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.

Outpost by Ann Aguirre

Series: Razorland (bk. 2, sequel to Enclave)

Genera: Sci-fi/Dystopian

Subjects: Post-apocalyptic, survival, futuristic, villages, sex-roles, mutants

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 317 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “Deuce’s whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.
To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.
Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.”

My Rating: êê

My Review: This book is part of the Fierce Reads fall 2012 line-up by Macmillan.

I’m even less thrilled with this sequel than I was with the first book. I feel like there’s something missing. Maybe that because Deuce knows so little because of the way she was raised. The author did ingeniously well then, on character development. But that something seems to make the story fall flat. Deuce may have a bit of Katniss in her, but at least Katniss had snark. Deuce is too honest and doesn’t have a good sense of humor. Her voice seems dull. I like Fade, but everything else about the story is “blah” as far as dystopian standards go. The first book had some awesome survival parts. I liked when Deuce was kicked out of the Enclave and discovering was the world was like outside. The village Salvation just reminds me of an Amish version of the village in The Eleventh Plague or Ashes. The people in the village talk like they’re from over 100 years ago. The dialogue is so boring. I hate historical language. It’s the reason why I can’t stand steampunk. And where is Salvation? And is the ruin of Gotham actually New York city (and the somehow found a Batman comic with a city, and the call it Gotham?). Someone said Ann Aguirre’s world building is “amazing.” In her author’s note, she says she watched Life After People, but I really feel like we need more clarification. Veronica Roth clarified very well in Divergent because it’s set in a futuristic Chicago. But this book has me confused. And the zombies? The Freaks. They’re actually not zombies. They’re more like vampires, like in Andrew Fukuda’s The Hunt. Except these are ugly, smelly mutants that eat people, not just blood. And in this book Deuce find out how smart the Freaks are becoming (or were in the first place?). Yeah, read this series I you find this interesting. I’m just ranting a bit. I feel like Deuce POV is so unlike a teenager. Really. She mature and naïve at the same time, and a Huntress? Tell me was you think of this series guy! Did it click with you, out feel confusing?

Cover Art Review: Similar to the first books cover. Same hand. The texture and metallic stuff looks really cool.

~Haley G