Review Detail

Rosie Sinclair wants to be part of the cut of special students who will be chosen to stay at the prestigious Forge School of Arts. Here their lives are televised and their blimp rating determines if they stay, get financial backing from sponsors, and other perks. But something isn't quite right with the school. One night Rosie is defiant and doesn't take the nightly sleeping pill but instead is awake when she notices strange things happening. There's a whole different world operating behind the cameras. She doesn't know who or what to trust.

What worked: There's a scary twist in this YA meets UnReal. The students are privileged and talented. During the day their every move is recorded life but at night? That's where something else is happening.

Rosie is from a poorer area and staying at the school means she has a way out of a dead-end future. Her struggles to stay and to find out what's really going on follow her throughout this story. I liked how she tried to 'fit' in with the school but can't silence the curiosity that won't leave.

The beginning of this novel sets up the world of Forge School and the televised background. Everything is recorded for TV viewers. They rate each student. This was fascinating but I felt the novel didn't really start moving until Rosie and Linus try to figure out what's going on. Linus is a worker at Forge School with his own secrets. These secrets do have something to do with the school.

Linus and her relationship is more of the forbidden type especially as he's only a staff kitchen worker. He plays on her desire to up her blimp scores by kissing and meeting up with her. I know I was confused on what his real intentions might be.

Then there is brainy Burnham who's parents are the inventors of the sleeping pill the student's take every night. Rosie and his relationship is hot and cold. I admit, I wanted to see more of them together.

The whole premise of a school that mines dreams of students without their knowledge is sinister and gives this dystopia novel more of a horror feel. The psychological horror is reveal at the climax of the story.

The one thing I did want was more action and reveals to come sooner in the novel. The backstory of other characters including ones that didn't make the cut to stay? I felt those parts slowed down an otherwise very intriguing story.

Intriguing dystopian YA meets Reality TV with sinister undertones. What is real and what is a dream? How far would you go to follow a dream? I can't wait to find out Rosie and Linus's fate in the sequel!