When I began this book, I was immediately reminded of George Orwell's book, 1984. While there are some initial similarities, I'm happy to say this book its own path fairly quickly. The story is set in an undefined time in the future after a virus has run rampant through the world. Now people live in fenced in communities, their lives restricted by the government in control of their piece of the world. Everything they do is regulated by the government - where they go to school, what they study, what they can wear, what job they hold, where they can travel.
Someone has orchestrated an accident on a train platform where Elana ends up with a broken arm. Afterwards, Elana finds a note in her pocket predicting certain events will happen that Elana finds every disturbing. After one such event, she goes to visit her friend, Blake. His father is in the hospital, injured in a mine explosion. During her visit, the community guard show up and Blake hides her under the living room floor. To her horror, Elana witnesses Blake's murder by none other than the man in charge of the zone in which she and her family live, Mayor Hartner.
Waiting until she believes it's safe to come out of hiding, Elana heads home. Unfortunately, she's unaware she was caught on hidden camera coming out from her hiding place. Elana is taken captive by the community guards where she comes face to face with the mayor. All she knows now is that she is considered a risk to the public and her parents have been relocated at their request.
This is a story both about absolute power corrupting absolutely, and the determination of a few to set things right for everyone. 1984 was a world where everyone was programmed or conditioned to behave in a particular way. Independent thought was not allowed. These two books have that much in common with each other. In 1984, two people fall in love, are found out and torn apart by the people in power. Ellis' book is not about a love found and destroyed by a government. Here we have an underground group determined to bring the truth to light and change things.
Truths and secrets are revealed in the course of this book. I kept hoping to see a love develop between Elana and her rescuer. The author is wiser than I; there was no romance. There is however, a surprise that I could not have imagined at the end, one that leaves the story open for a second book if the author chooses. Although I'm of a mixed mind on that.
Read the book. Then sit back and think about the ending. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is where the story should end, without a sequel. We are left in a place in our own minds to write where we want the story to go. After all, can an author really ask for anything more than their work stay with us? That their words make us think or imagine... what if?
This book really wasn't my 'cup of tea' if you will. It didn't captivate me and hold me from start to finish. However, it did make me think. My thoughts circled around from this story to events taking place around the world. The story is very well written. There is a depth to the characters that shows the author's attention to detail. For these reasons, I'm giving this book 4 stars. I was gifted a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
This book is available from Amazon.
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