A review by hekate24
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
1.0
UghhhhhHHHHHHH
Not to be one of Those People but I seriously can't figure out why this one has such high ratings. The first half is almost entirely devoted to namedropping all the fancy crap this family has stockpiled away. The main plot is devoted to Eli learning to connect with his family, which is normally something I'd love. But in practice it ends up looking like his mother and sisters (all of whom end up being more interesting) leading him by the hand into being less of a selfish piece of shit... and then just kind of sitting back while Eli does everything. The villain goes from being decently complex to cartoonishly evil. And, for someone who's built up to be a nigh-unstoppable opponent, he's defeated much too easily.
And, seriously, in between all these cardboard cutouts... er, I mean, characters grappling with each other, the author continues to beat you over the head with how! very! wealthy! they are.
Ugh.
I might have given this a higher rating if I hadn't read [b:This is Not a Test|12043771|This is Not a Test|Courtney Summers|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1314375864s/12043771.jpg|17010494] and [b:A Girl Named Disaster|133775|A Girl Named Disaster|Nancy Farmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328868787s/133775.jpg|1160483] recently. The former is a good example of a good way to write a flawed, frustrating character who's stuck in an apocalyptic setting. The latter's just a good example of what can be achieved, even by middle grade fiction.
Seriously, I loathed this book.
Not to be one of Those People but I seriously can't figure out why this one has such high ratings. The first half is almost entirely devoted to namedropping all the fancy crap this family has stockpiled away. The main plot is devoted to Eli learning to connect with his family, which is normally something I'd love. But in practice it ends up looking like his mother and sisters (all of whom end up being more interesting) leading him by the hand into being less of a selfish piece of shit... and then just kind of sitting back while Eli does everything. The villain goes from being decently complex to cartoonishly evil. And, for someone who's built up to be a nigh-unstoppable opponent, he's defeated much too easily.
And, seriously, in between all these cardboard cutouts... er, I mean, characters grappling with each other, the author continues to beat you over the head with how! very! wealthy! they are.
Ugh.
I might have given this a higher rating if I hadn't read [b:This is Not a Test|12043771|This is Not a Test|Courtney Summers|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1314375864s/12043771.jpg|17010494] and [b:A Girl Named Disaster|133775|A Girl Named Disaster|Nancy Farmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328868787s/133775.jpg|1160483] recently. The former is a good example of a good way to write a flawed, frustrating character who's stuck in an apocalyptic setting. The latter's just a good example of what can be achieved, even by middle grade fiction.
Seriously, I loathed this book.