Book Review: Mine, by Bret Battles
Three friends from summer camp develop mysterious scary powers.
Amazon Digital Services, 2016, 309 pages
Something happened that night in the woods at Camp Red Hawk. But all Joel and Leah can recall is sneaking out for a late hike with five camp friends - and that only the two of them and their friend Mike returned. They have no memory of what happened to the others. No memory of anything after leaving the camp.
In the years that follow, they realize something has changed inside of them. They are different from others in ways they never should be. In ways that send their lives down disturbing and terrifying paths. As they grapple with adulthood, their only hope for understanding why they've been altered lies with them finding each other again. But how is that possible when their memories of one another have been erased?
A bunch of teenagers at summer camp sneak away from their counselors to take a romp through the woods. They encounter a sign saying "No Trespassing - US Government" and being teenagers, of course they ignore the sign and go through a hole in the fence to investigate. Only three of the teens make it back out.
While Mine began with a premise reminiscent of an 80s horror story, it quickly turns into more of a YA SF adventure. Joel and Leah, two of the "survivors" of that night at Camp Red Hawk, become preternaturally gifted - stronger, faster, and smarter than normal people, and also connected by a psychic link that compels Leah to give Joel foreknowledge of trouble. At this point, it almost becomes a superhero story, until the last third of the book when Joel and Leah track down Mike, the third member of their trio, and go back to Camp Red Hawk to find out what really happened to them.
Mine is a lightly entertaining story that had more potential, but the writing was only average, and I found the Big Reveal fairly predictable, and what tension built up was often drained by Leah, Joel, and Mike using their super-YA powers to get out of trouble.
My complete list of book reviews.
Amazon Digital Services, 2016, 309 pages
Something happened that night in the woods at Camp Red Hawk. But all Joel and Leah can recall is sneaking out for a late hike with five camp friends - and that only the two of them and their friend Mike returned. They have no memory of what happened to the others. No memory of anything after leaving the camp.
In the years that follow, they realize something has changed inside of them. They are different from others in ways they never should be. In ways that send their lives down disturbing and terrifying paths. As they grapple with adulthood, their only hope for understanding why they've been altered lies with them finding each other again. But how is that possible when their memories of one another have been erased?
A bunch of teenagers at summer camp sneak away from their counselors to take a romp through the woods. They encounter a sign saying "No Trespassing - US Government" and being teenagers, of course they ignore the sign and go through a hole in the fence to investigate. Only three of the teens make it back out.
While Mine began with a premise reminiscent of an 80s horror story, it quickly turns into more of a YA SF adventure. Joel and Leah, two of the "survivors" of that night at Camp Red Hawk, become preternaturally gifted - stronger, faster, and smarter than normal people, and also connected by a psychic link that compels Leah to give Joel foreknowledge of trouble. At this point, it almost becomes a superhero story, until the last third of the book when Joel and Leah track down Mike, the third member of their trio, and go back to Camp Red Hawk to find out what really happened to them.
Mine is a lightly entertaining story that had more potential, but the writing was only average, and I found the Big Reveal fairly predictable, and what tension built up was often drained by Leah, Joel, and Mike using their super-YA powers to get out of trouble.
My complete list of book reviews.