Waiting on Wednesday (99): THE WARD and THE UPRISING

THE WARD

Jordana Frankel

April 30th, 2013

"Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.

However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface."

This book? It sounds amazing. Loving the cover, too.

THE UPRISING

Lisa M Stasse

"In this dystopian sequel to The Forsaken, Alenna has survived the brutality of life on the wheel—and now she’s going back for more.

Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive."

I loved the surprising plot twists in THE FORSAKEN, so I'm very curious to see what Lisa M Stasse does with the sequel! 

What are you waiting on?

Review: The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

The Forsaken
Lisa M. Stasse
July 10th, 2012
375 pages (hardcover)
S&S Books for Young Readers
Source - Author

"When the rest of world has given up on you, who will you become?

Alenna Shawcross hasn't seen her parents since they were dragged out of her house by government soldiers of the UNA, a new nation formed from the remnants of Canada, the USA, and Mexico. And now, as a sixteen-year-old orphan, she has failed a government personality test designed to diagnose subversive tendencies.

As punishment, Alenna is banished to the wheel, a mysterious island where all the kids who fail get sent. A place where teh conditions are brutal, and a civil war rages between two very different tribes of teenagers.

So when Alenna meets Liam, a charismatic warrior who is planning to escape, she must find the strength to make a difficult decision: to either accept her new life on the wheel, or to embark on a journey that will uncover shocking secrets about the UNA – and her own identity as well." 

"The journey has begun, and there's no stopping it." *

While the UNA is the epitome of the words corrupt and control, Island Alpha or the "wheel" is simply pandemonium. Teenagers who fail a government personality test are banished to the wheel, where some of teens (called drones) take a Lord of the Flies approach to the island and lose themselves to chaos. The drones maniacally worship a man who controls most of the island, called the Monk. Alenna, our narrator, escapes this fate and instead falls in with a more sensible group of teens that live in the last, and smallest, sector left uncontrolled by the Monk. There's no way off, and no way to know who to trust....On the wheel, there are more enemies than just each other, and tomorrow is never guaranteed. 

The Forsaken takes readers on an adventure full of twists and danger at every corner. Stasse's attention-getting prologue sets the stage for a fascinating story set in an unsettling futuristic world. This story took me by surprise in multiple ways, especially with the jaw-dropping twist near the end and how well this futuristic world is portrayed. There's more complexity and layers to The Forsaken than expected at first glance, and some insightful moments buried beneath the thrilling action and surprising revelations that take place throughout the story. Action, adventure, danger, excitement...welcome to the unpredictable world of The Forsaken. 

Highlights: Alenna could have been a victim of her circumstances and continued relying on others, but then she chose to rise to the challenge and became willing to take charge and fight. There's one plot twist that I never saw coming, which is a rarity for a reader like me¹. I enjoyed many of the characters and their different personalities. The varying ways of life on the island and the social structures were fascinating, too. 

Lowlights: Liam and Alenna's relationship came a little too close to instalove - I could have forgiven this if the I had gotten to know Liam's character better. Dialogue sometimes came across a bit awkwardly in the beginning (after that, it either improved or I stopped noticing). 

Rating:  

* (Stasse 338)
1 Anyone who loves surprises will be in for a treat with this book.

The Queen's Library (11)

• For Review
• Blood Fever by Veronica Wolff (unsolicited)
• The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse (autographed) 
• Purchased - Kindle
• Matched by Ally Condie (My Review)
• Freebie - Kindle
• Seaweed by Elle Strauss

The ebook deal for Matched was too good to resist, despite the fact that I own the hardcover. Thanks so much to Penguin Teen for the surprise book & to Lisa M. Stasse for the lovely review copy of The Forsaken! 

My Life Next Doorby Huntley Fitzpatrick
What did you get this week?


Credit / Inspiration

Book Trailers: Forsaken, No Safety, and Something Strange

The Forsaken – Lisa M. Stasse
Nicely done. I'm very interested in this book!
No Safety in Numbers – Dayna Lorentz
Short, exciting...This book wasn't even on my radar until I saw this trailer, but I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for this novel. 
I'm also a fan of the Something Strange and Deadly trailer. In order to view it, you have to complete a scavenger hunt (and you can win prizes)! I highly recommend checking it out, the trailer is great!
Have you seen any great book trailers lately?