Review: The Foresaken by Lisa M. Stasse (+Giveaway)

The Foresaken by Lisa M. Stasse
July 10th, 2012 from Simon & Schuster

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

This book had two things going for it from the start. One, That. Cover. Personally, that image is something that gets more and more interesting every time I see it. After reading the book, I love the cover art even more. I don't think I could ever envision anything as extroadinary, but that cover is a great depiction of what the story is about. And that leads me to number two; the synopsis. I am a huge dystopian fan and I love the description of the book. The terms 'obedient orphan' and 'The Wheel' all had me pushing this book to the top of my TBR pile.