It's a dystopian, adventure YA novel about a girl, Alenna, who is different from all the mindless drones around her. The society she lives in is basically a carbon copy of 1984. That is basically all I can say about the world because THATS ALL THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY TELLS YOU ABOUT THEM. They force people to hear things, they brainwash everyone and they watch everything. We've all seen it beforeeeee. Originality: 0.
Anyway, every year, all 16 year old teenagers undertake a test to see if they have any anomalies eluding to psychopathy, terrorism or harmful behavior. Those who fail the test/seen as a danger to society are sent away to this isolated island where they are left to die. People on this island are said to generally die at the age of 18, due to the dangers of living with a bunch of potential criminals etc. If you have read Divergent, you will know what I mean when I say the test is exactly like that of Divergent's. The author even goes on to describe those who fail the test as Divergent. Originality down to -1.
As predicted, Alenna fails the test and is sent to the island. There, she stops feeling down about living in a brainwashed world and proceeds to beg for them to take her back. And then she undergoes a 180 degree personality makeover, and somehow becomes this brave courageous young woman etc. in a matter of seconds. It's like a whooole new book. On the island, she becomes aware that there are two tribes who run the island, all competing to own the most 'sectors' of the island. Oh yeah, the island is divided into factions, reminiscent of the ones in Hunger Games. Originality descends down to -2.
She is taken up by the less atrocious tribe, but her fellow test flunker, David, is taken up by the more atrocious clan. And they tottle off into the new society. Alenna learns and adapts to her new society, whilst having boys make moves on her and her new friend going 'omg you're so pretty, all these guys are gonna hit on you!'. What a treat to read. Anyway, she falls for the leader of the hunters (at least she has standards) and somehow, he does too. And then they all randomly decide to go on a mission to find a way to leave the island. Meanwhile, David keeps running back to her and trying to save her life, because he's got the case of die-for-everyone-I-don't-know.
There was one cute scene. Alenna was a musical girl, so the guy she falls for, Liam, makes her a guitar out of wood and some random string. She tweaks if a few times then hides it in leaves. End scene.
The story progresses as she and fellow hunters try to make their way into this segment of the island where planes have been seen. They see it as their escape route etc. Along the way, they get hunted by 'feelers', these giant hovers with tentacles that come down and grab at them. If you're having trouble envisioning this, they're the crafts that grab people from the ground in the Hunger Games. Yeee, I'm gonna put originality down to -3.
Sometime during the novel, in a MASSSSIVE 'TWIST', she finds out the 'aptitude' test all the 16 year olds take isn't to detect criminal behavior, but to pick out the people who show resistance to government brainwash drugs. It was so predictable. And it was funny because that's exactly what Divergent's test does too.
As you can see, I failed to find creativity in this book. What also frustrates me is that at the back of the book, there's this droplet of blood kind of thing with the words 'If you love HUNGER GAMES, read this!'. Urgh. (Yes, I fell for it.) It was not like the Hunger Games at all - spare the similarity in mechanics. Hunger Games is like, up there. And Forsaken cannot even be measured on the same scale.
Alenna had no character growth or development. She is the same contradictory girl throughout the entire novel. At the start, she's all 'omg I don't belong here, the government is an asshole', and then when she becomes 'Forsaken' she's all 'How could the government do this to me?!'. She is deemed 'brave' by her fellow savages simply for helping them clean their campsite after it is totally trashed. Don't you just hate that? When a character or someone gets praised simply for not being a spoilt pussy. Alenna also keeps saying the same things about Liam. We get like, one description of his appearance when he first appears, but after that, its all 'I felt so strangely attracted to him', 'There was something about him' 'My heart literally skipped a beat!' , 'I could not tell what is was about him that drew me to him' etc. Please, spare me the grotesquely intricate details.
The dystopia in this novel isn't anything we haven't seen before. The government is predictably greedy, the civillians are predictably dumb, the Forsaken are predictably sooooooo effing cool and strong. When you look at other successful dystopian novels, you can see that although they deal with the same central issue, they're all different. Their governments rule differently, the 'Prole' rebellion is different, they put something new on the plate to create a page turner. This book just inserted the template of your typical run down society and then rushes to put in the action sequences and adventures.
In fact, I don't even know this tyranny well enough to even feel distaste towards them. Nothing is explained or delved into. I just know that apparently, they're big and they're bad. We are given short, succinct statements and assumed to have accepted it all whole-heartedly. The author needs to make us see and feel for ourselves instead of just saying 'The government is mean. THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS!'
Alenna says on the last page: 'This is only the beginning.' There's going to be a sequel. Spare me!
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