This book is labeled Science Fiction but I didn’t find
that to be accurate, and it isn’t really an alternative future either. There is no reason to think that the
world outside of the school was any different than the world we know. The students’ world may seem different
but it is simply what they were exposed to juxtaposed to our own experience.
A lot of stories like this are full of shock and awe, full
of in your face horrors of war and disease; but this one was very subtle and
that was nice to read. It
developed like life does. We grow
and learn more about the world around us, and our place in it, and it is often
upsetting. But it was also told as
a series of memories and that took some of the sting out of the sadness since
the time had already passed and nothing could be done. My main issue was that the relationship
between Tommy and Kathy felt very surface. I didn’t see them really grow with one another and so that
made the final third of the book much less powerful.
I also see people wondering why they didn’t try to flee
their fate; well… Why don’t any of us?
We grow up and go to school, on to college, careers, and families; very
few challenge that expectation and none do it without questioning their
actions. So why are we asking more
from the characters of a novel?
This was just the way things were.
On a side note:
Why must we ruin wonderful book covers with those damn movie tie-in
covers? They are embarrassing! I hate them and avoid them at all
costs, but I had to use it above because that is the edition I read. Ugh...
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