Honestly, I am not completely sure how I feel about this book. My first impression of it was a beautiful cover, and while the writing at times feels lyrical, this book is anything but beautiful.
In an almost twisted retelling of The Lord of The Flies, Powers delivers a story of a group of girls doing anything to survive a deadly "Tox" while under quarantine at their boarding school. I absolutely loved the writing in this book and it would have felt magical had the contents not been so horrific, which is undoubtedly the point. I adored how complex and yet simple the characters were. While they were distinctly different from each other, they were also all young girls trying to survive. I will say I wish some things got more backstory. For example, we get hints of Byatt's life before the Tox but we never actually see it. I understand how this plays into Hetty's almost idealized version of Byatt, however, I would have loved to see this fleshed out a bit more. I think the ending of the book was abrupt, but I also feel like it would have been impossible to wrap up such horrific events in a matter of a few pages. The trauma that the girls have endured and the lies that they have been told will affect them for the rest of their lives. I just wish we could have learned more about the Tox and the after-effects of physically cutting it out of you. Overall, I found the story interesting and dark, but also real and raw. While you can see the inspiration pulled from other texts, this still feels original and new.
In an almost twisted retelling of The Lord of The Flies, Powers delivers a story of a group of girls doing anything to survive a deadly "Tox" while under quarantine at their boarding school. I absolutely loved the writing in this book and it would have felt magical had the contents not been so horrific, which is undoubtedly the point. I adored how complex and yet simple the characters were. While they were distinctly different from each other, they were also all young girls trying to survive. I will say I wish some things got more backstory. For example, we get hints of Byatt's life before the Tox but we never actually see it. I understand how this plays into Hetty's almost idealized version of Byatt, however, I would have loved to see this fleshed out a bit more. I think the ending of the book was abrupt, but I also feel like it would have been impossible to wrap up such horrific events in a matter of a few pages. The trauma that the girls have endured and the lies that they have been told will affect them for the rest of their lives. I just wish we could have learned more about the Tox and the after-effects of physically cutting it out of you. Overall, I found the story interesting and dark, but also real and raw. While you can see the inspiration pulled from other texts, this still feels original and new.