The Prisoner of Cell 25

The Prisoner of Cell 25 is a book that, on its surface, could be excellent. It has a story with a hero with interesting superpowers, an interesting superhero origin, and a potentially interesting villain. However, the story is marred by childish writing, and cliches that make it not only an unenjoyable read, but also one that angered me as well.

Firstly, the most notable problem is the level of cliched and childish writing. The main character, Michael Vey, feels like a lesser, generic form of a hero like Percy Jackson. Both characters grow up in single parent homes with their mothers as the primary care-giver. Both characters have some type of superpower that can get them into trouble, and, as a consequence, they must frequently change locations. And both characters get bullied often. But where Percy Jackson feels like it is a believable tale of a boy who tries his best to succeed, Michael Vey feels like a lesser knockoff. We will get to more about him in a minute, but for now, he seems like a bad copy of Percy Jackson. The writing also has trouble convincing me that this story is for young adults. Often, the writing feels childish, such as de-pantsing a person in public, or using words that feel safe to use for a younger audience. It feels like Evans needed to make this book safe for parents and young adults, so he has to write with words that feel out of place in a young adult novel. He also uses references to modern-day tropes. Now, I am fine with someone using their smartphone or computer, but moments where characters refer to Michael as “Little Norris” is just cringe worthy. There are also moments of unbelievably when it comes to the settings they are in. For example, they go to a after-game party and there is no mention of drugs, alcohol, or anything else that teens may do at a party where there is little to no parental supervision. I'm not saying that every young adult book has to have it, but based on the level of writing by Evans, I wouldn't be surprised if the partyers are chugging down bottles of Pepsi instead of beer, and smoking tea leaves instead of pot.

Evans also seems to write with major plot problems in mind. Taylor Riddley is one such problem. Not only is she the prettiest girl in school, but she is also a cheerleader, and Michael, of course, has to have a crush on her. But, wait, it goes further than her being a cliche. She also has powers too. This is where the believably breaks down in how Michael got his powers, and I might as well address it now.

Michael got his powers because a medical machine that was being tested for human use using electronic waves accidentally passed through him and other children while he was at the hospital as a baby. Over 50 children got exposed to this and nearly all of them died, except for Michael and a small number of others, say around 15 or so. The surviving 15 members now have developed various electric related super powers.

Now, considering all that, is it likely that not only would one of the 15 members be in Michael state, and not ONLY would they go to the same school, and not ONLY would they be in the same grade, but that they happen to sit next to each other in class, and Michael just happens to have a crush on one of them? No, ladies and gentlemen, I call foul on this and say it is highly unlikely. This draws me out of the story considerably, and greatly affects me to enjoy it, especially when they draw it out so early in the narrative.

The villain plot is somewhat interesting at first, but then proves to be childish. The villains of the story is the company that made the machine that gave Michael his powers. There is, at first, an interesting message that a medical company could kidnap and control 15 children and the government would not know about it, much less be able to stop them. Sadly, this is again marred by the goals of the villains. Think of the most cliched reason to gather super powered kids you can think of. Guess what? The guess of taking over the world was right! Good Job! Seriously, though, you aren't even trying at this point.

So, the plot is suspect, the main character is a bit of a let down, and the villains have no imagination in their goals...all of these I could give two stars to, and yet I give it one. Why? Well, here is why.

Two facts about this novel give me trouble. One is a scene that takes place in the very beginning of the book. It is where Michael is in the principal's office for getting shoved into his own locker. The Principle states that he cannot be shoved into his own locker without his consent, and, as a result of not wanted to tell him who did it, the Principle give Michael a weeks worth of detention. This scene and others like it angers me to no end. Evans does his best to make educators look like unfair, bumbling morons when the reality is far less cliched. All this scene does is make for cheap sympathy and is not even remotely realistic given today's climate of Anti-bullying policies in most schools.

The second thing about this book that angers me is that Michael Vey has Tourette's syndrome. This in and of itself does not bother me. I think that it is usually a good thing to show characters with disabilities. However, in Michael Vey's case, his Tourettes syndrome come up only once or twice in the novel and only when the plot calls for it. Also, this addition to his character means that he also has yet ANOTHER thing in common to Percy Jackson. But the final straw for me is that this is one of the few things memorable about him. And as a person who has a disability, I can say that a disability should not define you, when that is exactly what it does here.

Both of these facts angered me to no end. While I can understand that someone might not mind these instances, I am not one of them.

So what is good about this book? Well, Evans seems to write action scenes pretty well. There was an appropriate amount of tension in the fight scenes. Sadly, this is like watching a typical action movie: The action may be good, but if everything else is terrible, it isn't worth my time. That is why I am giving this book a one out of five.