, he is labeled as the murderer and his father is kidnapped right before his eyes. He is taken in by a pickpocket named Bible J. And then there's the Fantom. He is a serial killer with a gruesome calling card.
These three characters are all involved in some way - a very shocking way!
PASTWORLD was definitely...interesting. Working for Disney, I saw that this was about a "theme park" and was excited. But I wouldn't exactly call Pastworld a theme park; it's just a city set in the past.
You could definitely tell this book was written by a guy, since it was really gory. I wasn't expecting that, but it didn't turn me off from my reading. Sometimes, I didn't really care about the characters. While I wanted to care about Eve, I didn't feel like there was enough about her for me to feel sympathetic about. That being said, this was a good science fiction/mystery book. I spent a lot of the storyline trying to figure out what was going on, and I would say that about two-thirds of the way through, I finally figured it out. And it was a good twist!
I feel that the ending wrapped up too quickly, as I would have liked to have read more about what happened at the end scene with the Fantom and Eve. Still, a good read overall, though.
Pastworld is a "theme park" set in the Victorian times of London. The visitors, called Gawkers, get submerged in that lifetime. They must follow strict rules to keep to the authenticity.
The story is about Eve, a girl who was shut away in a house in Pastworld and only let out with her guardian, who runs away to join the circus. She doesn't remember much of her childhood, but she dreams of being free. The story is also about Caleb, a visitor to Pastworld whose life is turned upside down when he's a witness to a murder. Before long, he is labeled as the murderer and his father is kidnapped right before his eyes. He is taken in by a pickpocket named Bible J. And then there's the Fantom. He is a serial killer with a gruesome calling card.
These three characters are all involved in some way - a very shocking way!
PASTWORLD was definitely...interesting. Working for Disney, I saw that this was about a "theme park" and was excited. But I wouldn't exactly call Pastworld a theme park; it's just a city set in the past.
You could definitely tell this book was written by a guy, since it was really gory. I wasn't expecting that, but it didn't turn me off from my reading. Sometimes, I didn't really care about the characters. While I wanted to care about Eve, I didn't feel like there was enough about her for me to feel sympathetic about. That being said, this was a good science fiction/mystery book. I spent a lot of the storyline trying to figure out what was going on, and I would say that about two-thirds of the way through, I finally figured it out. And it was a good twist!
I feel that the ending wrapped up too quickly, as I would have liked to have read more about what happened at the end scene with the Fantom and Eve. Still, a good read overall, though.
