This was a sci-fi book about a girl who was used as a test experiment. The girl started off as a really innocent girl who could not tell if someone was lying to her or not. Someone could make a joke about something odd like someone having an arm for a head, and she would believe them fully. She then undergoes some more experiments and ends up being quite the opposite of what she was. While she was still slightly innocent, she was violent. She was able to fight against nearly anyone and win.
This book was quite the page-turner. I enjoyed the way that the book was set up with journal entries. To me, journal entries are the best way to write a book because you get the emotional scoop of a character without having to see it through another character. I feel this was the correct way to set up this book in particular due to the fact that we are able to recall how she is feeling with all the treatments. Her development through the book was great, I saw a completely different side of her within her first few journal entries.
I feel that the development of the psychiatrist character went off as really dull. He didn’t really show much development throughout any of the book. He was more of an observer of the experiment instead of a friend or enemy. This character struck me more as a fill-in character than anything. The development of the plot was used through this character. While I understand why he was used, his personality added nothing. The plot would have thickened if it would have been the doctor herself reading these journal entries and talking to her through a microphone. Like it is, this isn’t well written to me.
I would also like this book to better explain the sister and what happened to her. I love that the sister was able to become a doctor and get away from the district, however, I want to know what happened to her before the fact or what made her decide to become a doctor.
The ending of this book was great and really summed up the entire book for me. The innocence girl is meant to be mysterious and misunderstood. When she is only seen by her sister for split seconds in the story, I find this just as mysterious as her. She is constantly making the district follow her around. when she runs off she makes the joke of “You know me, pissing some pretty important people off”. This little joke made her sister laugh, and when her sister walks off men in uniforms trail off behind her. The sister makes the connection that they are probably after her, but she doesn’t worry much because she figures that her sister has it handled.
In all this book was really emotional for me. I found myself wanting the Innocence girl to be free more than anything. This book worked well as a Sci-fi and I was genuinely impressed.
