Taken by Erin Bowman

Series: Taken Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: mystery, post-apocalyptic, love, experiments, survival

Setting: Claysoot and part of was was once the USA, now called AmEast and AmWest

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Gray Weathersby

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 360 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and now in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?”

My Review:  Taken surprised me. Though, I kind of predicted what was going on the Claysoot. It wasn’t aliens like I hoped, but more like something from Maze Runner. Fans of Divergent, Maze Runner or the Gone series by Michael will love this. The story is from the first person POV of a boy, and it’s believable. When Grey’s brother is Heisted on his 18^th birthday, Grey starts to question the town he lives in. He and Emma go over the wall and find out about the world beyond it.

 This book starts out as a mystery, and ends as an action packed dystopian thriller with adventure and romance. Gray meets another girl outside the wall named Bree. Bree’s from a place like Claysoot and she’s very strong willed like Gray. There’s a bit of a love triangle. I do like Gray as a narrator. He wasn’t mean or too perfect. He had his flaws, but he was pretty much a dependable character.

The plot is really interesting. It’s hard to review this book since I could end up spoiling the whole story, but there were some things that were pretty obvious right away. The people of Claysoot don’t have technologies we have today, and the Heist was described as a bright like descending with a lot of wind. Since it’s not a UFO, I was sure it was a helicopter. It’s pretty obvious how the boys are being taken. What’s amazing is what’s going on beyond just Claysoot. The world building in interesting. Similar to other dystopian books, yet a unique idea. I still wish we knew what state Claysoot was. I guessed Colorado or Utah, or even Virginia.

This story was pretty and epic and I can’t wait to read Frozen. I downloaded the novella Stolen and am going to read that next. I waited a whole year to read this book. I actually met Erin Bowman last year and got my copy signed. I recommend this to fans of: Maze Runner, Gone, Divergent, Under the Never Sky, Shatter Me and The Hunger Games.

Cover Art Review: I love the colors used in the cover. The type on the spine is amazing. I love it.