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A review by stopthesun
Inspection by Josh Malerman
2.0
I found this book to be extremely underwhelming.
If you're to take the quote above to heart (which I believe is a pretty good idea), then you won't take everything I say and accept it. You might read some more reviews or even read it yourself to determine your feelings, but I'm just here to share mine.
And ultimately my feelings are a bland sort of disappointment.
Things I Felt Good About:
1) The writing.
2) I enjoyed the exploration of morality by Warren Bratt. I like books that make me think.
Things I Felt 'Meh' About:
1) The naming system. I understand why each of the kids were named after letters, but I pretty much hated it. I kept confusing who was who and which friends were known for which things. The result of this was a lack of differentiation and visualization of characters. When a bunch of the boys were talking to each other, it appeared in my mind as a ring of mostly-clones with blurry faces.
Suggestion: Name the kids basic names each starting with a different letter. For example, Adam, Billy, Chris, Dan, ect.
Things I Felt Bad About:
1a) This book is categorized as a thriller. But it wasn't very thrilling. I was waiting for something interesting to happen for so long that when they did, I wasn't surprised or impressed. All I could think was "That's it?" and hope that the next thing would be more exciting. It never was.
Specifically, there was so much discussion about the Corner. What is it? Where is it? What happens there? Why do people go there? What is that "sound" it emits?
I kept trying to imagine what it was going to be. I kept thinking, "Okay, that's going to be the thrilling twist I'm waiting for." And when we find out, almost at the very end of the book, it wasn't exciting. Like yeah, it was terrible, but not surprising. And after all the characters figured out by that point, I can't believe they were sincerely thrown off.
2) M.O.M. and D.A.D. had this whole point to their experiment. Something along the lines of attraction distracts people from reaching their full potential.
I expected the book to prove they were wrong (because they're crazy and controlling, right?) but instead it kind of proved them right?
They become so obsessed with each other that K uses those feelings to fight back. (J just falls apart and lets himself be dragged to the Corner.) So what's the lesson here? That thirteen-year-old (girls) experiencing the opposite sex doesn't distract them; it motivates them to fight their oppressive parents? That doesn't seem like a lesson I'm supposed to learn.
So... yeah. I was underwhelmed. And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to have taken away from this book. But I didn't hate it; I liked some of it. Although, I've said before: If all I can say is that I didn't hate it, then it probably wasn't that great anyway.
"And the only thing worse than receiving your information from one source is believing it entirely."
If you're to take the quote above to heart (which I believe is a pretty good idea), then you won't take everything I say and accept it. You might read some more reviews or even read it yourself to determine your feelings, but I'm just here to share mine.
And ultimately my feelings are a bland sort of disappointment.
Things I Felt Good About:
1) The writing.
2) I enjoyed the exploration of morality by Warren Bratt. I like books that make me think.
Things I Felt 'Meh' About:
1) The naming system. I understand why each of the kids were named after letters, but I pretty much hated it. I kept confusing who was who and which friends were known for which things. The result of this was a lack of differentiation and visualization of characters. When a bunch of the boys were talking to each other, it appeared in my mind as a ring of mostly-clones with blurry faces.
Suggestion: Name the kids basic names each starting with a different letter. For example, Adam, Billy, Chris, Dan, ect.
Things I Felt Bad About:
1a) This book is categorized as a thriller. But it wasn't very thrilling. I was waiting for something interesting to happen for so long that when they did, I wasn't surprised or impressed. All I could think was "That's it?" and hope that the next thing would be more exciting. It never was.
Specifically, there was so much discussion about the Corner. What is it? Where is it? What happens there? Why do people go there? What is that "sound" it emits?
I kept trying to imagine what it was going to be. I kept thinking, "Okay, that's going to be the thrilling twist I'm waiting for." And when we find out, almost at the very end of the book, it wasn't exciting. Like yeah, it was terrible, but not surprising. And after all the characters figured out by that point, I can't believe they were sincerely thrown off.
2) M.O.M. and D.A.D. had this whole point to their experiment. Something along the lines of attraction distracts people from reaching their full potential.
I expected the book to prove they were wrong (because they're crazy and controlling, right?) but instead it kind of proved them right?
Spoiler
After J and K meet, all they can think about is each other. Not like, "wow they kept this from us" but "oooh I have so many new feelings."Then J was being dragged, naked, yelling, from the Check-Up room, dragged down the hall, as doors opened, as his brothers looked, as visions of K weaved about his body and mind, unable to protect him. He and K were still side by side, in his bed, discussing their stolen lives. As he passed F's confused face, J thought of K's lips upon his own, her body in his hands, and how smart she had been for figuring it all out first.
They become so obsessed with each other that K uses those feelings to fight back. (J just falls apart and lets himself be dragged to the Corner.) So what's the lesson here? That thirteen-year-old (girls) experiencing the opposite sex doesn't distract them; it motivates them to fight their oppressive parents?
So... yeah. I was underwhelmed. And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to have taken away from this book. But I didn't hate it; I liked some of it. Although, I've said before: If all I can say is that I didn't hate it, then it probably wasn't that great anyway.