Review by Joshua Forbes
September 11th, 2024
These posts are just our opinions of the books we read, and don't yet reflect the decision of our judging team or the progression of the book in the SFINCS competition.
Summary:
Alex and everyone he knows are trapped in the dense woods. The only thing separating them from the hungry beasts is an automated steel door that closes every night, and the armed guards who swear they are there to protect those inside the compound.
The premature death of Alex’s friend at the hands of the guards triggers something inside of him: an urge to escape. He’d always been warned that one day a truck would come to take him and the other teenage boys away. To where, he had no idea.
With a possible escape route discovered and more death occurring each day, the decision to leave is easy, until his exit is blocked when the compound switches gates. This leaves him stuck again, while the maniacs inside run amuck and the girl he wants to be with is put in danger.
He can’t stay, but there’s nowhere else to go.
The Good:
Throughout the story, there are small details the author calls out. After an interesting revelation at the end, one I’m not entirely sure I would’ve come to given the circumstances, everything clicks. Reflecting on those specific things that seemed very unimportant leads to interesting realizations. That’s a sign of a clever twist, and I appreciated it greatly.
Another thing I’ll applaud is how the author conveys Alex’s low education. He describes things that we the readers understand from the perspective of someone who’s been kept away from regular society. Animals become scary monsters and apples become foreign sweet treats.
This leads into how the people in the compound are almost treated as animals, which comes off as disturbing at times. The guards watch and speak about deciding which members of the compound should become “breeders” like they are farmers with their cattle.
I’ll also say that the author makes some pretty hateable characters. I include this in the good since I believe I’m meant to hate them. From Tank, the local bully in the compound, to the seemingly heartless guards, it isn’t hard to find yourself rooting for Alex’s escape.
Plot aside, I struggled to find a single typo while reading. The text feels very ironed out, though I’ll admit, as an American, I struggled through the formal British spellings of certain words.
The Bad:
It may be a stylistic choice, but I found a severe lack of character description. I came out of the story and realized that I couldn’t really describe what many of the characters and locations looked like. When I heard about these dangerous guards with big guns, I wasn’t sure If I should picture men in berets and quilts or stormtroopers. Everyone falls into the category of either skinny or thick, aside from the stray mention of a hairstyle or damaged eye.
Coming into this story, I knew it needed to do something to set itself apart from other teenage dystopias, and I kept waiting to see what the new addition to the genre was going to be. I never quite found it. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy what was there, but I did find myself wanting some more inspiration. The premise has merit, and I wanted the author to run with it.
A good example of this criticism comes late in the story, when there’s a decision made to exile a member of the compound. I wasn’t aware this was something the captives inside could do. And then the reader is also told that the captives can hunt the exiled person during the day and kill them with no repercussions. Prior establishment of this system would’ve gone a long way in turning this scene more emotional and less explanatory.
Keeping in mind there is another story in this series, some things aren’t fully addressed after appearing. A strange woman outside the compound. The son of someone high up the command chain complaining about the system. These ideas may be explored later on but for now lay dormant.
Overall:
The Compound is a good enough teenage dystopia. It has some good ideas, but struggles to find its own identity.
I still enjoyed my time with the story, and appreciate the time that was clearly poured into it. It is truly spotless when it comes to errors, and I can tell the author wanted to portray something special with this story.
Three stars out of five
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