Yzabel / August 28, 2012

The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds. Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane. Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works? Together, they discover what it’s really doing to them.

Review:

(This review was done for {Read It & Reap 57} in the Shut Up And Read group. It dates back to May, but I felt I should have posted it here way sooner, so here goes.)

The new cover is really much better! Although I really wasn’t thrilled by the cover, the book’s summary got my attention, and I don’t regret picking it. It turned to be a pretty good surprise.

I got pulled in the story fairly quickly and easily. No dilly-dallying, no slow build-up, but the mystery from the start: where are those boys, what’s happened to them, and what lies behind this weird island they’re living on. I like when something’s smelling fishy from the start, and here I wasn’t disappointed. The world built up by the author was believable, felt real enough, and its secrets were revealed with just the right amount of pacing in my opinion. As for the main characters (three for me, Reed and Danny Boy, of course, but also Zin), I really liked following their progress. They proved likeable, and resourceful in the case of Danny and Zin. And while Reed wasn’t given that much screen time comparatively, I could feel his presence pervading the narrative all the time, his fate an impending Damocles sword. In fact, I felt that this novel offered more than just your standard YA plot, raising questions and darker themes that may appeal to an older audience too. Finally, a word about the few news clippings inserted at the beginning of each part: I think they are a nice add-on, distillating some information that made me wonder what character they were about. It wasn’t too hard to find out, of course, yet it was enjoyable nevertheless.

There are a few things I couldn’t wrap my mind around, though, and it’s too bad, because there weren’t that many, but they made me wince regularly enough (hence the 4-stars rating, but really, I’d have probably made it a 4.5 if GR had allowed it). A few uses of capital letters that I found jarring—I get it that they were here to illustrate a point, but no need to shout it in my face. Sometimes too the style was a little too abrupt, and the point of view tended to change abruptly too, which made things a little confusing in a few places. Mostly, though, what irked me was the use of the word ‘son’ by approximately everyone. I’d expect it from the Investors addressing the boys, but not from one boy to the other; it felt really weird every time it happened, and it happened often.

Other than that, it was a compelling story, and I heartily recommend it.