That means that no one is safe, no matter where you might try to hide yourself. And the feelers, strange machines that snatch children from the ground, never to return again. There’s the cult of children led by a mysterious figure who attack whoever strays into their territory.

The enemies she has the face are definitely unique (and terrifying). I loved how unpredictable this was! Ever time I thought that I had something figured out, the island would spring a new set of problems on Alenna and the others. I could never tell who could be trusted and who might turn traitor later on in the book. I was right there with her, wondering what was happening and how she could have been sent to a place that was supposed to only house criminals. She’s grown up believing in this government and never would have thought anything different if she hadn’t been sent to the island. It’s definitely a novel unlike any I’ve ever read before, combining conspiracies and corrupt governments, mysteries and romance. With dystopian novels now all over my radar, I was so happy to see what The Forsaken had to offer. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. 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. 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 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. A thought-provoking and exciting start to a riveting new dystopian trilogy.Īs an obedient orphan of the U.N.A.

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse