{Review & Giveaway} The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

The Forsaken 
by Lisa M. Stasse
Series:  The Forsaken (#1)
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  375
Source:  Won
Available as of July 10, 2012
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As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

Even though The Forsaken didn't keep my attention and have me on the edge of my seat, it was still a good book. Lisa M. Stasse did a wonderful job creating individual, memorable characters and very detailed descriptions of their surroundings.

Alenna Shawcross had her parents taken away when she was ten. At sixteen, like every other teenager in the UNA, she sat for government testing. Next thing she knows is waking up in the last place she thought she would ever be. How will she survive and will she make it a week?

Alenna was very timid when she ended up on Island Alpha, or the wheel as those on it refer to it. She grew over time to be fierce after she learned some things about the gray zone. I liked her as a character, but it was her struggles and relationships with others on the island made me want to continue reading. 

When I first started The Forsaken I wasn't a huge fan. It reminded me way too much of The Hunger Games trilogy, especially Catching Fire. However, the further I read the more original the plot became. I never had the urge to want to pick it up whenever I put it down until I got to somewhere around page 200 when the story started to pick up a little. I didn't feel that there was really a climax to this story. It kind of just ended. 

Overall, The Forsaken had a few twists I didn't expect, but I had a couple ideas on how the ending would play out and I was right. Will I be picking up books two when it releases? Probably, but only because I want to have a few questions answered. I'm not going to say whether I'd recommend this book or not, but I'd borrow it before I would buy it. Please remember that my review is my opinion and you may enjoy this book much more than I did. 

Because I won't be reading The Forsaken again,

I'm going to give my hardcover copy to one of my US followers.
Note: The book looks brand new like it just came off the shelf at the bookstore.
No cracked spines or bent pages. 

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