The Forsaken (Forsaken - Trilogy)

by Lisa M Stasse

[Angie]

I knew nothing about The Forsaken before starting it. I just dove right in, and I'm glad that I did! I was unsure about it at the very beginning, because it seemed like the typical YA Dystopian where teens are sent away but ultimately become the ones to overthrow an unjust government. But soon enough it started getting super weird, and I just had to know what the heck was really going on! It's kind of like a futuristic Lord of the Flies combined with elements from a bunch of other contemporary Dystopians. The government has been taken over by the military, science is being used for harm, and teenagers who are predisposed to criminal behavior--as determined by a brain scan--are sent off to a prison island with no hope of escape. Alenna is a good girl and doesn't think she'll be sent to Island Alpha, but she is. She thinks it's a mistake, but eventually she learns that the island isn't exactly what it's said to be.

The Forsaken isn't the most original book out there. It falls prey to a lot of overused cliches and tropes, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I love bizarre situations caused by government conspiracies, especially when there's a weird twist at the end. That being said, there were a handful of plotholes. Some were filled in at the end, but not quite all the way. There was only one that really nagged at me for the duration of the book, which was in regards to the timing of teens arriving on the island. The brain scan is held fall semester for all Juniors, so teens who "fail" should only be turning up in the fall. Well, that's not exactly true. The teens who are already there have been there for various amounts of time, and mention that they patrol the perimeters daily to find new arrivals. This really doesn't make sense given the timing of the test, but the island doesn't work the way it supposedly should, so perhaps that's why?

The island itself was really interesting. If you're looking for something similar to The Hunger Games, this is not it. Island Alpha isn't exactly a place overrun with violent teenagers. The government is a big fat liar! However, there are definitely two distinct groups that we're introduced to. There are the villagers, which is where Alenna ends up. They're civilized and are working on a plan to escape. Then we have "the drones" which are basically a cult that follow some deity named the Monk. These are the teenagers that might actually be deranged, and they actually are dangerous. The two groups are at war, making survival difficult. There's also a mysterious disease that kills you if someone else doesn't get you first. Of course, none of this is really what it seems...

The Forsaken also has some romance. It's not front and center, and our love interests don't spend a lot of alone time together, but it is there. And it is insta-love. I wasn't overly impressed with Alenna and Liam, but I wasn't bothered by their declarations of love either. They were just kind of there. I did like how in the beginning Alenna shoved him away out of loyalty to a friend she made, and because she's more concerned with surviving and hopefully finding her parents (they had been arrested and are supposed on the island, too). But by the end Liam is her "boyfriend" and they're in love and they're going to save the world with their love or something. Whatever. I'm in it for the crazy science and evil government schemes!

I really liked The Forsaken. It's certainly not the best dystopian I've read, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars, but decided to round up, since I'm eager to see where this is all going. That ending was super weird, and not something that I've read before. I wonder what other surprises the author has in store for us?

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.