BOOK REVIEW - INSIDE OUT by MARIA V. SNYDER - INSIDER # 1

By: Maria V. Snyder
Published By : Harlequin Teen
Released : Available Now
Details : Paperback , 315 Pages

RATING : 4.5 SCRUB STARS!!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

BOOK REVIEW:



Trella is ‘Queen of the Pipes’, she is a scrub. She resides in the lower levels of Inside and keeps the air ducts clean with her little troll or zippy. This is her life . 10 hours on, 10 hours off , a break every 5 hours. Things like to be done in 10’s, Inside. Everything is tightly controlled so that scrubs stay inline. They are the keepers of cleanliness for Inside, they do the lowly jobs. Uppers are socially higher, they have families. Scrubs have a Care Mother, 10 children per Care Mother until they become of age, then they are taken from their Care Mother and put to work.


Maria V. Snyder has written quite a clever dystopian novel that keeps you ‘feeling’ as fearful, confined and crowded as the scrubs.


Inside has quadrants A, C, G, I and sectors B,D,E,F,H . Every level has the same quadrants and sectors. As the reader you feel like you are in an apartment block, but you don’t actually know what Inside is. The lower levels have an almost prison feel to them . There are crowded sleeping sectors and work sectors. There is no talk of windows, natural light. The lower levels are where Trella and the other scrubs live and work. The Uppers live a different life to the scrubs.


There are ‘Pop Cops’ who you don’t want to notice you....they have noticed Trella.


I thought this book was very clever. There is this frustration you feel when reading if this was your life...being a scrub. No t.v, your off time is rest time, eating time and assembly. A very robotic life, until you die and get recycled... now this is charming, by Chomper . I get the impression it is like a wood chipper machine that devours your body and you become fertiliser. You don’t want the Pop Cops to arrest you and find that Chomper is waiting for you. You also would prefer to have them use a kill-zapper on you before they feed you to Chomper.


Trella trusts nobody except Cogon, he was raised by the same Care Mother. Cog is her only friend, she lets nobody else in. Trella is 1514 weeks old , equivalent to 17.3yrs. Her personality is void of emotion, cold, she doesn’t allow herself to feel, feeling hurts.


Cog is liked by many and he believes in Gateway. He wants to get to the Outside. He needs to believe there can be more to his life than being a scrub. He has what Trella doesn’t...hope.


I couldn’t even imagine living this type of life with no social time, just 10 hours of work . There are no video games or magazines, books or an escapism for the mind. Trella handles her life by staying away from the other scrubs , she escapes into the ducts, she knows all the secret places within her pipes that Inside has to offer. At only a little over 5ft she can pull herself all over the levels.... and this is where curiosity can kill the cat.


Broken Man, has entered Trella’s world and given it a total shake up. Trella and Cog find themselves making a snap decision that will change their, mono tone lives, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse.


Trella finds herself having to rely on other scrubs, she has to learn to trust if she is to help Cog, and that doesn’t come easy. Her eyes are finally opening up to some of her fellow scrubs , Jacy, Anne-Jade and Logan who are playing a very deadly game of bucking the system, if caught , would lead to a one way ticket to Chomper.


This book gets quite intense, you feel like you are right beside Trella , trying to stay one step ahead of Lieutenant Commander Karla and away from the sadistic Commander Vinco’s knife.


Trella finds herself at the helm of a scrub revolt , placing her trust in Riley. This may or may not be a good idea.


Who can honestly be trusted not to betray?


‘Inside Out’ turns into a page turner that has you holding your breath, gritting your teeth and discovering alongside Trella what has been concealed from the people of Inside. Whether you are a scrub or an Upper there are a lot of secrets .


Who is actually in charge?


For Cog she must find Gateway.


She must find the Outside.

FAVE QUOTE:

"Why do you drag me to listen to every prophet?"
"It's called hope. It's called seeing the best in people despite the miserable conditions."

Michelle