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Review: The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse

The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse
Published by Orchard books



Alenna Shawcross is a sixteen-year-old orphan growing up in a police state formed from the ashes of Canada, the US and Mexico after a global economic meltdown.

But when she unexpectedly fails ‘the test’ - a government initiative which supposedly identifies teens destined to be criminals - she wakes up alone on a remote island reserved for the criminally insane.

Terrified and confused, she soon encounters a group of other teen survivors battling to stay alive, including Liam, a boy who will become her love... and her lifeline.

Soon Alenna makes the terrifying discovery that there’s more to the island (and her past) than she could ever have guessed... But who can she trust? And can she ever escape?


***

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand the are lots of things I thought was good about it but on the other hand I did feel there were things that needed work.

Whether its fair to do so or not this no s going to be compared to the hunger games a lot purely due to the similarities it presents: kids stuck on their own, fighting for their lives in a government sponsored environment. For me I found that having read the hunger games first made me see this book in a different light. I could ell but make comparisons about a book I didn't feel was as strong. Maybe had I read this first I might have felt differently.

There certainly are some things that I liked about this book. I thought the main character was sweet and I liked following her story. I liked all the political set up behind the story and I enjoyed seeing the story unfold and all the whys and wherefores of why the world was as it was. The story itself was fast paced and kept me gripped and wasn't scared of shying away from the grim and the brutal.

What I struggled with whilst reading this book was the whole host of characters many of whom really didn't stand out for me at all. I would have liked to have seen less mentioned and the ones there more fleshed out. I also really didn't like the romance side of this book. I though the whole things was very juvenile and just tacked on almost as a tick box requirement. I did feel that the story didn't need it in there and wouldn't have suffered had it been missing.

All in all I have mixed feelings about this book. I have shelved it with the intention of continuing on with the series rather than giving it away but I'm still not sure whether I will or not.

Comments

Alwyn said…
Just started reading this! I don't know about your copy but mine has a badge on it comparing it to the unger Games, and so far, while the story pacing is moving me forwards fast, for me the heroine at very least pales compared to Katniss and it just doesn't have the same desperately addictive quality.

Also, what is with all the Canadian cliches? Having het weird Quebecois and a kid saying "eh" within a few pages of each other just made me roll my eyes as someone who holds a Canadian Passport.