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Mia B.

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Taken

by Edward Bloor

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Mia B. said: " This quarter, I decided to read the book Taken by Edward Bloor. I think this was a pretty interesting story that I chose, almost unlike any other that I have read. This novel takes place in the year 2035, so it is a futuristic story, which I find fas This quarter, I decided to read the book Taken by Edward Bloor. I think this was a pretty interesting story that I chose, almost unlike any other that I have read. This novel takes place in the year 2035, so it is a futuristic story, which I find fascinating to hear about people’s ideas of what is yet to come. A grasping beginning is a necessity in order for me to continue on with reading because I cannot take reading something that is boring or lengthy. With this book, the first sentence starts out with a teenage girl kidnapped inside an ambulance. How much more exciting could you have a novel begin?

Although Taken was unique, I would compare it to Hope was Here by Joan Bauer. At first, those are not two books that you would even think of comparing, but the main characters both have similar qualities. Hope, the main girl in Hope was Here, has a little bit of attitude, but at the same time is smart and well-behaved. Charity, the main girl in the story that I read, is the same way; spunky but respectful when needed to be. This also reminded me a little bit of The Giver, a novel we had to read in seventh grade and although we were forced to read it to get a passable grade, I really enjoyed it. This story took place in a dystopian society, which in my mind, feels like they are talking about the future when the author writes about a utopian or dystopian society. It reminded me of the book I read because I felt like the world people lived in was a dystopian society because it was almost communist, but with classes in the societies. There was the very high class, the middle class, and then there was the lower class, and just about everything was run by the government. The world basically just didn’t seem convenient or a livable space to be in.

Throughout the story, the main character, Charity, had some troubles with girls at school, but that was minor. The main people she was conflicted with were Dr. Reyes and a boy who she liked to call Dessi. Dr. Reyes was the main man leading the kidnapping, which fit his part because he was quiet, yet powerful in order to feel more important. The other boy, or teenager, Dessi, was not as powerful. Within the story, you could tell that he is scared and nervous to take part in such an event. Although he is meant to be an antagonist, I feel that the whole time he wanted to get to know Charity, but felt it was his duty to stay strict. Charity’s reactions to Dessi were more that he was the only one she could speak to, so she wanted to be acquaintances. I like that both Dessi and Charity have strong views towards what they believe in and stand for. This makes for thrilling conversations between the two of them to read.

Charity’s conflict was her struggle of keeping calm while being trapped inside of the ambulance, as well as her patience thinning out. She seems pretty calm and collected considering the situation she is stuck in, unlike what many others would be like. For that, it must mean that she is strong-minded in order to just stop and forget everything that is happening around her. However, her patience is a problem that she puts herself in because Charity does not at all like running under other people’s time schedules. There are many references throughout the story about time and how she is absolutely shocked that it was only 15 minutes since the last time she checked her watch. Despite that little issue, I feel that Charity handles the predicament fairly well for only being thirteen.

Typically, I am one to read fictional stories, so I have read many other books with the same genre as this one. When topics and ideas aren’t real, that gives the readers the freedom to imagine what different objects, people, or instances would be like. As a reader, I like to have a picture in my head as to what is going on while reading the book because those are the times that I get wrapped up in the storyline of it all. In the future I definitely plan on reading more novels of this genre because it is by far my favorite kind.

The big picture within this story was no matter how wealthy or how high of a social class you are, you should always make time to help the less fortunate. Many times this was represented through the main character, Charity; maybe that’s why her name is what it is. One year, around Christmas time her and her friend created something that would become an annual activity. They started what was called Kid to Kid Day, on this day kids from the Highlands give clothes, books, toys, or anything to the lower class, or Mangrove kids. I feel that another important theme was patience and being able to maintain it. This topic was also shown through Charity, but it is ironic that her best friend’s name is Patience. To me, I don’t think that this could be an accident from the author. You can learn from these two themes that with enough patience and time, the right people will be waiting to lend a helping hand.

I award Taken 3 out of 5 stars for a couple different reasons. First off, the whole idea of this plot is an idea that you don’t typically hear about often, so when I came about this book I was excited. Second, the book starts out with a 13 year old girl kidnapped in an ambulance. You don’t know how and you don’t know why until the middle end of the story. However, I didn’t really like how much of the book wasn’t taking place at the time of the kidnapping. Instead, the girl would frequently flashback to a happier time in her life, so she could isolate what is going on around her. This bothered me because I liked to hear more about what was going on at that time more, but that probably would have gotten boring after a while. Also, it was nice to get some background information on her life at home. Overall, this book was cool, interesting, and exciting and I would recommend it to other people that like futuristic novels. ...more "

Apr 05, 2013 01:05PM · see review