Publishing year: 2004
Publisher: Dial Books:
Rating: 3/5
Synopsis:
When fourteen-year-old Elliot
Sutton arrives at Holminster High, he is determined not to stand out. He simply
can’t let himself become a target like he was at his last school. He’s going to
invent a whole new Elliot. The new Elliot is tough, impenetrable. Enter the
Guardians. A group of upperclassmen that secretly rule over Holminster with a
quiet and anonymous terror. Obsessed with George Orwell’s book 1984, they
desire power for the sake of power. And strangely enough, they want Elliot. Not
to terrorize…but to become one of them. Everyone knows that if the Guardians
notice you in the wrong way, life will be miserable. But as Elliot soon
discovers, even if they notice you in the right way, there will be some
terrifying choices to face.
Review:
Genuinely a good book but I can’t
help having mixed feelings about it. At 181 pages, it’s one of the shortest
books I’ve read in a long time. I think this counts against the book only
because it limits the amount of detail that can be squeezed into such a tight
page count.
I wish the author had gone into
more detail about Elliot’s father for a start. The physical injuries were
described well but it wasn’t clear what the current situation is. The
impression I got was that his father’s spirit was broken. He seems capable of
moving about but he never speaks through the course of the novel. I wonder if
after the beating, something may have damaged his mental health. Perhaps his
brain was oxygen deprived for an extended period. At any rate, I would have
preferred a clear reason.
1984 by George Orwell is
referenced dozens of times in this book and if this book accomplished nothing
else, it did stir my interest for this book. I will probably read it sooner
rather than later.
Elliot’s determination to never
be a victim again is the fundamental reason he falls in with the Guardians. His
fear of being beaten and humiliated is very well conveyed. The process of
choosing a punisher, punishment, and selection was self-explanatory. Just not
the standards that they use to choose a victim. At first I had the
understanding the Guardians were a vigilante group. Wrong understanding.
Upon finishing the book I believe
the victims are chosen by the whimsy of whoever is doing the choosing. If I had
to describe it with a phrase I would say, ‘organized bullying’. I just would
have enjoyed a method to this madness.
One more thing bothered me. The
ending. My issue with it: it wasn’t an ending. But wait there is more. It’s a
standalone so there is no sequel. There is a feeling of hope at the end and
Elliot has done a substantial amount of growing as a character over the past
180 pages. There are good points. There are just too many loose ends, to call
this an ending. His farther is still a silent man who spends his days watching
TV. His mom is still overworked and has no true idea of the turmoil Elliot is going
through. Louise, his love interest, is still on the fence about him and for
good reason, nothing has been resolved there. In summary, nothing has been
resolved. Elliot has made a decision, that much is clear, but none of the
consequences are mentioned. I am left with a tiny voice speaking in the back of
my brain saying, “…And then?”
Besides those three things, the
book was great. The pace was delightfully quick and was written in smooth even
prose. It wasn’t made for suspense but I had to finish it and that’s a good
thing.
Question: If you were given the
chance for a fresh start at a different school, workplace, or city, would you
take it? Would you be yourself or adjust your personality, attitude, and dress
to suit the environment?
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