In the not-too-distant future, a huge wall has been built completely encompassing all borders of the US. With its major governing documents discarded, the US is now just 'the Nation', and its criminals are locked up in major prisons all over the country. Children born to inmates must stay in the prison until their 18th birthday, when they are released (after education/indoctrination) to serve 'the Nation' as 'the good and the strong'. This story is about Millie, who is turning 18. Never having seen the outside, she is not sure what to expect, but her 'education' has told her that only criminals are locked up, and that following the rules upon release is critical. She is released on one year's probation, to an apple orchard to pick fruit. There she meets new people, and finds out some things about 'the Nation' she wasn't told in prison. The premise was intriguing to me, but the actual story fell short. The characters were not really fully formed, ideas were a bit cliched, and the action was less than stimulating. This is the first book of a series, maybe they get better... (Dec) 2.5* In Prison Nation, the USA is now The Nation, complete with walls around our perimeters to keep the world out. Lawyers are no more, and once accused of a crime, it is almost guaranteed you will end up with a many years sentence in prison. Add to that, any child born in prison is kept there until 18. Millie is a Prison Baby. She never bothered to ask her parents (she is in a cell w/both of them) what they did to land there, she keeps her head down and is indoctrinated in the rules and laws of The Nation. The first 1/3 or more of the book seems to be a lot of words - earnestly written (to me, read like a high school kid who just took creative writing and wants to WRITE SOMETHING THAT MATTERS) - that lead nowhere. One sentence that annoyed me..."Cranking on the faucet, I grabbed my old metal cup from the shelf and filled it with with the warm water that poured out, then tilted my had back and swallowed a large gulp." A lot of words that tell us not very much. I'm not one to usually even notice sentence structure or the overall quality of the writing. If the story is good and drags me in, I ignore what is annoying (like Kristen Ashley's books, or even some of the writing in 50 Shades) - but if I'm not into the story, I'll notice every little thing!I kept waiting for the story to begin, for something to happen. It did pick up a bit towards the middle, but the ending seemed rushed and poorly done - and of course ends with a non-ending, making you wonder "do they go back? will the change the world?" I don't feel like I ever got to know Reed, or really anyone else other than Millie, who needed more depth. Less minutia about prison life and more about Millie and life outside might have helped. Doubt I'll pick up the sequel, but might read the reviews just to get an idea of how it ends (and hopefully this is only planned as a two part series!).
What do You think about Prison Nation (2000)?
This has been in my tbr shelf for a while and it's FREE right now at Amazon. : )
—jeena
Interesting dystopian fiction. Thought-provoking but not amazing.
—Kdawg
Easy read and very predictable. But I did enjoy reading it.
—Stephied08
