Review: Very nice debut! Please keep writing!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 17, 2014
Let me begin right off by saying that I REALLY liked this book and enjoyed the author's writing style.The plot was GOOD.  I wanted to keep reading (disregard what the clock is showing) and will be anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.  I originally felt the prologue was too vague - I was unsettled by the lack of knowing what was going on - but I pushed on into the story and was rewarded with a nice, gradual unfolding of the world's history.The characters were interesting although I kept forgetting that the leads were in the 15 - 16 year old range and not a good 10 years older.  I enjoyed the camaraderie of the 4 shack mates while they were on the island and kept envisioning them as the "Zoolander" roommates in the movie of the same name. The relationships between the shack mates later in the story are the source of much tension, anxiety, and ultimately, sorrow.  I am still concerned over the outcome for one, Nayze, who was left in a real cliffhanger situation at the close of this book.  I hope to see him later in the series.There are twists and turns in the storyline that I never saw coming.  Reading through again later, I found a couple of clues dangling out there that should have given me a hint though.  I love that.I did have some issues with the book though.  This book is in great need of a good editor.  A couple of typos here and there are okay, but the reading experience for me suffered from instances of misused words.  For example, in The Prologue, "Kloe begins to hastily make her way back to the shanty hole she has been hulled up in over the last seven months."  In this case, "hulled up" probably should be "holed up."Things like this stop me while reading totally interrupting the flow of the story.  Token has quite a few of these BUT I still REALLY liked the book.  If these had been cleared up, I'll bet I would have been blown away.If this kind of thing doesn't bother you, and you're a YA dystopian fiction fan, you're looking at a solid story and a possible 5 star read.  Bottom line, I recommend Token by Ryan Gressett, warts included.