Joint Review: The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse

This month Blodeuedd and I will be reading "The Forsaken" by Lisa Stasse.

Author: Lisa Stasse
Title: The Forsaken (Forsaken #1)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Dystopia, Action/Adventure, & Romance
Pages: 432
First Published: July 2012
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

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. 

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. 

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. 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? 

C: *waves* Hi!

B: Oh there you are! Let’s get started then.

C: So, what did you think?

B: It did have potential, despite the storylines being stolen from other books. I just felt that it fell apart on the actual writing. It was written by a 14 year old, well felt like that. Sorry kids!

C: Agreed. It had great potential and I actually really did like it. I get it’s YA, but why did it have feel and so overly YA?

B: So YA! The only thing missing was a love triangle. Instead we have the girl who is unnoticed and suddenly everyone likes her. She falls for a boy super fast, and the book was all about dialogue, and silly dramas! Omg people are trying to kill you. Get your lives in order!!

C: I know! Dating or making out with the village hottie would be last one my mind if I was thrown on Island in the middle of war between two “tribes”. ESPECIALLY with the Drones running around. They were INSANE?!  And if you think about it...there was a mini triangle. The friend, Gadya had dated Liam before the main girl got on the Island. I liked Gadya at first, but then I realized she was such a drama Queen.

B: I did not see that as a triangle, a triangle in my head would have been David. Yikes girl, what was with this obsession with David?! Oh and speaking of hotties and the island. The whole you can kiss but not more. HA! They are teenagers, like they would stop there, war and all. It felt so perfect. The whole village was so super sweet and perfect.

C: was oddly hoping that the main girl would end up with David. But yeah she obsessed with him! I mean...yeah...he was the first one she saw and he helped her, but good lord. I wish that they had not been teenagers. I wish they all had been early 20s. Also….there was a plot-hole that has been eating away at me...HOW IN THE WORLD DID 16-18 years old know how to make truth serum, tan boar hides, and so forth?! They come from a world where they would never had learned such “uncivilized”/survival things like that.

B: True. They would not even have been able to get a fire started. To know what to eat. Those kids would die without even being at war. I would have died. Though the hide, don’t they use pee? But hey to even skin that animal...yeah. I’d be dead, probably from thirst since that kills first. But I guess these were super smart special kids. HA!

C: LOL! But yeah...I would survive until I had to kill something or I’d die from eating bad berries. 0_0

B: Dehydration from shitting yourself to death. That is what they all would die from.

C: Yup. Speaking of death...there was a hell of lot of it in this one! This is the one thing that made it a little less YA...so much murdering and suffering!

B: Until the deaths the writing was even MG. But yup, a lot died. And the enemy camp, horrid. I just wish she would have, gods how to put it, made it even darker. If that was life it would be even darker. You have already killed a lot so make it as dark as YA can handle. But wasn’t the heroine lucky since she only had to be there like 2 weeks before they decided to see if anything can be done. Or is that a spoiler?

C: Not really a spoiler, because the whole premise is escaping of that island. ;) I agree...I wish it was darker especially with those psychos. WHICH...no spoilers….what did you think/feel about the reveal of The Monk - the leader of the drones?

B: I was actually expecting someone else, hint hint. But I liked it, I just did not find it very plausible…

C: Honestly, so was I. I liked it...but...ugh I can’t think of a way without giving away spoilers - I just wanted more explanation from The Monk. It seemed like a stretch that it was who it was, but it did totally surprise me.

B: I was surprised too. I was not surprised about how their trying to escape went. Whatever, people had been trying for years. And, well then I was surprised again and wanted more answers

C: Yeah, it was no surprise how the escape plan would end up. SMH. Did they really think it would that easy?

B: Also without spoiling, the revelation, I felt that was weird. That much is not needed for what is needed if you catch my meaning.

C: Oh yeah...I felt it was over -the-top in a way. But I guess it was a way to make us (readers) hate the evil government even more.

B: It only made me question the productivity of the government and oh..well they can’t be so smart since it is said in the beginning that they made smart people disappear. Well that explains a lot ;)

C: hahaha true. It shouldn’t be too hard to overthrow them. xD There are like 2 more books out there and it probably deals with that.

B: I did think the book was good at first, then I realized it was only ok. Why? Cos I am not gonna read more. Instead I read reviews of book 3 and feel happy about that. I am done ;)

C: The beginning was meh for me and it did get better. It was still okay overall. However, I am content with just reading this one; I pretty much can guess what is going to happen next. I am curious, though, how they are going to save everyone that was left behind…

B: Oh I am sure it will be easy. Not like in the real world. Oh, right, I do not really recommend this book. There are better kids stuck on an island, or kids killing each other books out there. Better dystopia books too.

C: I only recommend it to those looking for a quick read. It was quick and entertaining to a point, but yes, there are WAY better dystopia books out there.

B: The end?

C: The end!!! Your turn hehe

B: Hmmmmmmm ;)

**Carole's Conclusion**
In the end, this was okay. It got a little bit better after the first few chapters. There were some questionable things that popped up that bugged me throughout the story. I loved the twist on who the big baddie was - seemed not possible, but it certainly added a twist to the story. I prolly won't read the next books, because they seem predictable now. I do recommend this to those that need a quick fix of dystopia-ness. It's a YA and a quick read. This shall be stamped with 3 stars.