Exodus

title: Exodus
author: Julie Bertagna
how I read it: I borrowed this one three times from the public library

In the year 2099, the polar icecaps have melted and most of the world is underwater. 15-year-old Mara and her small village cling to a life of subsistence farming on Wing, an island in the North Atlantic that gets smaller every year. Finally, caught in a terrifying storm that seems to be eating up their island altogether, they set off into the ocean on small boats, with no guarantee that they will ever find anywhere to land.

The characters in this book are strong, realistic and likeable, but Bertagna doesn't pull any punches. Bad things sometimes happen to good people in this book, the way that they do in wars and environmental disasters. Bertagna researched refugee camps when writing this book, and this really comes through during some of the scenes. I could feel the hopelessness, hunger, fear, frustration and sheer boredom during the part of the book that drew on this research.

This is a truly remarkable book of courage, loss and perseverence. The fact that I read it three times (and would happily read it again) is testament to the quality of both story-telling and writing. Honestly, I don't feel that this book has gotten anywhere near the attention that it deserves. I've never met anyone who's read it, unless it's been on my recommendation. I don't understand what makes one book a bestseller while another equally good book - like Exodus - remains relatively unknown. If any young adult fiction belongs on a best-seller list, then this one should be right up there with the best of them.

This book made me want to: become a better swimmer.

Verdict: Truly beautiful book that I think should be on everyone's "must-read" list.

Sequels: Zenith (available) and Aurora (not yet finished). Exodus can be read as a standalone novel - no cliffhangers, although the ending is both open and bittersweet.

The House of the Scorpion

title: The House of the Scorpion
author: Nancy Farmer
how I read it: in book form, about six times in three different houses – my copy is much-loved, complete with dog ears and chocolate stains.

Clones, opium, betrayal, love, power, slavery...and did I mention clones? Farmer’s tells the story of Matt, a young clone – dehumanized, isolated – and his growing understanding of the world and his role within it. When Matt is a child, locked in a small shack in the middle of vast opium fields, he is discovered by three other children. Matt has never played with other children. He has no mother, father or siblings. His only companion is Celia, who loves him dearly, cares for him, and keeps him hidden during the day while she is away. Matt’s introduction to the wider world is anything but kind, but he must learn to be strong in order to survive.

This is one of my all-time favourite books. You’d think that I’d know it by heart after six or seven reads, but it still surprises and shocks me every single time. It’s a dark, depressing story in many ways, but – as with any good story – there are still glimmers of hope.

Matt is a captivating main character. He is in turn naive and shrewd; kind and cruel; young and wise. I spent most of the book wanting to gather him in my arms, whether he was a small child or an adolescent. Farmer wrote in such a way that six-year-old Matt is a true six-year-old. The vocabulary and voice grow and change along with Matt. This growth was very well-executed and made the story all the more compelling. The suspense builds from the beginning of the book and doesn’t let up.

The future that Farmer has created is dark and frightening. It doesn’t seem all that implausible that some day land controlled by druglords might claim independence from other nations. It doesn’t seem all that impossible that the strong would find a way to enslave the weak using the most horrific form of mind control. It doesn’t seem unbelievable that someday the rich and immoral would twist technological advances to better their own lives at the expense of others.

This book brings up a lot of questions. Which is stronger, nature or nurture? How do we define right and wrong? Is it possible to atone for evil that we’ve done in the past? What makes a person a person? How do we balance ethics with rapid technological advances? How can we stand up for what we believe to be right when the rest of the world disagrees with us?

Oh, my brain hurts.

This book made me want to: read it again. And also say no to drugs.

Verdict: one of the best books that I’ve ever read...and I’ve read a lot of books.

Sequels: nada. This is the second standalone book that I’ve reviewed in a row. What a shocker!

Delirium

title: Delirium
author: Lauren Oliver
how I read it: epub from the public library

Amor Deliria Nervosa: the disease of love. People are horrified by the mere thought of contracting this deadly disease. Luckily for them, there is a cure. In the not-so-distant future, there is a solution to this dangerous illness: eliminate love and emotion with a simple brain surgery that marks the passage from childhood to adulthood.

Lena is months away from her 18th birthday and is nervously awaiting the tests that will match her to a job, a mate and a life before undergoing her procedure. Of course, a lot can happen in 95 days...

In Delirium, Lauren Oliver succeeded in creating a dystopian society in which people’s sense of identity and personal power are completely eroded. The heavy-handed control described in the book was suffocating and reminiscent of some of the classic dystopian fiction like 1984.

This is not an action-filled book. Although there are some suspenseful scenes, the book in general is very slow-paced. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Despite its slow pace, I found myself riveted to this book, turning page after page (well, more like tapping the screen time after time, but you know what I mean.)

Young adult fiction generally has love and identity as central themes. This book is no different. While I do like romance, I prefer that love be peripheral to a larger story. This book had a very different approach; love was the story, with the larger political and social themes peripheral to Lena's emotions.

This might make sense in light of the fact that this is a book aimed at teens, and I remember well how all-encompassing teenage love can be. But as a reader, I found myself far more intrigued by what, exactly, might have led to this dystopian society and less interested in whether Lena and Alex would live happily ever after. That said, I do want to give Lauren Oliver a quick shout-out for bucking conventions and not creating a heartbreaking love triangle for her characters!

As seems to be a growing trend with teen science fiction and dystopian fiction, this book ends on a cliffhanger. I know that I’ve mentioned this before, but quite frankly, I find this trend tiresome. I am reading books. I am not watching serial television shows. If your writing and your story are compelling enough, then I will read the next book in the series. It’s fine to leave an ending open, with an obvious sequel to follow, but I still expect some closure at the end of a book. This book has more closure than some that I've reviewed, but still disappointed me a bit with the "tune in to see what happens next" ending.

That said, I will tune in for the next one.

This book made me want to: Dance.

Verdict: I'm still a bit indecisive. I think it was a really lovely book...but I'm not adding it to my list of all-time favourites. If you're a person who loves romance above all else, I think that you'll really enjoy this one.

Sequels: upcoming - Pandemonium and Requiem. Lauren Oliver held a contest and had blog commenters suggest titles for the last two books in the trilogy. I thought that was kind of cool!

Feed

title: Feed
author: M.T. Anderson
how I read it: printed book from the public library (first time), audiobook read by David Aaron Baker (second time)

Imagine pop-up ads drowning out your own thoughts. Imagine instant messaging your friends from inside your mind. Imagine being tracked, followed, targeted by advertisers without being able to turn off the ads. Imagine living your life to a neverending soundtrack of mindless TV soaps and inane pop music that is always on. Inside your brain.

Are you shuddering yet?

Now imagine that the vast majority of people willingly have chips ("feeds") implanted so that they can live in this constant stream of noise, ads, apps and useless information. On purpose.

From the first line of Feed ("We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."), M.T. Anderson crafts a world that is coloured by disconnection, boredom, mindless consumerism, corporate branding, conformity, environmental degradation and utter indifference. Titus and his friends jump from activity to party to purchase, always looking for something that will hold their attention. When Titus meets Violet, a girl who wants to fight the feed, his world is turned upside down. Feed is a brilliant satire and social commentary that tackles some frighteningly real and timely issues.

I'm going to make a confession here: the first time that I read Feed, I thought that it was an okay book. I enjoyed it, but I don't think that I fully appreciated it until I listened to David Aaron Baker read it aloud.

Audiobooks force me to slow down and think about every word. Whereas in a print book it's not unusual for me to skim over long descriptions or flip back and forth to re-read favourite parts, in an audiobook I give up control. The reader controls the pace, the emphasis and the tone. David Aaron Baker's reading left me reeling. His voice, his inflections, his expression brought that book to life for me in a way that my own internal voice could not. He is masterful at voicing the book's different characters. And the advertising, jingles, songs and clips that punctuate the audiobook? Brilliant!

Until I listened to this book read for me, I hadn't realized just how funny it was. I was also able to more deeply appreciate Anderson's ability to "show not tell". Anderson doesn't tell me what life is like in Feed's world. Instead, he slowly reveals how people live, sentence by sentence and page by page. His is a rare gift.

The language and author voice in this book are very strong. Invented slang sometimes falls flat in fiction; that is not the case in Feed. The slang used in this book is believable and helps to further flesh out a world in which language and vocabulary are no longer terribly important. I was struck in particular by scenes with parents and doctors, with these educated adults struggling to express themselves as they stumble over "like"s, "so"s and "dude"s.

While I did empathize with the two main characters, the supporting characters are neither terribly likeable nor relateable. They are shallow, frivolous and ultimately interchangeable. While in another book this might be a flaw, in this book it worked perfectly. These kids live in a bleak and disconnected world; this was made all the more powerful by the fact that I didn't really care about many of them.

Feed is a frightening book, in large part because it paints a future that doesn't seem all that implausible.

This book made me want to: Turn off my computer and have a conversation with a real live person.

Verdict: Read this. No, listen to it. David Aaron Baker is a phenomenal reader and his voice combined with Anderson's words will leave you reeling.

Sequels: None! A stand-alone young adult dystopian novel? Is that even allowed?

The Knife of Never Letting Go

title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
author: Patrick Ness
how I read it: epub from the public library

Young Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown, a small settlement on New World. He was born there, and he knows nothing other than the world he lives in: a world where a Noise germ has infected people so that animals can speak and men hear each others' every thought. Todd is a lonely boy on the brink of manhood in a mysterious and aggressive village.

(Please don't be dissuaded by the talking animals. These animals "talk" the way that real animals might, words and pictures about whatever it is that they happen to be doing. Imagine a predator breathing "flesh" and "teeth" and "eat" while it watches you from beneath the water. These are not the whimsical talking animals found far too often in children's picture books.)

I will tell you no more than this. I started reading this book knowing nothing about it, and I'm convinced that it's best to go into this book with very little prior knowledge. As Todd learned more about his world, I learned alongside him; I believe that this made the book even more intriguing and fascinating. While many of the mysteries were really not all that surprising to me once they were revealed, I was still engaged and invested in Todd's sense of shock at all that he learned.

The author made some stylistic choices that I didn't love at first. I'm not a huge fan of books written in dialect, and although I was able to stop noticing the "yer"s and "tho"s after the first chapter, words like "attenshun" grated on me each time I read them. Maybe it's my own accent - but I really don't see that "attenshun" sounds all that different from "attention".

Still, other stylistic choices worked extremely well. This story is told in the first person, and Todd's voice is very strong. He is uneducated, innocent, stubborn, far less sure than he claims to be and utterly, utterly believable. The run-on sentences read like well-constructed streams of consciousness when Todd is confused or frightened. The cut-off sentences during action sequences added to the tension and suspense; I found myself breathless, my eyes skipping over each cut-off line to find out what would happen.

Overall, this is a fantastic book. It is very well-paced and the author is a gifted wordsmith. The story is original and thought-provoking. The themes that this book grapples with are huge: gender politics, individualism, privacy, religious fundamentalism, the atrocities of war. At its heart, this book is a strong and true coming of age story, with likable characters and an exciting plot that keeps you guessing.

Unfortunately, the last few pages of this book soured my reading experience a bit. Like many other young adult science fiction books, this book is the first installment in a trilogy (Chaos Walking Trilogy). While I am thrilled to know that there are two more books waiting for me, that doesn't lessen my disappointment in the utter lack of closure at the end of this book. The book doesn't end. It stops suddenly on a cliffhanger, one of my pet peeves in young adult speculative fiction. As I've mentioned before, I like to decide for myself to read a sequel, not feel manipulated by a story that doesn't even hint at an end. And to be honest, this ending felt a bit like a new TV series that ends on a cliffhanger in hopes that the series will be picked up for another year.

That said, I will absolutely read the next book. I became very emotionally invested in this book. My heart pounded at the scary parts, I laughed out loud a few times, and I actually cried - a true rarity for me. I have to find out what's going to happen to Todd and his friend!

This book made me want to: hug my dog. And my Mom.

Verdict: Original and compelling story. Had it ended, I would have said that I highly recommend this book to any and all. As it stands, I recommend it, but only after making clear my disappointment with the lack of closure.

Sequels: The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men

The Hunger Games

title: The Hunger Games
author: Suzanne Collins
how I read it: book that I bought

Imagine a distant future where 24 young teens are sent to fight to the death every year. The Hunger Games - designed to control the provinces of Panem by reminding them that rebellion is futile - pits kid against kid with only two possible results: death for 23, glory and riches for one.

Katniss Everdeen is a survivor. She grew up in poverty and hunger, providing for her mother and younger sister by illegally hunting in the woods outside District 12, a punishable offense. When she is chosen for the Games, she is whisked away from her family and dumped in the capital, a bewildering world of excess and media frenzy, before being sent to kill - or die - in the Games.

While the whole "force kids to kill each other to quell rebellion" strategy is iffy at best, the story itself is beyond compelling and it's very easy to just accept it at face value. Katniss is a strong, interesting, flawed character who changes and grows throughout the book. Sometimes you just want to shake her because she doesn't "get" things, but that somehow makes her all the more likeable. I found myself rooting for Katniss; I wanted her to survive, win, live. Other characters in the book are equally interesting and three-dimensional. I liked both Peeta and Gale, even if they did form two corners of the obligatory which-boy-should-I-pick love triangle that every teen fantasy or science fiction seems to have. And Rue - tiny, strong, tragic Rue - how could anyone not want to gather her up in their arms?

The idea behind The Hunger Games is not new. There are hints of Stephen King's The Running Man and The Long Walk, Koushun Takami's Battle Royale, Mad Max and a whole lot of reality TV. The nod to reality TV may have been the most fascinating part of this book for me. Reading about soon-to-be-dead kids being primped and prettied for the camera made me squirm a little bit. OK, this is different from Survivor or Big Brother - no one dies on those shows, after all - but there's this sense of voyeurism in the book that has uncomfortable parallels to the reality television that is so popular today.

The Games themselves are filled with harrowing and suspenseful scenes that stayed with me long after I read the book. After turning the last page, I honestly felt as though the words "brutal" and "violent" were created solely to define this book. You will find that some of its bloody, graphic scenes will be etched upon your brain. While I know that there's an inevitable movie version in the making, I stopped several times while reading to think "I hope that they never turn this into a movie". Kid-on-kid violence and murder would be really hard for me to stomach. I can only hope that the film won't be as graphic as the book.

This book made me want to: turn off America's Next Top Model and practice climbing trees

Verdict: Loved. It. One of the most compelling can't-put-it-down books that I've read in a very long time.

Sequels: Catching Fire, Mockingjay