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Possession (Possession #1)

by Elana Johnson (Goodreads Author)

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 4,753 ratings · 966 reviews

Toe the line between rule-following and rule-breaking in this tense and twisted start to a smart and sexy dystopian trilogy.Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? T...more

Paperback, 432 pages

Published May 8th 2012 by Simon Pulse (first published June 7th 2011)

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Possession (Possession, #1)
by Elana Johnson (Goodreads Author)

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Apr 18, 2012 Steph Su rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-lust, debs11, dystopian

I felt like there was a significant lack of thorough world-building going on with this one. Lots of things just did not make sense, and led me to believe that they existed in the story merely to move the plot or characterization along. For instance, how does it make sense to put Jag and Vi, both apparently dangerous criminals, in the SAME JAIL CELL, when there is a whole entire room full of empty cells? And then to leave it minimally guarded so that escape is possible (yet is mysteriously never...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Jess rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 1-star, bad-romance, dystopian, library, oy-vey, paranormal, romance, read-in-2011, what-the-hell-happened, dumber-than-bella, more-plotholes-than-swiss-cheese

Oy vey. What was going on in this book? Seriously.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is unorganised. It reads like a first draft where Johnson just wrote whatever came to mind, and then didn't go back to fix the inaccuracies. Nothing makes sense, and there is no clear vision as to what's supposed to be happening. The world-building, in short, sucks balls.

Then there's the characters. Holy crap, I hate Violet. She is dumber than Bella Swan in every way. The choices she ma...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Demonic Circus Princess rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-up-until-a-point, best-male-character, beautiful-cover, disappointed, better-than-expected, originality, shattered-my-heart, left-me-an-emotional-wreck, never-finished, wanted-to-slap-the-heroine, scarred-for-life

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I was going to give this book a five star rating. I was going to add it to my favorites. I was going to talk about all the fantastic chiz that goes on in this book.

Was.

Now this book majorly pisses me off, for more than one reason. But we'll get to that. I'm going to start with the good qualities of this book, because it honestly deserves it.

The plot was pretty cool. Violet was okay, not terrible but not awesome, either. I love the whole governmental takeover theme, especially because I'm a major...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The main character, Violet lives in a split society of Goodies that live on Goodgrounds and Baddies from the Badlands. There's also a group of people called the Special Forces and an Association of Directors who are from Freedom, and even though it is a good thing to be free, Freedom is a bad place where the Thinkers are trained. Kind of confusing, right? The Thinkers, also referred to as Greenies, are the ones that categorize everyone and pretty much brainwash the Goodies by making them listen...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Tori [Book Faery] marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine

Despite how many attempts I made to sit down and read POSSESSION (at least five different times and couldn't make it past page 20), I simply could not get into this story.

Perhaps it's burnout again. It's possible that I'm getting sick of the same typical dystopian societies in YA now. The girls are either baby makers, zombies are eating brains, or love is forbidden and girls are paired up with boys they're initially madly in love with... until they meet "the bad boy." Then all bets are off.

I tho...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Mauve7 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: annoying-heroine, annoying-heroes, dnf, hot-mess, wtf-is-this

Ugh! I seriously could NOT get into this book! The reader is thrown right away into this dystopian world in which the Goodies and the Baddies do not agree, obviously. The Thinkers are these brainwasher-types who fight and condemn freewill. The premise had promise (heh) but that's it. Once you start reading this book, it just...UGH! We get absolutely no world-building (and yes, I appreciate it when it happens in dystopian books!), no real reason to like Violet OR Jag, and Zenn is completely non-e...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Jody rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, this is scary to write a review about this book, because the author is my friend, neighbor, sister in the Gospel, and my HOME TEACHER (she and her husband together home teach us). When I review books on Goodreads, I just say what I feel about whether I liked it or not. When I read other reviews, I notice that people get all professional by using phrases such as "beautiful prose", "lyrical", and "the imagery was astounding." I think if you were to look at some of my reviews you would see that...more

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May 22, 2011 Krys rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, medium-length-book, first-person-narrative, read-in-2011, series

I'm still in the mood for the Dystopian/Apocalyptic, particularly so because the last few I read were fabulous. Possession, by Elana Johnson, was... however, a let down.

Violet lives with the Goodies, who always obey the Thinkers. The Baddies, however, live for themselves and break all of the rules. Vi knows what will get her into trouble and she breaks the rules anyways...walking with her match in the park after dark... which earn her a one way ticket to prison... in a cell with another boy nam...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Dawn Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

High quality dystopian fiction. The sarcastic voice is distinct, and possibly my favorite part of the book. As far as the conclusion goes, I was really satisfied, even if (or perhaps especially because) it's not what you would expect. I can't wait to hear what comes next from Elana Johnson!

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Dec 28, 2011 Melanie Marks rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my gosh, so good! I loved this book!!!!!

Read it!!!

Here is the book blurb:
Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convi...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leav...more Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

My Take: This is one of those books you read and and think you need to read it again once you know so much more about the characters by the end of the book. I questioned their motives then made different assumptions than I did by the end.

The edges of Good and Bad are blurred in this dystopia. Ultimately, Vi's assessment is that there is no good or bad but freedom of choice is the ultimate prize. What I really liked about the characters is that they seem so average yet as the story progresses, they (and we) discover their gifts. Reality is not as it seems and can be rewritten.

The other thing I liked about this book is an extension of the blurry edges of Good and Bad (and yes, I did capitalize on purpose). The love triangle takes shape early in the book between Vi, Zenn and Jag and they are clearly put into different camps - Jag is bad, Zenn is good, and Vi is heading toward bad. But then this changes. Zenn and Jag may be on the same side or they may have switched sides. Honestly, I had no idea who was good or bad by the end of the book except for one person I have reasonably categorized into "Bad."

If you plan on getting all the answers in this book, you will be disappointed. If you want to start an interesting dystopia trilogy with similarities to Scott Westerfeld's The Uglies, you will enjoy this one.

I know I did. I can't wait for the next book!

Parental warnings: Very few. Sexual tension, mild swearing.(less)

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Dec 28, 2010 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loved this book. It's action-packed, and the genre can only be described as a YA paranormal dystopia with a snarky female protagonist.

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Aug 21, 2012 Daria ♞ rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, books-i-quit-on, craptastic-books

This book was...Really, really, REALLY bad.

I guess what annoyed me the most about the book is that the author makes the mistake the reader as someone who can't follow a plot that makes sense or characters that make sense, let alone GOOD plot or Good characters. I stuck it out half-way, and the was one of the rare moments in my life where I just give up on the book, and I have stuck through some pretty shitty books.
The writing was crappy, Violet was an LG and both Jag and Zenn are complete lyin...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Carrie Kaut rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, 2011

OK so besides the fact that reading this book i felt like a mouse running through a maze looking for cheese and every time i thought i found it, it just disappeared...DUDE the shit they had this girl goin through was freaking ridiculous up until basically the last page i was like confused almost! i was like omg i love zenn than i hate zenn and then Jag omg didnt trust the bastard...than i fell for him than i hated him! i became a firm jag supporter on like page 200 but still what the F its like...more

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May 31, 2012 Amy (Turn the Page) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh dear. Someone is going to have to tell me what the hell happened in this book, because I couldn’t follow any of it.

It’s not often I so badly rate a book, but I have to be honest, Possession was disjointed, incoherent, with unlikable, inconsistent characters and a rambling plot. And the synopsis sounded so promising.

One of the most important aspects in a dystopian to get right is the world building, and Possession’s was vague to say the least. A quick run down on what I did manage to grasp:

The...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Jeanbooknerd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews

Possession by Elana Johnson is a fast-paced, extremely appealing dystopian novel that really held my interest. The quick pace matched the swift mind of the heroine, Violet, who had a sarcastic comment for everything. She is amusing and also charming.

I thought the world that Johnson created for Possession was very captivating. It was very fascinating reading about people using mind control and how it plays a big role of how society functions. Even with all the technology available, the mind is th...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmmmmm.....

While I had fun reading this story, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it.

Let's talk a little bit about the characters first. Vi. She is a kick-ass heroine. I'll give her that much, and I liked her, it was fun reading from her point of view. But does she have to get mad. At. Everything!? I felt like she was pissed off the entire novel. Pissed off or crying, it was one or the other, I needed to see something more from her. It was hard to get to know any of the other characters. Alt...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Corinne added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-dystopian

From the book summary on Goodreads:
Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Amber rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: galley-grab, arc

I had a hard time getting into this book. I think the potential was there but it didn't grab me. I didn't feel connected with the characters and was getting frustrated with Violet, the leading heroin. This story is similar to Matched, The Giver and Dilirium.

I just really wanted to like this book more but it just wasn't happening. It was just an okay read for me.

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Mar 17, 2013 Amaryliss White rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

I can't believe I made it as far as I did in this book.

The world building is virtually nonexistent and makes no whatsoever. The protagonist is dumb and dull. The plot was just . . . so all over the place. Complete disorganization, this book!

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Mar 29, 2013 Deborah Takahashi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-dystopian

In the Goodgrounds, the City of Water is inhabited by citizens who do what they are told and how to think. In the Goodgrounds, no one every leaves without authorization; no one goes into the Forest; guys and girls are never allowed to be alone, nor are they allowed to touch one another. In this world, everyone abides by the rules or face incarceration. For Vi, she is willing to risk her freedom, and her life, to be next to Zenn, her match. After receiving a commlink from Zenn, Vi takes a long an...more In the Goodgrounds, the City of Water is inhabited by citizens who do what they are told and how to think. In the Goodgrounds, no one every leaves without authorization; no one goes into the Forest; guys and girls are never allowed to be alone, nor are they allowed to touch one another. In this world, everyone abides by the rules or face incarceration. For Vi, she is willing to risk her freedom, and her life, to be next to Zenn, her match. After receiving a commlink from Zenn, Vi takes a long and dangerous trip out of the City of Water to meet up with him at the Special Forces compound. What she didn't realize is that the reason Zenn had her come all the way out there is that he was going to tell her something very important. However, their conversation was interrupted by a Hovercopter. Although Vi swears she has done nothing wrong, the Hovercopter is there to take her to the Green: the base of Thinkers. Not sure why the Thinkers would be after her, Vi is preparing for the absolute worse. The thing about Vi is that she is a but of trouble maker. In other words, this wouldn't be the only time that she was busted by the authorities, which is not only good, but rather unusual for a mild-mannered, rule abiding Water citizen. When her hearing started, she learned the real why she was there: she is a Free-Thinker and a threat to Goodgrounds. After being banished to the Badlands, Vi is devastated and angry. What's worse, is that she is locked up with Jag, who is an escapee from the Badlands. For Vi, this punishment is not only unfair, but she will meet the same fate as her father who was also exiled. What she didn't count on is that everything she has ever known, and learned, is a lie and the Badlands is not what its supposed to be and she will soon discover the truth behind her father's disappearance and her sister's untimely demise. Furthermore, the more time she spends with Jag, her future with Zenn slips away.

Johnson has created a world not only devoid of individuality, but of humanity itself. Every section of the world is divided amongst character traits and duties. For Vi, the City of Water is a place where serenity and obedience are its greatest strengths as well as its ability to create citizens who are gifted. However, somewhere in the gene pool, the traits to become great inventors skipped Vi and gave her the rebellion gene. The greatest thing about Vi is she is nothing but a typical teenager; however, in this realm, its against the will of the Thinkers for teens to be anything but mailable and well behaved. Vi is strong, independent, opinionated, and not afraid to speak her mind. More importantly, her free will is what gets her in to trouble and that is why she lands a one way trip to the Badlands. One of the main issues explored in this story is the struggle for freedom from oppression, but celebrating our individuality and the ability to feel. When I think of this story, I am reminded of the movie, Equilibrium, starring the gorgeous Christian Bale, where human emotions are suppressed with discipline, fear, and reliance on mood altering chemicals. The motive behind not feeling, or, in this case, touching, can stir up feelings and ideas that could lead to utter ruin. For Vi, she wants nothing to be touched and to be loved because, to her, it's worth risking everything and that is dangerous for any organized hierarchy or specific way of life. Humans are unpredictable and it is absolutely impossible to control them so the Thinkers have established the routine of ridding Goodgrounds of it's bad elements by banishing them to the Badlands. However, what they don't realize is that the Badlands are thriving. In fact, they are doing so well they are infiltrating Goodgrounds to bring it down by stealing technology. Despite the fact that she has lost Zenn and her home, Vi sets out on a journey to not only uncover the truth behind her father and sister's death, she will do everything in her power to bring an end to the Thinkers. Although this story is very similar to Ally Condie's Matched, Possession will keep the reader hooked despite the many similarities. (less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I read this book for book club. While I did enjoy it, this was not my favorite book we have read so far. There were two main reasons why I didn't love it and give it more stars:

First, I thought this book too closely paralleled the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Even the names of the characters were similar (e.g. Zane and Zen). The author has said that the Uglies series was her inspiration for this story, but it was just too similar for my tastes. I found it distracting because I was comparin...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Tammy Walquist rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a big fan of dystopian novels, so when I saw the premise behind this one (some sort of controlling society with a main character who wants to break free), I thought it sounded like a good read.

My review of it is ... meh.

While I liked the main character, Vi, and I felt the story kept my interest, there were several parts that just didn't make sense to me and were never explained. All of the charcters kept hinting to Vi about the Resistance, but it's never explained exactly what it is. It kind...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Shreya (CCReviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To be honest, I wasn't planning on reading this book. Like...EVER. So when I was given a chance to be on the tour for it (I couldn't resist), I said yes, why not try something know, ya know? And I was surprisingly satisfied with the way the author wrote this book. I didn't think I'd ever like the plot because it sounded like a cross between The Giver and the Matched series. First, the Giver confused me so I was instantly turned off from this book, and second, I never like Matched. So there, you...more To be honest, I wasn't planning on reading this book. Like...EVER. So when I was given a chance to be on the tour for it (I couldn't resist), I said yes, why not try something know, ya know? And I was surprisingly satisfied with the way the author wrote this book. I didn't think I'd ever like the plot because it sounded like a cross between The Giver and the Matched series. First, the Giver confused me so I was instantly turned off from this book, and second, I never like Matched. So there, you now have my excuses for not touching this book. *Smacks head* Have I ever said to never judge a book based on its cover and bad reviews? Yah...well...everybody's a hypocrite. This book received boat-loads of bad reviews and I still don't understand why. I mean, it was a bit confusing at points with the plot line but the main character was amusing as well as kick-ass, the rest of the characters were charming, the writing was hooking, and the plot-line, although like I said, confusing and similar to others, it was very well laid-out. I actually wanted to go back and re-read the book to get the whole concept of it, because it's just one of those books for which you have to do that. Overall, I thought it was a fast-paced, interesting, witty, breathless, and extremely exceptional dystopian read.

Like I mentioned before, the main character, Violet, was kick-ass and amusing. She had a certain charm to her that made you never want to leave her world. She was fun, witty, charming, strong, smart, you-name-it, but also extremely dense at times. Hey, everyone has one (fatal) flaw, right? Her's is her anger-management issues. Seriously people, I think if I placed a half-pink/half-blue rock in front of her she'd get mad because it wasn't 'perfect'. Although this might sound annoying, the author made it so that it was highly-entertaining to read. As a whole, I think Vi's character was strong and witty with a few personality flaws here and there. I definitely look forward to reading more about her in the next novel...when I get to it.

The love triangle.....oh gosh, what can I say about this love triangle...puzzling?Confusing as hell? Irritating? Well, all those reactions are completely true but who would've thought otherwise? I mean....no one actually enjoys reading books with love triangles. They make books all the more complicated, and only work in some very very very rare cases. Maybe it's just me, but I really hope this love triangle thing gets better in the next book. So let's talk individually about the participants in this love triangle. There's Vi, who we already covered and I said I have no problem with. The next runner-up is...Jag. Jag.....does he even exist in this book? I mean, half the time I felt like he wasn't even there because his personality was just so drab and dreary. His relationship with Vi consisted of no sizzle, snap, or steam (he he), so I wonder, was there ever a love triangle to begin with? Because Zenn takes this round ladies and gentlemen. Speaking of Zenn, he was a very interesting character (as he's supposed to be, because I can honestly predict who's going to be the one getting Vi right now...I mean, it's ALWAYS the bad boy right? XD). He definitely had the three S's going for him (refer back to the last few sentences), and I can see that Jag has NO competition on him. Although he was relatively better than Jag, I feel like his character could've been a bit more put together with less seams. So a little more touching up, and VIOLA, perfection! As you can probably tell by now, this book gives you a LOT of feels, a LOT of times.

Sooo...soo...so..I have to give this book a 3.5 stars. Why? Because I know I ranted a lot about the characters not being a certain way and such, but the plot and some of the characters definitely made up for a huge chunk of it. It was entertaining and the best part about it for me was that it was fast-paced. It didn't drone on for long period's of time, and I found that to be awesome. The romance and characters could've used a little adjusting, but those are always the two aspects which definitely have room for improvement and usually do improve by the next book. So let's here it for Elena Johnson for creating a successful first novel! Woot!(less)

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Dec 04, 2012 Books&clevernesss rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of dystopian fiction, who don't mind more characterization and less world-building

Shelves: dystopia, ya

Title: Possession
Author: Elena Johnson
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Publisher: Simon Pulse (2011)

As a lover of dystopian fiction, I was immediately drawn to Possession. Not only was it published by Simon Pulse (one of my favourite publishers), its cover was also amazingly beautiful! White and simple, it seemed to hint at the kind of society that the protagonists live in - one that's clean, simple, yet stripped of all identity, where the only freedom and creativity is locked up and clamped down upo...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Stephanie Ward rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: blog-tour, owned

4.5 Stars

'Possession' is the first book in a wonderful young adult science fiction/dystopian series. The novel follows Violet as she breaks the Rules by taking a walk with her match and best friend, Zenn. Only this time, she's broken too many Rules - and now she has to pay for it. Vi is taken to a hearing in front of the Greenies and is soon banished to the Badlands. Vi knows that the Thinkers have been brainwashing people for years and she's determined not to let them take over her mind, even t...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow! Where to start. I am a character lover first and foremost. If I can't get behind a character, well I'm probably not going to like the book. So this book presented a bit of a problem for me. The majority of the people we run across are villains, plain and simple. You know them, they always have the power. But Vi has some pretty natural power of her own that she never knew she had and from the very moment she was probably born, she's been manipulated. She gets arrested for taking a walk with...more Wow! Where to start. I am a character lover first and foremost. If I can't get behind a character, well I'm probably not going to like the book. So this book presented a bit of a problem for me. The majority of the people we run across are villains, plain and simple. You know them, they always have the power. But Vi has some pretty natural power of her own that she never knew she had and from the very moment she was probably born, she's been manipulated. She gets arrested for taking a walk with her "match" Zenn who is in Special Forces training. Does he come to her aid? No, he steps back from her as if he is trying to hide out. (Excuse me while I cross out some negatives in the books as I just put two pieces of the puzzle together). Vi is pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. It's just that she has no idea that she has any kind of special talents so when she uses them, she doesn't realize she's used them.

Anyway she gets locked up with-wait for it remembering she's been arrested for walking in the park with a boy, her government chosen "match"- again, she gets locked up with a BOY! And not just any boy, but a really bad boy. From the badlands. He's a baddy. (yes the book does use that word often). So there's a toilet in the corner and she's stuck with a boy. I found that part a bit hard to swallow when the government preaches no touching even between mother and child. But they don't mind her taking her clothes off and doing her business in front of a "baddy." As I'm reading my notes, and I had a copious amount of them, I'm finding they make sense now that I've read the complete novel. So I'll just say hang in there. I wondered why there are twice as many guards around Vi than Jag, just read further into the novel.

Jag was okay, but only just. He kept ditching Vi at crucial moments. She saved his butt busted him out of jail only for him to get miffed that she called him different and he leaves her wandering around in the woods trying to make it out of the city into the badlands so she can be free. When she shows up two days later he's all excited to see her. He says he looked for her but I'm not buying it. Later he says he loves her, but when all things point to her betraying him, he quickly believes that's exactly what she's done. So quick to not trust her. And Jag cries. Sobs I believe the word was used. I cannot take my hero sobbing. I can take a tear or two, but not sobbing. Especially over something that happened a long time ago. So I'm not team Jag.

Zenn, oh Zenn. You sound gorgeous you traitorous bastard. Giving gifts and kisses and all the time using Vi for one purpose or another. And then not even going to her aid when they arrest her for walking with him when he made the date. Jerk! I cannot tell who's side he is on. First he seems to be on one side then the other. His eyes are glazed over and that means he's being controlled, then he'll break through and you see the guy you thought he was. But it's so hard to figure out.

With all the mind control and gifted and non gifted and more powerful and less powerful, it got confusing reading the story. I wrote on page 204 "I have no idea what's going on." But I never stopped reading. It's fascinating. Mind reading, manipulation, reading technology, wiping memories, that is all such fascinating territory to me so I absolutely loved it. I eventually found my way back.

So, the novel is not without it's problems, lots of what? And overuse of words or phrases-baddies, perfect white teeth- but none of it was enough to make me not finish the novel. In fact it was a fast read. And yes I would recommend it highly. Tomorrow I will review Surrender the second novel and I can already say that the problems I had in the beginning with the first novel aren't in the second.

Heather
I received a copy of this novel for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for my review. The opinions expressed are my own.
(less)

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Oct 22, 2012 Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
“Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” – Oscar Wilde. This quote could not be any truer for about this book; a time and paper wasting attempt at an epic romance/fantasy meets dystopian society novel by Elana Johnson. The fact that more and more adult authors throw themselves into the sweaty fray that now rushes to create the next Twilight is quite sickening to this reader. Possession had an astounding lack of creativity and was suspiciously similar to Matched by Ally Condie...more
“Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” – Oscar Wilde. This quote could not be any truer for about this book; a time and paper wasting attempt at an epic romance/fantasy meets dystopian society novel by Elana Johnson. The fact that more and more adult authors throw themselves into the sweaty fray that now rushes to create the next Twilight is quite sickening to this reader. Possession had an astounding lack of creativity and was suspiciously similar to Matched by Ally Condie. Vi, the protagonist, dragged the bewildered readers through a spastically written world that offered little to no imagery and emotional response. The only theme that one could dredge from the mangled plotline was that humans will control each other in any way possible. I loathed this book for its plot, characters, and setting, (or lack thereof).
The book followed a twisted, garbled plotline that was eerily reminiscent of Day of our Lives. It started out fine, if not predictable and generic; Vi, struggling to not be controlled, to live her own life, to be free – typical teenage angst. Then, enter the ever present love triangle. Jag, Vi, and Zenn doomed to this over used plotline. Not that I pity them. The reader stumbles through a labyrinth of twists and turns were it is revealed that – gasp – Vi’s sister is alive? Vi’s dad is really the bad guy? Vi’s two loves were friends in the rebellion? Then Johnson adds the coup de grace, magical powers. The ridiculousness of this book appears to be infinite. Maybe if the writer had an excellent setting to balance out the plot . . .? Sadly, no. The book was set in a futuristic world. That is really all I got out of it. This author needs to take a class in conveying her point with more precision and add more details so the readers are not terrifically lost. The images in my head were mostly blank white. Or perhaps she did that on purpose, to add to the mystery. Gag. The writing of the setting was very poorly executed to say the least. Okay, okay, the characters were redeemable! Right? Au contraire. The characters were the straw that broke this reader’s back. I do not think that Elana Johnson is oblivious to the social graces, and yet her characters lacked every quality that makes them socially redeemable. Vi, Jag, and Zenn were inhumanly selfish, immature, dramatic, shallow, and completely, utterly flat. There was no character development to be had. Vi foolishly put herself in danger, and yet she never learned. None of the characters moved forward or back, put remained in an emotionally stunted purgatory that left me begging for the book to end. And don’t even get me started on the relationships. Vi would often run off, saying something supposedly cutting, and usually almost get herself killed. Jag would not even act worried or upset that the ‘love of his life’ had almost died. There was nothing. No spark of love, affection, friendship, or even respect between the two. I would not wish their company on Satan. All in all, this book was a Titanic failure.
Yes, this book is awful, but what really deeply disturbed and upset me about this book, was the possibility that life and love really is like the horror I found within the pages. Is that all I have to look forward to? Love triangles and selfish cruel people who honestly don’t care about each other? If it is true, I will not grow up, thank you very much. I sincerely hope that this doesn’t become the norm for YA novels. As William Murray said, “A dose of poison can do its work but once. A bad book can go on poisoning minds for generations.”
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Oct 20, 2012 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received this book from the Author for an honest review.

This was a different type of paranormal story that takes place in a post apocalyptic world where you don't know who to trust or where the plot is going. After the near destruction of the Earth, humans couldn't be trusted to continue to live on their own unless something drastic was done. So all the power and choices were taken away. Humans became conformed citizens - plugging in nightly for mind control sessions, everyone had food, medica...more I received this book from the Author for an honest review.

This was a different type of paranormal story that takes place in a post apocalyptic world where you don't know who to trust or where the plot is going. After the near destruction of the Earth, humans couldn't be trusted to continue to live on their own unless something drastic was done. So all the power and choices were taken away. Humans became conformed citizens - plugging in nightly for mind control sessions, everyone had food, medical attention and top of the line technology to live their lives. Your mate was chosen for you, your job chosen for you, you were living the Good life in the Goodgrounds. The only thing missing was free choice...and ultimately your freedom! When you break the rules you are punished. You are retrained. You are sent away. You are bad and no one wants to be bad.

The characters in this story are mostly young adults possessing mind or voice powers that they have no idea they possess until they are selected by the Director to join his Thinkers or Rangers. But what happens when you fight against the control and stand up to the Dystopian rule? You get sent to Freedom and reprogrammed into a conforming citizen working for the good of all. Violet, Vi for short, finds this out the hard way when she breaks the rules one too many times. With a mother who could care less about her, a father who disappeared, and a sister who died, Vi has nothing else to live for except her best friend, her chosen one, Zenn. But the Directors think they can control Vi by taking the one thing away that means the most to her. They instill fear in her and lock her up trying to get her to conform. That is when she meets Jag who is bad and they have to run for their lives. Step into a futuristic world where the person you trust could be your downfall or your savior. The problem is Vi never knows who she can trust ever in the whole entire book. Vi continues to get sucked in deeper and deeper into a game that has no rules and no clear boundaries or players. Just when you think you know where the story is going, the Author twists the story in a whole new direction, and then back again. She does this over and over again, until nothing is finished and you are left with a lot of unanswered questions, loose ends and then the book ends. It is very anti-climatic.

I am a fast reader and if I am having a problem getting through a story I know it didn't immerse me into the pages and flow the way I like. It becomes a chore to finish. Not that this is a bad story at all. I think it has a lot of potential to continue into a great series and I would look forward to reading the next book. It has a bit of action, a lot of high-tech gizmos, and just a bit of romance too. I just feel the Author could have spent a bit more time tying up loose ends so the reader could still follow the story without having to stop and analyze what point is trying to be made or what is really going on. I found myself re-reading some sections thinking I missed something only to find out we were never told a critical piece of information so the story would flow better. You continue thinking we are going to be told later on in the story but mostly that doesn't happen and the story ends in a way that defeats the whole purpose of the story. I am sure it is intentional to leave an opening for Book 2 but I almost feel like well if this is how it was going to end, why did I read the middle? That being said, I hope I am never faced living in this world unless I possess a gift like Vi has and maybe one of those teleporter rings too!(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Shail rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I don't know what to think about this book. I liked some aspects of it and hated others. For starters, I usually like when the author just throws you into their world and doesn't explain every little detail, but not in this book. She didn't explain every little detail, but the future world is so different that I found myself confused a lot of the time. I didn't know what was happening, especially when it came to the simulation. Vi and everyone around her seemed to know what was happening. It wou...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
what happened to jag?!?!	8	24	Dec 09, 2012 04:14pm
<3 ZENN	4	19	Dec 07, 2012 12:07pm
Possession Giveaway Contest	2	26	Aug 17, 2012 09:44pm
Book Boyfriends: Possession	17	22	May 02, 2012 08:10am
Teachers' Book Club: Possession	95	67	Mar 28, 2012 05:17pm
Sequel?	3	14	Mar 11, 2012 12:51pm
Book Boyfriends: Jag Barque	13	19	Feb 18, 2012 10:25am

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About Elana Johnson

I am the author of the POSSESSION series, which includes novels POSSESSION and SURRENDER, and short stories REGRET (ebook only) and RESIST (free here on Goodreads). ABANDON releases on June 4, 2013.

In between all the smiling, I blog for the League of Extraordinary Writers and help to organize WriteOnCon.

I also teach, watch reality TV, and drive too fast.

Visit elanajohnson.blogspot.com to keep up...more

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Quotes from Possession

“As much as I didn't want to, I had to read Jag's note. I pulled it out of my back pocket. His handwriting still made my breath catch, but when I opened it, I wanted to cry.

The paper contained two words: Fly, babe.

I shredded it into little pieces. Fly? The stupid boy wanted me to fly? I'd fly off the handle when I caught up to him. Then he'd see me fly.” — 51 people liked it

“He walked close enough to hold hands and far enough away that words could never repair the damage we'd done to each other.” — 46 people liked it

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