The Safe Zone

by Jody Wenner

At five years old Bennett is left at the Compound with nothing but her name--her last name. At seventeen, she’s still trying to figure out who she is, but doesn’t want to know as badly as the rest of her friends. They decide it’s time to take measures into their own hands. She is forced to go along with them as they venture out into the Uncontrolled Zone. Bennett clashes with the rest of the group, especially Murray and his overzealous confidence, while she struggles to make sense of why she's afraid of the world at large. Instead she decides to rest all of her hopes and dreams on finding the Safe Zone, not realizing it may not be the answer to her problems after all.

Genres: Dystopia

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 20, 2012

About the author

Jody Wenner is a Midwestern author with several independently published mystery novels as well as two works released by The Wild Rose Press. Shorter stories and articles can be found in the pages of Mystery Magazine Weekly, Punk Noir, Urban Pigs Press, Pistol Jim Press, The Keepthings, and Thriller101. When not writing, reading, or editing, you can find her walking her dog or obsessively knitting. Visit her at www.jodywenner.com

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what age group this book is written for. Juveniles? The writing was very simplistic. This is not an exact quote but an example of what you might find in the book. He was good and she was good and that made me happy. We were all happy. Also, there was a lack of descriptive words. It left the imagery flat and the characters underdeveloped. I have never written a review before but this book had so much promise but didn't deliver. I guess I expected too much. And believe me, I don't expect much just a good adventure. But the simplistic writing was too distracting for me. At one point I thought, maybe this book was written by someone whose first language was not English. Oh and the fact that there was not conflict. I mean there was and there wasn't. "Hey we are out of food" and 2 sentences later "look food" there was no struggle to survive. I mean, problems were presented then writer skipped all of the struggle and hardship and headed straight into resolution.

[Shylee W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is just a jumbled mess in my opinion. I think the author just jumped from one idea to the next without really thinking about it. There were no explanations of the characters you are just kinda forced to like them. Also the way this was written really bothered me. The book had great potential, the idea behind it was stunning but the way the author wrote it just didn't do the idea justice. Everything about the book just fell flat. I'm not going to waste anymore time on this book and you people shouldn't waste any time on it either. Its not worth it when you could be reading something better. End of story.

[Kylah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It kinda had a Hunger Games feel to it. 5 friends escaping a compound of the only home they have know. It's post war and they had never been out in the world before. Fun read.

[Amanda Makepeace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was great, and I love the cover, but the book needs more editing. I found the writing to be a distraction, but I pushed forward since I enjoyed the story.