Hey ho, whaddaya know?  It’s Michelle and Andi here!  In a small freakish moment in nature she and I happened to unexpected read the same book at the same time.  Fortunately for you that means you get to hear us gab about it.  We have thoughts people, very serious thoughts.  Check out what they are:

Title: The Rivals [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Daisy Whitney [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Contemporary
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Series: The Mockingbirds
Format: Print (ARC)
Source: Publisher (via BEA)
Reviewer: Michelle & Andi
Parental Advisory: sex, alcohol, drugs, language
Teachable Moments: rape, cheating

Michelle
What did you think about the story overall?  I have to say I liked The Mockingbirds better.  I felt like this book (while good) wasn’t a necessary extension of the first.  Having said that I quite enjoyed catching up with Alex and liked seeing her growth since what happened with Carter.  The story itself made sense to me, that there would be a cadre of people who rebel against the Mockingbirds (even if I saw the plot points and progressions pretty early on) and that there were some who still didn’t believe Alex.  I’m still on the fence about the school administration though.  It felt a bit too over the top, that any school administrator would be so blatant about turning a blind eye or that those that were aware of The Mockingbirds wouldn’t do more about it.

Andi
For me this book was close to being excellent, but something made it a little off from the greatness of The Mockingbirds. I tried to figure out if it was the case, the new people, the slight shift in Alex’s personality, but it wasn’t any of that. I actually liked how Alex was always on the line of deceptive and straight forward. It worked, and so did the new people. It was the administration that bothered me. It was too much of a plot point to make the head master be that ‘turn a blind eye to win an award’ like. It was very contrived and it took away from what Alex and The Mockingbirds were up against and made everything they did whether good or bad okay because the administration was the bad guys in the long run.

Michelle
Yes!  I felt like the award thing was way too convenient.  Particularly given the fact that the precedent had been set in the previous book that the administrator never paid much attention to goings on.  Also, I think the focus on that element took away from the strength of The Mockingbirds. As a group it felt far more public in this book where as in the last they were more covert and at least tried to fly under the radar.  It felt like vigilantism was being flaunted as opposed to being a means to an end.

What are your thoughts on the case that was being investigated?

I was kind of torn.  I liked that Whitney spoke to a relevant topic on a much grander scale (cheating) but part of me felt like one of the best things about The Mockingbirds was that they gave a voice to an individual who was wronged.  Rivals took away from that some for me.  It lost some of it’s emotion and urgency because there wasn’t one single person being focused on.  BUT, I don’t think this book was as much about The Mockingbirds as it was a continuation of Alex’s story.

Andi
Like you I was torn too.  I got that it was used as a way to justify the means, to show that not everything was so black and white and clear cut. I liked that aspect of it. But I had trouble believing that a high school senior, even someone like Alex, would go that hardcore against a cheating ring. There was something about the case that just didn’t work for me. Was the mystery aspect of who was behind it good? Absolutely. But I couldn’t help but think it would be even better if the case was more individualized. I just couldn’t see a kid caring about cheating if it really wasn’t affecting them and I struggled with that.

Michelle
Again, I agree!  In my high school it was pretty much keep your nose down and stay out of it. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that such things are always that way I can see where it could be this way.  But it seems far less plausible to me.  Did you feel like it was a mystery?  Because I knew what was going on pretty early on.  There were a few places where things worked out differently than I expected but it wasn’t overwhelmingly surprising overall.

Andi
Oh, definitely not a surprise to me. I saw the writing on the wall from the get-go, but the attempt at a mystery was there for sure. Whitney wanted to keep you guessing, but for two amazing astute readers like ourselves…come on now.

What did you think of Alex and Martin’s relationship?

Their relationship was the one aspect I 100% loved. The growth and love from what they were in The Mockingbirds was pretty amazingly done in my eyes. It was the part of the story that I just found very real. The problems they had, the insecurities, that is all typical high school, if not just relationship stuff that couples go through. Sure their was the added pressure of working together and not always agreeing on the course of action to take, but their relationship was totally relatable and added to the book instead of just being there to add some romance.

Michelle
I was more drawn to their relationship in the first than this one.  She was a bit unkind to him (understandably so) in some respects.  I enjoyed that he handled it well.  I do like that their relationship was portrayed realistically.  She was distant and he was hurt.  There was some spitefulness and childishness.  No Dawson’s Creek action here where they were far to wise and introspective for their own good.  I liked that a lot.

What did you think about her attraction to the other boy?  I’m forgetting his name, UGH.

Andi
Jones! Oh Jones. I guess I was annoyed more with Jones then her attraction to him. I kind of understood the attraction because he was completely separate from everything else that was going on. He wasn’t in The Mockingbirds and he wasn’t in the circle of friends that she wasn’t trusting anymore. He was her Jones, her soft place, her music guy. But personally I thought Jones was pretentious and full of himself and that is what bothered me. He really acted like he was above all things Mockingbirds and I couldn’t figure out why he felt so entitled.

Michelle
Yes, Jones!  Thank you!  See that’s one of the problems for me is that we didn’t have all that much time with him.  To really get to know him outside of the peripheral.  That made it harder to understand why she would be so inclined to give up what she had with Martin for Jones.  I do get the inclination to gravitate towards him for the reasons you mention but why allude to potential romance.  You can get that connection through friendship, you know?  I agree that he had arrogance about him and I wonder if it was intended to be felt as more aloof than anything else.  I didn’t much mind about his personality just because I knew his purpose was to be conflict for she and Martin.

Speaking of which, I didn’t feel like that was a necessary focus for the story.  There was already so much conflict in the plot already that there wasn’t a need to have a third party element to the romance.

Andi
Maybe that’s the problem that I was thinking of him from both books, like I couldn’t separate the two. I guess I’m just not a Jones fan. LOL. But I totally get what you are saying. The extra conflict was just that…extra. There was plenty immerse yourself in without it. Was it supposed to show the strength of Alex and Martin or what? Kind of pointless is right.

Michelle
I think so.  Also, I think it went to show that Alex was healing from the rape.  That she could open herself up to the idea of dating not just one man but potentially someone else as well.  In that way I think it worked well.  She had far more interaction with boys in this book and I found that aspect was handled really well.

What did you think of Alex’s character development from book one?

Andi
Now that part I honestly thought was really well done. From book one to The Rivals you could notice the change in Alex. Like she said in the book, as much as she wanted to be that same girl from before the rape, the one that went under the radar she couldn’t. She was different and I think Whitney showed that really well. I loved even in just The Rivals how at the beginning Alex was afraid to face Natalie, who I can’t stand by the way, and then at the end she refused to let her bully her. She found who she was and how being raped made her able to withstand things the old Alex never would have. Once she stopped running from her past she was no longer her past, she was the girl that did something about it and took control back of her life. You know?

Michelle
I do!  What I liked best about it was that her progress was slow and thoughtful.  It wasn’t this huge grand sweeping change that happens in 2.5 seconds so that the story can be conveniently done.  She was still traumatized by the rape and had appropriate reactions when seeing Carter at different times.  I also liked that she was able to continue to move forward with Martin and that she opened herself up to multiple possibilities where romance and intimacy were concerned.  Not sure I’m on board with her getting to sexy times with him as quickly as she did.  I would have imagined it taking longer given where she was in the first book.  But that’s just me.  Did it feel too fast for that to you?

Andi
I can see how people would think it was very fast that she was okay to sleep with Martin. But I can also see why it was important for Alex to actually let herself be with someone like that. It was more, to me anyway, to show that the rape didn’t define her and that she was in a safe place with Martin. Martin made her feel like the Alex of old so it was natural that she would be okay to be intimate with him. Fast, maybe a little, but I think it was a way for Alex to grow and for the rape to have been something that happened to her, not who she was.

Michelle
This is true, it’s difficult not to let something like that define you so plowing ahead to try and make positive changes is definitely an encouraging message.

Any final thoughts to share?

Andi
All in all I really enjoyed the book. It was nice to see some character growth. There were things I would have lied to have been different, but in the end I think it all worked as a whole. I do get the feeling of a possible third part, but time will tell. I know I’m excited for whatever Ms. Whitney has for us next.

Did you read it?  What did you think?  Add your thoughts to the comment.

Laura and Andi here! After reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson and failing miserably at writing our own reviews for the 151st first time we are going to give this joint review thing a shot. And really what better book to do it for then a book that is written by two different authors with two different voices….

Basically Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a story about two boys with the same names that randomly meet at an unexpected location due to different circumstances. When one Will introduces the other Will to his friend Tiny Cooper, their lives become intersected in a way that they didn’t expect and they change in a way they never would have imagined. We apologize in advance for any spoilers, but there really was no way around. Enjoy!

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: John Green [website] [twitter] [facebook] David Levithan [website] [facebook]
Publisher: Speak
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchase
Parental Advisory: alcohol, language
Teachable Moments: depression, adaptability

Andi:
Since we have talked about this review over and over again and have both had trouble writing it because we seem to focus on the negative and not the positive, let’s start with positive.  What did you like the best about Capitalized Will Grayson(CWG)?

Laura:
You mean besides his Dad?  That guy was a Super Hero Dad YA rarity!  But…about Will (CWG) himself. Hmm….

Andi:
His dad was awesome! I loved how he was there for his son. I think that was actually the part of CWG that I liked — his loyalty to his friends. It didn’t matter what they needed, he was there.  Even when, say, Tiny treated him like crap, he was still there for him. I appreciate that in a good lead character.

Laura:
Yeah, I agree. A character that stands up for his friends and family always makes me happy!  Plus CWG did it with style in print and at his own risk of physical harm.  Little league can be a dangerous world!

And what about the other will grayson (owg)—What was your favorite trait or aspect of owg?  By the way, did you mind the lower caseness?  Yeah, caseness is a word in my world. 

Andi:
That’s a harder one for me. I honestly don’t know what I liked about owg. A lot of the time I found him a little whinny and self-involved. But then he would have these moments where he would show how much he could love a person — like Tiny and Isaac. Now that is a character I can get behind.  And when he finally admitted he was gay it was like he was finally okay with who he was. You know?

And the lowercase aspect? It was actually pretty genius if you ask me.  It kind of fit each Will to a tee. CWG was all about conforming to the rules and not being noticed. He did things by the book so it made sense he would “have thoughts” by the book while owg was more of a character that just didn’t care for the most part. It was like he couldn’t be bothered and that was true to him.

Did it bug you?

Laura:
Huh!  Funny!  That’s what I thought about the CWG—a bit whiny and self involved.  “will grayson”(owg) is harder for me to explain because he hit close to my heart.  For me, I saw lower case will grayson not as someone who couldn’t be bothered, but one who wasn’t ready to put his heart out there with all the complications, mess, hurt, and emotion that come with it.  He didn’t want to risk it.  He wasn’t ready to risk his heart.  It is a lot easier to pretend you don’t give a damn though.

And the lower caseness was brilliant!  I saw CWG as a bit more ready to stand up and look for what he wants in life.  A bit!  But owg was still holding back and staying low.  Pun intended!

Andi:
The funny thing is, when you really think about it both CWG and owg were so similar that they could have been the same person. I mean they both were afraid of being who they were, both had a little bit of depression going on and both wanted nothing more then not to be noticed yet I found myself liking CWG better then owg. I wonder if that had to do with Tiny’s role in CWG’s life. Because let’s face it, he was really what this book was about. Everyone took a backseat to the big man with a musical.

Laura: 
So true!  The Wills felt very similar at times.  Both going for the emotionally detached route for safety.  But Tiny…what to say about Tiny Cooper?  The boy definitely wasn’t emotionally detached!  He was a big bubble of joy!  He filled the pages with huge love, emotion, and music!  Perhaps it was just what the Wills needed!

Did you feel like Tiny took over the story?

Andi:
Abso-freaking-lutely! This was the Tiny Cooper show and everyone else, the Wills included, were just living in it. Was he the big bubble of joy you said he was, definitely. But he was also that friend that no one wants to have. He is the person that starts dating someone and then dumps his friends because his time no longer needs to be filled. Did I find him entertaining? Hell yeah. But I also found him self-absorbed, dramatic and a meddler. Can you tell he got on my nerves? Ha.

Laura:
haha…All that is true about Tiny.  I keep trying to find a reason or figure out why Tiny was so big. Huh! Pun not intended that time!  He played such an overpowering role–almost to the point that he felt like a distraction from the story.  I loved him, but what about the Wills or the other characters.  I wanted more of their energy and interactions.

Who was your favorite character?  And while I’m at it, did you have a favorite of the two authors?  You already know who my heart beats for.

Andi:
I have to say that I really enjoyed the character of Jane. She wasn’t a huge part of the story like “he who shall remain nameless” but she was in just the perfect amount for me to love her. Her place in CWG’s world just seemed right, as did the unfolding of their ‘relationship’. It was paced nicely and I got a feel for why they were drawn to each other. No one really registered enough for me besides her.

As for author that is tougher for me. I’ve read Levithan before so I thought I would be naturally drawn to him, but I loved Green’s stuff too.  I guess it is hard to say because they really were very similar in terms of writing. I mean, you asked me to guess who wrote which Will and I failed miserably.  There was just something about the two of them that worked well together. Sure I didn’t like all the ideas used, like the end really grated on my nerves, but there was something endearing about the book. You know what I mean?

Laura: 
Well…I am a Levithan girl!  The man can make the bottom fall out of my world with one word!  And he pretty much did it again with the ending in this one.  Just when I thought I couldn’t love the man more, he throws in the beloved pinky swear!  It is hands down one of the sweetest acts and promises between two people!  It holds a very special spot in my heart.  That made the ending for me—to be honest.  The rest was just…background music!  Hehe…so yes, this book definitely touched my heart at times.

Andi:
It definitely was a special book in places.  Like any great book it got the two of us thinking and talking for sure. It wasn’t my favorite by any means, I mean there were parts I didn’t like (the weird musical ending that I didn’t see a point of and the cat in the box talk) but all-in-all there was something about it that just made me enjoy it as a whole. I look forward to reading more of both authors. Oh, and finally getting the song Tiny Dancer out of my head.

Laura:
Great thanks for that—now I have that song in my head!  Yeah—that’s all I got!  OH!  Can I close with my favorite quote?  Please?  Hehe…the adult version of Santa Claus?  Come on Michelle! 

The continuation of #dystopianfeb (one of my favorite times of the reading year) book discussions with Lenore is upon us! Yesterday I had the opportunity to host the author of today’s book discussion Pure.  If you didn’t have the opportunity to read it I encourage you to skip back a post and check it out.  Also, let me remind you to read the first half of our discussion at Presenting Lenore.

Title: Pure [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Julianna Baggott [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Source: Publisher (via BEA)
Parental Advisory: violence, criminal activity, death
Teachable Moments: survival, individuality

Mutations

Michelle:
This was, by far, the best part of the story for me.  Though there were plausibility issues (I mean, come on…a boy with live birds fused to his back) it was easily overlooked.  The fantastical elements of the different fusions and the resentment it created for the Pures was a fundamental element of the story.  A creative way to incorporate the class divide, encourage loyalty to  their “kind” and enhance the conflict that was already there.  Also, it was just interesting to see what Baggot put together.

Lenore:
Some of the plausibility issues were explained away by a secret plot to merge nuclear bombs with nanotechnology – and I certainly appreciated the effort of Baggot’s part to offer up some sort of explanation.  I agree that the creativity that went into the mutations was inspiring (“groupies”, “dusts” “El Capitan” with his brother fused to his back), but I can imagine that the mutations – which make the “wrecks” outside the dome essentially like circus freaks – will make some readers uncomfortable.  I did want to mention too, that I found the race angle thought-provoking as well – when you compare our two main characters: Pressia who is not only fused with a doll’s head, but also mixed race vs Partridge who is “pure” and white.

Michelle:
No question that some will feel uncomfortable with this element of the story.  Most specifically with the special forces from the dome.  The combination of the mutations and the violent tendencies creates a very dark and difficult vibe to work through.  You make an interesting point about the race angle, it seems to have gotten a bit lost in the middle of all the other things going on don’t you think?

Lenore:
I’m not sure the race angle was meant to be a major factor – I just really fixated on it in light of what we come to find out about Partridge’s mother and her double life and the fact that the “pure” part of her life made it in the dome while the other didn’t.  The special forces part didn’t bother me as much as some of the more severe mutations (i.e. children attached to mothers).

Pacing/Length

Michelle:
Pure is an incredibly dense book.  One that took me a good long time to get into.  It’s one that requires a great deal of attention to detail.  As a reader who is not a huge fan of lengthy prose Pure definitely put me outside of my comfort zone.  It definitely could have been pared down some given the overall simplicity of the plot.

Lenore:
This density you speak of may hamper PURE’s ability to really crossover to the teen audience.  I’ve seen many readers mistakenly think PURE is YA, but it’s being published by an adult imprint (at an adult hardcover price too). I’d say it’s a “literary adult dystopian” – something more in the direction of Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD – rather than a readily accessible YA dystopian like THE HUNGER GAMES.  I personally was not at all bothered by the pacing or length. I was fully invested the whole book through.

Michelle:
Which is interesting because I have been wondering who the “right” audience is for this book as well.  As you say, it feels too adult to target the majority of teens and despite these literary allusions it’s still feels a bit more out there than the typical adult reader may lean.  Well, except for genre fiction lovers perhaps. That might be it’s truest audience with bits of others here and there.

Lenore:
It’s very much genre fiction, but I think adventurous readers who keep an open mind will find lots to love here. It has style merged with substance: an unusual premise with a high-stakes plot and deeper explorations of what it means to be human.

Even though I’m not entirely sure where I fall on Pure I do know it was an intriguing read with plenty of interesting elements to keep readers enthralled. If you are a fan of dystopian/post-apocalyptic fare with quirky characters then this one is a good fit for you.

Welcome to week two of the #dystopianfeb discussions with Lenore.  Today you get to hear us, gush….er speak about Thumped by Megan McCafferty.  We love it.  We love it HARD.  We love it so much we want MORE! More I tell you more, more, more.  You know what else?  We think you should read it.  Like right now. But first, read up on what Lenore and I have to say but starting with Part 1 on Presenting Lenore and then the rest down below.

Title:  Thumped [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Megan McCafferty [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Dystopian, Satire
Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Format: paperback (ARC
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: sex, drugs, alcohol, language
Teachable Moments: abstinence, teenaged sexual activity, teen pregnancy, individuality, peer pressure

Moral of the Story

Michelle:
For a book that covers such strong and polarizing issues as teen pregnancy, birth control, surrogacy, religious freedom and the influence of celebrity, it does so in an amazingly fun and unique way.  This book once again took a look at the morality of young girls getting pregnant for profit.  It even goes as far as taking a stronger stance (through Zen’s big plan) on it all.  I do wish that this part of the story got a bit more focus though.  It was a bit more surface level and felt much more rushed than I would have liked.  This doesn’t, however, diminish the strength of the overall message or the fact that Thumped is a great discussion starter.  Topics galore!

Lenore:
BUMPED was controversial for being so open about teen sexuality, and I think THUMPED does dig deeper into the issues – and especially the issue of being ready to take on the responsibility of sex and motherhood.  In this imagined society, your fertility expiration date is so early, you really have some tough decisions.  I liked the dilemmas presented here:  Are teens really ready to commit to family life? If a teen doesn’t have a child now, will she ever be able to experience being a mother? How important is it to have a child with your own genes?

Michelle: 
You know what would be interesting to explore in a follow-up book (hint! hint!)?  How the different generations deal with parenting.  Meaning, these young girls give birth and give up their children but then when old enough they would take on the children of other young girls.  It’s like a giant game of musical chairs.  What is the emotional impact of that?  Such an interesting and complex relationship to explore.

Lenore:
YES! Megan – are you reading this?!

Romance

Michelle:
Oh how I loved me some Zen in this story.  I so wanted he and Melody to find a way to be together.  I just wish there was more focus on their story than what I got.  The bulk of the romantic focus went to Jondoe pining for Harmony and her conflicted feelings for him.  Interesting in it’s own right, the focus on their relationship made the book feel off-balance in the romance department.  Not necessarily a bad thing because in the end romance was not the primary focus of the book, but I did want to see more of Zen and Melody than we got.

Lenore: 
See, this is why I need 100 more books – because not only do I want more Zen and Melody, I want even more Harmony and Jondoe too.  The romance was definitely not in the forefront here, but there was just enough development in both relationships to make me ridiculously swoony.  Jondoe had to really struggle to get over himself to offer Harmony the kind of support she really needed.  And Zen had to grow 4 inches to get Melody to see him as a viable option.

Michelle:
That sounds a little dirty, lol.  But YES!  I want more romance, more fun, more….more….more.

Lenore:
Oh you naughty girl! Get your head out of the gutter

People, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again you need to be reading this series.  If you haven’t run out and grab Bumped because Thumped will be out in the next few months!

Hey, hey, hey!  It’s me Michelle!

It’s officially #dystopianfeb which (if you know me at all) is a highlight to my reading year.  The awesome Lenore of Presenting Lenore (and fabulous author of Level 2 — don’t you love the title! — publishing from Simon & Schuster) has graciously invited me to gab with her about four books this month.  We’re reading, we’re discussing, we’re posting about it.  Just like we did for #dystopianaugust.  Every Thursday this month you’ll see something new!  To kick it off we’re chatting about Dark Inside.  You can read the first half of our discussion at Presenting Lenore.

Title: Dark Inside [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Jeyn Roberts [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: eBook (ARC)
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: violence, drugs, language, death
Teachable Moments: survival, good vs. evil

Element of surprise

Michelle:
There were some surprising points in the book (which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t read it) which pleased me.  Not everyone was who they said they were and that made for moments of interesting behavior and turns in the story and characters that influenced further progression of the story.

Lenore:
This element of surprise was probably my favorite part of the book – because I had the feeling that anything could happen.  Some of it surely has to do with the fact that no one really knew what the evil virus was and how it affected people. Most seemed to be almost zombie-like in their pursuit of destruction, but others were quite clever.  It did make me wonder what the ultimate goal of the evil influence was, because it didn’t seem to be killing each and every person on Earth (for that, I would have expected a more systematic destruction of stores and food sources – as it was, it seemed too easy for those on the run to survive).

Michelle: 
And see, that’s one of my problems (not the element of surprise that is) with this story.  There wasn’t a whole lot of consistency.  Maybe there is a purpose for the randomness that will be explained further down the line but without some cohesiveness and clarity in this story who really wants to find out later, you know?  Even so, I liked some of the unpredictability (in small doses) it mixed things up and made the story feel more suspenseful.  This was a good thing.

Lenore:
Yay for suspense!

Point of view

Michelle:
Initially I was excited for the multiple points of view.  I was looking forward to seeing the variety that experiencing the catastrophe from different angles was going to bring.  Unfortunately it was far too disjointed. Moreover, it took way to long for all of the different stories to finally converge and get to a somewhat meaningful point.

Lenore:
When you do multiple points of view, you need to make them all equally compelling and distinct.  Here we have four main points of view, Michael, Mason, Clementine and Aries.  At first, I was really drawn into their stories because they all start with a bang – the world changing inciting incident.  Clementine’s first chapter was probably my favorite, just because the idea of half the town going crazy and burning the other half alive is so creeptastic. Now this may be a little unfair of me, because we’re discussing a book I read several months ago, but honestly the narratives all blend together in my head and I’d be hard pressed to tell you which character experienced what.  To me that says the characters weren’t distinct or memorable enough.

Michelle:
I agree Clementine was my favorite because it had a more unexpected and probably (zombies aside) most realistic feel to it.  Her running away, needing to survive, etc. that was all something that could happen to anyone.  Aries, on the other hand, her story felt a bit forced.  She was the one who brought the good vs. evil story to the forefront with her interaction with the weird guy who knew things but we didn’t know exactly what.  There is only so far the action of world destruction is going to carry a story and having the four characters more differentiated and in deeper stories would have made a difference.

Lenore: 
Don’t get me wrong – while I was reading, I wanted all the POV characters to survive so it’s not like I didn’t connect with them at all.  I just might have liked more reasons to really care.

Dark Inside was definitely an action packed read.  One that will keep you on your toes!  The potential for conversation surrounding good versus evil is certainly there and worthy of exploration.