I loved this book. I am on our local library board, and have read hundreds of books in the last four years, and can highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense, dystopic fiction, and science fiction. I have just heard that there will be a sequel, am so excited to read it!

Synopsis: This Young adult dystopian novel takes place in a modified United States that is divided up into concentrated cities all run by a central government. With the motto of "Better Calm than Dead" the protagonist questions authority by "pushing" the limits of his heart rate and the belief that a "bug" is still in the air.

For me this novel actually felt very much like the Giver only a bit more graphic in violent details and considerably more flesh to it. I very much liked the lead character Nik he had the inquisitive mind of a teenager as well as was written very much with the rebellion required to push the social limits. The idea although not completely novel was modified in a way to give life to an already established ideology. The major issue I had was the lack of the letter C, but this may just be a personal preference.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone age 8 & Up they should be able to comfortably enjoy this book.