By: Sharon
Cameron
Genre: YA
Dystopian Fiction
Pages: 403
Published: 2016
Told in: First
Person
Compare to:
Divergent, Veronica Roth
The Giver, Lois Lowry
Delirium, Lauren Oliver
In a nutshell:
In the city of Canaan, every twelve years, the people forget
everything―everything except what they record in their personal books. But
Nadia does not forget. With the next forgetting fast approaching she will do
everything she can to keep together those she loves. But there are things in
Canaan’s past that even Nadia does not remember.
What you may enjoy:
This is a dystopian that you can wrap up in one book instead
of three. Cameron has developed a fascinating world with interesting,
consistent characters. The premise behind the book is fresh and interesting and
the plot is full of twists and mysteries that will keep surprising you up until
the very end.
What you may NOT
enjoy:
The book starts out slowly with most of the action
concentrated at the end of the book―a book that is longer than necessary. The
characters are your standard teen dystopian archetypes: angsty and unique heroine;
handsome and mysterious love interest; corrupt and controlling villain.
Warnings:
Violence and Disturbing Images:
Girl mentions possibility of being flogged; girl slaps boy
twice; boy burns arms; girl tackles man; women raped, implied; woman stabs
herself in the arm; man whipped, mentioned; men drag a bloody girl through the
street, mentioned; 3 children lay dead in the street, mentioned; man hit over
the head with a board; men attack a boy; man holds knife to a girl’s throat;
woman stabs a girl with a needle; girl’s wrists bleed from being tied up; boy’s
hand burns and blisters from acid poison; girl dies from poison; boy tortured
with drops of acid poison, non-graphic; man slaps girl; boy knocks man unconscious;
building burns with people locked inside; man walks into a burning building;
dead man lays in the road; man’s arm cut by a knife; boy beats man’s head
against the road; boy strangles man; woman holds a knife to a girl’s throat;
man stabs woman repeatedly, mildly graphic
Sex and Nudity:
Affairs implied; implies sexual relations; two sisters sit
naked in a bath; boy and girl hold hands several times; boy and girl kiss
passionately in a lake, mildly graphic; boy and girl kiss; girl runs hands over
boy’s naked chest; boy takes off his shirt; boy and girl kiss passionately on a
bed, non-graphic; man gropes girl; homosexual romantic interest implied
Language and profanity:
A** (in Russian) 4 separate times
