Siege by Sarah Mussi
May. 17th, 2014 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
He raises his gun.
He points it at Aliesha. He swings it towards Kady. They’re both screaming.
He likes the screaming.
He says, ‘Eeny meeny miney mo. We are the Eternal Knights.’
And then he shoots.
In the time before the shooting I was Leah Jackson. Sixteen years old. I used to wish my life was different. But nothing is ever that simple is it?
Now it is our turn.
It’s 2020 in Britain. 16-year-old Leah Jackson is part of society’s underclass. Her mum’s unwell, so she’s responsible for looking after younger brother Connor and younger sister Sally. She goes to YOU UP 78 school, which is basically a sink school for n-hopers. But Leah’s smart and getting good enough marks to have a chance at a different life after school.
Then a group calling themselves the Eternal Knights put the school in lock-down as they shoot teachers and students alike. The police can’t get in and no one can get out. Only Leah and Anton (another smart kid with a chance of a future) have managed to stay safe and can tell the outside world what’s really going on. But as Leah tries to get herself and the others out, she makes a shocking discovery that could put everyone’s lives at risk …
Sarah Mussi’s stand-alone YA novel mixes near-future dystopia with school shootings to mixed effect. Mussi does well at capturing the dead-eyed disaffection of rampage killers and her Eternal Knights are convincing in their callous disregard for everything outside themselves. Equally good is Leah’s determination to stay alive, even as she quails at what that might entail – one of the best scenes in the book comes early on when she and Anton must decide whether to sacrifice a younger girl in their bid to get to safety. Unfortunately the book’s let down by the world-building (specifically, Mussi has to do the difficult job of first explaining how Britain’s come to be as it is and then weave the story into it, which for me didn’t quite come off, especially given the near-future timeline) while Mussi’s desire to make political points about education policy (while laudable) threaten to slow the pace and the ending is a punch to the gut. Ultimately, it’s a brave book that didn’t really come good for me, although I would definitely check out Mussi’s other books.
Mussi has to work hard to set up the geography and political background to the school and then the upgraded technology that the kids in it use. This is a hard task and for me, it didn’t really come off because it came across as so artificial – especially as this is only 6 years in the future. Given Mussi’s skill as a writer though, I’d definitely check out her other work.
The Verdict:
Sarah Mussi’s stand-alone YA novel mixes near-future dystopia with school shootings to mixed effect. Mussi does well at capturing the dead-eyed disaffection of rampage killers and her Eternal Knights are convincing in their callous disregard for everything outside themselves. Equally good is Leah’s determination to stay alive, even as she quails at what that might entail – one of the best scenes in the book comes early on when she and Anton must decide whether to sacrifice a younger girl in their bid to get to safety. Unfortunately the book’s let down by the world-building (specifically, Mussi has to do the difficult job of first explaining how Britain’s come to be as it is and then weave the story into it, which for me didn’t quite come off, especially given the near-future timeline) while Mussi’s desire to make political points about education policy (while laudable) threaten to slow the pace and the ending is a punch to the gut. Ultimately, it’s a brave book that didn’t really come good for me, although I would definitely check out Mussi’s other books.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
He points it at Aliesha. He swings it towards Kady. They’re both screaming.
He likes the screaming.
He says, ‘Eeny meeny miney mo. We are the Eternal Knights.’
And then he shoots.
In the time before the shooting I was Leah Jackson. Sixteen years old. I used to wish my life was different. But nothing is ever that simple is it?
Now it is our turn.
It’s 2020 in Britain. 16-year-old Leah Jackson is part of society’s underclass. Her mum’s unwell, so she’s responsible for looking after younger brother Connor and younger sister Sally. She goes to YOU UP 78 school, which is basically a sink school for n-hopers. But Leah’s smart and getting good enough marks to have a chance at a different life after school.
Then a group calling themselves the Eternal Knights put the school in lock-down as they shoot teachers and students alike. The police can’t get in and no one can get out. Only Leah and Anton (another smart kid with a chance of a future) have managed to stay safe and can tell the outside world what’s really going on. But as Leah tries to get herself and the others out, she makes a shocking discovery that could put everyone’s lives at risk …
Sarah Mussi’s stand-alone YA novel mixes near-future dystopia with school shootings to mixed effect. Mussi does well at capturing the dead-eyed disaffection of rampage killers and her Eternal Knights are convincing in their callous disregard for everything outside themselves. Equally good is Leah’s determination to stay alive, even as she quails at what that might entail – one of the best scenes in the book comes early on when she and Anton must decide whether to sacrifice a younger girl in their bid to get to safety. Unfortunately the book’s let down by the world-building (specifically, Mussi has to do the difficult job of first explaining how Britain’s come to be as it is and then weave the story into it, which for me didn’t quite come off, especially given the near-future timeline) while Mussi’s desire to make political points about education policy (while laudable) threaten to slow the pace and the ending is a punch to the gut. Ultimately, it’s a brave book that didn’t really come good for me, although I would definitely check out Mussi’s other books.
Mussi has to work hard to set up the geography and political background to the school and then the upgraded technology that the kids in it use. This is a hard task and for me, it didn’t really come off because it came across as so artificial – especially as this is only 6 years in the future. Given Mussi’s skill as a writer though, I’d definitely check out her other work.
The Verdict:
Sarah Mussi’s stand-alone YA novel mixes near-future dystopia with school shootings to mixed effect. Mussi does well at capturing the dead-eyed disaffection of rampage killers and her Eternal Knights are convincing in their callous disregard for everything outside themselves. Equally good is Leah’s determination to stay alive, even as she quails at what that might entail – one of the best scenes in the book comes early on when she and Anton must decide whether to sacrifice a younger girl in their bid to get to safety. Unfortunately the book’s let down by the world-building (specifically, Mussi has to do the difficult job of first explaining how Britain’s come to be as it is and then weave the story into it, which for me didn’t quite come off, especially given the near-future timeline) while Mussi’s desire to make political points about education policy (while laudable) threaten to slow the pace and the ending is a punch to the gut. Ultimately, it’s a brave book that didn’t really come good for me, although I would definitely check out Mussi’s other books.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
