Gifted

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***Gifted by H.A. SwainPublisher: Feiwel & FriendsPublication Date: June 14, 2016Rating: 4 starsSource: ARC sent by the publisherSummary (from ):In Orpheus Chanson's world, geniuses and prodigies are no longer born or honed through hard work. Instead, procedures to induce Acquired Savant Abilities (ASAs) are now purchased by the privileged. And Orpheus's father holds the copyright to the ASA procedure.Zimri Robinson, a natural musical prodigy, is a [...]

Find this and other Reviews at In Tori LexActual Rating 4.5Orpheus and Zimri describe the well known tale of boy meets girl across town and discovers the humanity in us all. But the setting is a Dystopian world where Artists' are made for the wealthy through a surgery  that gives them a Acquired Savant Ability. In this world music is not owned, it is broadcast for a fee and anyone who recreates it is guilty of copyright theft. Orpheus and Zimri have natural ability's for music, when they meet b [...]

You can find this review on One Way Or An AuthorWhat if you were born into a world where it was illegal to do the thing that you love the most? That’s exactly what happens to Zimri in Gifted, a stand-alone told through alternating first person POV’s set in the near future. We follow Zimri and Orpheus’s adventure in the music industry and see them battle the blatant social stratification in their society, as well as discover who really deserves the music that is so preciously guarded by the [...]

3.5 stars

An adequate but not outstanding story that I probably won't remember anything about by tomorrow.

Actual Rating: 3.5*Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.Full review to come as part of the blog tour.Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'

A dystopian with music, romance, and two characters who were never suppose to be meet. GIFTED has a dual narrative that gives readers a clearer understanding of the different worlds both Zimri and Orpheus come from. These two characters couldn't be any more different. Yet, there's something that draws the two of them together. In world where people can be created to fit into their place in society, two teens are about to break all of their society's rules to follow their own dreams and aspiratio [...]

Actual rating: 3.5. I’ve read so many dystopian novels that I tend to be hypercritical of them. The author MUST bring something new to the genre or I’m not interested in it. Thankfully, Swain does that, but in the big ways, Gifted is just like any other dystopia I have read. In the future, the world belongs to those that HAVE (the Plutes). Those that HAVE NOT (the Plebes) live in squalor with barely enough food to eat and their entire reason for existence is to serve the Plutes. Gifted is a [...]

Imagine your parents to have to buy some type of procedure for you to be smarter than the rest of the kids. Orpheus Chanson is the main character. He has been raised in a privileged family, with lots of money. His parents buy a procedure for him which will make him a genius. When Orpheus meets Zimri, a natural music prodigy, they become friends and maybe even more. Although it is illegal for them to meet because Orpheus has gotten the procedure, and she comes from a non-wealthy family. I would c [...]

I feel like this book had a lot of interesting ideas, concepts, and characters, but I almost wonder if it should've been longer. I think more time needed to be given to those characters, the unfamiliar world, the relationships, and the ending. At the same time, this was not an action-filled book, so making it longer and keeping it engaging could be hard. It was an enjoyable and unique book with cool characters, however, and I'm glad I read it. :)

I was surprised by how much I loved this book! I stayed up almost all night reading it. It's a fun and exciting novel and demands that you finish as soon as possible.For me, the characters are the most important part of a good book. H. A. Swain nailed it. Both protagonists have so much depth to them, and their backstories are interesting and well-developed. I adore them. Zimri is a tough yet bright young girl who's always helping others. She has a deep passion for music and singing and is unafra [...]

I struggled with whether to give this book four stars or five stars. Ultimately, I believe that five stars is truer to the book's worth in my eyes. The one problem I had with the book was a few of the dragonfly passages. Some of them seemed forced/contrived and pulled me out of the story. I understand the symbolism and juxtaposition with the drones but felt that it didn't work smoothly. Otherwise, the book was wonderful. This is a dystopian novel set in the near future though Taylor Swift is men [...]

Who owns music? That's the question in H.A. Swain's Gifted. In a world where the music industry has been taken over by brain surgeries and a Simon Cowell-eque overlord of music mogul, society has been divided into the haves and the have-nots, the Plutes and the Plebes. If you're a Plute, you have everything at your disposal and you can have an ASA, Acquired Savant Abilities, surgery done to make you into music's next star. However, if you're a Plebe, you do not know that world because everything [...]

The girl has it bad. Music is inside her and Nonda always knew it would eventually find a way out.For Orpheus Chanson, genius is an everyday occurrence. In his world, the human brain has been fully mapped, and the elite are able to afford pricey Acquired Savant Abilities (ASAs), which are surgeries that rewire the brain into becoming genius in one or two areas. Even though he's a little on the fence about getting an ASA himself, his father owns the patent for the musical ASA as well as a copyrig [...]

What upsets me about the lower ratings of this book is because I know it is rooted in how intelligent the book is. It has a solid plot, it has interesting twists and characters and real tension, and it really takes on music as something to be made into a commodity and something to be used as a formatting tool. I love this book. I will shout my recommendation of it from rooftops and lawns, in grocery stores and streets. Please read it. I would love, love, love to discuss it!

This was one of those books that you start reading, get a few chapters in and stop. I however, finally forced myself to read it and after 2 days I've already completed the book. I found the written to be very poetical and loving music myself thought this book was very captivating. It is considered a romance novel, a genre which I generally don't like but I absolutely enjoyed this book!

So I’m looking at the very few other reviews on Gifted and not a lot of them are in depth as to how the reader felt about the book. Huh . . .It’s my time to shine. *cracks knuckles* I have one thing to say before anything else. KEEP READING. The beginning is slow, I know, but don’t stop. IT GETS BETTER.Now then. Since this book just came out this year, 2016, I’ll give a basic summary to keep us all on track ( because Lord knows if you want to figure out anything in this book you have to [...]

What a very interesting book. This was very different from Hunger, but I like that both books occur in the future. Swain does a very good job describing new technology and the way it works. Although I wasn't too fond of the book when it first began, it got much better as the pages were being flipped. I enjoyed that the book revolved around music and fighting for a good cause. I liked the small love that was between Zimiri and Orpheus, but it wasn't touched much on. Sure the romance was there, bu [...]

The book wasn't bad once you got into it but it was one of those books where it takes literally FOREVER to get past the first chapter. It took me three months to get past the first couple of pages because the way it was worded and the things that the author talked about sort of bored me and I had no desire to read the book.But I will say that the book was quite good AFTER the first few chapter and I suggest that you don't read this book if you don't have the patience to read slow-starting books. [...]

A little dystopian romp through the future, 100 years from now. It took me a few chapters to get my head wrapped around the unusual acronyms used by this future society where the music industry is a highly regulated money machine filled with surgically created ‘gifted’ artists. But once I was in that world I found the story and characters quite captivating. Anytime an author tackles surgical brain modifications I find it disturbing, especially when it’s a real possibility in the near futur [...]

Really more of a 2.5 but I didn't get very far so I rounded up. The blurb is misleading so far it's less about the ASAs and more about music copyright. Also the beginning is almost entirely info dumping. I just wasn't really connecting with it the main characters felt kind of one dimensional and they didn't really have any flaws, but I still didn't like them.

It took me a few chapters to get into the rhythm of this book (ha ha pun not intended!). The difficulty may have had something to do with wrapping my head around the sci-fi terms, or maybe because of the YA style. Before I knew it, I was involved with the characters and wanting to know what would happen next. This book had me sitting on the edge of my seat and cheering at the end!

Gifted is a great book. It's about people's intelligences. I really love the way this book is written in many different perspective's. I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian, futuristic books.

The world of the story is introduced very jarringly. It has a slow start. Overall, solid story, though.

Technically, I skimmed most of this one. Informational context and world-building was rushed and overwhelming.

Interesting take on the future of the music industry, but this dystopian fell flat for me. (pun intended)

A lot of people say they dislike H.A. Swain's writing style and books but I personally love them! I could not put down this book for it was so good.

The ending was a bit meh, but other than that, it was enjoyable

Interesting, well written and kept me involved to the end.

it was pre good