Review: The Line (Line #1) by Teri Hall

Synopsis (Goodreads):

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It's said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel's dad died in the last war. It's a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

My Thoughts:  This is one of those books where I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I like the idea (obviously, or I wouldn't have picked it up to read it) but I felt like sometimes the message was a little heavy handed.  I also felt that the writing itself was written for a younger audience.  Yes, the argument can be made that it's a young adult book and I'm more in the strictly adult demographic but I've read plenty of YA books that don't feel like their targeted directly toward the YA market.  I'm not saying this well.  Other books I've read that successfully straddle the line (Oh, ha! The Line!) to appeals to both YA and adult readers make the assumption that you can infer some things instead of spelling every little thing out.  And that right there illustrates why I'm not sure if I liked this book.  Everything was told to us.  There was nothing we had to come to a realization about on our own.

I feel like ya'll are going to think I'm saying that this book was a total waste of time.  It's not.  It's entertaining.  I enjoyed the dystopian setting and the sense of oppression that the citizens are living under.  The writing just seemed overly simplified to me.  For being such a fast book to read, it felt like the plot took a long time to get moving.

Will I be reading the next book in the series?  It's more than likely.  This book doesn't really resolve any of the issues laid out and I'm big on finding resolution.  As a hook to entice me to read the next book, this worked like a charm.  But it didn't really feel me with a sense of satisfaction when I finished.

More books by Teri Hall

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.