"Happiness comes at the ultimate cost in this tense dystopia"
Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2024
An epidemic of unhappiness has swept the UK and infected teenagers. Seb wants to make his family proud and show the world what he’s capable of, but his head just won’t let him. So, when he’s offered the chance to attend a radical retreat that aims to eradicate teen unhappiness, he jumps at the offer. Maybe this is his chance of a new future. As assessments, tests and tasks start to grow increasingly strange though, Seb starts to wonder if all is as it seems. A growing relationship with enigmatic Finn only makes him question the system, and himself, further.
An exhilarating, action dystopia in the vein of The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner, but with a distinctly modern twist that gives it a contemporary, topical feel. Silver’s writing is immersive to the extreme, I simply couldn’t look away from the page at some points. The reader soon realises that something is amiss at the retreat; creating a taut thriller sense of tension, as we, alongside Seb, try to work out just what is going on.
Echoes of Silver’s other career as a mental health nurse can be heard throughout the novel, there’s a raging anger about the state of mental health provision, and a quiet passion for the care and wellbeing of young people. As well as making your heart race, this is a book that will make your brain think and question.
Seb’s growing relationship with Finn adds a tender element to the tense storyline. Their growing attraction and the salvation they find in each other builds beautifully, leaving the reader fiercely cheering for them.
Make sure you have time in your diary before opening this book, once you start reading you won’t be able to stop. And you’ll be left panting for book two!
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