Review: Intriguing Dystopian Tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 16, 2014
'The Runner' is the story of teenager Avi as she comes close to retiring from her dangerous job as a runner in a dystopian future landscape where townspeople are disappearing in large numbers.  Avi is tasked with finding out what's happening and so she sets off on another perilous journey.The story is very easy to get into, with plenty of action, drama and romance to hold my interest throughout.  I liked Avi and was intrigued by her backstory as it was uncovered in bits and pieces. Veronica was a very entertaining character and often amused me.  There were two guys interested in Avi by the end and (unusually for me with these love triangles in YA novels) I wouldn't have any preference on which one I'd rather see her with.The story took some unusual turns which I appreciated as there was also quite a lot of the usual YA tropes so I felt this helped the story stand out more for me.  The world Johnson has created here felt real and was interesting.  I look forward to finding out more about it and the characters in the next book!Overall this is an interesting start to an action-packed dystopian adventure series.  Recommended for fans of YA, paranormal romance and dystopian novels.