This author always has an interesting view on things. Her book "running out of time" was a great story which I read back in grade school. When the suspense/horror film "the Village" came out I wondered if she got any credit for coming up with the idea first.
In this, "Among the Hidden," I felt like the outline of the book was good, but the story itself felt unfinished. The idea of a government creating a law against more than two children is real - in the example of China and the one child law. I wanted to see what this author could do with an idea that isn't science fiction any more.
Luke, a "shadow child" - an illegal third child, is a strange character because we just have to take for granted that he could live for twelve years completely hidden from everyone else outside his family. He lives completely separated from the rest of the world and when houses begin being built close to his home he spends almost a year without ever leaving his home or his attic room. That in itself is hard to believe. Throw in the strange hierarchy of rich "Barons" and poor farmers; the world seems too unbalanced to have lasted so long. After finishing it, I felt that "Among the Hidden" needed more flesh to make the story believable. The whole book felt like it was just the beginning of a good idea.
Luckily, it is just the first in a series of books about these so-called Shadow Children. I have not yet read any others, but I hope they do make the world more believable.
Read this if you are a fan of this author or a fan of YA distopias.
In this, "Among the Hidden," I felt like the outline of the book was good, but the story itself felt unfinished. The idea of a government creating a law against more than two children is real - in the example of China and the one child law. I wanted to see what this author could do with an idea that isn't science fiction any more.
Luke, a "shadow child" - an illegal third child, is a strange character because we just have to take for granted that he could live for twelve years completely hidden from everyone else outside his family. He lives completely separated from the rest of the world and when houses begin being built close to his home he spends almost a year without ever leaving his home or his attic room. That in itself is hard to believe. Throw in the strange hierarchy of rich "Barons" and poor farmers; the world seems too unbalanced to have lasted so long. After finishing it, I felt that "Among the Hidden" needed more flesh to make the story believable. The whole book felt like it was just the beginning of a good idea.
Luckily, it is just the first in a series of books about these so-called Shadow Children. I have not yet read any others, but I hope they do make the world more believable.
Read this if you are a fan of this author or a fan of YA distopias.
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