Content levels
Trigger warnings
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up. The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.
Is The Forsaken appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 14 and up.
This dystopian thriller features a teenage girl wrongfully imprisoned on a brutal island with constant violence, civil wars between factions, and deadly living conditions. While the violence is present and intense, sexual content is absent and language is mild.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include captivity, death, and death of parent (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will be gripped by Alenna's desperate fight for survival on a deadly prison island and her daring escape plan.