Review: Born by Tara Brown

Title: Born

Author: Tara Brown/AE Watson

Series: Born #1

Genre: Post Apocalyptic/YA-Dystopian

Publisher: Tara Brown Publishing

Publication Date: September 2nd, 2012

Edition: eBook

Source: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon US 

Synopsis:

     Emma ran when her daddy told her to. She hid like he said she should. He was the first person she turned her back on. The first one she let die. Ten years has gone by and she still lives by the simple rules he taught her when she was nine years old.

"Don't help anyone. Don't go where other people are unless you have to. Trust no one. Always pull the trigger."

   Until one night she hears the worst sound in the world, a knock. A simple, timid knock, on the door to her cabin.

Only the voice of the brave little girl, ready to die for her brother, persuades Emma to open the door.

As her fingers turn the lock, she has a terrible feeling she will regret her decision.

But even as regret fills her world, so do love and companionship. Things she never imagined she would ever have again.

     Everything comes at a cost, you decide what you'll pay.

   This is an odd book. I'm not even sure if it's a good book or a bad one, or if I even like it. It's part Zombie apocalypse, part government take-over. It has an interesting premise but the main character, Emma, is very strange.

   The world went to hell 10 years ago, which makes the story set in 2022. And Emma has been alone the entire time hiding in her dad's cabin in the forest. She finds a baby wolf at some point and that is her only companion. She has terrible social skills as well as decision-making skills. There is an annoying love triangle, and it's even more annoying in this book because the boys are brothers. Emma is kind of a terrible person, yet these two guys "love" her. And the one she likes more is overbearing and mean to her, pushes her around a little, and manhandles her.

   There is enough about this story that I find interesting enough to finish the series, maybe, but the whole book felt like the author wasn't sure what kind of book she wanted to write, or rather what kind of dystopian story she wanted to write.  In some ways, it's a bit darker than other books in this genre, but some of the characters themselves aren't very unique, we all have seen these kinds of main characters before. I just hope the rest of the series gets better and starts to give the characters more interesting personalities.