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tabitha_miscellania's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for the first time in about fourth grade and loved it. Reading it as an adult I'm shocked I read something with such serious themes. But it must not have been that shocking to me, because all I remember is the forced proximity trope and how much I liked the love interest! Lol
I would be careful to check content warnings if you're a young reader. Nothing explicit happens on the page, but several serious subjects are brought up. However, I think Nancy Werlin did an amazing job of showing the reality of what dealing with trauma looks like. Considering she wrote this in 1999, I was impressed that the main character gets counseling and there's some resolution to her experiencing the trauma.
I would be careful to check content warnings if you're a young reader. Nothing explicit happens on the page, but several serious subjects are brought up. However, I think Nancy Werlin did an amazing job of showing the reality of what dealing with trauma looks like. Considering she wrote this in 1999, I was impressed that the main character gets counseling and there's some resolution to her experiencing the trauma.
staciwilson's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hotkoolaidpotato's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
groundedwanderlust's review
5.0
Locked Inside has been one of my favorite books for years, mostly because of it's combination of (slight) romance, girl gamers, rebellion, and mystery. I have read and re-read it several times, and everytime is just as good as the last.
williamsdebbied's review
3.0
Marnie hasn't been able to trust anyone since her mother's death. Her mother, Skye, kept the mystery of her early life utterly secret and no one knows anything about her life before she became a gospel singer / self-help guru. At least, no one will share Skye's secrets with Marnie.
Marnie is all alone at her elite, all-girl boarding school. Her only "friend" is the Elf, a fellow gamer who chalenges her in an online game. When Marnie is kidnapped, she knows that she must save herself because there's no one who will know--or care--that she is missing.
Marnie is all alone at her elite, all-girl boarding school. Her only "friend" is the Elf, a fellow gamer who chalenges her in an online game. When Marnie is kidnapped, she knows that she must save herself because there's no one who will know--or care--that she is missing.
believedcrazy's review against another edition
3.0
I've read two books by Nancy Werlin before (The Killer's Cousin and Impossible) and I loved them both, but this one unfortunately fell flat for me. It was a definite page turner, but the more I read it the more irritated I got. In the beginning of the book I loved Marnie because she was quite intelligent, but by the end she was beginning to irritate me, and I just absolutely hated how unrealistic the ending was. The thing that kept me reading until the end was the kidnapping storyline, because I wanted to find out what was going on with the teacher, but the fact that I had given up on the other characters made even finishing this book difficult. I'm really hoping this is just Werlin's worst book, because the two I've read were really good, and I still have more to read.
spaceyfaerie's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. After reading all of this author’s other books, I was kinda cringing as to what this book might have in store, but I was happily surprised.
The plot at first was a little confusing, but it still made sense. Sounds confusing right? That’s pretty much an idea of what the book is like: confusing and yet makes sense. It’s also pretty quirky, which I enjoy those quirky books that no one really hasn’t told.
And as I’ve mentioned in other reviews of this author’s books, I appreciate the way she takes on real life issues in her stories. I like reading about different worlds, yes, but I also like stories that tell life as it is, no gloss over the content.
Speaking of content, this book was completely clean, which also surprised me given that only two of her other books were close to the level of this one. There wasn’t any of my personal nemesis the ‘f’ bomb, or any “scenes”. In fact, there wasn’t even kissing. (Which maybe I was kinda hoping for one kiss maybe in the end, but oh well. The romance was still super cute.)
Bit of randomness now…
Paliopolis sounded pretty cool.
The Elf was awesome. Like, really amazing, and surprisingly very sweet. He was just so nice!
Marnie was sweet and hilarious. Her daydreams about things and her sarcasm and wit made her totally my kind of girl. But she was also sweet in the way that she was hurting, but really didn’t realize it until later, but yeah. Have to read the book, I guess, to get what I’m trying to say. Her character was superbly developed.
Max I thought at first was a bit of a jerk, but in the end he turned out to be super nice.
Ms. Slaight was just…she was something all right. A mess of something. I really didn’t feel bad at all when she shot herself. I mean, yeah, she was sad and looking for love or whatever, but she went about it totally the wrong way. And to top it all off, she was physco, so there’s the end of the story right there.
Jenna, I guess maybe she was supposed to be Marnie’s friend or something in the end? I don’t know. She just seemed kinda thrown randomly into the story, but hey, she was still a part of everything.
Skye…she was interesting and funny that she was such a big character even though she was dead. But even after hearing everything about her, I liked her. She seemed nice and not afraid to stand up for herself, and even after everything she’d been through, she still had Marnie and loved her. I thought that whole thing was just really touching.
So, I do need a bit of a spoiler for some things… Ok so to find out that Ms. Slaight kidnapped Marnie, that was kinda strange. I mean I maybe suspected her, but it was still a bit of an “Oh, she’s the bad guy” moment.
The Elf’s whole chat with Marnie was super cute, the whole story about how he ended up falling in love her…just so cute.
Skye’s whole background with her foster dad….just….wow. Sad. I’d have probably shot him too.
So anyway, yes. A nice read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s just one of those stories that you know you really won’t ever forget because it’s one of those quirky, intriguing, and surprisingly sweet books that just grab at you and really never let go.
The plot at first was a little confusing, but it still made sense. Sounds confusing right? That’s pretty much an idea of what the book is like: confusing and yet makes sense. It’s also pretty quirky, which I enjoy those quirky books that no one really hasn’t told.
And as I’ve mentioned in other reviews of this author’s books, I appreciate the way she takes on real life issues in her stories. I like reading about different worlds, yes, but I also like stories that tell life as it is, no gloss over the content.
Speaking of content, this book was completely clean, which also surprised me given that only two of her other books were close to the level of this one. There wasn’t any of my personal nemesis the ‘f’ bomb, or any “scenes”. In fact, there wasn’t even kissing. (Which maybe I was kinda hoping for one kiss maybe in the end, but oh well. The romance was still super cute.)
Bit of randomness now…
Paliopolis sounded pretty cool.
The Elf was awesome. Like, really amazing, and surprisingly very sweet. He was just so nice!
Marnie was sweet and hilarious. Her daydreams about things and her sarcasm and wit made her totally my kind of girl. But she was also sweet in the way that she was hurting, but really didn’t realize it until later, but yeah. Have to read the book, I guess, to get what I’m trying to say. Her character was superbly developed.
Max I thought at first was a bit of a jerk, but in the end he turned out to be super nice.
Ms. Slaight was just…she was something all right. A mess of something.
Jenna, I guess maybe she was supposed to be Marnie’s friend or something in the end? I don’t know. She just seemed kinda thrown randomly into the story, but hey, she was still a part of everything.
Skye…she was interesting and funny that she was such a big character even though she was dead. But even after hearing everything about her, I liked her. She seemed nice and not afraid to stand up for herself, and even after everything she’d been through, she still had Marnie and loved her. I thought that whole thing was just really touching.
So, I do need a bit of a spoiler for some things…
The Elf’s whole chat with Marnie was super cute, the whole story about how he ended up falling in love her…just so cute.
Skye’s whole background with her foster dad….just….wow. Sad. I’d have probably shot him too.
So anyway, yes. A nice read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s just one of those stories that you know you really won’t ever forget because it’s one of those quirky, intriguing, and surprisingly sweet books that just grab at you and really never let go.
fiatal's review against another edition
3.0
Locked Inside isn’t a fantasy novel at all, which I probably would have realized sooner if I hadn’t read it two seconds after I set down Heir Apparent. Instead of Giannine, we have Marnie, daughter to the famous ex-gospel singer and founder of an almost-religion, Skye. Instead of virtual reality, we have what appears to be an MMORPG called Paliopolis. Instead of adventure and life or death situations, we have an all-too-real kidnapping and life or death situations. Marnie is, like Giannine, a character full of opinions, but she struggles more with her own identity and fitting in with others. Marnie uses Paliopolis as an escape and it’s only through reading the book that we truly understand why. I don’t want to give too much away, because this book is best when read without knowing too much about it.
The strongest points of the book were Marnie’s inner thoughts, her struggle to be someone she wants to be, and her (developing) relationships with other characters in the book**. I’m not describing her well, because I’m trying to avoid actually talking about her. Just rest assured that Marnie is complex and unusual in the best way. By the end of the book, she still isn’t who she wants to be, but she’s closer and, hey, who is who they want to be?
The weakest point was, unfortunately, the strangeness bordering on complete implausibility of some of the situations. There are big implausibles that I don’t want to mention, but there are smaller, non-spoilery ones, too. Mainly, for me, the vagueness of Paliopolis. For something so important to Marnie, it isn’t described very much and, to be quite honest, it doesn’t sound like a real game.
I know I should give some leeway to Werlin, because she probably isn’t a gamer, and she was just trying to write a book about this girl, but I would like to repeat that Paliopolis is a significant part of Marnie’s life. Surely some more research or something could have been done? Heir Apparent falls into this trap, too, but I’m more willing to give Vende a bye since she’s assuming a future technology (and she defines some gameplay mechanics, such as the dying-and-sent-back-to-the-start thing, which Werlin doesn’t really do at all). I mean, I love that both of these books are about girl gamers, because most young girls nowadays do game and it’s always nice to have that represented. But if it rings false to me, I can’t help but think that it might turn off younger girls, who have a lot to potentially gain from these books.
The strongest points of the book were Marnie’s inner thoughts, her struggle to be someone she wants to be, and her (developing) relationships with other characters in the book**. I’m not describing her well, because I’m trying to avoid actually talking about her. Just rest assured that Marnie is complex and unusual in the best way. By the end of the book, she still isn’t who she wants to be, but she’s closer and, hey, who is who they want to be?
The weakest point was, unfortunately, the strangeness bordering on complete implausibility of some of the situations. There are big implausibles that I don’t want to mention, but there are smaller, non-spoilery ones, too. Mainly, for me, the vagueness of Paliopolis. For something so important to Marnie, it isn’t described very much and, to be quite honest, it doesn’t sound like a real game.
I know I should give some leeway to Werlin, because she probably isn’t a gamer, and she was just trying to write a book about this girl, but I would like to repeat that Paliopolis is a significant part of Marnie’s life. Surely some more research or something could have been done? Heir Apparent falls into this trap, too, but I’m more willing to give Vende a bye since she’s assuming a future technology (and she defines some gameplay mechanics, such as the dying-and-sent-back-to-the-start thing, which Werlin doesn’t really do at all). I mean, I love that both of these books are about girl gamers, because most young girls nowadays do game and it’s always nice to have that represented. But if it rings false to me, I can’t help but think that it might turn off younger girls, who have a lot to potentially gain from these books.
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