Elitist Book Reviews

So two award-winning journalists decide to try their hand at the current craze of YA dystopian/post-apocalypse novels. But WASTELAND is what happens when non-fiction writers think that writing a coherent, engaging, and imaginative YA novel is not so hard. Throw in a controversial situation, maybe some race-themed antagonism, a couple of clever adjectives for spice, and voila. Easy peasy, right?

They should keep their day jobs.

Esther is our main protagonist. She's fifteen, the prime age for partnering and having a child of her own. But she avoids it, instead ignoring the boys' attentions and skipping out on the mandatory work assignments so she can run off and play with her mutant friend, Skar. In the meantime, the other kids of the town of Prin are barely surviving on the water and meager supplies provided by Levi in trade for their work.

Then one day Caleb arrives in town and everything changes.

Told in an awkward omniscient PoV narrative, our main character Esther must find a way to live in a world that doesn't seem to fit her sensibilities. She easily befriends the outcasts, but runs the risk of becoming outcast herself. Caleb's motivations are more straightforward. Levi, as the villain, is a more complicated creature and it takes time to understand him. Then there's Esther's sister Sarah, her variant friend Skar, her autistic friend Joseph. None of them felt like very deep characters, that the authors were going through the motions of characterization and it felt awkward and forced. Even the romance between the main characters was clumsily written (there's more to say but it would mean spoilers).

We never learn what happened and why everything is all post-apocalyptical--they hint at global warming, but that doesn't explain the mass devastation, since they still search through abandoned areas for supplies, so it must have been recent. Their foraging lifestyle does not make for long-term survival. Also, why does everyone die by the time they're nineteen? Seems like a pretty specific age, but we never learn why. The most important thing we never learn is where the Variants (mutants) come from--they aren't human, so why are they there other than a contrived plot device?

Despite the prose being easy on the eyes, the pace was slow and dull, mostly as a result of a distant omniscient narrative that makes it impossible to really get into the characters' heads. And if you've read enough dystopian YA novels then this book's plot feels predictable, clear to the end.

I have so many questions and no answers. There just wasn't enough meat to this story for me, but then again I'm not the target audience. Nevertheless I'm not going to be passing this book along to my fifteen-year-old daughter. Instead, she'll be reading the PARTIALS series by Dan Wells (EBR review).

Recommended Age: The publicity says 14+ but I would say 17+ because of the sex scene and themes
Language: Nothing
Violence: Torture, teens fighting, some blood, death by fighting and disease
Sex: One brief graphic scene; teenagers must "partner" in order to perpetuate the human race

Find this book here:

WASTELAND

The aliens have arrived.

Now mankind is on the verge of extinction, and Cassie is alone, having lost her family and escaped to the forests outside Dayton, Ohio. She can't trust anyone, even other humans, because she's convinced that some of them work for the aliens.

But Cassie has a purpose beyond simple survival: her five-year-old brother Sam was taken to a camp where he'd supposedly be safe. She wasn't allowed to go with him, but promises she'll find him no matter what.

From the start of THE 5TH WAVE, the author Rick Yancey creates a tone of lingering terror as he builds the setting and Cassie's story with vivid detail. She's camped out in the forest outside of town, but is afraid of lighting a fire and being seen, she sleeps with an M16 and her brother Sam's teddy bear, and has learned that staying away from other people is what will keep her alive.

We learn bit by bit about the waves of destruction: a worldwide EMP, coastal flooding, a plague, and then being hunted by drones. We also learn about how Caseei's life has irrevocably changed from the awkward high school girl she was mere months ago. She's is a great heroine with an engaging voice, who somehow retains her humanity despite the horrors she's faced. We also see Sam's PoV, which, while interesting to see the apocalypse from a child's perspective, he is really only a kid and as a result lacks depth. Then there's Zombie, the third PoV, another high-schooler who is rounded up with other youth and taken to a military training camp to teach the children how to fight back. We learn his tragic backstory and find him endearing by how he can be kind-hearted despite his situation.

Yancey's prose is fantastic, especially compared to most YA novels I've read. The imagery and emotions draw readers into the immediacy of the story. The pacing is excellent despite several flashbacks at the beginning of the book, Yancey handling them quite seamlessly. We're carried along from event to event as Cassie tries to find her brother, as Zombie struggles with boot camp, as Sam attempts to adjust to his new life--and we want to know what's going to happen to these people we've become attached to.

After I finished THE 5TH WAVE I set it aside and thought about it. It was a compelling read with an exciting conclusion and I finished it quickly. But there was something holding me back from giving it a love rating and unfortunately it wasn't a small problem:

The plot is highly contrived.

I'm guessing that the main reason why is because we're limited to human PoVs and therefore we aren't able to learn much about the aliens. Except we do learn a little, like how they've been watching us for thousands of years and know everything about us...so they decide to take over Earth with gimmicky "waves" that don't make much logical sense. The events are random and ineffective methods of destruction, especially considering that the aliens are an advanced race. So what's the point of the waves then? Maybe the aliens have a flair for the dramatic. Heck if I know.

Also, while I'm a girl who digs a love story, Cassie's relationship with Evan was strange and really creepy. The vibe was just off. It was sometimes sweet and at first I liked it, but as things progressed I had a hard time understanding Evan's motivations and Cassie's willingness to put up with his odd behavior. The whole thing felt pointless other than Cassie having a helper to find and save Sam. Again, contrived.

Plot holes galore, an impossible climax, unbelievable aliens, a bizarre love story...it was all too much. Despite compelling characters and excellent prose, too many questions were left unanswered, making the story feel forced and incomplete. Perhaps your teen will like it anyway.

Recommended Age: Similar in tone and reading level to THE HUNGER GAMES, but more violence is on screen, so 13+
Language: A fair amount of all varieties from euphemisms to a handful of the stronger variety
Violence: Teens shooting people, blood, some gore
Sex: Teenage hormones and innuendo, but no scenes

Find this book here:

THE 5TH WAVE

If you like THE 5TH WAVE and want to try some classic (and more logical) alien invasion books try CHILDHOOD'S END (EBR review here) and WAR OF THE WORLDS. They may not have Yancey's finesse with words, but at least they had the right idea.

Many years ago monstrous sun flares changed everything, and humanity was thrust back into the Dark Ages. For the natives of an island in the South Pacific and passengers on a beached cruise ship, they are the last known survivors of the subsequent apocalypse.
THE CROSSING starts out on the idyllic island of Onewere, where the teenage Maryam has been living with other girls who were Chosen from among the native population to live with the Apostles when they reach womanhood. Her whole life she's been taught the Rules, religious teachings that are supposed to protect the people of Onewere from suffering the same fate that destroyed the rest of the world.

Maryam goes to the Holy City anticipating a Blessed life with the Apostles. Instead she finds her older 'sisters' from the island pregnant and unmarried working as servants for the Apostles; most of the natives subdued with a mind-numbing drink called toddy; and the main Apsotle's son using the girls for his own pleasure--willing or not. The horrors don't end there and Maryam begins to fear for her life.

I can tell you with certainty that I'm not the target audience for this series. For the entirety of the book I was disturbed (this coming from a woman who immensely enjoyed I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU) and almost didn't finish it. THE CROSSING is dark and deals with unpleasant themes--in fact I had a hard time seeing it as the YA book it's billed as.

In a strange coincidence, during the week I was reading this book I met a witnesses for one of the Warren Jeffs trials. It was a fascinating conversation. She was open to discussing what it was like to live in a cult-like sect, where men use religion to control women for their own self-gratification. It's disturbing stuff. Certainly being disturbing doesn't mean it's a topic that shouldn't be addressed. From jail Jeffs still directs his minions to perpetuate his teachings, and women and girls continue to stuffer today--this makes the topic absolutely pertinent. So I get what Hager is trying to do and I can imagine that THE CROSSING must have been a hard story to write because of its themes. I just wish Hager could have presented the story with the finesse it deserves, instead of a contrived and clunky mess.

For starters Hager only vaguely explains how the whole thing started. I was able to suspend belief of the situation, but only until it was explained: the white people on the cruise ship set themselves up to the Onewere natives as teachers sent from God to bring the remainder of humanity back from the brink. Then I spent the rest of the book stewing on that, which pretty much ruined the story for me. I don't understand how it could have happened. The natives have their own religion, why would they listen to foreigners on a stranded boat with no way to contact the outside world and prove their situation? Brainwashing doesn't happen overnight.

There are other problems with the writing, in particular the prose itself, which is awkward and stiffly formal, which doesn't make sense considering how it's from the PoV of a sixteen-year-old girl.  The prose is slowed down by heavy-handed metaphors and adjectives--cleaning up those alone would have helped the flow considerably. While the imagery was nice, it went overboard and draws too much attention to the flowery prose and takes away from the story itself.

The plot moves forward well enough (despite some stumbles and circular events) through Maryam's eyes as she witnesses first-hand the hypocrisy of the Apostles and the other whites on the ship. The reality of her situation unfolds and we can feel her horror: how can Apostles who teach from the bible of the Lamb's love and goodness condone such wicked behavior?

Via Maryam we become attached to other characters, such as the Apostle's sick yet good-hearted nephew Joseph, the blind but wise Hushai, the faithful Mother Elizabeth. They are all familiar characters, archetypes really, and shallow in comparison to Maryam. But I admit, I was so stuck on the darkness of the story and the contrivances (i.e., Maryam feels her life is in danger but we never see a guard until the end of the book?) that it was impossible for me to become attached to the characters and the obvious horror of their plight.

THE CROSSING was first published in New Zealand in 2010 and even won awards and accolades. While it's a relevant topic, for me Hager's execution makes it hard to recommend.

Recommended Age: 16+ for themes and drug use
Language: None
Violence: Not much, mostly just a sense of peril
Sex: Teenage pregnancy; on-screen attempted rapes; details of nudity

If you can't get enough of the recent influx of dystopian YA novels, this is for you (I'm not sure I'd recommend it for your kids, though):

THE CROSSING

I don't often read YA, but when I do, I read Dan Wells. His writing is just so accessible to younger and older readers alike. So when he approached me a year ago about reading a draft of his newest novel--a dystopian SF titled PARTIALS--I jumped at the chance.

You read that right. I've been sitting on a draft of this review for a year. For the sake of full disclosure, I am one of Dan's alpha readers. He shoots me his stuff well in advance and asks for my feedback. Honestly? I was worried about it. It's not that the draft wasn't good--it was--it's that for me the difference between PARTIALS being good or excellent hinged on some pretty big concerns for me. The mark of a great author is one who can take feedback and make that story into something everyone should be reading.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of how each of my comments was doubtlessly met with Dan Wells' tears of pure joy. I won't tell you how the inspiration behind my comments made the final version of PARTIALS--the one you should be buying RIGHT NOW--one of the best YA novels I've ever read. No. I'm faaaar too humble for that. Plus I'd be lying. Kinda. Maybe. Not really.

The important thing is that PARTIALS really is one of the best YA novels I've ever read. Why? It would be my pleasure to tell you.

PARTIALS takes place in a future where a deadly virus, RM, has killed off 99% of the world's population. Those that survive are unable to have a child that lives for more than a few days. The "Partials" are created beings that the humans made to fight their wars for them...and then these soldiers rebelled and released the RM virus. It's a bleak world. All human females 18 and older are required to get pregnant and have children with the hope that one of them will be immune and live.

The PoV of the novel is Kira. She is one of 40,000-ish humans alive on the planet (as far as they know). She is also a promising medic and researcher. She takes it upon herself to do what no one has been able to--cure RM. The novel is told in 3rd Person Limited, and Kira is the only PoV. Dan does an amazing job of helping the reader really understand Kira. Her reactions are perfectly believable, as is her youthful enthusiasm in a world with no real hope. The side characters are all fleshed out as well as needed, though I will say it's hard sometimes to remember the ages of them all. My only real complaint is in regards to the adult characters. They all are pretty flat.

PARTIALS is longer than most YA novels, but the pacing just flows along. Remember, I've read this book twice now, and the pacing didn't lag at all upon a second read. In fact, it was even better. Dan throws some twists in that less experienced readers will love, and more experienced readers will enjoy for how well they are executed. The themes of choice, lost youth and freedom are perfectly pitched to the feel of this novel.

And then there is the ending. I loved it. PARTIALS has the perfect mix of success and failure to give a reader the satisfaction they need, and then the need for the sequel.

I don't know what else I can say. PARTIALS more than deserves a spot on your bookshelf, and it would be just criminal to not do your civic duty and buy it.

Plus I have a cameo in it. What else could you want?

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: Very little, and never strong.
Violence: Yeah, but it never is "shock-value" or full of gore. Dan is more of a suspense type of writer than going right for cheap violence.
Sex: Talked about a lot. Remember, all females are required to get pregnant. It's on all their minds. But there are no scenes.

No, seriously. Stop reading the review and buy the book:

PARTIALS

THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, by Patrick Ness, is one of those wonderfully deceiving Young Adult books that reminds us all of the days when there was no such thing. It’s a simple story...in a gritty, continually plot-twisted, thought provoking and emotional thrill-ride kind of way.

I could simply call it a story about a boy and his dog, or boy meets girl, or coming of age...but then I’d have to mention that the dog talks, the girl is seemingly the only one on the planet, and that being a man isn’t exactly something worth envying here.

You see, Todd Hewitt is the last boy in his town on a colonized planet where biological warfare with the alien natives killed all women and caused all men and creatures on the planet to have their thoughts projected out loud in a jumbled “noise”. It’s worse than it sounds, however, because as Todd tells us, "The first thing you find out when your dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say." And when Todd finally discovers the girl, it results in a race for their lives, because there’s more to this world—and Todd’s town—than meets the eye.

I was worried when I first heard of the book. The setting is nothing unique—it’s practically the same old tired European world we see in traditional fantasy, with just a hint of western thrown in (the western aspects were what kept me hopeful). The concept doesn’t sound too complicated (so thoughts aren’t private. Meh.) The main character is a young boy with a dog...nothing really new there either (I've read enough variations of 'Old Yeller', thank you). But from the very first line I was hooked. What really makes this story (the first in a series) fly, is the writing. Ness not only maintains the mystery, the conflict, the emotion, the world concepts, and the narrative voice here, he amplifies it. I can’t count the number of times I shouted out, mid-read, “that could not have just happened.”

Then there’s the depth of the concepts. The ideas of what makes a man, morality of thought, violence, and gender differences are all raked through the coals. It could have been easy--especially in yet another young adult offering--to simply let the concepts become a splash of paint on the backdrop . . . but THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO is meant to provoke you.

Even the flaws--valid though they are--can be offset. The novel isn’t a satisfactory stand alone but ends in a cliffhanger, but that’s made moot by the fact that all three novels of the Chaos Walking trilogy are all out in print. The first person present tense that usually runs rampant in YA (often a crutch to help poor writers have an easy way to share character emotion and help readers have empathy with characters) is used to its full and proper effect. Instead of the character “confiding” in his emotions, we can feel them because of the writing, not the tense--and the emotions are deep and powerful here as well. Then there’s the young adult direction of the book, which is reminiscent of Reeve’s Hungry City Chronicles. But while some revelations are revealed later than they could be, and the character's are a bit naive, Young Adult is really just a label here. It's even a more adult read than Reeve’s works. Characters in this book kill (and brutally too), but in a way that invites young adults to the adult world of literature. Conceptually, it isn't as grim as The Hunger Games, but it comes off as far more gritty due to the depth of character and emotion--which ultimately leads to a more powerful read.

While everyone loves a good fantasy, epic, gritty, or otherwise, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO reads like a modern SF/Fantasy CATCHER IN THE RYE, or THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN which only enhances its flavor. No, it isn’t epic in its fullest sense. There’s only the single POV (in this first book, anyway), and the conflicts aren’t global (again, in this first book, anyway), but there’s a more personal, intimate connection for the reader here.

If you want something different as well as something enjoyable, as only the SF/Fantasy Elite do on occasion--and you can handle the smallest hint of YA--give it a try. It’s good to see that Young Adult isn’t just full of Harry Potter or Twilight retread, but can still give something along the lines of Fahrenheit 451 or Lord of the Flies (The closest thing to Young Adult some of us older Elitists got).

Recommended Age: 14 and up.
Language: Hells, Damns and occasional references to female dogs. Many “I didn’t say fudge” moments, though.
Violence: Yes. Murder and beatings—though it’s tense, it isn’t graphic.
Sex: A tiny bit of innuendo—thoughts are public knowledge, after all.

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series has created a buzz in the Young Adult world. Her version of a future American dystopia is grim and disturbing. And compelling. The final novel, MOCKINGJAY, was released in August with great anticipation...but was it worth getting all worked up about?

The series begins with THE HUNGER GAMES, an exciting, brutal, and clever story. The setting is well done and artfully displays a society that's rotting from both ends. HUNGER GAMES explores the themes of an influential propaganda machine and an extravagant Capital at the expense of the people, then takes it the next frightening step.

The second novel, CATCHING FIRE, is the weakest in the series because not only is it a rehash of THE HUNGER GAMES, the entire first half is a distanced narrative that doesn't advance characterization and only minimally advances plot. It was as though Collins wanted to get the start out of the way so she could set up even more over-the-top Games for this round (which, I have to admit, were decidedly clever, the new characters interesting), and set up the events for the final novel.

In the third installment, MOCKINGJAY, the aftermath of the 75th games can now finally resolve book two's cliffhanger ending. District 13, the name the rebellion has given itself, has taken over the former District's underground bunker and created a new life for Panem's refugees--one that's startlingly similar to the Capital in it strictness and control. District 13's leader, President Coin, wants to use Katniss Everdeen as the face of the revolution, call her the Mockingjay (a reference to the Capital's past failed manipulations), and use the rebels' own propaganda to garner support from the other districts. If they succeed in taking the other Districts, then they plan to invade the Capital itself. But will Panem only be trading one tyranny for another?

MOCKINGJAY expands the themes from the first two novels: Is war the best way to resolve conflict? Is revenge justifiable? Is controlling people ever reasonable? Collins succeeds in building on the the setting as she explores District 13 and its own distinct culture, and creates a world we'd be afraid to live in--a world frighteningly similar to the Games itself. Katniss must deal with Peeta's imprisonment by the Capital, Gale's romantic frustrations, and decide whether being the Mockingjay is the right thing to do. She has a hard road ahead of her.

Collins is consistent with Katniss' character, her first-person present tense PoV clean, straightforward, and engaging. Katniss starts out the series strong and capable, if cynical; but when we reach MOCKINGJAY, instead of growing as a character, she stagnates. This is supposed to be a coming-of-age story and instead of growing into a woman she continues being a whiny and indecisive teenager who, despite a few bursts of independence, gives up. The only thing she's truly decisive about is her desire to kill President Snow, but at the same time is ambivalent about the war. It doesn't help, either, that she spends half the novel in the hospital or recuperating from injury, which was too much downtime. Katniss has spent her life taking care of her family in the absence of her father and has even survived the Hunger Games twice, so she's earned the right to claim her adulthood--but instead fails to take the next crucial step. This alone will disappoint readers. But wait, there's more.

The story starts out fine enough, but it progresses slowly with spurts of action. By the end the rebellion contradicts its goals, the battle's high body count has no clear purpose, the PoV character Katniss doesn't witness the climax, and then at the end there's ambiguity as to what life will be like for Panem after the war. "But," you say, "Collins is showing us how the powerful will control and hurt innocents to get what they want. And Katniss' ineffectiveness is simply a result of their control!" My reply: Collins' points could have come across just as well with a clearer resolution and more complete character arc. However, Collins is true to her story, and as a result the characters don't emerge unscathed--for a story like this it's difficult to have other than a bittersweet ending. This hard reality may leave readers ambivalent about how Collins chooses to end MOCKINGJAY.

If you haven't read the series, perhaps you're wondering if all three are worth reading. The up-side is that the novels are short so it's not a huge time commitment to read all three. If you have teenagers, they'll likely want to want to read the series, and you'll need to know how to discuss its disturbing themes with them. But beyond that, what do I really think? Only read THE HUNGER GAMES and call it good enough.

Recommended Age: 12 and up, or older depending on your kids, due to themes and violence.
Language: None.
Violence: Quite a bit, actually, for a YA novel. While most of it does happen off-screen, it's still disturbing and frequent for its target audience.
Sex: Katniss is frustratingly oblivious to romantic overtures. There's kissing, falsely implied intimacy, and references to sexual abuse.

James Dashner's THE MAZE RUNNER has garnered a lot of attention since it's release. It is a novel filled with really cool and unique ideas, so on that end, its attention is completely understandable.

The plot centers around a group of amnesiac teenagers, stuck together in a foreign, hostile, and deadly maze, where bizarre creatures roam. These creatures are called Grievers, and they hunt the Gladers--as the kids call themselves--while the walls of the Maze are constantly changing. They are in marginal contact with their "captors" who send them supplies and new kids. However, the schedule of "one new kid a month" is broken the day after the main character Thomas arrives, when Teresa, the first girl Glader ever arrives with a message that "Everything is going to change." We should mention hate this over-used phrase.

We both froth at the mouth for a good dystopian story, go into convulsions for a post-apocalyptic story, and one of Nick's favorite topics is social experimentation. With all of that going for it, you would think this good would be a shoo-in for a recommendation for us, right?

Uh...hesitantly so. Kinda. The first conclusion that we both came to after reading the book, was that it was a fantastic book, completely entertaining, and ridiculously annoying. It's probably the most irritating good book we have read.

The first thing to mention about our irritation is that it has all the bad parts of the TV show Lost, and the irritation of WoT. None of the characters will communicate! We think it is cheating to fake adversity because the characters act like idiots, when it behooves them not to. Maybe we give too much credit to humanity, but when there is a problem to be solved, usually people will, at least eventually, come together to solve it. While the Gladers do cooperate to create a kind of Lord of the Flies hierarchy and governance so that they can survive, they don't cooperate when it matters most.

It seems like Dashner just included zero communication simply for the sake of adding conflict. So many times it made sense for the characters to talk to each other, but instead nearly all of the dialog devolves into "You're so dumb for asking that question. We aren't going to explain anything to you because you're a newbie. We get really upset and irritated when you ask questions, but we sure aren't going to answer them so you will stop asking. We'd prefer that you just keep asking us questions so we can call you names and stay in this awesome Maze forever. Let's go eat, so you can ask me more questions that we won't answer so we can call you more names, that you don't understand, because we won't answer your questions."

OK...we exaggerate...barely. Some quotes from the book:

"Why do you come in here asking stupid questions? It's really annoying." No, Dashner, what is annoying is your way of avoiding having to answer questions.

"Thomas wanted to scream. He knew he had a lot to learn. That's why he was asking questions." We wanted to scream too.

Another thing that bugged us, more than just a little bit, were the logical inconsistencies in the book. Yeah, we know it is a YA book, and perhaps our expectations were a bit too high. Admittedly, when we read a book like this we want our minds blown, not mildly stirred.

Example? For over TWO YEARS the Gladers were mucking about in the Maze, and they couldn't figure it out until Thomas and Teresa came to the Glade. The solution was obvious from close to the beginning, and we both were hoping it would be something a bit more inventive. It wasn't, which made us mad because we couldn't believe it never occurred to the characters to try it.

Then there is the fact that if the characters get stung by a Griever, if they get back to the Glade in time, they are given Grief Serum which briefly, and violently restores some of their memories. But if they talk about them, something happens they wind up doing crazy stuff like trying to kill themselves. Well a certain character (we don't want to spoil it) gets stung, gets the Serum, and then proceeds to disobey all the rules Dashner has set on how characters react to this...with no repercussions.

So yeah. Logic holes. They bother us.

Also...the book hamstrings itself. The aforementioned problems keep the throttle in idle instead of letting it roar, and the ending happens a few chapters too early, making the climax actually pretty boring.

We guess we should throw in a mention of what we actually thought of the characters themselves. Honestly, it was somewhat hard for us to care about them. Dashner's focus on denying information to both the characters and the reader was 100% successful, but had the side effect of denying us a connection to them. When any of them died, it was with no drama, for us, whatsoever. We didn't care at all what happened to any of them. Even when a certain character dies that was supposed to be a big deal...well, it just wasn't.

OK, that's a lot of negative...and normally would be enough for us to put the book down. However, it was a short read. Just a couple hours, which helped it out immensely. We both, despite the irritation, liked the book. When we talked about it, it was much harder to define why we liked it than why we didn't but we kept coming back to the conclusion that we did enjoy it. How's that for vague?

Perhaps it was the fact that it truly was an attempt at something very unique. Yes it took things that have been done, but blended them into this cross-genre tale. If you took ENDER'S GAME and LORD OF THE FLIES, and smashed them together, you would get something a lot like this. Which, is more than just one point in the win column.

We suppose our final conclusion is that if you like to read YA a lot, and you can forgive the lack of communication in the novel, you should give this book a try. If you like dystopian stories, then you will find something to enjoy here.


Recommended Age: 13 and up.
Language: Well it is obvious that Dashner wanted some vulgarity in the dialog, but he replaces all the words with something else. We know what he is saying, but it doesn't actually swear at all.
Violence: There are a few scenes but it is really tame.
Sex: None. At all.