Grey Liliy reviewed Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
Review of 'Lockdown' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Well, that was fun.
I feel like this book is "slice-of-life-in-an-underground-prison." Only with teenagers, and guards with gas masks. And killer dogs. And you get the gist.
I think it took about half-way through the book for me to get invested in the story, a little long for some people, but knowing there are four more books I didn't mind that there was so much text-time dedicated to set up and atmosphere. Most of the action/escape attempts take place in the last quarter of the book, while the rest is dedicated to life in the prison and watching people interact with each other. It's obvious at this point that most of the meat and plot hinted at in the summary comes later, so I don't have much to comment on overall plot for the moment.
But for what we've got, it's good. It took me a long time to like …
Well, that was fun.
I feel like this book is "slice-of-life-in-an-underground-prison." Only with teenagers, and guards with gas masks. And killer dogs. And you get the gist.
I think it took about half-way through the book for me to get invested in the story, a little long for some people, but knowing there are four more books I didn't mind that there was so much text-time dedicated to set up and atmosphere. Most of the action/escape attempts take place in the last quarter of the book, while the rest is dedicated to life in the prison and watching people interact with each other. It's obvious at this point that most of the meat and plot hinted at in the summary comes later, so I don't have much to comment on overall plot for the moment.
But for what we've got, it's good. It took me a long time to like Alex, I'll admit. At the start of the book, he's a run of the mill bully and kid-theif, so there wasn't much to sympathize with--I can honestly say for a bit I was rooting for the Black Suits when they tossed a blood-covered gun at him and said "See you soon, Alex." About a third of the way in, after he's established a bit of a friendship with the youthful Zee and the experienced Donovan, he starts coming together as a much more likable character. Specifically, the first moment he sees himself in the worst of the inmates down in Furnace, and remembering his own bullying days. From there, he starts to become a better person as he faces his guilt and starts standing up for the right things.
Overall? I really enjoyed it, and since I snuck ahead to read the back-cover summaries for the next four books, I have a feeling I'll be enjoying the rest of the series as well.
