Review of The Loop by Ben Oliver

Oliver, Ben.  The Loop.  Chicken House, 2020.

The Third World War, also known as “Futile War”, ended with the dropping of twenty-nine nuclear bombs and the deaths of nine-hundred million civilians.  Even more people died afterwards when the temperature of the Earth dropped.  A coalition of rebels from both sides of every country ended the war, but  it was billionaires who caused it in order to stay rich and in power.  This resulted in only one governing system called The World Government and the birth of Happy, their computer operating system, which controls life all over the globe.  Citizens are divided by caste, with the Elite being the highest. 

 

Sixteen-year-old Luka “Luke” Kane is living in The Loop, a death row prison for teens, for a crime he did not commit.  Life in The Loop is no picnic; inmates are in solitary confinement and get only one hour of exercise per day.  Their energy is harvested nightly in order to power the prison, and they receive chemical-laced showers immediately afterward.  Prisoners can extend their lives every six months by agreeing to Delays, scientific experiments which benefit the Elite of society.  The only pleasure Luke receives is reading books brought to him by the Warden of the prison.

 

After a cataclysmic event, Luke and some of his friends are able to escape from The Loop.  However, they discover that the outside world is even more dangerous than inside the prison.  Citizens have become vicious and are maiming and killing each other.  The former prisoners must defend themselves, run for their lives, and avoid being captured.

 

This debut novel, the first in a planned series, by Ben Oliver is a terrifying journey into a dystopian society created out of a planned, devastating war.  The world that the author has created, both inside and outside of the prison, is both eye-opening and terrifying.  The prisoners are treated brutally, and the caste system is set up to be mandatory and discriminatory.  The book is packed with gripping action and surprises.

 

Billed as a “mashup of The Matrix and The Maze Runner”, this class-warfare novel is a political and social commentary on what might happen to our world if these events were to become reality.  There is an ethnically diverse group of characters which are well-developed and fleshed-out.  The futuristic world-building is well-thought out and presented.

 

The Loop is the first in a planned trilogy by this Scottish author.  Hand it to fans who enjoy dystopian and science fiction novels.  I recommend it for upper middle school, high school, and public libraries and give it four out of five stars!

 

Thank you to Edelweiss and Chicken House for allowing me to read and review this book.

Review of The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick

Burdick, Serena.  The Girls with No Names.  Park Row, 2020.

It is 1910 in New York City, and women have strict upbringings and very few rights.  Suffragettes are marching in the streets, and working conditions in factories are terrible.

Effie Tildon comes from a wealthy and socially affluent Manhattan family.  After discovering a shocking secret about their father, Effie's older sister, Luella, acts out and is gone the next day.  Effie is determined to find her older sister.  She believes that Luella has been sent to the House of Mercy, a type of women's reform institution, by their father to punish her for breaking the rules.  When Effie comes up with a plan to have herself committed to the "House of Mercy, she is shocked to find out that Luella is not a resident there.  And much to her despair, getting out of Mercy House is much harder than getting in.  No one will believe that she really shouldn't be there!

At the House of Mercy life is hard; the residents are forced into grueling labor, and are often punished,  Another girl, Mable Winter, befriends Effie and they try to come up with a plan to escape.

The House of Mercy reformatory is based on the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, which were run by the Catholic Church.  In these institutions, wayward and unmarried, pregnant women were forced to work and were horribly mistreated.  Ms. Burdick has done an extraordinary job of portraying the horrors that went on in these institutions.  She has deftly woven both the historical events happening during the early 1900s into the plot and the plight of women during this time period.  I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the Romani people, their camp, and their everyday activities

Effie and Mabel are portrayed as strong, persevering characters.  This is a novel of friendship, love, courage, and hope.  I highly recommend it for older high school students and public libraries and give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Crazy House by James Patterson

Patterson, James.  Crazy House.  Hanchette, 2017.

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The United States has been split up into cells which are totally controlled by the new government, “The United”.  Citizens have jobs chosen for them, and it is forbidden to leave the cell’s boundaries.  Seventeen-year-old twins Cassie and Becca are trying to keep their family’s farm going after their mom was sent away to have a “mood adjustment” and their dad was hospitalized after trying to commit suicide. 

There have been a number of child kidnappings, and Becca becomes the ninth victim.  She is thrown into a secret prison full of teens and tweens who are now on “Death Row”.  These “prisoners” are tortured, forced to fight one another, and, overall, treated brutally.  Occasionally, one of them is murdered in front of the others.  Cassie ends up as a kidnap victim, joining her sister in prison, and experiences what has happened to her twin.  

Becca and Cassie work together with fellow prisoners to escape and figure out the prison’s secrets, many dealing with cells, the general masses, and the elite, but unknown, population.

This is the second young adult collaboration between James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet.  Although James Patterson is well known for his adult novels, he has been making the foray into the YA world for a number of years now.  Gabrielle Charbonnet also writes under the pen name, Cate Tiernan.  She has written books for both children and young adults.

This dystopian novel has all the surprises, twists, and turns that readers have come to expect from Mr. Patterson.  The prison scenes are, at times, horrific and quite gory--add to that, the experience of having a child murdered right in front of an audience full of kids!  There are reasons behind all of the plot devices, but I do not want to spoil any of the suspense for those who have not yet read the book.

Readers will be sucked into this fast-paced novel.  The ending is a real cliffhanger, so I am hoping this is the first in a planned series of books.  I recommend the book for upper middle, high school, and public libraries, and I give it four out of five fleur de lis!