Helpful Score: 2
If you want a quick read, i suggest this book. I read it in 4 hours i think. When it arrived i was disappointed in how small the book was, but fascinated by the plot. There are so many twists in this book, though halfway through, you will have figured it all out. It started out great for me, but once i figured out the twists, the rest was 90% predictable. I found myself unexcited about the ending, and not caring if there will be a book two, which i doubt.
Helpful Score: 1
The Compound is an interesting little nesting-egg kind of story. The reader opens the cover anticipating a straight-forward, post-apocalyptic tale, but as the plot unravels layer by layer, a very different story is revealed. Author S.A. Bodeen is ambitious in her first novel, showing a talent for literary slight-of-hand that would make the writers of LOST envious.
The story begins with 9-year-old Eli and his family being driven from their beds in a panic and sealed into an elaborate underground bunker designed by his multi-billionaire computer mogule father. The worst has happened: nuclear war has finally broken out. Luckily, his father has spent years preparing for this tragedy, making them the only probable survivors of the bombs and fallout.
Unfortunately, in the chaos, Eli's twin brother, Eddy, and his grandmother were left behind on the outside. As the family begins their 15-year stay in the Compound -- the amount of time his father says the land needs to recover from the nuclear blast -- Eli mourns for his twin and everything they left behind above ground. It's not that the Compound doesn't have all the comforts of home. His dad spared no expense, from luxurious bedroom suites, to an elaborate livestock corral and extensive hydroponic grow rooms built to maintain a sustainable food supply. But six years after they entered the Compound, things have started to go wrong. The livestock have all gotten sick and died. The grain supply has turned grey and rancid. And his father's plans for surviving the next nine years through use of "Supplements" are straight out of a science fiction nightmare.
Through it all, now 15-year-old Eli is tormented by the feeling that Eddy is still alive, somehow. He still feels an eerie connection with his twin, and can't shake the feeling that maybe there are survivors above ground -- and that maybe things aren't as bad as his Dad thinks they are on the surface. He begins to investigate and question, and finally, plot a way to get out of the Compound and find the answers about the world above for himself.
I enjoyed The Compound, but did have some difficulties with the novel. Primarily, the main character is not very likeable. His self-centeredness and detachment realistically reflect his extreme experiences and the loss of his brother, but it does make it harder to care about his struggles. Eli does, however, experience a lot of growth throughout the course of the book, and redeems himself in the end.
Bodeen builds a lot of tension during the book, and tackles some very interesting ideas throughout. It's a quick read that will appeal to lots of readers of all ages that should be as eager as I to uncover the reveal the surprising secrets waiting in The Compound.
The story begins with 9-year-old Eli and his family being driven from their beds in a panic and sealed into an elaborate underground bunker designed by his multi-billionaire computer mogule father. The worst has happened: nuclear war has finally broken out. Luckily, his father has spent years preparing for this tragedy, making them the only probable survivors of the bombs and fallout.
Unfortunately, in the chaos, Eli's twin brother, Eddy, and his grandmother were left behind on the outside. As the family begins their 15-year stay in the Compound -- the amount of time his father says the land needs to recover from the nuclear blast -- Eli mourns for his twin and everything they left behind above ground. It's not that the Compound doesn't have all the comforts of home. His dad spared no expense, from luxurious bedroom suites, to an elaborate livestock corral and extensive hydroponic grow rooms built to maintain a sustainable food supply. But six years after they entered the Compound, things have started to go wrong. The livestock have all gotten sick and died. The grain supply has turned grey and rancid. And his father's plans for surviving the next nine years through use of "Supplements" are straight out of a science fiction nightmare.
Through it all, now 15-year-old Eli is tormented by the feeling that Eddy is still alive, somehow. He still feels an eerie connection with his twin, and can't shake the feeling that maybe there are survivors above ground -- and that maybe things aren't as bad as his Dad thinks they are on the surface. He begins to investigate and question, and finally, plot a way to get out of the Compound and find the answers about the world above for himself.
I enjoyed The Compound, but did have some difficulties with the novel. Primarily, the main character is not very likeable. His self-centeredness and detachment realistically reflect his extreme experiences and the loss of his brother, but it does make it harder to care about his struggles. Eli does, however, experience a lot of growth throughout the course of the book, and redeems himself in the end.
Bodeen builds a lot of tension during the book, and tackles some very interesting ideas throughout. It's a quick read that will appeal to lots of readers of all ages that should be as eager as I to uncover the reveal the surprising secrets waiting in The Compound.
Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com
Eli has been living with his parents in The Compound for six years. The Compound is an elaborate nuclear bomb shelter his father spent an enormous amount of money to build in order to keep his family safe from nuclear fallout. The plan is to stay underground for fifteen years until the radiation danger has passed.
Eli has had the hardest time adjusting to life in The Compound. In his six years there he has steadily distanced himself from everyone in the family. He maintains a strict schedule of exercise, studying, chores, and reading.
His loneliness comes from the fact that not everyone made it to The Compound. During the nuclear attack that led his family there, Eddy, his identical twin, was accidentally left behind. Eddy snuck away with their Grandma without his parents knowing when their father chose to take the family underground. Their father had already locked the door when he realized Eddy and Grandma didn't make it.
The locks were set for fifteen years and there wasn't any way to go back for them. Eli feels a hole in his life that no one or nothing can fill.
Eli starts to take a hard look at what is going on in The Compound - and he doesn't have a good feeling. Food is running low, supplies are being depleted, and his father's behavior is changing. Eli suspects there is more going on than his father leads them to believe.
Shocking surprises are about to be uncovered. Secrets never meant to be revealed are exposed. Eli is left with the job of saving his family. He will have to break the shell he has created around himself and build connections with the people he has tried to keep away in order to find the truth and survive.
THE COMPOUND will remind you of the movie Blast from the Past, just without all the quirky, fun-loving humor.
Eli has been living with his parents in The Compound for six years. The Compound is an elaborate nuclear bomb shelter his father spent an enormous amount of money to build in order to keep his family safe from nuclear fallout. The plan is to stay underground for fifteen years until the radiation danger has passed.
Eli has had the hardest time adjusting to life in The Compound. In his six years there he has steadily distanced himself from everyone in the family. He maintains a strict schedule of exercise, studying, chores, and reading.
His loneliness comes from the fact that not everyone made it to The Compound. During the nuclear attack that led his family there, Eddy, his identical twin, was accidentally left behind. Eddy snuck away with their Grandma without his parents knowing when their father chose to take the family underground. Their father had already locked the door when he realized Eddy and Grandma didn't make it.
The locks were set for fifteen years and there wasn't any way to go back for them. Eli feels a hole in his life that no one or nothing can fill.
Eli starts to take a hard look at what is going on in The Compound - and he doesn't have a good feeling. Food is running low, supplies are being depleted, and his father's behavior is changing. Eli suspects there is more going on than his father leads them to believe.
Shocking surprises are about to be uncovered. Secrets never meant to be revealed are exposed. Eli is left with the job of saving his family. He will have to break the shell he has created around himself and build connections with the people he has tried to keep away in order to find the truth and survive.
THE COMPOUND will remind you of the movie Blast from the Past, just without all the quirky, fun-loving humor.
A good page-turner, but I had trouble warming up to the main character.
