"I was given a copy of "The Torturer's Daughter" by Zoe Cannon for an honest review.
The Torturer's Daughter is a YA Dystopian themed tale that is told from the point of view of Becca. It seems as if it's current day based on the description of housing and technology.If not for these things I wouldn't have really known much about the time period. I thought there should have been a more detailed description of what certain things were and how they had gotten that way.
That was my first problem with what was an interesting story.
I thought that not really explaining the past government and how it was overthrown or changed would have given a stronger meaning to Becca's mothers job. I also thought that for how often and how terrible a thing it was to be a "dissident" that that should have been explained way before it finally was. Even when it was explained it wasn't given the depth of description that made it clear what a person would have to do to actually be one & be guilty of their activity.
I was constantly thinking of "V for Vendetta" when the story began unraveling . The "enforcer's" & the interrogation descriptions reinforced the similarity to the graphic novel and movie.
The main character "Becca" seemed to naive to me. With her mother having such a high ranking job in the new government I would think that she would have been very aware of how any government has a "public relations face & the actual fact's" that aren't so pretty.
For fans of dystopian themed books the basis was interesting.
A brief description of the story w/o spoiling anything for those who haven't read it is that Becca the daughter of Raleigh Dalcourt (one of the publicly known) employees of building 117, the branch of government who interrogates,tortures & eventually kills all citizens found guilty of being or aiding the dissident.
Becca receives a frantic late night call from her best friend Heather who is being held at 117 because her parents were accused of being dissidents who had infiltrated the current government and were gathering proof that the current government had an agenda and were forcing innocent people into confessing to crimes that they hadn't committed.
The story goes on to reveal things about Becca's mother, friends, and the society she lives in as way different than Becca had thought they were.
Through Becca's discovery she realizes that she has to choose what she is going to think for herself,possibly losing the people she loves and trusts.
Overall the writing was good but I thought it wasn't a very original theme. The writing wasn't descriptive enough for me to really be able to lose myself in the story. There is a second book that continues to follow Becca's journey to what she chooses to do about the things she has decided are wrong.
Both the first & second book by Zoe Cannon can be found at smashwords,Amazon, & goodreads has more info for books by Zoe Cannon & retailers that carry them. Check for this plus more reviews and discussion's on http://mouseheadandtales@weebly & on goodreads by Clare Dooley"
The Torturer's Daughter is a YA Dystopian themed tale that is told from the point of view of Becca. It seems as if it's current day based on the description of housing and technology.If not for these things I wouldn't have really known much about the time period. I thought there should have been a more detailed description of what certain things were and how they had gotten that way.
That was my first problem with what was an interesting story.
I thought that not really explaining the past government and how it was overthrown or changed would have given a stronger meaning to Becca's mothers job. I also thought that for how often and how terrible a thing it was to be a "dissident" that that should have been explained way before it finally was. Even when it was explained it wasn't given the depth of description that made it clear what a person would have to do to actually be one & be guilty of their activity.
I was constantly thinking of "V for Vendetta" when the story began unraveling . The "enforcer's" & the interrogation descriptions reinforced the similarity to the graphic novel and movie.
The main character "Becca" seemed to naive to me. With her mother having such a high ranking job in the new government I would think that she would have been very aware of how any government has a "public relations face & the actual fact's" that aren't so pretty.
For fans of dystopian themed books the basis was interesting.
A brief description of the story w/o spoiling anything for those who haven't read it is that Becca the daughter of Raleigh Dalcourt (one of the publicly known) employees of building 117, the branch of government who interrogates,tortures & eventually kills all citizens found guilty of being or aiding the dissident.
Becca receives a frantic late night call from her best friend Heather who is being held at 117 because her parents were accused of being dissidents who had infiltrated the current government and were gathering proof that the current government had an agenda and were forcing innocent people into confessing to crimes that they hadn't committed.
The story goes on to reveal things about Becca's mother, friends, and the society she lives in as way different than Becca had thought they were.
Through Becca's discovery she realizes that she has to choose what she is going to think for herself,possibly losing the people she loves and trusts.
Overall the writing was good but I thought it wasn't a very original theme. The writing wasn't descriptive enough for me to really be able to lose myself in the story. There is a second book that continues to follow Becca's journey to what she chooses to do about the things she has decided are wrong.
Both the first & second book by Zoe Cannon can be found at smashwords,Amazon, & goodreads has more info for books by Zoe Cannon & retailers that carry them. Check for this plus more reviews and discussion's on http://mouseheadandtales@weebly & on goodreads by Clare Dooley"