Taken - Erin Bowman

by Unknown 12:30 AM 0 comments 4 star

Taken - 

Erin Bowman
Released: April 16, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen

Synopsis: 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?

What it's about: Gray Weathersby lives in the small town of Claysoot, which is enclosed by a big wall which no one survives climbing over. Claysoot also has the Heist - when each boy turns eighteen, they disappear into thin air. Gray's birthday is coming up and after learning a big secret, he decides he needs to face what's beyond the Wall if he wants answers.

What I thought: This book turned out to be nothing like I expected. I thought that at least half of the book would be about living in Claysoot, but it was probably only about 100 pages. We learn about Claysoot and the Heist, and the secret Gray's mum was keeping. Then he and Emma are over the wall, and from there it's like a big rollercoaster ride. Taken is filled with deceit and betrayal, love and loss and a whole lot of action. I loved Gray as the main character, especially because he has a certain innocence about him, being born and raised in Claysoot - which doesn't even have electricity. Emma was a great supporting character, despite the fact that Bree takes her place about half-way through. Bree is written to be so much like Gray that you can't help but love her.

To be honest, I would have loved a bit more in Claysoot, and more between Emma and Gray, but otherwise this book was thoroughly enjoyable. I love a good Dystopian book and this one was just that.

The Good: Erin Bowman has beautiful writing, and despite my reservations, I couldn't stop reading.

The Bad: To be honest, I thought this book had waaay too much going on. Claysoot, then in the dome, then with the Rebels, then back to the dome, then back again. This made it harder for me to enjoy.

Rating:

4 bookstacks