Title: TakenAuthor: Erin BowmanEdition: hardcoverSeries: Taken #1Released Date: April 16th, 2013Publisher: HarperTeen
Goodreads / Amazon There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?
You don't understand how excited I was for this book. First of all, look at that cover. It's fricken gorgeous with the different colors, unique text, and the hint at the guy in the picture. Secondly, it was from a guy's point of view. I haven't read very many from guys' point of views, but whenever I do I LOVE them. It's like a breath of fresh air. Also, this was a new dystopian that was getting a lot of talk about. Clearly, these were the ingredients of a novel that was going to pull me in.
Also, I didn't care about all the bad reviews about this book - I was determined to love it. There were people who absolutely hated this book, or who absolutely adored it. I was hoping that I was going to fall in the category that adored it. Surprisingly, I found myself stuck right between. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but I didn't completely hate it either.
I really enjoyed the world-building in this book. I got a clear view of what Claysoot, the Wall, and the outlying areas were like. I applaud Erin Bowman for enchanting me simply by the setting in which the characters were in. The whole idea of the boys being Heisted was fascinating, and that's what kept drawing me in. Once I found the source of the Heist, I was captured. The idea of the start of Claysoot and the other places was fascinating, and it was what kept me going.
One thing I disliked about this book was the romance. First of all, in Claysoot they have a process called a "slating," which women are paired up with men in order to produce offspring. Gray doesn't participate in it too much, but he make references to it throughout the beginning of the book. I understand due to the circumstances, but really? Sometimes his responses were a little cocky. Next, everything with Emma. She was childhood friends with Gray and his brother Blaine. Then she hates him after Blaine is Heisted. Magically, they end up together...? What? That first part was kind of confusing, but I ended up going along with it. Later on, she's's away from Gray and Gray is somewhere else. For the next two months, Gray doesn't have more than two thoughts about Emma. But when he does think of her, he's talking about how he misses her and all that sappy stuff. I'm sorry, but if you've gone two months without seeing someone you supposedly "love," you'd be a little more eager to see her.
And that's just with Emma. Then there's Bree. She's strong, ambitious, and rebellious. Kind of like Gray. Anyways, they are just kind of friends when they first meet - if you can call it that. They bicker and always have sarcastic remarks shooting back between them. This was the romance that I was going for. I like when girls are strong and can hold their own ground. Bree is capable of just that. Because of this, she was my favorite character of the novel. Anyways, Gray and her notice their mutual feelings are starting to grow. This was the only relationship that I approved of, but it was only for a little bit. When he is reunited with Emma, I was glad that he put up a wall because of what she did. I mean, he had a reason, but I feel that Gray could have found a way to get to Emma within those two months. They were both at fault. I liked how Bree didn't flaunt or hide their relationship. She just let it be. All she wanted was to be with Gray, and I felt that it was the only true romance.
There were just some things in this novel that really worked or really didn't. I'm still debating if I'll be reading the seuel, but I feel like I will to see what happens to Bree. If you like dystopians with awesome world-building and from guys point of view, then you will appreciate most of what is offered.
