Taken Book Review

Title: Taken
Author: Erin Bowman
# of Pages: 360
Series #: 1
Reading Span: 8 days
Rating: ****

Taken was a novel that surpirsed me. After hearing many bad reviews, I was a bit taken a back (pun intended) of whether or not I should read it. Then the time came when I was in the mood for it, so I picked it up. I'd so glad I did.

When I first read the synopsis of Taken, I thought it sounded a lot like another YA novel - Gone by Micheal Grant. But as I started to flip through and read, I realized that I was entirely wrong. Bowman has written over 300 pages filled with unique characters, plot, and world. For the most part, at least. There were a couple events that I could see coming, as they there the typical YA sci-fi plot twists. However, there were a couple of things that I didn't see coming.

As much I liked the plot, the characters were a bit lacking. Gray, the main character, annoyed me quite a bit. So did Emma and some other side characters. In fact, the o
nly real characters that I liked were Bree and Blaine. They were strong and had a definite personality.

Claysoot was a cool place. It kind of reminded me of District 12. It was a small, poor place. And with the other "districts" around them (or more like, not, around them) it was pretty similar, although different enough to grab my attention. It didn't annoy me, also, which was good.

The small cliffhanger at the end got me excited for the next book, however, I feel like I can wait. I recommend this book to sci-fi lovers. 4 or of 5 stars. Oh, and can you get over that cover?

Photo credits to: http://www.embowman.com/books/taken/ Thanks so much!