The Acceptance

The GEOs, Book 1

By: Ramona Finn

Narrated by: Alexandra Hunter

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Hidden underground, survival is all she knows. 

Humanity is on the brink of extinction. After being decimated by a deadly virus, Earth’s population was saved only by the genius of Farrow Corp. Now, the scientists in Farrow’s Labs work tirelessly to search for a cure to the genetic plague that has left everyone hiding below ground, suffering in fear. 

Underground survival is dark and dank, an existence Tylia will do anything to escape in order to save her mother from the ravages of illness. There is one answer: the Acceptance Trials. If she survives, her immunity guarantees her and her family a home in the Labs, and a renewed life for her mother. 

But the world above is vastly different from what she’s been led to believe. When Tylia is rescued from the jaws of death during the trials by a handsome stranger and discovers that Farrow Corp’s security forces are hunting her, everything she once believed about humanity’s chances for survival are flipped on their head. 

Turns out, surviving the virus may be the least of Tylia’s concerns....

©2020 Relay Publishing (P)2020 Relay Publishing

Very hunger games/ divergent. Unique elements too.

This is the fourth book I have read/listened to by this author and I really would like to listen to the next, but I’m in part hoping it will fill in many holes. There are some unexplained, or contradictory, or confusing things. Like why is the virus viable after so long and only in pockets that seem to be random like there is virus on one side of a wall and no virus on the other. Animals or no animals? If so many died above ground how did one survive by hiding. The story follows hunger Games and Divergent so much I found it a bit awkward. There is a unique take however as the author melded the two story ideas into hers. ——-

This is the first book I have listened to by this narrator ( Alexandra Hunter ) and I would listen to another. She has done a decent job with the male and female characters. She gives personalities to the characters that seems to match the story. She has a comfortable pacing and natural cadence to her narration. —-

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence, I don’t recall swearing. ——-

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Great start to a YA dystopian series

There's pieces reminiscent to the Wool series by Hugh Howey and The 100, and I even sensed a dash of The Red Rising, though this book is geared towards a teen/pre-teen audience. This book is safe for your younger audience. There's nothing to give them nightmares or make you, as a parent, cringe.
This book is about a society living beneath the ground in fully functioning pods, complete with ventilation, hydroponics, and living areas. They're survivors of a global pandemic that's wiped out (just about) everyone else.
This story kept a great pace and kept me interested. I enjoyed the characters and their worlds. I can't wait to read book 2 and see what happens next!
Very solid narration, which is super refreshing.
I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Awesome new dystopian novel

Well written, narration was great. Did not seem like a copycat from other dystopian novels. Definitely recommend.

Unexpected Find-Love It

This book was one that I wanted to keep listening to every chance I got. It is a hunger games type theme but not quite the same. The narrator was good and the story not overly predictable. Looking forward to the next books.

This one will suck you in from the beginning!

Loved this book series! Great writing by the author! The narration was not perfect. Her inflection was on all the wrong words, as if she hadn't read the material and practiced before she recorded it, but it gets a little better with each book. By the third book, you hardly notice it. I can't wait to listen to the other books by this author!

Great Story - better than Hunger Games

Many other reviewers compared this to Hunger Games and I thought the same as I started listening. I really liked Hunger Games so a similar story was ok in my book.

I was happy to see that it was more than Hunger Games. I am liking this story even more. There are some questions around how the virus is transmitted - if you can catch it by being on the surface, once you catch it - are you now a carrier and spreading it? Maybe that will be explained later.

In the meantime, I am excited to start the next novel in the series and will be finishing the series!!

Highly recommend the book and will read more of Ramona Finn's books - this was my first and really enjoyed it!

Fantastic YA Dystopian Novel

Yes, there are similarities to Hunger Games and Divergent, but there are way more differences than similarities. This first book definitely left me wanting to hear more. It’s like her journey is only just getting started and I can’t wait to find out where it goes from here. Right now I’m suspicious of everyone and everything that comes into contact with Tylia. I need to know more. I need to find out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. And, if the virus is real, how do they resolve that part of the equation. I’m definitely going to listen to the next book in the series. Although the ending to book one wrapped up nicely, I just need to know more! The narrator of this book is awesome. She really puts the mood in the book. She remains serious and even suspicious sounding always. She keeps you in the mood of the book almost the way theatrical music does during a movie. She does an amazing job with this book! I received this book for free at my request from Audiobook Boom in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting premise with a weak foundation

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review. The premise of the book is interesting, but it quickly begins to shake itself apart as the foundation of the story begins to collapse and it tries to prop itself up with several cliche tropes as it limps toward the finish line. The main character goes from being a strong protagonist to a weak teenager and flips between the two as needed for the story. The why of the acceptance ceremony is never explained and never makes any sense at all, and the science of the deadly virus, science we've all become familiar with over the last year unfortunately, also doesn't make any sense.

There's a concept that, while a touch cliche, is intriguing. It was just unfortunately bogged down by trying to conform to popular tropes of the genre instead of standing out as something more original. Hopefully future books in the series break away from the tropes that tend to drown many books in the YA genre and stand on its own. I would warn readers that later chapters of the book do heavily skirt the line of the 'noble savage' trope, to the point where it's almost nearly offensive, and the accent the reader chose to take for those characters does not help.

Not the best

I have listened to The Culling by Ramona Finn which I thoroughly enjoyed but The Acceptance falls short. The over inflated descriptions become annoying and the narrator is not the best. The story is good but delivered in a very hap hazard way, if I did not know it was Ramona Finn writing I would say it was a totally different author. Going to try to get a refund, I will not be buying the rest of the series.