Incarceron

[Note: I've heard rumors that "Incarceron" is soon to be a movie, starring Taylor Lautner. Not sure if it's legit, but I might look into it some more and let you know ;)]

Title: Incarceron

Author: Catherine Fisher
Stars: 3.5
Less-Than-500-Word Review in Short: “Incarceron” is a completely original and fascinating tale, however the plot and character development could have been improved.
Back-of-the-Book: “Incarceron is a prison unlike any other: Its inmates live not only in cells, but also in metal forests and dilapidated cities. The prison has been sealed for centuries. Only one man, legend says, has ever escaped.
Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, can’t remember his childhood and believes he came from Outside. He’s going to escape, even though most inmates don’t believe Outside even exists. Then Finn finds a crystal key and through it, a girl named Claudia.
Claudia claims to live Outside—her father’s the Warden of Incarceron and she’s doomed to an arranged marriage. If she helps Finn escape, she’ll need his help in return.
But they don’t realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.
Because Incarceron’s alive.”

I Say: It’s rare to find a book that’s truly original. You can put an original spin on Cinderella; you can write a fantasy with vampires as good guys; you can create futuristic gadgets that MAYBE no one has thought of; but it feels like almost everything—in one way or another—has been done.

Fisher found something that has not been done before. “Incarceron” was so imaginative and original that I felt I was hearing a story for the first time. There was always more to learn, more to understand, because you couldn’t see anything coming any more than the baffled characters could. Fisher surprised me again and again.

However, Fisher fell a bit into the trap of SHOCKING CLIMAX after SHOCKING CLIMAX, almost to the point where the reader was tired of being surprised. Although the book can’t be called too short, it felt like the pacing was off.

Other things that kept me from loving the book: 1) The story is so original that it’s difficult to understand immediately. You spend the first hundred pages trying to figure out how society works, what so-and-so means, and what this-and-that is. Some of this might be intentional, but I found it a little jarring.

2) I didn’t think the character development was completely…developed. The main characters (with the exception of Claudia and maybe Keiro) fell flat. No one had a catch-phrase, an especially unique personality, or a well-developed internal conflict.

Still, those things might improve after a second read. Once I know the story, it might not feel like SHOCKING CLIMAX after SHOCKING CLIMAX. Once I’m familiar with the society, it might not seem as frustrating trying to understand. Then once I don’t have to concentrate so hard on the lingo and plot, I can focus more on the characters themselves. Maybe then they won’t fall flat.

I Liked:
- Original
- Thought-provoking

I Didn’t Like:
- Poor character development
- Lack of tight plot

Audience: “Incarceron” is appropriate for all ages content-wise, but it’s possible younger kids wouldn’t enjoy it because it’s confusing and not always immediately exciting.

I think “Incarceron” is worth the read!

~Kendra
livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (hated)

[Note: As far as I can tell, I'm one of very few who hate this book, so you might want to try it out and see if you disagree too! :)]

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Stars: 1
Less-Than-500-Word Review in Short: Mary and her friends wander around trying to find the ocean until the twentieth climax where something finally happens and you care absolutely nothing about it.
Back-of-the-Book: “In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.
The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
You must always mind the fence that surrounds and protects from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.
Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?”

I Say: Ignore the back-of-the-book. It just sets you up for disappointment.

I had great hopes for this book. The first few chapters weren’t even bad. But by the end, I was just glad it was over. “The Forrest of Hands and Teeth” took everything I hate in a book and smashed it together.

The characters were awful. From beginning to end, I couldn’t have cared less about Mary if I had tried. For some reason, all the characters seemed alike (except Mary who was uncommonly dim-witted and obsessed with finding ocean). If by chance they were portrayed differently, it was with thin, hollow, flat, emotionless, shallow words. Not the strong, colorful words that make great stories.

That brings me to something else I hate: lack of good description. I hate flowery paragraphs as much as the next guy, but I’ve got to be able to “see” what’s going on. When I read, I see the story like I’m watching a movie. Whenever I come across a book that I can’t “see,” it’s disorienting. With “Forest,” I just saw words. I could never tell where anyone was or what was going on. It was like being blindfolded.

The plot went up and down and nowhere fast. The story felt based on nothing. Lust is passed off as love. The Sisterhood’s secrets? I was like “Oh…that’s IT??” and the Guardians’ power…I never saw that at all. Things you think are important aren’t, and things that shouldn’t be are.

I Liked:
- Excellent similes

I Didn’t Like:
- Atrocious characterization
- Horrible plot
- No climax (or maybe it was several…)
- Insufficient description
- Mary is maddeningly slow
- Love is portrayed as lust

Audience: There’s some sensuality. Ryan tries to pass it off as real love, but really it’s just Mary lusting after this guy that you never get to know well enough to care about.

Imagine wandering around blindfolded with robots led by a girl who can’t recognize a number when she sees one pursuing a crayon. That’s how reading “The Forest of Hands and Teeth” feels.

~Kendra
livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com