It had some redeeming qualities that made it enjoyable. It was also really predictable, so the excitement factor just wasn't there for me. Let's break it down:
Things I Liked:
- The setting was really unique. It's almost like Gone meets creepy religious cult, set in this beautiful locale with a bunch of young people. They spend their time basically lounging around, floating in lagoons, and "hooking up" with each other. Oh, and worshipping "Dot", who is their godlike entity. They also don't use negative words. If you're sick, you're "prehealthy". It reminded me of those annoying preschools that don't say "no" to kids. But it was really quite intriguing that these teens just followed Dot's rules.
- Wren exhibited a lot of growth. Sure, she annoyed me at the start, but so did everyone! A bunch of people mindlessly following Dot, worried only about being "chosen" by Dot, and figuring out who they should have sex with to make Dot happiest would grate at your nerves too. Luckily, Wren starts to realize that maybe these things aren't the only things in the world that matter, and we see her have to make some real decisions about who she wants to be.
- The book raises a lot of really thought-provoking questions about how far you'd go to to be happy, how much you'd blindly follow along. The themes were really well done.
The things I didn't:
- I had the entirety of this book predicted by about 30%. I even wrote it down, thinking maybe I would be wrong. But nope, I nailed it. Down to pretty minor details, even. So while the book had interesting themes and was fast paced and unique, it also kind of bored me, since I was sure I knew what was going to happen next- and was proven correct every time. I like an element of surprise, and in this book, after the first few chapters there wasn't any surprise left. I actually cut off part of the synopsis in this post, because I think it gives way too much of the book away.
- While Wren grew, a lot of the other characters remained so brainwashed that they were hard to deal with. They were also really hard to differentiate among, because they all just did the same stuff all day and all only cared about Dot's reaction to everything. That got old after awhile.
Bottom Line: It's a fast paced book that raises a lot of great questions. It was predictable for me, but I am still glad I read it for its uniqueness and thought provocation.