REVIEW: The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse


Summary (Goodreads)

A thought-provoking and exciting start to a riveting new dystopian trilogy.

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.


Review:

What do you do when at 16 you have to take a test to see if you are a threat to your government?
What do you do if you ARE found as a threat to your government and are sent to a prison island to live the rest of your life? On this island, life expectancy isn't but about 2 more years AFTER you get there.
This is exactly what happen to Alenna, an orphan from the UNA.

As soon as I watched the book trailer I knew I had to read this book. I have always enjoyed books that the kids have to learn to live on their on *Lord of the Flies*. :)When I was little I used to imagine having to do this. Alenna's parents were taken away when she was 10. She was raised in a orphanage and at 16, she was seen as threat and was sent as a prisoner to The Wheel. The conditions on the Wheel are dirty and there is fighting between groups of kids. There are flying things that snatch up kids with "feelers" when they cross over out of their sectors. They have no idea where the kids are taken once they are snatched. Maybe they are even killed.

When Alenna was dropped on the Wheel she had to grow up fast and learn the ways of the jungle. The author Lisa Stasse wasted no time getting us onto the Wheel. Alenna had to figure out who she could trust, who she couldn't and who she was as a person. She had to learn to fight when the other "villages" blitzed. In the midst of a dirty, violent island, Alenna found a love interest in one of the Hunters, Liam. The story of Alenna, Liam, and the others on the island take you through surviving in the jungle, learning what the island is all about, and trying to get off the island. It was a great read and kept your attention. I really enjoyed this book and definitely suggest this to others fans of YA books.

Good Job Lisa!!! :)

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