Mundie Moms

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Book Review: Forsaken by Lisa M Stasse


Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: July 10th, 2012
Source: ARC/book from publisher to review
3.5 Stars: It's A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble


A thought-provoking and exciting start to a riveting new dystopian trilogy.


As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway -quoted from GoodReads

A fast paced, exciting dystopian that's loaded with action, shocking discoveries, and non-stop surprises, FORSAKEN is a debut unlike any other book I've read so far this year. It felt similar to the likes of Lords of the Flies, the TV show LOST, and The Hunger Games. I'm by no means comparing this book to those classic and the tv show, because this book is an entirely different book and stands out on it's own. But, each of these books/tv show, along with FORSAKEN all have this similar feeling to them, and over all theme, which is this quest/will for survival, and this need to defy whoever/whatever it is that's controlling them.

There was something about FORSAKEN that made it hard for me to put it down, which is also the very thing that I despised about the book, it's government. I don't know what it is about this book's corrupt government that I found intriguing, because it was repulsive at how it treats and abuses it's people. At the same time, this is the very thing that kept me glued to the book. I wanted this certain group of outcasts to win, and to find the answers they were seeking. Their search also became my obsession with this book, because I wanted the same answers they did. I had to know what was really going on. WOW! Talk about shocking revelations. Lisa Stasse did a fabulous job at keeping me in the dark with the surprising secrets, and unpredictable plot twists she reveals during the second part of her book and at the end.

Aside from her well crafted storyline, and imaginative dystopian world, Lisa introduced me to some pretty interesting characters. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character, Alenna, because I needed her to be a little bit stronger than she was during the first half of the book. Given all the goes on, I felt like she relied too heavily on others to protect her. Given the island she finds herself on, I had expected her to step into the role of trying to survive a little more than she did. I also had a very hard time believing the romance in this book, even though I enjoyed the character chemistry. The romance isn't a huge part of the story, but it's still apart of the story non the less, and one I wanted to fall in love with more than I did. Liam, the love interest is definitely a character who's hard not to like, and I can see why Alenna was immediately smitten with him. I got their attraction to each other, but the insta-love thing isn't something I'm a fan of, though I did like how Lisa explained that connection the two felt later on in the story.

There's also a great cast of secondary characters whom all help tell Alenna's story. Each of these characters kept the story entertaining, as they each added a different element to it. They each had a purpose both within the story, and in their savage society. I liked that while some of their reasons for being in the story are still not revealed, the twists with a few of the characters were ones I didn't see coming. If you're a fan of dystopians, lots of action, survival, a subtle romance, and plenty of plot twists I'd recommend picking this one up! I'm looking forward to seeing what lies in store for Alenna, Liam and the rest of the cast with book 2!


2 comments:

  1. I'm really looking forward to reading this! The island setting made me think of Lost too (LOVED that show), so it immediately went on the TBR list. A little disappointed to hear that there's instalove as it usually bugs me, but hopefully I'll love it anyway. :) Great review!

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    1. I hope you love it! I loved the feel of the book. The instalove/immediate connection does get explained, but it still wasn't my favorite, though I liked both characters. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with them in the next installment.

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