Rating: Summary: compelling book Review: The sequel is about the aftermath of the chocolate sales. It takes a more cynical look at human nature, showing that no one is perfect. Dark, suspenseful, and sad, but a wonderful read. One of my favourite book
Rating: Summary: Wonderful! Amazing! Review: The story of this highschool boy attending a private school is a wonderful sequel to The Chocolate War. I read this book quite some time after reading the first, yet I still understood it perfectly. Someone that has never picked up a Cormier novel in their lives would be able to understand it. It recaps all that happened in the last novel without becoming so it sounded like it was just summarizing the entire thing for you. He worked it in beautifully. This is also something I can relate to. So many people have been teased or bullied into doing something against their will in highschool that practically anyone can relate. Students can relate because they understand the situation so well, but it is advanced enough reading that an adult would enjoy it also.
Rating: Summary: A Whole Different Book Review: This book is not what I expected.It had many problems.First off the first book;s main character is barely recognized in this one.Plus its almost completely different from the first one.Even though its filled with more action than the last one i would not recommend this book to many people.
Rating: Summary: Confusing, yet satisfying Review: This book was kind of hard to get through because it is kind of confusing. There are so many characters. But it was good to finish. (Read it in 6 1/2 hours)
Rating: Summary: Could have been worse Review: This book was not nearly as good as the previous one, Beyond the Chocolate War. I kept reading it, hoping it would get better, thinking it had to get better, but it never did. It seems like Cormier is trying to say that in the end the evil side is going to win anyway, so there's no point in even trying to beat them. I felt so confused and wondered what happened to people when the book ended. I needed a whole lot more closure. Were Jerry and Goober still friends or did they just ditch each other? Was Archie really evil or was there something else behind his plots? I'm just confused and disappointed in the novel. If you liked the first one, don't ruin it by reading this one.
Rating: Summary: Awesome Review: This intricately woven sequel, though hard to begin, had more of a plot than the character study Chocolate War. The imagery of the Guillotine ... the suicide of David Caroni ... and even the problems of the heads of the Vigils. It was all worth the time spent reading it. Except for the rape, it was alot cleaner than the other book.
Rating: Summary: The disturbing aftermath Review: This novel focuses on what occurs after the infamous Chocolate incident. Trinity was scarred by the event, in which cancer-like distortions ripple through the students. The entire school corrupts, and time ticks toward multiple plots of revenge directed at the Vigils, the faculty, and Archie Costello himself. Cormier's characterizations are elaborated in this sequel, and you see different side to each student that you've never thought possible. Everyone has a dark side, a lust of blood. What made this book a winner was how Robert depicted everyone's mind. David Caroni's insanity was constructed in an absolute genius fashion. However, it's complexity decreased it's appeal, and the intellectual brooding after I read the Chocolate War didn't happen as long as it did here. Still, an excellent "what-happens-afterward" story, but not as powerful as it's predessesor.
Rating: Summary: It goes Beyond Chocolate Review: When I first read The Chocolate War, I felt very interested to read Beyond The Chocollate War. I chose this book because I read The Chocolate War, and I thought it was very interesting. Therefore I was eager to finish and start the sequel. Yet I was disappointed in it. This book is about how Jerry Renault gets into a fight with Emile Janza, and how he goes to the hospital to heal. His friend the "Goober" gets involved with this "Vigil" thing, and starts to hate them even more for what they did to Jerry. The "Vigil's" yet are on another goal to do something to Obie, Archie's used to be right hand man. Also, the "Goober" goes and visits Jerry and feels bad that he didn't do anything to stop it. What else happend in this book is that Obie stands up to Archie and Archie gets a new person to keep track of the assignments and other things. What I didn't like about this book is that they didn't talk about Jerry Renault much. A little bit of this book was given to him. Yet last time Jerry was the main character. In that case, it does not make any sense to me because the "Vigils" go unpunished and Jerry is still hurting. Also, the "Vigils" are still giving "assignments" out to other people. Therefore nothing is really solved in this book. If I had to give a better mark to The Chocolate War, or Beyond The Chocolate War, I'd definitely choose The Chocolate War. Not only does it express what happens and gives everything in detail, Beyond The Chocolate War doesn't even explain what happend to Jerry much.
Rating: Summary: Stunning...Robert Cormier at his best! Review: While I am partial to I am the Cheese, I can honestly say that Beyond the Chocolate War is the best Robert Cormier book I've read so far. You must read The Chocolate War first, or the sequel won't make sense. But it held me, clinging to the book, not stopping to eat or sleep, determined to read through the 278 pages in one night. The ending is stunning, mind you things are not what they seem... A guillotine, a suicide, a wave of attack against Trinity and its staff... Riveting. You just can't put it down!
Rating: Summary: As dark as the first Review: While not quite the caliber of its predecessor, this is still a gem. The issues are much the same as in The Chocolate War, but even more devious as they deal with for the most part the maneuverings of all of the villains. As dark as it is, the novel is actually a much more optimistic piece of work than the first one, with a few of the characters taking control of their own lives and destinies. At the end of the novel, even as we see darkness at the school come to its peak, other students seem poised to take back their lives. My one knock would be that the novel seems less focused than The Chocolate War, and that at some points the actions of the characters seem to weaken the magic of the first novel, if that makes any sense. This book has the feeling of a middle book in a trilogy. It is too bad that we've lost Cormier. I would very much have liked to see how it all would have ended.
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