Review: The Line

Book: The Line
Author: Teri Hall
Pages: 220
Published: March 4th 2010 by Dial
Source: Bought

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

The Line sounded like a great dystopian read from the moment I heard about it. This book has a great premise and I wasn't sure if it could live up to it - luckily, it did.

It took me a little while to get a good sense of the characters. For the first few chapters, there wasn't much interaction between them, because it was mostly narration. When I did understand these characters, though, I loved them. Rachel was an admirable girl, and she was so brave and I loved her curiosity and ability to think clearly in the most panicked situations. It doesn't really describe much of what she looks like, so I couldn't really picture her in my mind, but what I could picture, I liked. Even the supporting characters, like Jonathan and Pathik (even though Pathik becomes more of a main character near the end), were very well built and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of them in the next book.

The first half of this book felt really slow to me. It wasn't dull, by any means, but it takes a while to provide the full history of the dystopian world. I thought the things that happened seemed realistic (to a point, of course), and that was a little scary, but I was really impressed with the world Teri Hall had created. The action really starts to kick in only about halfway through with the introduction of Pathik, and that was when I really started getting really into the story. The action parts and suspenseful and intense, and completely absorbing. I loved how thorough Hall was with her world and her story.

The Line was a really impressive debut and it ended on a pretty major cliffhanger, so I'm really excited for the sequel, Away!

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Cover: I love the mystery element of this cover. It doesn't take long to figure out what the cover means, once you start reading, but I love the mystery it presents when you haven't read it yet and have no idea what it means. Really eye-catching, and I love the font used for the title!

**I'd just like you all to know that I've ended my Summer Contest early. I'd like to give the contest winner 48 hours to respond to my email, and if I end my contest on the 30th, I'd be unable to mail the prize to the winner for at least a week, and I really want to get the books to the winner as soon as possible. Therefore, I ended my contest today. The contest winner will be announced tomorrow. :)

Review: Incarceron

Book: Incarceron
Author: Catherine Fisher
Pages: 464
Published: May 3rd, 2007

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

General Overview: This was an incredibly original book! Catherine Fisher definitely has some sort of twisted/brilliant imagination to create the world in which Incarceron takes place.

Characters: I thought Finn was the best character of all. The chapters from his point of view were the ones I enjoyed the most. His struggle and his courage were both commendable qualities, and I don't think I would've been able to hope like he did after living in Incarceron. I think I'd probably just break down and cry…Claudia, I didn't like her as much I would've hoped. I found her to be just a little too haughty and selfish, and I didn't care much for her. The Warden was an interesting character to read about, what with his twisted history and all, and Keiro and Attia were both interesting as well.

Plot: The adventure keeps you on the edge of your seat! I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. Even though this book is about 450 pages of text, I finished it in one day (see what I mean about reading fast?) because the stories of both the Inside and the Outside kept me enthralled and wanting more. The ending left much to the imagination, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Writing: Catherine Fisher is extremely descriptive in her scenes. The world of Incarceron is described with careful detail that lets you imagine Incarceron as it is in your mind. Fisher drew me in from the first chapter with her actions scenes and smart dialogue.

Cover: The key on the cover isn't really how I imagined the Keys. I thought they'd be more…Swarovski-crystal-like, if you know what I mean. However, I do think the cover is an intriguing one and I hope that Sapphique, the sequel to Incarceron, will have just as great a cover.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars