The Unwanteds

It’s the day of the purge, Alex Stowe knows he is unwanted. He has been caught drawing a house in the dirt with a stick, being creative in any way in the Land of Quill is illegal and a death sentence. On the contrary,  his twin brother Aaron, is going to be a wanted and go to Wanted University. The High Priest doesn’t want anyone being creative; so anyone who is will become an unwanted. One of the governors reads off the list, Alex’s name is called along with the many other Unwanteds, some of whom he recognizes as friends. Alex gives his twin one last look before he and the others are pushed up into a small bus. They are going to the Death Farm to be disposed of in the great lake of boiling oil. Some of the 13 year olds are crying and sad but Alex just hopes it will be quick and tries to think of happy memories. Finally the bus stops, the Unwanteds step out and are driven towards the lake. What will happen to Alex and his friends? Will they be rescued, escape, or die; maybe worse.

The author, Lisa McMann, has a very unique writing style where she combines the themes of friendship and adventure. These two themes are shown through Alex and his friends by loyalty and kindness to each other, an example of this is all of them helping to watch each others backs. The author conveys the story in a way that the reader can understand best and feel that he or she is there with the main character. This is a exclusively enticing and exciting novel and it is a great book if you like magical adventures combined with battle and death. In my opinion, this book  is suited for a wide range of ages and it is easy to understand. I personally would recommend this novel for ages ten and up because there is a lot of death and gore. Most of this book has lots of adventure and suspense because of battle and killing, but there is also humor; such as casting spells on each other to make the other one fall asleep. Over all, this is a great book, I highly recommend it, and it will definitely intrigue you.