Review: Possession by Elana Johnson + Contest

Publish Date: June 07, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 405
Source: Bought
Others in Series: Fugitive (June 2012) *Title posted on Elana's blog
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

This is a really hard review for me to write. While it was quite an interesting read, I still can't decide exactly how I feel about it.

Vi is a strong and confident main character. In a world controlled by thinkers who tell you what to do, Vi is not one to be satisfied with answers like, "Because I told you so" and things of that nature. She's a fighter, not hand-to-hand but strong, snarky and quite an independent thinker. She doesn't want to do what the Thinkers tell her to, she wants to think for herself. She's a rule breaker and she does so often. Jag was a complete confusion to me. He was in and out of the picture so often, I wasn't sure what exactly he was doing. It seemed like he and Vi split ways then continued together every couple chapters! While I found myself liking him, I couldn't exactly put my trust in Jag, and I wasn't sure that Vi should either... although, she seemed to rely on him more than she should. Zenn, the other love interest of Violet's was not as much of a focus as I thought he would be from the synopsis. I would have liked to have seen more of him and gotten to know him better.

The "love-triangle" fit the story really well. Jag was the baddie, some one that Vi had been taught all of her life to stay away from. Zenn was the goodie, the guy Vi had always planned to be with but is now being controlled by the Thinkers. I enjoyed getting to know Jag but, once again, I feel like I may have been cheated a little in regards to Zenn.

There are quite a few characters in the book who have special abilities. Some have more stronger abilities than others, and these are the people that the director wants to control most. I find it amazing that Vi grew up with this ability she has, but never knew it was there until she met Jag. She and Jag both have interesting abilities that the director is most interested in and will do anything to contain them. Jag and Vi are on the run through a good amount of the book and their journey overflows with action, deception and the beginnings of a romance. In the end I found myself thinking, "Why doesn't Vi just use her ability to end it all?"

The ending is what completely threw me for a loop! I've been used to "happily-ever-afters" and big smiles that when I completed Possession, I could NOT believe that Elana Johnson had actually ended the story like she did! When reading Possession, I had never once thought it could end the way it did, and it was kind of devastating in a way. I'm really hoping that the next in this series may clear up a few things for me.

Overall, Possession is a fast-paced and unique dystopian novel. Elana does a great job of contributing to the dystopian genre and leaves readers hooked with an exceptional ending. I look forward to more of Elana Johnson's work in the future.

Find Elana Johnson
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RULES:

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