The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

Amazon Description: "Eli and his family have lived in the Compound for six years.

The world they knew is gone.

Eli’s father built the Compound to keep them safe. Now, they can’t get out.

He won’t let them."

My Review: This book was a very unique dystopian, in the way where the REST of the world was still functioning as was normal---but just Eli's family was living in a tiny dystopic world under the ground. Eli's dad starts out seeming pretty awesome; he's wealthy, and the world is apparently supposed to end soon, so he builds this amazing mansion type of thing underground for them. It's seriously amazing, any person's dream house (well---UNDERGROUND dream house...). All in all, the book was okay. It had a great concept and plot, but I felt like there was not enough explanation of the past, their pre-Compound lives, and there was no explanation of the characters' personalities. Also, the book felt rushed; it was very short, and even though it was good, I felt like Bodeen raced through it. There was barely any mystery or dysfunction or anything: it went straight from everything's-fine to oh-god-something-is-wrong in, like, a DAY---and then the escape from the Compound was like a day after THAT. There was barely any suspense, and for that, the book wasn't too amazing.

Cover: The cover's pretty cool; it looks all industrial and man-made and tough, which is supposed to represent the Compound, I guess. It's still pretty awesome.

Overall Grade: C+