The Source

by Hillary Flinn

Marina has a hard time fitting in, and it’s not because she’s absorbed in her studies. She believes that draining a human’s life essence for power is wrong. But the world around her disagrees. The Sources are locked in glass cages next to every building, hooked up to tubes and wires, creating electricity until they are too weak to survive. When society goes too far for Marina to bear, she puts her future on the line for the Sources. As the stakes in her fight for equality get higher, Marina has to decide how far she is willing to go to save the Sources she has grown to love.

158 pages, ebook

First published December 16, 2012

About the author

Hillary Flinn was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario with a passion for writing. She is a long-time participant in the National Novel Writing Month, which led to the completion of her self-published novel, The Source, while attending high school.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Review originally posted on my blog.)

In a world without oil, electricity is pulled from the bodies of human beings. “Sources” are very special people, who proudly sacrifice their lives so that others can heat their homes and cook their (synthetic) food, and otherwise be rich and happy. The only thing is, the Sources aren't actually proudly sacrificing themselves, and only a few non-Sources realize this rather big problem.

Our main character, teenage Marina, knows in her heart that the Sources are being abused. Her own house is powered by a Source, a woman named Rebecca who is locked in a Box outside the house, wires in her body, unable to speak or move or do anything other than glare at the people who happen to come round her side of the house. For years. Sources have a short life expectancy, understandably, but they stay in their Boxes until they have to be removed by paramedics, 20+ years after they’re put in.

The Sources are painted at once as better than other people, and less than; as invaluable and worthless.

And yet, speaking out against the Source Program is considered treason. When Marina speaks up at her high school and says she will not participate in a biology experiment that involves dissecting a Source because Sources are people who deserve respect, she is expelled. She learns that continuing to voice her opinion will get her thrown in prison.

So what happens when she meets a pre-Source, seventeen-year-old Levi, and falls in love? Can she save him before he turns eighteen and gets put in a Box?

This book was written and self-published by a fellow WriMo, Hillary Flinn. It reads well and is exciting — but it desperately needs an editor, and to be reformatted (ebook). I noticed a lot of typos and a character who switched names (Nick/Noah). Simple things that would have been fixed in one read-through with an editor.

Now, onto the plot. I’m not great at picking out troupes and themes, but I could tell this would fall neatly into something related to white guilt. A quick glance at TVTropes tells me it’s along the lines of Mighty Whitey. So, in that regard, not very original, and a few spots made me cringe, but it was still a fun read. The romantic relationships could have been developed more. And this may have just been me, but I just wasn't feeling the “white people non-Sources are brainwashed, don’t blame them” deal. Their crimes felt too extreme to get so little explanation. Maybe if we had heard from those who support the Source program more (in ways other than yelling at Marina that she was a traitor), I could have gotten on board.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book and I am glad I read it.