20.12.11

Book Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive.
Scotty and his friends are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day and they soon realise that no one is coming to get them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall.
But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze and the roof shudders. As the days add up the snow piles higher and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. 
I really liked the sound of this book and thought that the striking simplicity of the cover was excellent too. Scotty and his friends are the last seven kids left at the school. The rest of the kids went home when the blizzard started but this lot are still waiting for someone to come and get them. At first it seems like a big adventure, a bit of fun, but the snow gradually gets higher and higher, then the lights and the heat go out. What of no one is coming, how long can they really last in the freezing cold conditions?
I think that Michael Northrop's idea for this YA book is excellent and in the main, I really enjoyed reading it. Northrop really captures the many different emotions, the initial excitement and then the fear begins to kick in. The only thing that I struggled with was the pace, there were a few parts in the book where hardly anything happened and then the pace would suddenly pick up again. I felt that the author was extremely good at giving the reader the feeling of being trapped; the descriptions of the snow building up and taking the light with it really creeped me out.
Overall, I think this book was very good and YA readers will love it. It's one of those books that puts you in a situation and makes you wonder how you would handle it, how would you survive? It's perfect for this time of year so curl up and give it a go.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 3.5/5

Many thanks to Atom for sending me a copy of this book to review, Trapped is published on December 22nd.

4 comments:

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Dot,

I'm not too sure about the cover. It certainly sets the scene of isolation and freezing temperatures, but is it alluring enough for a YA book?

We watched a film on television, just last week and reading the plot of the book was very reminiscent of the film story 'The Day After Tomorrow'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After_Tomorrow

Clearly this book is not so extreme, but the similarity struck me straight away.

Great review by the way

Enjoy the rest of your week

Yvonne

serendipity_viv said...

I was definitely expecting more action in the book and lots of murders! Really!

Dot said...

fiction-books- it was a little like The Day After Tomorrow' bit different from what I normally read but still enjoyed it!

Dot said...

Vivienne- I know what you mean, I didn't find the pace as fast as I thought it could have been!

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