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A review by gwyneira
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
4.0
Every time I read a new-to-me Nancy Farmer book, I'm surprised at how different and well-realized her various settings are. This book explores a future North America in which drug lords have taken over the area between the U.S. and Mexico (now called Aztlan) and in which some people are privileged, some people are mindless slaves called "eejits", and Matteo Alacran is a clone of El Patron, the most powerful drug lord.
I was totally absorbed in the first three-quarters of the book (to the point of staying up way too late reading), wherein Matt grows up and figures out the reason for his existence, but I thought the last quarter rather fell apart, with an ending too easily resolved and partly offstage. Still, it's full of suspense, imagination, and good characterization and worldbuilding, as Farmer's books always are.
I was totally absorbed in the first three-quarters of the book (to the point of staying up way too late reading), wherein Matt grows up and figures out the reason for his existence, but I thought the last quarter rather fell apart, with an ending too easily resolved and partly offstage. Still, it's full of suspense, imagination, and good characterization and worldbuilding, as Farmer's books always are.