Lies: A Gone Novel

The Gone series by Michael Grant is one that I have liked for many reasons, chief among them being the development of the plot and seeing just how much punishment Grant is willing to dish out on these poor kids (does that sound too sadistic of me? Oh well.) Now, as these kids have seemingly dealt, for the time being, with Hunger, they now have to deal with the lies in the community. I was excited to see what it was that they could do, how far they were willing to take this in terms of the violence of the FAYZ, and what these kids' breaking points seemed to be. Was I disappointed? No, I was not.

One of the best elements of this story is the sheer number of threats in this book.

Most prominent is the Human Crew, a group of kids who despise those with powers, and who force anyone who has them to leave the community. This reminded me a bit of the hatred of the X-Men comics and how there were people who were relieved that mutants should be exterminated. It was a good natural progression for the series, as seemingly more and more people got different powers.

Then there is the Prophet that lives in the FAYZ. She is a girl who, it turns out, can listen in and visit those people who are directly outside the FAYZ. This is just a simple power, but there are those people who consider her more of a holy person than a normal girl. This raises some interesting questions about God and why these kids should believe in him, given their situation. To be honest, I would be asking myself these same questions in their situation.

Then there is how the main title is linked to this story. This book is all about the lies the characters tell. Characters lie to other people for right reasons, wrong reasons, and even to themselves. There are people who lie for the greater good, and for their own personal gain. This makes for excellent drama, as the lies are revealed many in ways I did not see coming. When some lies are shown to various characters, it isn't always for the better, as some ‘truths' are used to further the goals of others. This makes for an excellent story on its own.

I also liked the alternative viewpoints we see in this story. We find a brief glimpse of the families waiting outside the FAYZ, as we see children who have ‘died' come out to their parents. This makes the reader have that dramatic irony, as we now know another way the kids could get out that our characters would never accept. This also was saddening when it came to the finale, as, just for a second, the wall comes down, and parents can see some of the horrors within before it goes back up again. So close, and yet so far!

However, there are some problems with this book. One of the issues here is that I am having trouble keeping track of the overarching plot of this story. The major villain of the book, the ‘Darkness' was something that I found difficult to comprehend in this book. Now, perhaps that is because it has been a year since I read the second one, but still, it may be something to note for other readers.

Then there were the number of subplots of this book, especially when we meet a family of kids trying to survive on a nearby island. They just seemed to be too much for me and often made the second part of the book drag, making for a sloe reading experience.

Still, this book was good overall, especially when it came to the ending, which left a few things hanging in terms of plotlines. I give this book a three out of five.