This month, the YA Book Club (brainchild of the wonderful Tracey) is discussing TAKEN by the lovely and talented Erin Bowman. TAKEN is a book full of mystery, action and heart. (and it so works that I can also use this for my Debut Author Challenge :P)
Summary from Goodreads.com: There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?
TAKEN´s a page turner, it´s the kind of book that makes you wait for sequels impatiently. No kiddin´ when is it coming out?
I pre-ordered TAKEN and when it arrived, I thought “hmm let´s wait.” I was a bit nervous. Reading a book by someone you interact with even if it’s not on a regular basis is somehow scary and exciting at the same time. And then I hit a reading slump. Work was taking its toll on me and I was just simply stressed.
But then a business trip came up. I had a few hours of flying ahead of me so I took out the pretty cover of TAKEN (didn´t want to damage it) and packed it up for the trip.
About to board the plane for a business trip… Very excited about the book I’m about to start TAKEN by @erin_bowman twitter.com/commutinggirl/…
— Elodie(@commutinggirl) April 21, 2013
You. Guys.
I couldn´t stop reading.
I was sucked in the story from page one.
It reminded me of THE VILLAGE by — the twists are different, the story isn´t the same but there was some sort of similar vibe.
And I really connected with the main character, Gray. He wasn´t perfect, he had his flaws but I wanted to know what happened to him, what happened to those boys and what was going to happen with his possible love interest.
I don´t want to spoil anything but basically, Erin, thank you! Thank you for writing a book that distracted me from my stress and helped me get over my slump and helped me escape for a few hours.
l´ll take a trip with your books anytime!
Elodie Nowodazkij 
Gray’s flaws were definitely my favorite thing about him. The fact that he was rash and screwed up (often) made him that much more real and endearing. I cannot wait to see where his story goes next!
I also read TAKEN on the plane! 🙂 I’m posting my review in a few but I agree with everything you said!
I sooooo need to go out and buy this RIGHT NOW! I just commented over on Ghenet’s blog that I’ve been avoiding everyone’s posts as of late, because I don’t want anything to spoil it.
And I just love the idea of this being from a boy’s POV. Awesome. I can’t wait to read this one!
I thought of THE VILLAGE, too. And I loved the twist in that movie, if I didn’t love the movie itself so much. You reminded me of something else, too. I’m dying for the next book but I really appreciate the fact that this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger.
I still haven’t seen The Village, but I read the Wikipedia article (because clearly I don’t care nearly as much about movie spoilers as I do about book spoilers) and I can totally see that. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t brought it up!
Yes on Gray’s flaws and yes on The Village! I was with you on being nervous about reading this for the exact same reasons. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
“I was sucked in the story from page one.” <—-Me too!!! And I was late to start reading (boo, my life), so I was glad it was such a page turner. 🙂 Can't wait to read the next one!