A Review for The Forsaken by Lisa M. Strasse

Posted by Donna

Release Date: August 2nd, 2012

Finished Date: July 30th, 2012

Publishers: Orchard

Source: For Review

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 426
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Alenna Shawcross is a sixteen-year-old orphan growing up in a police state formed from the ashes of Canada, the US and Mexico after a global economic meltdown. 
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But when she unexpectedly fails ‘the test’ - a government initiative which supposedly identifies teens destined to be criminals - she wakes up alone on a remote island reserved for the criminally insane. 
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Terrified and confused, she soon encounters a group of other teen survivors battling to stay alive, including Liam, a boy who will become her love... and her lifeline. 
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Soon Alenna makes the terrifying discovery that there’s more to the island (and her past) than she could ever have guessed... But who can she trust? And can she ever escape?

The Review: I won’t re-cap the plot synopsis because it tells you everything you need to know about the story but I will say that I was really looking forward to starting The Forsaken. I’d heard it was similar to The Hunger Games and I loved that. However, I have to say, I really struggled with this book and I’m actually pretty sad about it because I was hoping to love it. 
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Before I start telling you why I didn’t love this book, I’m going to tell this story doesn’t lack creativity! Lisa M. Strasse did a great job creating a unique story. While it does give off the same feeling as The Hunger Games, Lisa M.Strasse went that bit further and pushed this story to it's limit. The book had creativity bursting from the pages and it was definitely the highlight of the story. 
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However…………..my problem with this story was that I felt the author failed to deliver with the build-up of important scenes. Many of them that were key factors were over within a matter of seconds and it left me disappointed because they lacked excitement and emotions that they needed. There weren’t enough descriptions and so everything felt rushed – too rushed in fact, that as soon as one important scene happened, the next one came and the characters forgot about the previous problem. I found it really hard to connect with the story because of this but, I also found that some of the relationships were unbelievable, especially Alenna’s and Liam’s. I just didn’t get their connection nor did I feel what they felt for one another. Gayda was another character I never truly understood, some of her reactions felt forced and emotionless – especially because she’s in love with Liam, she resents Alenna for getting in her way. She was supposed to be Alenna’s friend and she was so mean and cold to her. 
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Another problem I had with the story was I felt some people’s deaths were unnecessary. I understand the cruel world the characters were in but sometimes it felt like people were killed off, just to show you how cruel the world was. I didn’t agree with them all and felt some characters could have played a bigger role in the story than they did. 
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Overall, The Forsaken is a story that doesn’t lack action nor does it lack creativity but I felt it fell short in every other aspect.  Unfortunately this wasn’t a book for me but I believe it will be a hit with other dystopian fans, but I will look out for more work from by this author in the future. 
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Thank you to Orchard for giving me the opportunity to review this book.