Review: A creepy horrific sci-fi that will appeal to fans of Poe
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 24, 2012
Read more: [...]The concept drew me into this story immediately and, I believe, was the story's greatest strength. Don't expect a plot thriller. Although it starts out strong, with room-after-room of terror and near misses, the growing relationship between Troy and Victoria is just as much the focus as the journey. Plus a lot of Troy's internal monologue--how much does he want to live? So this concept. It's introduced from the first page. Troy wakes up in a blindingly white room full of twisting paths, with no knowledge of how he got there. His goal: find the exit. Every room is differently colored and differently dangerous, testing the limits of Troy's tolerance for pain and torment. I won't spoil it, but the ending really made it for me. I almost wish there had been more of an end because I was fascinated with where he ended up.The writing isn't especially interesting or poetic, but it serves its purpose for a young adult action novel: it's unobtrusive. Sometimes I wish it would be a little more obtrusive; in the sense that, I felt the action in the middle of the book moved too quickly. I would have liked Troy to stop and smell the roses a bit. Or at least describe in more detail what it felt like moving through the giant donut-shaped yellow room of fire. The white room was a lengthy ordeal, while some of the later rooms, despite being increasingly dangerous and deadly, were accomplished in a short amount of time. I would have preferred fewer rooms that required more time rather than the amount we were given.