Helpful Score: 1
The Compound is an interesting little nesting-egg kind of story. The reader opens the cover anticipating a straight-forward, post-apocalyptic tale, but as the plot unravels layer by layer, a very different story is revealed. Author S.A. Bodeen is ambitious in her first novel, showing a talent for literary slight-of-hand that would make the writers of LOST envious.
The story begins with 9-year-old Eli and his family being driven from their beds in a panic and sealed into an elaborate underground bunker designed by his multi-billionaire computer mogule father. The worst has happened: nuclear war has finally broken out. Luckily, his father has spent years preparing for this tragedy, making them the only probable survivors of the bombs and fallout.
Unfortunately, in the chaos, Eli's twin brother, Eddy, and his grandmother were left behind on the outside. As the family begins their 15-year stay in the Compound -- the amount of time his father says the land needs to recover from the nuclear blast -- Eli mourns for his twin and everything they left behind above ground. It's not that the Compound doesn't have all the comforts of home. His dad spared no expense, from luxurious bedroom suites, to an elaborate livestock corral and extensive hydroponic grow rooms built to maintain a sustainable food supply. But six years after they entered the Compound, things have started to go wrong. The livestock have all gotten sick and died. The grain supply has turned grey and rancid. And his father's plans for surviving the next nine years through use of "Supplements" are straight out of a science fiction nightmare.
Through it all, now 15-year-old Eli is tormented by the feeling that Eddy is still alive, somehow. He still feels an eerie connection with his twin, and can't shake the feeling that maybe there are survivors above ground -- and that maybe things aren't as bad as his Dad thinks they are on the surface. He begins to investigate and question, and finally, plot a way to get out of the Compound and find the answers about the world above for himself.
I enjoyed The Compound, but did have some difficulties with the novel. Primarily, the main character is not very likeable. His self-centeredness and detachment realistically reflect his extreme experiences and the loss of his brother, but it does make it harder to care about his struggles. Eli does, however, experience a lot of growth throughout the course of the book, and redeems himself in the end.
Bodeen builds a lot of tension during the book, and tackles some very interesting ideas throughout. It's a quick read that will appeal to lots of readers of all ages that should be as eager as I to uncover the reveal the surprising secrets waiting in The Compound.
The story begins with 9-year-old Eli and his family being driven from their beds in a panic and sealed into an elaborate underground bunker designed by his multi-billionaire computer mogule father. The worst has happened: nuclear war has finally broken out. Luckily, his father has spent years preparing for this tragedy, making them the only probable survivors of the bombs and fallout.
Unfortunately, in the chaos, Eli's twin brother, Eddy, and his grandmother were left behind on the outside. As the family begins their 15-year stay in the Compound -- the amount of time his father says the land needs to recover from the nuclear blast -- Eli mourns for his twin and everything they left behind above ground. It's not that the Compound doesn't have all the comforts of home. His dad spared no expense, from luxurious bedroom suites, to an elaborate livestock corral and extensive hydroponic grow rooms built to maintain a sustainable food supply. But six years after they entered the Compound, things have started to go wrong. The livestock have all gotten sick and died. The grain supply has turned grey and rancid. And his father's plans for surviving the next nine years through use of "Supplements" are straight out of a science fiction nightmare.
Through it all, now 15-year-old Eli is tormented by the feeling that Eddy is still alive, somehow. He still feels an eerie connection with his twin, and can't shake the feeling that maybe there are survivors above ground -- and that maybe things aren't as bad as his Dad thinks they are on the surface. He begins to investigate and question, and finally, plot a way to get out of the Compound and find the answers about the world above for himself.
I enjoyed The Compound, but did have some difficulties with the novel. Primarily, the main character is not very likeable. His self-centeredness and detachment realistically reflect his extreme experiences and the loss of his brother, but it does make it harder to care about his struggles. Eli does, however, experience a lot of growth throughout the course of the book, and redeems himself in the end.
Bodeen builds a lot of tension during the book, and tackles some very interesting ideas throughout. It's a quick read that will appeal to lots of readers of all ages that should be as eager as I to uncover the reveal the surprising secrets waiting in The Compound.
