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    Landry Park
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    Landry Park
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    Landry Park
    Audiobook7 hours

    Landry Park

    Written by Bethany Hagen

    Narrated by Leslie Bellair

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "Downton Abbey" meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal

    Sixteen-year-old Madeline Landry is practically Gentry royalty. Her ancestor developed the nuclear energy that has replaced electricity, and her parents exemplify the glamour of the upper class. As for Madeline, she would much rather read a book than attend yet another debutante ball. But when she learns about the devastating impact the Gentry lifestyle-her lifestyle-is having on those less fortunate, her whole world is turned upside down.  As Madeline begins to question everything she has been told, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana, who seems to be hiding secrets of his own. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty-her family and the estate she loves dearly-and desire.

    Fans of Ally Condie, Kiera Cass, Veronica Roth, and even Jane Austen will be enthralled by this breathtaking read.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 4, 2014
    ISBN9781101631775
    Unavailable
    Landry Park
    Author

    Bethany Hagen

    Bethany Hagen was born and raised in Kansas City. She grew up reading Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, and all things King Arthur, and went on to become a librarian. Landry Park is her debut novel.

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    Reviews for Landry Park

    3/5

    33 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Here's the thing: I don't like flighty female characters. I have a hard time associating with female protagonists who whine, worry, and change their opinions of things every other chapter. In Landry Park, however, it's hard to fault Madeline for being the way she is. Raised as a gentry girl, in opulence and wealth, she's a product of her environment. To Madeline, her home is everything. Her title, is everything. Every now and then I saw this little spark of rebellion in her, and I'd start to cheer, and then it'd vanish under the promise of everything she had being taken away. Can I blame her? Not really. Did I like her? Not so much. The narrator didn't help matters. She was so flat, and boring. I think I might have actually connected with Madeline better if she was narrated better.

      What saved the book for me were the secondary characters. I loved David, and his dashing personality. I loved Kara, because she was everything Madeline was not. These two really pulled the story along. Nothing would have happened if it wasn't for them. I'm sure Madeline would have been content to stay at home, blind to the suffering of others, and wrapped in decadent dresses. All the pieces of the plot that revolved around her were just so blase. I never truly believed she cared about anything else, much less helping others.

      The other issue with Landry Park is that you really have to let go and take everything with a grain of salt. This book takes place in the future, but there are debutantes and a caste system. This is a world of oppression and technology mixed together. I didn't really think about it until the end of the story, but it honestly doesn't make much sense. It's one of those settings you just have to accept, and move on to enjoy the story.

      So what did I enjoy about this book, you ask? The secondary characters, definitely. I also liked that, although the romance was a little confusing, it also added such an interesting twist to the story. I knew what was coming well before it did, but I didn't mind. I was too charmed by David, too repulsed by Madeline's father, and too caught up in the mystery surrounding everything to care. When I stopped caring about Madeline, and just let everything else sweep me up, I enjoyed Landry Park. I just wouldn't listen to the audio book again.
    • 5/5
      I read this book upon borrowing an ARC from a friend, and I found it to be quite the enjoyable book. The contrast of the culture -a culture very reminiscent of the victorian era with gowns and debuts, balls and servants - and the time period -rather futuristic- make for a very unique and interesting setting. There is something amusing about reading about how the gentry youth are sitting about in their fancy attire, enjoying a nice brunch on the patio while talking with friends on their tablets.The tensions between the wealthily gentry, and the landless, poorer rootless were also interesting, and kept me eager to read more. You really felt the struggle between the social classes, and Bethany Hagen's writing will make you feel for the rootless, the lowest in society who survive doing the riskiest jobs - handling, changing, and disposing of the radioactive materials that help fuel the gentry's power sources. I found the writing in the book to be fantastic, with gorgeous descriptions and a plot that kept me turning page after page. As a fan of both dystopian novels and good old Jane Austen books, I suspected that I would like this book from the moment I heard of it. I was right, and it may now be one of my favorite novels.I also have to say that I adore the cover. The contrast of white and black, with lovely glowing blues, really caught my eye. The cover design is just lovely. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging read. It is unique and well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      Hagen's dystopian Kansas City is scary in its plausibility. I loved the characters and I wish that she had given them even more depth (perhaps in the sequel?). Landry Park is fascinating and the descriptions of the life style, caste system, and fashion are a real treat. I also loved Hagen's wit and wisdom laced into the dialogue... clever and fun!
    • 2/5
      Landry Park takes place in a future society that relies heavily on nuclear energy and have separated into a rigid class system. The lower classes, or Rootless, are required to maintain the energy sources and are constantly exposed to radiation which keeps them sick and weak. The MC Madeline is of the highest class, her family being one of the most prominent and her ancestors actually responsible for creating this system in the last war. Madeline wants nothing more than to go off to University but unfortunately her father is adamant that, as his heir, her first duty is to the estate, and that means marriage and babies. But the only boy she can even think about seems to be out of her reach.

      So there were a lot of things going on in Landry Park, regrettably not much of it held my interest. The audio narration was mediocre at best. I think that perhaps with a different narrator, I may have connected more with the main character. I could tell that the writing was actually very nice but when read with very little inflection, it all became a bit stale.

      I didn't completely understand how this class system came to be or how this society decided it was a good idea to expose large portions of the populace to radiation. There were times when this book almost felt like a historical fiction in the way that the classes were separated and the way each class viewed and interacted with the other. That was particularly well done and was one of the better aspects of this book. The "romance" did not feel the least bit authentic, the love interest was inconsistent and hardly likable at all. Also, I thought that the plot twist near the end was over the top and really took the story in a strange direction.

      Overall, I would consider Landry Park to be an okay read but if you're planning to read it, I would probably wait to grab it from the library. However, it's getting pretty good reviews from other readers so maybe it just wasn't for me.
    • 2/5
      Recommended?: Not unless you can overlook the race issues that the book claims don’t exist, and aren’t bothered by too many questions that go unanswered about the world building.Content Note: Class issues, somewhat addressed, and unaddressed racism.Review:I really wanted to love LANDRY PARK. I enjoy YA dystopias, and this one is set in Kansas City, where I lived up until recently, and adored. Unfortunately, I found it very difficult to connect with any of the characters, particularly our main character, Madeline, and the world building just didn’t work for me. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a story that captures my interest and makes me care (hey, I love cheesy horror and ridiculous sci-fi), but LANDRY PARK never quite clicked for me for two big reasons: the class issues (and the lack of support from the world building) and the racism.Class issues are at the heart of the story. Madeline’s lifestyle as a member of the gentry can only exist because of the gentry’s abuse of the lower classes, but there’s not enough information provided about the world building to support how this came about. I can see echoes of the current class issues in the USA (disappearing middle class, 1% growing richer, everyone else growing poorer, power consolidation, etc.), but not in a way that made this extreme class break make sense, especially because, in the story, all the classes banded together to fight during the war with China. (More on this below.) Add to this that the fashions have become Victorian(ish), and it’s not clear how this culture developed from ours. I am intrigued, and I want more; I love stories that include criticism of class issues, and this could have been really interesting, but fell short.One of the reasons it fell short for me is the story’s claim that race no longer matters; it is class, only, that determines what you can do with your life. This is completely unrealistic, particularly in the USA. Class and race are entwined, and to erase that intersectionality, particularly with world building that is either not fully developed or not clearly communicated, is wrong. Further, racism has not been removed from this world, no matter how many times the story tells us it has. The war with China and the continued threat of further attack smacks of Yellow Peril, and plays on current fears of monolithic Asia. Race is a factor in this world, racism is alive and well, and I am highly disturbed by the casual acceptance of it within the text even as the text itself criticizes the gentry’s class beliefs (to a point). Further, the book contradicts itself in that when Madeline tells us that beauty is normally mixed race, with dark skin and hair, Madeline herself is a pale skinned redhead. Because even in a world where mixed race is the norm, we have to have a Great White Savior.Things I did like: Madeline’s love for her home. I loved the way she loved her land, the way she felt so tied to it, but still wanted more, more education, more freedom. The ending left some interesting things open, and I want to read the next book to see how the family dynamics play out. The pieces of Kansas City I recognized were lovely. I enjoyed the snarky flirtation between Madeline and her main love interest, though I never had any doubt with whom she’d end up.In the end, there were too many unanswered questions about the world building, and too much unaddressed racism for me to enjoy the book, no matter how much I wanted to love Madeline and her world.