Taken
by Erin Bowman
Published: 4.16.13
Pages: 360

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? 

Inky's Blurbings:
If this cover didn't draw you into an obsession, then I will be shocked. Because that's exactly what it did for me. I absolutely adore the cover and the vision it gives for the book. So it breaks my heart to admit that the cover is the best part of this book. As it got closer to the release for this book, I began to see a lot of less-desirable thoughts on this book. Of course I was really hoping I wouldn't follow the flow of that, and that I'd really like the book. But alas and alack, it was not to be so.

For starters, we have Gray. From the start, you are in the head of a guy who is pretty rash and easily swayed by his emotions. In some ways, it can be annoying, but I let it pass. It felt natural with the things he was dealing with. Now jump ahead 30% into the book. Instead of a boy who acts on impulse, we now have a big fat jerk. He ticked me off so much. I don't know what happened but he was becoming rude in places he didn't need to be! It was kinda shocking.

For example: [mild spoiler]
{Gray was just put before a council where a vote would be made whether he lives or dies. He's given his life, but after that, when one of the people who voted NAY did something, and another council member defended him, he just scoffs and has the nerve to be angry.} What the heck?! You just got your life and you're not letting it brush off? Oh and then there is the fact that he's always getting angry as his first reaction. Get a life bro. Point is, his attitude when from passable to jerkface. Not very impressive. 

The other main issue I had was the love plot. Two words: Insta-Love. It was SOOO obvious to me. By 25% into the book the L word is used. Before that THERE WAS NO DEVELOPMENT AT ALL. Basically he likes a girl. She doesn't like him that much. They go on a "date". On that "date" she starts to be nicer to him. Then we have maybe a few more pages of describing that they hung out a lot and little more than that...and then BAM. They are kissing.


Now let's talk pacing. This book felt REALLY rushed to me. And not just in the romance. You know that intensely exciting premise that fits perfectly well with the gorgeous cover? Yeah that's over before we even hit the 25% mark. Way. Too. Easy. To elaborate more, I was missing details. Yes in the romance building, but also in the world building. We're in Claysoot for such a short time that I didn't get enough ground before she throws a few curveballs at us.

And that's another thing. This book was WAAAY predictable. I figured out a few major revelations a while before it happened. Because of that, it felt like the book lacked depth for me. Lots of things are happening but I wasn't feeling anything. It was words on a page. Not events and actions in a story.

Lastly, the only other thing I really want to touch up on was the plotting and elements of the story. It was very interesting to me because of the Claysoot Heist we read about in the premise. But since that's all over so quick, this plot looses a lot of it's originality. So many things just screaming cliche to me. I mean [mild spoiler] a rebel base hidden in a valley? How often has that happened before? Just things like that were kept at the very basic dystopian level so I missed out on a lot of cool and exciting things.

But enough sad negative stuff. This story, despite my dislike, was interesting enough to keep me reading past the halfway mark. I didn't get far enough into the love triangle to have anything to say on that, but heck, I already know Bree is the best. Bree for the win!!! And with that, I shut the door on book with a sad heart. I really hope you like this more than me. I know some people love it! So if you're hoping to love it, keep those awesome hopes up for it. Don't let my bummed-out-ness drag you down....

Content: Mild
[some mild language-innuendo-drinking]
So, those are my thoughts, but what about you? Did you like this better? Do you plan to like this better?  Let me know! XX,