Young Adult Book Reviews

Genre:  Sci/Fi, Futuristic

# of Pages:  345

RAC:  Yes

Em wakes up with a shooting pain in her neck and believes she’s being attacked by a snake.  She quickly realizes she’s trapped in a dark box and must fight her way out.  When she does, she sees she is in a room full of what look like coffins, which is what she just forced her way out of.  She begins to hear screaming in a nearby coffin and helps another girl break free.  They both think they are 12, but they look much older than that.  They have no memories and have to look at the name plates on their coffins to discover what their names are.  Eventually, they find there are others nearby, but no one knows where they are or how they can get out.  Em finds herself the leader of these kids and shocks herself when she discovers she feels confident she can lead them out of this nightmare.

This futuristic story introduces several characters and most of them are developed well enough that you can see their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses.  There is a fair amount of violence as these kids have to fight their way through one obstacle after another.  The plot carries many interesting twists, but there is still a lot more of this story to tell which I can only imagine will continue with the next installment.  Fans of James Dashner will enjoy this title.