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vikingwolf's review
1.0
Leah is in detention when her armed classmates come in and start shooting. She knows she must find somewhere safe to hide as she can't get out of the school-and she must find out if her younger brother is one of the shooters. Isolated and trapped, Leah wants to get help from outside which might mean risking being seen by the killers.
I bought this book because I thought that it would be interesting to read a book that takes place during a school shooting and siege. For the first few chapters the book pretty much delivered what I expected...running from the killers, trying to find a safe place to hide and witnessing others being shot. For the most part, these chapters pretty much delivered. Sadly the book went rapidly downhill after that, turning a good idea into a complete mess, to put it bluntly. Other than the start, there wasn't much else that I really liked about this book.
Leah is not exactly likeable. She is obviously a frequent troublemaker, hence being quite often in detention, she doesn't seem to think much of anyone including the girls that are meant to be her friends, and she is just written as the annoying angst filled anti authority teen that bugs me in this kind of book. There are too many excuses offered for why these teens are bad...the usual thing of poverty, social problems etc. Having a bad start in life is not a reason to murder your classmates in my opinion. Anyway, we know Leah suspects that her brother is one of the shooters but she doesn't need to remind us of that every second page, or that she hates him, or that she wants to know if he is involved. We get it ok? No need to hit us over the head with it again and again.
There is no real structure to the book or the writing. We get hints that this is a dystopian novel with a grim school system and hardline government but it isn't really explained or developed. We just have to accept that the government is bad and that's it whereas I like to know why the world is this way and what caused it. Character development was lacking and this led to me not really caring who lived and died in it, which is never a good thing when I'm reading a book. The language used is slang. Now I don't mind slang or regional dialects in books if the sentences make sense but in this case the way Leah's thoughts are presented are jumbled and it is not always easy to get what she is raving on about. I found this book very frustrating to read and didn't always get what the author was trying to do with it.
The plot. The further the book went, the more far-fetched the plot became. Obviously Leah couldn't remain hidden all through the book but her reasons for leaving her safe hiding places were dumb, and her decision making risked the lives of the few people that were safe from the gang. The whole interaction with the reporter with Leah agreeing to run around the school risking her life to film the killers and hostages in exchange for money just felt ridiculous to me. Two kids trying to defuse bombs and end the siege was just over the top. These nuts have been trying to kill you all through the book and you walk up to them and sort it all out in ten minutes with the 'we won't tell on you if you stop' nonsense? The whole second half of the book just went mental and I lost all interest.
I'd describe this book in the genre of thriller with a slight dystopian element. Unfortunately I wouldn't really recommend it.
I bought this book because I thought that it would be interesting to read a book that takes place during a school shooting and siege. For the first few chapters the book pretty much delivered what I expected...running from the killers, trying to find a safe place to hide and witnessing others being shot. For the most part, these chapters pretty much delivered. Sadly the book went rapidly downhill after that, turning a good idea into a complete mess, to put it bluntly. Other than the start, there wasn't much else that I really liked about this book.
Leah is not exactly likeable. She is obviously a frequent troublemaker, hence being quite often in detention, she doesn't seem to think much of anyone including the girls that are meant to be her friends, and she is just written as the annoying angst filled anti authority teen that bugs me in this kind of book. There are too many excuses offered for why these teens are bad...the usual thing of poverty, social problems etc. Having a bad start in life is not a reason to murder your classmates in my opinion. Anyway, we know Leah suspects that her brother is one of the shooters but she doesn't need to remind us of that every second page, or that she hates him, or that she wants to know if he is involved. We get it ok? No need to hit us over the head with it again and again.
There is no real structure to the book or the writing. We get hints that this is a dystopian novel with a grim school system and hardline government but it isn't really explained or developed. We just have to accept that the government is bad and that's it whereas I like to know why the world is this way and what caused it. Character development was lacking and this led to me not really caring who lived and died in it, which is never a good thing when I'm reading a book. The language used is slang. Now I don't mind slang or regional dialects in books if the sentences make sense but in this case the way Leah's thoughts are presented are jumbled and it is not always easy to get what she is raving on about. I found this book very frustrating to read and didn't always get what the author was trying to do with it.
The plot. The further the book went, the more far-fetched the plot became. Obviously Leah couldn't remain hidden all through the book but her reasons for leaving her safe hiding places were dumb, and her decision making risked the lives of the few people that were safe from the gang. The whole interaction with the reporter with Leah agreeing to run around the school risking her life to film the killers and hostages in exchange for money just felt ridiculous to me. Two kids trying to defuse bombs and end the siege was just over the top. These nuts have been trying to kill you all through the book and you walk up to them and sort it all out in ten minutes with the 'we won't tell on you if you stop' nonsense? The whole second half of the book just went mental and I lost all interest.
I'd describe this book in the genre of thriller with a slight dystopian element. Unfortunately I wouldn't really recommend it.
marryallthepeople's review
4.0
Man, this unknown book captivated me! I picked up this paperbook just before heading to bed ... I had daydreams/nightmarse about this situation and was amazed how a "young adult" book could captivate me and make me think grand thoughts about the future and the role of children/education/government etc.
Surprising find!
Surprising find!
secre's review
4.0
What do you do when the worst happens? When two boys storm into your detention, shoot your teacher in the head and get the rest of the class to file out to their potential deaths? What do you do when your decisions led to a child being shot because your chances of survival were better without her? What do you do when you have a nasty suspicion that your own brother is in that room full of children and that he’s holding a gun? Most importantly, what do you do when nothing makes sense? When something simply doesn’t add up and there seem to be reasons behind the reasons?
Siege is gritty and violet, it’s powerful and unrelenting, grabbing hold of you by the gut, refusing to let go until the last page has been turned. It’s 2020 UK and the right wing nut jobs are in control, austerity measures have segregated society. Free healthcare is a thing of the past and Leah’s mother is mire deep in depression with no available help, leaving Leah to run the family. Parents with no money have no choice but to send their children to the most basic of schools, and perhaps even that slim chance of education is now at risk from the Volunteer Programs. By Volunteer Programs, read enforced slave labour at the expense of an education because really, what are these kids good for?
From the moment the first shots are fired to the bitter end this is a devastating roller coaster ride as you travel with Leah through the air ducts, trying to stay alive but also desperately trying to get out and even more importantly perhaps, find answers. No punches are pulled. The Lock Down system that is meant to be so good at stopping people from getting in is now what I trapping Leah in and despite contact with the outside world, nobody looks to be shutting it down. The Eternal Knights have gained control of the CCTV and therefore the corridors and Leah finds out early that mistakes will be costly. From the air vents to the corridors, your world narrows down to this one day and this single girl’s fear and bravery.
But what is perhaps most effective of all at drawing you in, is that this isn’t just a school shooting story; so well known by now in America at least. It is of course a school shooting story and has all of the intense drama and nail biting tension of a fight for your life against your own school peers. But it isn’t just that, it’s far deeper. And where Sarah Mussi really succeeds here is in creating a political scene outside of the school walls, despite all of the action taking place within one day and never leaving those walls. Because right from the very start, Leah starts asking some difficult questions; where did those boys get the money for the guns? Where did they get the brains to plan this? Something isn’t sitting right. Someone has an ulterior motive.
Narrated from a first person perspective, you are stuck inside Leah Jacksons head from beginning to end and it is therefore a remarkably good job that Leah Jackson isn’t overly annoying. Her character is well done although perhaps at times a trifle inconsistent as sometimes her vocabulary and thought processes seem to belong to a young teenager rather than sixteen years old. Other times her thought processes and conclusions are far more adult and with more apparent life experience behind them than she actually has. Her vocabulary is rather limited as well, although that’s to be expected in a world where we don’t bother to educate the poor kids. Overall, she is a realistic teenager and you easily get behind her and into her head as she crawls and scurries, trying to survive but also trying to save.
There is one thing to really remember before picking this book up though and that is that it truly doesn’t pull its punches. People die. Children die. Children as young as six are executed against the bookcase for being scared and in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a fast paced and dramatic book that doesn’t let you think, doesn’t let you breathe as it propels you through the worst day in Leah’s life and you are in her thoughts, in her head constantly. There is no respite. It’s a stunningly powerful and immersive book but don’t get me wrong, it is disturbing and it is terrifying. Not least because it could happen. Give the Tory’s another ten years in power and it could happen. The events are not all that far away from reality. And that is perhaps more scary than the violence.
===Do I Recommend?===
Yes. This is the second of Sarah Mussi’s books that I have read with the first being _Riot_. That I found to be overly simplistic with a soppy romance arc ruining it and an unrealistic main character who also happened to be extremely annoying. I’m glad that I didn’t let it stop me from reading this. Because this is disturbing and powerful, gutsy and gripping and was read in one sitting from beginning to end. It isn’t a book for young children for obvious reasons but it’s one of the more powerful teenage dystopian fiction books I have read in a long while.
Siege is gritty and violet, it’s powerful and unrelenting, grabbing hold of you by the gut, refusing to let go until the last page has been turned. It’s 2020 UK and the right wing nut jobs are in control, austerity measures have segregated society. Free healthcare is a thing of the past and Leah’s mother is mire deep in depression with no available help, leaving Leah to run the family. Parents with no money have no choice but to send their children to the most basic of schools, and perhaps even that slim chance of education is now at risk from the Volunteer Programs. By Volunteer Programs, read enforced slave labour at the expense of an education because really, what are these kids good for?
From the moment the first shots are fired to the bitter end this is a devastating roller coaster ride as you travel with Leah through the air ducts, trying to stay alive but also desperately trying to get out and even more importantly perhaps, find answers. No punches are pulled. The Lock Down system that is meant to be so good at stopping people from getting in is now what I trapping Leah in and despite contact with the outside world, nobody looks to be shutting it down. The Eternal Knights have gained control of the CCTV and therefore the corridors and Leah finds out early that mistakes will be costly. From the air vents to the corridors, your world narrows down to this one day and this single girl’s fear and bravery.
But what is perhaps most effective of all at drawing you in, is that this isn’t just a school shooting story; so well known by now in America at least. It is of course a school shooting story and has all of the intense drama and nail biting tension of a fight for your life against your own school peers. But it isn’t just that, it’s far deeper. And where Sarah Mussi really succeeds here is in creating a political scene outside of the school walls, despite all of the action taking place within one day and never leaving those walls. Because right from the very start, Leah starts asking some difficult questions; where did those boys get the money for the guns? Where did they get the brains to plan this? Something isn’t sitting right. Someone has an ulterior motive.
Narrated from a first person perspective, you are stuck inside Leah Jacksons head from beginning to end and it is therefore a remarkably good job that Leah Jackson isn’t overly annoying. Her character is well done although perhaps at times a trifle inconsistent as sometimes her vocabulary and thought processes seem to belong to a young teenager rather than sixteen years old. Other times her thought processes and conclusions are far more adult and with more apparent life experience behind them than she actually has. Her vocabulary is rather limited as well, although that’s to be expected in a world where we don’t bother to educate the poor kids. Overall, she is a realistic teenager and you easily get behind her and into her head as she crawls and scurries, trying to survive but also trying to save.
There is one thing to really remember before picking this book up though and that is that it truly doesn’t pull its punches. People die. Children die. Children as young as six are executed against the bookcase for being scared and in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a fast paced and dramatic book that doesn’t let you think, doesn’t let you breathe as it propels you through the worst day in Leah’s life and you are in her thoughts, in her head constantly. There is no respite. It’s a stunningly powerful and immersive book but don’t get me wrong, it is disturbing and it is terrifying. Not least because it could happen. Give the Tory’s another ten years in power and it could happen. The events are not all that far away from reality. And that is perhaps more scary than the violence.
===Do I Recommend?===
Yes. This is the second of Sarah Mussi’s books that I have read with the first being _Riot_. That I found to be overly simplistic with a soppy romance arc ruining it and an unrealistic main character who also happened to be extremely annoying. I’m glad that I didn’t let it stop me from reading this. Because this is disturbing and powerful, gutsy and gripping and was read in one sitting from beginning to end. It isn’t a book for young children for obvious reasons but it’s one of the more powerful teenage dystopian fiction books I have read in a long while.
chaz_reads's review
5.0
I now look at this book, just sitting on my bed, minding it's own business, and all I can think of is how she ended it. Fantastically, in my opinion. Devastating, yes, but fantastic. Goddammit.
I also love that it's a dystopian that's not all about being a dystopian. It's just a little detail thrown in to help the story and to help you understand it. It's not based on the fact that it's in the future and that the world is going to hell, and to be honest, I didn't even know it WAS a dystopian until i was at least a quarter of the way through it.
I also love that it's a dystopian that's not all about being a dystopian. It's just a little detail thrown in to help the story and to help you understand it. It's not based on the fact that it's in the future and that the world is going to hell, and to be honest, I didn't even know it WAS a dystopian until i was at least a quarter of the way through it.
exlibrary_gabbie's review
3.0
I read this book in one sitting. I enjoyed reading it. Loved the ending because it so how real life is a bit as in real life situations there aren't always happy endings.
ellabowkett's review
Brilliant! Read this aged 11 and found it to be the most exciting book I’d ever read. The beginning and flash-backs about the morning before school were pretty boring as they drew away from the intense, speedy action of the main plot. But the rest of the book was great, I cringed slightly at the attempts by the author to write as a teenager but it wasn’t a major issue. Overall, I enjoyed it massively.
missusb21's review
Hard to read, harder to review, difficult to rate.
Confronting, disturbing, depressing and ultimately heart- breaking.
Leah's determination to save everyone is courageous. Not a book for everyone.
Confronting, disturbing, depressing and ultimately heart- breaking.
Leah's determination to save everyone is courageous. Not a book for everyone.
shadow_spines's review
4.0
Also published on my blog here
I was intrigued by this GORGEOUS book as soon as I heard about it. School shootings fall into that ‘issues’ category of things that don’t get talked about very often but really should. I like to go for books that almost guarantee an emotional read, and Siege certainly didn’t disappoint!
The first two-thirds of the book were entirely gripping, and brought up a lot of emotions about what it may be like to experience a shooting, and the choices you make. We follow Leah from the beginning, where she manages to hide from the initial horror, and then later as she tries to figure out how to help others. Should she leave her hiding place to help others that have been shot? Or try to get out and help? Or even, try to take down the shooters?
I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience that kind of event. Living in England, I have not seen the ‘gun culture’ that is more apparent in the US, but it is getting worse here. The level of shock and fear that people feel must be overwhelming, and that raw emotion definitely comes across in the book. There are points in the book where I just felt… horrified? That this could actually be a true story was at the forefront of my mind, and it made the story very intense.
I do have to say that the last third of the book did irritate me a bit. Trying to tie up the story and the motivation behind the shooting, the story just went in a way that I didn’t expect and couldn’t really believe. It did make the plot different and reveal a kind of ‘hidden agenda’, but I just felt it was unnecessary. To me, the book was powerful enough without it, and it kind of detracted from the original message.
Siege was a book that took my breath away. I was hooked from the start and could not put the book down. Although I didn’t agree with the ending, I think that it covers a very important topic, and I would implore teenagers to read about the impact shootings can have. 4 sofas!
I was intrigued by this GORGEOUS book as soon as I heard about it. School shootings fall into that ‘issues’ category of things that don’t get talked about very often but really should. I like to go for books that almost guarantee an emotional read, and Siege certainly didn’t disappoint!
The first two-thirds of the book were entirely gripping, and brought up a lot of emotions about what it may be like to experience a shooting, and the choices you make. We follow Leah from the beginning, where she manages to hide from the initial horror, and then later as she tries to figure out how to help others. Should she leave her hiding place to help others that have been shot? Or try to get out and help? Or even, try to take down the shooters?
I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience that kind of event. Living in England, I have not seen the ‘gun culture’ that is more apparent in the US, but it is getting worse here. The level of shock and fear that people feel must be overwhelming, and that raw emotion definitely comes across in the book. There are points in the book where I just felt… horrified? That this could actually be a true story was at the forefront of my mind, and it made the story very intense.
I do have to say that the last third of the book did irritate me a bit. Trying to tie up the story and the motivation behind the shooting, the story just went in a way that I didn’t expect and couldn’t really believe. It did make the plot different and reveal a kind of ‘hidden agenda’, but I just felt it was unnecessary. To me, the book was powerful enough without it, and it kind of detracted from the original message.
Siege was a book that took my breath away. I was hooked from the start and could not put the book down. Although I didn’t agree with the ending, I think that it covers a very important topic, and I would implore teenagers to read about the impact shootings can have. 4 sofas!
believedcrazy's review
3.0
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, and while it did stay with me for quite a while after I finished it, it just didn't grip me the way I wanted it to.
For a start this book seemed unrealistic to me, I'm not talking about the plot scarily enough the government stuff was actually believable to me but more like the characters reactions to things and how they behaved. I didn't like the main character Leah at all. Her relationship with her brother didn't make sense and wasn't believable, and her constantly mentioning him was irritating. She kept saying how much she hated him and didn't want anything to do with him, yet all she wanted to do was talk about him.
I think the issues and the messages in this book are important, school shootings are an issue right now and it's terrifying, it's just a shame they weren't delivered better.
For a start this book seemed unrealistic to me, I'm not talking about the plot
I think the issues and the messages in this book are important, school shootings are an issue right now and it's terrifying, it's just a shame they weren't delivered better.