THE GARDENER Review

Mason has never known his father, but longs to. All he has of him is a DVD of a man whose face is never seen, reading a children’s book. One day, on a whim, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens at the nursing home where his mother works. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason learns she is part of a horrible experiment intended to render teenagers into autotrophs—genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms who don’t need food or water to survive. And before he knows it, Mason is on the run with the girl, and wanted, dead or alive, by the mysterious mastermind of this gruesome plan, who is simply called the Gardener.

Will Mason be forced to destroy the thing he’s longed for most?
From goodreads.com

I will admit, the main reason I picked up this book was because I loved S.A. Bodeen's The Compound. You can read my review here if you wish. But yes, I picked up The Gardener already in love with S.A. Bodeen's writing style and the ultimate strength and speed of her novels.

So, once beginning, I found it hard to stop reading. Yes, the beginning of this book was a bit slower than the other, but, because I knew the pace at which Bodeen writes, I continued to read. And continuing was not in vain. Once the action began, it didn't let up.

The girl has to be my favorite character in this novel. Mason doesn't know her name, and neither does she, and neither of them know what exactly happened to her, but this mystery surrounds her and the story and quickly develops into something greater, the source of the action.

One thing that I loved in reading The Compound was the ethics issues it addressed. The same sort of things come up in The Gardener. Is it alright to experiment on children from birth if they will be capable of continuing the human race? Not only this, but it questions our own world. How long to we have until our food supply runs out and what are we willing to do about it?

These are the questions at the core of the novel, keeping me reading, making me want to finish the book quickly. One thing I have noticed between both of Bodeen's novel is the issue of family, or, rather, dysfunctional families. Both novels had families that didn't get along completely, or didn't function as a whole.

Again, the characters are real, with real fears and desires, faults and quirks. And the situation is believable, both of which are important to the structure of the story. If there is one thing I can complain about, it is the fast paced ending that happens too quickly to read, which isn't a complaint at all.

As with the first book I read from Bodeen, I loved the epilogue. The way the entire story was wrapped up so seamlessly can only be done by a master and I must agree that Bodeen is one. Great job and I look forward to more.

Rating: A

Teaser Tuesday ~ THE GARDENER

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
From page 48

My hands trembled so much it was difficult to open the door. The girl slid into the middle and I hopped in beside her and slammed the door.

THE COMPOUND Review

Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy.

For Eli, not amount of luxury can stifle the dull routine of living in the same place. with only his two sisters, only his father and mother, doing the same thing day after day after day.

As problems with their carefully planned existence threaten to destroy their sanctuary - and their sanity - Eli can't help but wonder if he's rather take his chances outside.

Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe - or sorry?
From Goodreads.com

I've found that Goodreads has great summaries for books so I'll continue to use those rather than waste time and space here prattling about the summary unless the one at Goodreads is bad.

Upon starting The Compound, I found myself instantly drawn in because the story started with a strong prologue. I've found that with many YA novels, prologues have become necessary, and with this book, perfect to catch the reader's attention. Instantly, questions arise in your mind as you begin to read about what is going on.

S.A. Bodeen wastes no time with busy explanation and boring backstory. She jumps headfirst in to the novel with a thrilling beginning that is sure to leave readers wanting more. As the story begins to unfold, the action takes a back burner as emotions slowly start to worm their way in to the novel. Easily enough, emotions soon mix together with action and novel rockets off again, shooting through plot seamlessly.

The planning that must have taken Bodeen a while because everything that happens in The Compound ultimately has meaning as the novel approaching its shocking climax. Tiny details pushed to the back of reader's minds resurface with a brand new strength. I love reading novels that make you think, and this was one of them.

I mentioned earlier that emotions play a strong role in the novel, but ethics do as well. As Eli and his family live in the Compound, they realize that their food supply may run out before the door opens and it's safe to head back in to the world to begin again. Eli's father makes drastic plans involving an alternative food source that strikes the hearts of readers and forces them to think of what they would do if such a thing happened to them.

The characters in Bodeen's novel come through shockingly well. Each member of the family has something to relate to in their character which makes reading easy, and liking them easier. Even the characters who come off as the bad people have something in them that makes the reader think a little harder before putting them in to one class or the other.

Thankfully, the novel comes to a clean ending, but the final pages leave something for the reader to wonder about long after the book is closed. The Compound will keep you thinking after it's been finished and it's thought-provoking ideas will keep you wondering as you watch the news and wonder about that single question. Safe or sorry?

Rating: A+

You can view the book trailer for The Compound below.