About the Book
-
Author:
- Lisa M. Stasse
Cover Story: Hellz. Yes.
BFF Charm: Yay!
Talky Talk: Straight Up
Bonus Factor: Creepy Cults, Ted Williams
Relationship Status: I’m Calling For a Second Date, But I’m Cautious
Cover Story: Hellz. Yes.
Now THIS is a mother effin’ cover, y’all!!! Look at this beauty! Yeah, it has a giant face on it, but when it’s done this well, who cares? I love the dots connecting to form her face and the satellite for a brain is both clever and cute.
Plus, this is a book that you could totes read on the subway. It looks like it could be the latest NYT Bestseller OR a book about, like, mental illness. Or maybe physics. Or a tome on color blindness. So versatile!! Why can’t every book have a cover this slick?
The Deal:
Sixteen year old Alenna has been an orphan since UNA (a super-country of what was Canada, the US and Mexico) government officials broke into her house and took her dissident parents away six years ago. And while she misses her parents, she lives a pretty ordinary life in the UNA. So when she fails a test required of all 16-year-olds, a test designed to root out any dissidents in the making, she’s shocked. And the fact that she’s now on the Wheel, a penal colony-of-sorts to which all those who fail the test are sent, she has no idea what to do, or who to trust.
The Wheel is harsh and life expectancy is only two years. From day one, Alenna has to decide whether to join a group of tough, disciplined warriors or seemingly soulless anarchists. And when she learns that there’s a chance to get off The Wheel, she has to decide that it’s time to stand up and fight.
BFF Charm: Yay!
Alenna is smart and fierce and won’t give up, which I love about her. And even though she has the tendency to do some stupid shizz, like, I dunno, NOT TELL PEOPLE WHAT IS GOING ON, I can understand her suspicion and confusion.
Plus, she learns to be a pretty badass warrior in the space of just a few days on the Wheel. Katniss Everdeen wouldn’t want to mess with her!
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
Oh, Liam. So, check it. Liam is a fellow outcast on the Wheel, and he and Alenna are “inexplicably” drawn to each other. Yes, you know what I mean. Insta-love. HOW MUCH DO I HATE INSTA-LOVE? Let me number the ways! 1) It’s dumb. 2) IT’S SO DUMB.
Listen, authors, I love you all unless you’re that lady who wrote 50 Shades of Grey, but QUIT IT WITH THE INSTA-LOVE ALREADY. Even if your book is about, like, tap-dancing dinosaurs who solve crime by smoking opium and and eating Scooby Snacks, Insta-love will STILL be the most ridiculous, nonsensical part of your novel!
Insta-love: Just Say No.
Talky Talk: Straight Up
I could have rolled my eyes at yet another dystopian government sending children off to a remote area with a death sentence hanging over their heads, but Stasse’s writing is crisp and compelling. I found myself reading late into the night, gripped by the story, even when I wasn’t quite sure I should be gripped by the story. Stasse brings an energy to her scenes that invites the reader to turn the page, and the book would have suffered much more if it weren’t for her voice.
Bonus Factor: Creepy Cults
Ch-ch-ch-check it! There’s totally a creepy cult on The Wheel! It’s led by an enigmatic leader (whose true identity is nonetheless ridiculously easy to guess) and the cult members are cah-razy. I mean, like, the whole subjugation of women, making people dance topless at the campfires, eating human flesh, that sort of crazy. At every little gathering, the women are giving the (gluttonous, ill-bred and violent) men lap dances and just generally being treated as baby-carrying sex vessels. Which is kind of like how America works in Paul Ryan’s most Objectivist fantasies! Let’s all go drink some kool-aid.
(I make jokes, but every time I see the photo from Jonestown, I cry. Over 900 people, all of whom believed in a lie enough to lay down and die.)
Bonus Factor: Ted Williams
Not really, ha ha! Wouldn’t it be awesome if Ted Williams were in this book? TEDDY ILU. No, but there ARE some cryogenics hanky-panky going on in this book, which reminded me of poor ol’ frozen Ted. REST IN FROZEN PEACE, TED.
Relationship Status: I’m Calling For a Second Date, But I’m Cautious
Here’s the thing, Book. Our first date just flew by. It seems like only minutes flew between the time I picked you up and then said goodnight. And even though we got a little bogged down at times, when you kept talking about how in love you are with a dude you met once, I really did enjoy our time together. But . . . I’ve been down this road before, Book. A bunch of kids, sticking it to The Man. Embroiled in government controversy and trying to overcome totalitarianism. Working with a secret group of sympathetic rebels who may have naughty secrets of their own. It sounds exactly like my last serious relationship with this book called The Hunger Games. And that last relationship TOOK IT OUT OF ME, you know? It cost a lot, in my spirits, in my strength, in the fact that all of a sudden everyone on Facebook was on HIS side and everyone wanted a piece.
I’m just not sure I’m ready to go down that road again. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go out for a second date. I might just hold a little bit of myself back, to make sure you don’t hurt me like HE did.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review from Simon and Schuster. I received neither money nor cocktails for this review (damnit!). The Forsaken is available in stores now.
