Ok, so...
It was written well, and the story was interesting, so if you aren't bothered by the following things, you'll probably like it.
But I am bothered by this, very much so.
Anyway, do not read this review before you have given the book a try! Only if you find the book unreadable, you can read this review, OK? Don't spoil the book for yourself.
Seriously... do not read on, unless you have read the book or know you will never read it!1) he's been living with his uncle his whole life. His mother visit him every now and then, and he loves her and wants nothing but to live with her. So - during one of these visits, they are being attacked. Mom tells him his grandfather - her father - tries to take him from her, and that's why she's been playing a decoy, and that's why she left him with his uncle. The mother is captured and the uncle keeps dragging the boy away, telling him to run, telling him his mom can take care of herself, that they are after the boy, not the mother. The boy goes back, and forces the uncle to get into trouble. The uncle tells the boy to get to a ferry, that he will meet him there, and probably the mother also. On the way to the ferry, the boy meets a girl he just met today, and the girl says she's working for the grandfather, and he knows where the boy's mother is. Instead of doing what his uncle - acting dad - and mom said, he follows the girl.2) "He ran as hard and as fast as he could, and to his surprise, she matched him." So... he's a boy, smaller than average 12 years old, not sporty, he likes animals and books. Why would he be surprised another 12yo matches him? Because she's a girl... I also read from another review that he likes to "save girls" even when they tell him not to do that. Even when it's obvious they are better at saving people than he is. I assume it's because he's a sexist little a-hole who thinks boys are automatically better than girls, even weak little bookworms like he is. He is literally bullied by everyone in the school, even by his former best friend, the person who is the step above him in the pecking order. He's the runt of the school, and he thinks he needs to protect and save girls, simply because they are girls. I'm not OK with that.3) His mom told him she tries to keep him away from his grandfather, and when he gets to the grandfather, he believes everything the man says without even questioning it. If he really loved his mom, he'd believe her, and would do anything to avoid the grandfather, totally inspite of whether he was a good guy or a bad guy. His mom said so, so that's the truth. THAT is what kids do. But not this imbecile.4) His uncle tells him to watch but not be seen. That he can look at the fight going on in the pit. He does. There's a match going on between a big boy and a slender girl. In spite of what his uncle told him, in spite of his new bestie sitting in the audience totally relaxed and watching the match, in stead of the whole auditory being full of kids watching, he just have to run and try to rescue the girl. Because for some reason he thinks it's a match to death. Even though he has been given all the necessary information for him to realize it's just a match, like a wrestling match at his school. And his uncle gets a hold of him in time, and he fights the uncle trying to get to rescue the girl. That he can't even get away from his uncle doesn't tell him anything. He just have to rescue the girl, because obviously to him all girls are damsels in distress that require a boy to save them. The girl kicks the boy's ass, because of course it was a training match, AS HE WAS TOLD PREVIOUSLY. But - his uncle wanted to present him to the school slowly, in a nice way, and he just had to spoil that. I HATE KIDS WHO CAN'T OBEY SIMPLE COMMANDS, even when they are self-evident, rational, totally understandable, logical and... the only reason they disobey is that they think they know better, when the only thing they should know is that they know nothing. Especially when this inability to do what you are told just caused you to loose both your mother and your uncle (the only parent you have ever known) the very same day. I am not for blind obedience and discipline, I am for children to be informed and educated, and to be able to make choices for themselves, but I do expect children to do what I tell them to do, immediately, unless they are obviously BS. "RUN!" is obviously not BS. "Go to the ferry, and your mom and I will meet you there" is obviously not BS. There's nothing to argue about, there's nothing to ask, nothing to question, nothing that tells you not to follow that order. On the contrary. But noooo.... not this idiot. Obviously he knows better than his mom and uncle, even when he doesn't even know what is going on and he knows he doesn't know... Obviously his mom needs him to rescue her, after all, she's a female!Hate kids like that. Hate them with vengeance. 5) He has apparently a twin brother, who is apparently a bully, because apparently there has to be bullies - (that in itself is a very strong reason for me to DNF, but right now it's a bit irrelevant. I could have lived with that.) - and this bully brother decides to challenge him. And he takes the challenge, the imbecile a-hole. And that's when I have had enough. I'm pretty sure the uncle will not say "the pit is only for those who can change, and Simon can't", or the girl who is the best fighter in the whole academy and has beaten everybody - EVERYBODY - doesn't say "I don't fight cubs" - or anybody, anyone at all, in the audience, I'm pretty sure nobody says "that's not fair nor interesting", I'm pretty sure he fights, and there's a nasty little suspicion there, that the author makes this tiny runt bookworm who has never fought in his life, win over this fighting champion, and everyone will be really amazed and what ever. A bit like what Percy did in Lightning Thief. Yeah... let's put this guy who doesn't know anything about anything and make him beat Athena's daughter who has been fighting her whole life, because girls don't mind being humiliated to elevate a boy. Girls don't mind at all. Yeah. Sure.
So - I will not be reading any more of this crap.
