Jaclyn's Possession

Possession by Elana Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am feeling a bit conflicted about this book.  On one hand I sat and devoured it in one sitting before I left for Europe.  On the other hand I felt like much of the plot was a blending of other teenage dystopian fiction with a few sparks of originality and a strong ending.  I think I feel most of my conflict over the fact that Meg’s friend wrote this book.  I am in awe that she did that – that she came up with a story and managed to sell it to a publisher.  I just wish I loved it more.  I would definitely recommend it to young people who loved Uglies or The Hunger Games.  My problem is that I would recommend those other books first.  All those contradictory things said, it was still an entertaining read.  Kudos to Meg’s friend for achieving her goal of getting published and on a national level.  So exciting!

On a totally trivial note, I love Johnson’s choice of character names.  Vi, Zenn, Jag, Gavin – they roll off the tongue well, and they are completely fitting for the type of story.