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What Members Thought
Haunting and thought-provoking YA
Alex lives life in ' the compound' with his family and friends. He feels safe and protected from the dangerous beasts in the forest surrounding the compound. This danger is suspiciously invisible and gruesome ... for a reason. Why are they forced to live here until they reach adolescence at which point the children are taken. But where and why? Alex hopes to a better place but the rumors say that they are used as breeders and the weaker ones are disposed of. Read ...more
Alex lives life in ' the compound' with his family and friends. He feels safe and protected from the dangerous beasts in the forest surrounding the compound. This danger is suspiciously invisible and gruesome ... for a reason. Why are they forced to live here until they reach adolescence at which point the children are taken. But where and why? Alex hopes to a better place but the rumors say that they are used as breeders and the weaker ones are disposed of. Read ...more
Creepy but engrossing.
I’m glad I grabbed this novella, despite it being outside my usual fare—it was dark but nicely executed.
The Compound is a dystopic tale reminiscent of Hunger Games and The Giver. Possibly also Lord of the Flies. The children (teenagers) in this story are the focus of a strange system that exists only to perpetuate itself. They are the resource that keeps the system alive. I was impressed by how the story kept moving arrow-straight toward the climax with tension and thrills ...more
I’m glad I grabbed this novella, despite it being outside my usual fare—it was dark but nicely executed.
The Compound is a dystopic tale reminiscent of Hunger Games and The Giver. Possibly also Lord of the Flies. The children (teenagers) in this story are the focus of a strange system that exists only to perpetuate itself. They are the resource that keeps the system alive. I was impressed by how the story kept moving arrow-straight toward the climax with tension and thrills ...more
Alex is a kindhearted teenage boy living in a strange compound with several other kids and lots of women, the mothers of the children. There are no men in the compound, except for the guards who patrol the property with guns and dogs. The men are there to protect the women and children from the monsters that live in the forest, but every year, all the kids, who have become teenagers, are loaded onto trucks and taken away, never to be seen or heard from again. Alex is torn between escaping into t
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Without spoiling anything, this book has a small setting but a lot of big ideas. Each scene feels well thought out and leaves you guessing about what's really going on.
I will say as vaguely as possible, page 101, where they talk about her coat, really threw me off. I was able to picture everything clearly up until this point, but the description left me confused about whether or not they were humans. Although it made it difficult for me to picture the characters with ease, it didn't ruin the sto ...more
I will say as vaguely as possible, page 101, where they talk about her coat, really threw me off. I was able to picture everything clearly up until this point, but the description left me confused about whether or not they were humans. Although it made it difficult for me to picture the characters with ease, it didn't ruin the sto ...more
The Compound is a YA Dark Dystopian story about a world with "men" who terrify the residents of a fenced-in compound where the multitude lives. Outside the fence, hungry monsters eagerly wait for someone to escape. Written through the eyes of Alex, a young boy who lives in a group home with hundreds of other residents inside the compound, we see the hardships of daily life.
Though the threat of the monsters is always there, Alex and his friends decide to explore outside the gates when one of his ...more
Though the threat of the monsters is always there, Alex and his friends decide to explore outside the gates when one of his ...more
This is dystopian YA with some shades of Hunger Games to it. The premise has teenagers snatched away by mysterious men with dogs. Local legend has it that monstrous creatures are stalking the nearby woods. (My assumption after reading the first chapter was werewolves.) The protagonist Alex is now questioning if he's being kept safe from the creatures in the dark or kept as a prisoner. As he untangles the mystery, the story goes to some harsh places. This isn't a book shy about maiming and killin
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A real page turner. I couldn’t put this down.
Excellent writing and storytelling hooked me from about page 3. The mark of a great novel is that you want to keep reading. The sense of mystery is extreme. I thought I had this figured out around page 40 but different events kept me guessing. I read it in one sitting, wanting to find out if I was right - but the ending is inconclusive except for one statement in the epilogue.
If this book is about what I think it is - it’s one of the most creative and ...more
Excellent writing and storytelling hooked me from about page 3. The mark of a great novel is that you want to keep reading. The sense of mystery is extreme. I thought I had this figured out around page 40 but different events kept me guessing. I read it in one sitting, wanting to find out if I was right - but the ending is inconclusive except for one statement in the epilogue.
If this book is about what I think it is - it’s one of the most creative and ...more
I started reading this story of a seemingly dystopian society that at first had me thinking of the future H.G. Wells had envisioned for his Eloi in The Time Machine. As you progress in the story, it becomes very different and more intriguing in the reading in that regard.
The story is well written and the characters seem real and believable as a group of teens trying to figure out how to survive within a society of feudal strongman power struggles in their Compound. And to find an escape if at al ...more
The story is well written and the characters seem real and believable as a group of teens trying to figure out how to survive within a society of feudal strongman power struggles in their Compound. And to find an escape if at al ...more
A Dark & Chilling Tale
Alex lives in a compound where they assume the men keeping guard are protecting from the scary monsters in the forest beyond the compound’s walls. But as the story unfolds we learn that the truth is much more sinister as Alex and his friends try to attempt a daring escape but with enemies both inside and outside the compound it’s a fight for survival. This is a delightfully dark and chilling tale with a very grim climax that reminds me of the Twilight Zone. I recommend for ...more
Alex lives in a compound where they assume the men keeping guard are protecting from the scary monsters in the forest beyond the compound’s walls. But as the story unfolds we learn that the truth is much more sinister as Alex and his friends try to attempt a daring escape but with enemies both inside and outside the compound it’s a fight for survival. This is a delightfully dark and chilling tale with a very grim climax that reminds me of the Twilight Zone. I recommend for ...more
This is my first review of this author. It was an easy and quick read. It was chilling in a way, watching the teens, and young one grow up. It reminded me a little of camps of World War II. I felt empathy toward the characters and their desire to escape their situation. I would have liked to see a little more of the "monsters" and who they were. Worth the read, and would recommend it to others. I will be reading more of this author.
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I read this book a few years ago and originally reviewed it on Amazon — now that I’ve stumbled upon it again on Goodreads, I wanted to leave a few words based on what I still remember.
I remember loving the story. The suspense, the strange world of the compound, and the constant tension about who to trust and what’s really going on — it all kept me hooked. But most of all, I remember how absolutely gutted I felt when I got to the ending.
Like many other readers, I didn’t like the ending at first. ...more
I remember loving the story. The suspense, the strange world of the compound, and the constant tension about who to trust and what’s really going on — it all kept me hooked. But most of all, I remember how absolutely gutted I felt when I got to the ending.
Like many other readers, I didn’t like the ending at first. ...more
May 14, 2024
Soph
marked it as to-read
