Official Review: The Safe Zone by Jody Wenner
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Official Review: The Safe Zone by Jody Wenner
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Safe Zone" by Jody Wenner.]
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Truly likable characters are the stars of this story. This is a young adult novel about a dystopian world. The stars here are three teenagers trapped in a community/prison for as long as they can remember and they don’t know why.
Our story opens with Bennett and she’s having another nightmare. Her best friend Jorgan is there to comfort her. Rounding out her circle is Murray, Avery, Thompson and Stevens. This group of teenagers live in a place called the Compound or just the Pound, as they say. The sleep in dorms, eat every meal in a cafeteria and attend classes all day learning things that have no relevance to their lives. Murray is an organizer, Jorgan the bookworm and Bennett the voice of caution. They have all lived in the Pound for as long as they can remember. At 17, they are the oldest of the “inmates”. They have never been allowed to leave the compound and the wall that surrounds it is too high for them to get a view of what’s on the other side. There are guards who watch their every move.
As the story begins to develop the group finds an opportunity to escape. Bennett is terrified but Murray pushes them forward. What they find will test their skills and their relationships. They are not even sure what they want to find, just that they don’t want to be behind walls anymore. Initially, there is nothing but hills and after a couple days they are running out of food supplies. Then they find themselves at a city. While there they learn that a deadly virus shut down society as we know it and they were probably left at the compound to protect them from the virus. After some scary encounters in the city and the loss of 3 members of the group the rest decide to move on. Eventually they find a community where they are able to build lives for themselves but tragedy strikes there also and they are forced to leave again. Through all of their journey they have been hearing about a place called the Safe Zone but as they search for it they are in for the shock of their lives.
I found the plot line of this story to be really interesting. The author kept a good pace going throughout the book and I was constantly being drawn in. The characters had really great personalities and I felt a lot of sympathy for their situation and also understanding of the choices they make. I did encounter more than a few typos and grammar errors and this became a little tiresome but did not detract from the overall story. I think with a little more attention to detail this author has a really good book here. Bennett in particular goes through a process of growing up that I think a lot of teens can relate to.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and found the characters very believable. I would encourage the author to keep writing, maybe a sequel is in order if there isn’t one already. My official rating for this book is a 3 out of 4 stars because I think there is room for a little more development here. Personally, I would go 3.5.
***
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Our story opens with Bennett and she’s having another nightmare. Her best friend Jorgan is there to comfort her. Rounding out her circle is Murray, Avery, Thompson and Stevens. This group of teenagers live in a place called the Compound or just the Pound, as they say. The sleep in dorms, eat every meal in a cafeteria and attend classes all day learning things that have no relevance to their lives. Murray is an organizer, Jorgan the bookworm and Bennett the voice of caution. They have all lived in the Pound for as long as they can remember. At 17, they are the oldest of the “inmates”. They have never been allowed to leave the compound and the wall that surrounds it is too high for them to get a view of what’s on the other side. There are guards who watch their every move.
As the story begins to develop the group finds an opportunity to escape. Bennett is terrified but Murray pushes them forward. What they find will test their skills and their relationships. They are not even sure what they want to find, just that they don’t want to be behind walls anymore. Initially, there is nothing but hills and after a couple days they are running out of food supplies. Then they find themselves at a city. While there they learn that a deadly virus shut down society as we know it and they were probably left at the compound to protect them from the virus. After some scary encounters in the city and the loss of 3 members of the group the rest decide to move on. Eventually they find a community where they are able to build lives for themselves but tragedy strikes there also and they are forced to leave again. Through all of their journey they have been hearing about a place called the Safe Zone but as they search for it they are in for the shock of their lives.
I found the plot line of this story to be really interesting. The author kept a good pace going throughout the book and I was constantly being drawn in. The characters had really great personalities and I felt a lot of sympathy for their situation and also understanding of the choices they make. I did encounter more than a few typos and grammar errors and this became a little tiresome but did not detract from the overall story. I think with a little more attention to detail this author has a really good book here. Bennett in particular goes through a process of growing up that I think a lot of teens can relate to.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and found the characters very believable. I would encourage the author to keep writing, maybe a sequel is in order if there isn’t one already. My official rating for this book is a 3 out of 4 stars because I think there is room for a little more development here. Personally, I would go 3.5.
***
Buy "The Safe Zone" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Consent to Unleash" by Kevin Allen
