The Burnouts by Lex Thomas

Series: Quarantine (bk. 3)

Genera: Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: survival, gangs, cliques, high school, quarantines, viruses, diseases

Setting: Pale Ridge, Colorado, inside a high school building

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV: David, Lucy and Will

Age/Grade Level: Teens 15+

Length: 264 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Egmont

Summary/ product description: “Lord of the Flies in a 21st-century high school setting.Welcome to Quarantine 3: The Burnouts , where readers of The Maze Runner, Gone, and Divergent go when they're hungry for more dark, compelling survival stories.

When an explosion rocks David and Will's suburban high school one morning, a deadly virus is unleashed on the school. After a year of quarantine, with no adults around, the students have created their own society. All of the social cliques have developed into gangs-The Nerds, The Geeks, The Freaks, The Sluts, The Skaters, The Burnouts, The Pretty Ones, and The Varsity-and each gang provides a service with which they can barter for provisions. Without a gang, it's almost impossible to secure food, water, territory, or supplies. In the final installment in the Quarantine trilogy, the brothers are reunited on the Outside and it appears as if, for once everything is going right. But inside the school, Lucy is alone with no gang and no hope, until the Burnouts welcome her into their filthy arms.”

My Review:  The finale book in the Quarantine trilogy, The Burnouts makes for a thrilling dramatic and sometimes horrifying conclusion to this dystopia series. I enjoyed it even when I was disgusted by it. It’s been a gruesome and gritty ride and I doubt I’ll even read another series quite like it. It’s so fast paced/page tuner. It’s realistic and horribly so.

At the end of the previous book, we find out the David is still alive. Will has graduated and the virus has left his body. Lucy is still stuck inside the school, still infected. She used to be part of the Loners, and then part of the Sluts, and now she’s nothing. She feels so alone that she ends up joining the Burnout and getting high on gasoline. Will and David heard there’s a cure to the virus, but decided to go back into McKinley to get Lucy out of there. They’ve got gas masks on and the virus can kill them.

I don’t want to spoil how this final book ends, so I won’t give away the plot. We do get to see what’s going on out side the school and how the country is handling it. I will say that it’s everything you’d expect and want in a conclusion from the series. There are twist and death and character that act psycho. There’s disgusting descriptions that’s make you puke a little if you actually try to picture what’s being described. It’s the kind of situation that you wouldn’t want to be it, but yet sound cool. The different gangs/cliques are almost like factions.

If you haven’t read this series yet, you might like this series if you enjoyed: No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz, Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne (Also set in Colorado like this book), Variant and Feedback by Robison Wells, Maze Runner by James Dashner, the Gone series by Michael Grant, Divergent by Veronica Roth, or The Hunger Games series. It’s also like Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale, too. Dystopian fiction in general, you should read this.

Cover Art Review: That pool is so gross. Ew. Fits the series, though.

The Saints by Lex Thomas

Series: Quarantine (bk. 2)

Genera: Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: survival, gangs, cliques, high school, quarantines, viruses, diseases

Age/Grade Level: Teens 15+

Length: 384 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Egmont

Summary/ product description: “A cross between the Gone series and Lord of the Flies, Quarantine #2: The Saints continues this frenetically paced and scary young adult series that illustrates just how deadly high school can be.
Nothing was worse than being locked in—until they opened the door...
McKinley High has been a battle ground for eighteen months since a virus outbreak led to a military quarantine of the school. When the doors finally open, Will and Lucy will think their nightmare is finished. But they are gravely mistaken.
As a new group of teens enters the school and gains popularity, Will and Lucy join new gangs. An epic party on the quad full of real food and drinks, where kids hookup and actually interact with members of other gangs seemed to signal a new, easier existence. Soon after though, the world inside McKinley takes a startling turn for the worse, and Will and Lucy will have to fight harder than ever to survive.
The Saints brings readers back to the dark and deadly halls of McKinley High and the QUARANTINE series.”

My Review: Like many people, I forgot what happened at the end of the Loners, and I forgot who Will and Lucy were, but I remembered pretty quickly because thankfully the author reminds us. David, the main character in the 1^st book, isn’t in this book, but his younger brother Will is. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this book as much as I did.. I was also suffering from a book-hangover (It took me a few days to decide what to read next! I choose this). Thankfully there was enough action and humor to make me enjoy what I was reading.

There is a lot of gruesome stuff in this book, and a lot of profanities. The 1^st book too. Lot os of swearing, and lots of sex talk, so I would recommend it to teens under 15. There’s a lot of nightmarish stuff in here. It’s all very realistic and horrifying. Very fast paced and interesting. It’s scary good. I love survival stories, and this one was different. In the last book we found out about the different gangs based off of cliques, and they style and dye their hair the same way. Since it’s a quarantine inside a high school with only teens left alive, it’s very appropriate.

It you forgot what the gangs were called, I’ll remind you. The Loners (Will and Lucy were in this gang, white hair), Varsity (jocks, yellow hair), The Pretty Ones (Lucy used to be in this gang, yellow hair), the Sluts (red hair), Freaks (blue hair), Skater (shaved, Mohawks, black hair), Nerds (black hair), Geeks (multi-colored hair), and Burnouts (gray hair? Not sure). This books we welcome a new gang, the Saints, because they come from a private school.

The Saints is led by this guy named Gates, who I think might be bi-polar, ADHD and maybe schizophrenic. He’s pretty manic, but not in the manipulative psychopath way. More in the crazy idea-guy kind of way. Also, he’s a party animal, and used to be a rich kid. (He’s not like Caine from Gone.) He and the Saints live on the bus he crashed into the school. Will helps him out.

I really enjoyed some of the funny parts, especially dialogue. There’s so crazy stuff that Gates did that cracked me up. And Will went along with it. Also, Lucy going through Naked Week. It sounded like a Sorority hazing. Lucy becomes really kick-butt after joining the Sluts. The authors do a really good job of portraying her.

This series is a unique dystopia overall, but similar to others. You might like this series if you enjoyed: No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz, Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne (Also set in Colorado like this book), Variant and Feedback by Robison Wells, the Gone series by Michael Grant, Divergent by Veronica Roth, or The Hunger Games series. It’s also like Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale, too. Dystopian fiction in general, you should read this.

Cover Art Review: Another book with a bus on the cover! Monument 14’s sequel had a bus on it. The bus is kind of where the Saints gang lives. The cover fits the book well. Very dystopian looking. Cool photograph.