Variant

By: Robison Wells

Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's summary

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.

Where breaking the rules equals death.

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape - his only real hope for survival - may be impossible.

©2011 Robison Wells (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Decent dystopfic YA

I will say that this YA novel kept me entertained during a long drive. The setup is intriguing enough: a teenage orphan from Pittsburgh named Benson looks to escape his dreary life by winning a scholarship to a high-end private school in New Mexico. However, upon arrival, he finds that Maxfield Academy contains no adults, is full of security cameras, is surrounded by a high wall, and has a few simple rules that students must never, ever break. Cue shades of Lord of the Flies, Never Let Me Go, and the TV show Lost, as our protagonist learns that the students have organized themselves into different factions, some bent on following the rules, some out to cause mayhem, and some with more pragmatic ideas. The truce that exists between them is tense at best, and Benson must choose his allies and adversaries carefully. Not everything at Maxfield, of course, is what is seems, and, like Lost, it had me hooked.

Well, for the first half. Unfortunately, the twist that comes later would have been inexcusably silly in a grown-up novel. Then again, this is a book for younger readers, and I doubt too many will be concerned about that, or even recognize the creative property that Wells is, um, inspired by. The target audience will probably eat up the who-can-we-trust suspense, the action sequences (including paintball, of all things), the likable, outcast hero, and the romance.

All in all, probably not the most interesting or well-written YA dystopfic out there, but a perfectly readable entry for those who can’t get enough of the genre. Parental note: there’s some PG violence, one implied-but-not-discussed sexual encounter between secondary characters, and no bad language.

Solid Fun, Nothing New or Breathtaking

Variant is a solid story with interesting characters. It's nothing exceedingly noteworthy, but a good way to pass a few hours. If you like teen-dystopic-fiction, this should be right up your alley.

Kept Me Guessing

This book kept me hooked just by the fact I wanted to know "what is going on here". Benson is an orphaned teenager who has been tossed from foster home to foster home and just wants a better life. He applies to a boarding school in hopes for that better life. When he arrives he finds out this is no ordinary school and he is trapped. I was constantly guessing to try and figure out what or who was imprisioning the students all the way to the last sentence of the book. I wanted to jump in and help Benson escape. His determination kept me rooting for him. Narration was done and paced well. I think this is a book my boys would like because the romance factor is very limited and it is fast paced. Must read the next book. I have to find out what happens.

Interesting twist with a cliff hanger

Seems like just about anyone could enjoy the twists and turns this book takes. The book is an easy enjoyable listen with a few various aspects from suspense, to a little young romance with a big helping of mystery.

The book did keep my interest through the entire story and the twist revealing the schools secret was unexpected. The ending left me thinking WTF?! with a million ideas on what was going on. I will be keeping an eye out for the sequel.

Weirdly Fascinating

Love the fact that not too much of this story is given away in the description, so let's keep it that way!

Wish I knew...

Good story, draws you in completely. The only drawback is the ending...which does not end. Apparently it is the beginning of a series and I am not sure that I will remember to follow up- although I would like to know what happens! I prefer series that are also stand alone plots.Overall an enjoyable "read"!

Great Youth Listen

This audiobook is great for kids and young adults. I'm not in either category, and I still enjoyed it!

Intense!

Didn't want to stop listening. Intense! Download the second book immediately. Would make a great movie!

This YA has a ‘dystopian’ bent and some surprises.

Benson Fisher has been in the foster system most of his life. He jumped at the opportunity to get a scholarship to the special Maxfield Academy. A strange woman delivers him to the school where he is surprised to discover only teens – no adults. He quickly learns that he, and the other kids, are trapped but Becky, the girl who is trying to provide orientation, doesn’t seem to care that the school is a prison. They cannot go beyond the high brick walls which lie within the razor-wire fence. There are cameras monitoring their behavior and there is no contact with the world outside.

Although they receive computer announcements and instructions from “the academy” all other tasks are performed by the students. The teens are divided into groups who have contracted jobs to run the school. Initially each of the groups, Society, Havoc and Variant, try to recruit Benson. He chooses Variant hoping to find an ally who might help him escape. Unfortunately, all the kids are convinced there is no escape and if you break the rules you are punished. If you break the primary rules, like trying to escape, you may be sent to detention. And the kids who go to detention don’t return; they disappear.

Benson’s first attempt at escape doesn’t work so he consigns himself to gather information for a better plan. He struggles with the rules and tries to learn how to help his team win at paint ball even when it means he takes a beating. He is befriended by one of the young girls, Jane, who has been there the longest. As they grow closer, she tries to cheer him and get him to drop his dreams of escape. When Jane and Benson are attacked, he learns a horrifying secret. Who can he trust and how can he convince the others of the secret he has uncovered? How can they escape before something more terrible happens?

There is mystery early in the book, but I found the beginning slow to engage me. I became more interested as the action (paint ball battles) picked up. The story slogs through some repetition and teenage angst, but I did get to a point where I wanted to find out what happened. There is a scary twist and confrontation as the end nears and then another twist at the cliffhanger ending.

Benson is a bit self-centered and impulsive... like many teens. Even though I am not enthralled by the characters, there are many questions left open at the end of book one. Although the second book seems to have more mixed reviews and I didn't feel this quite rated a 4.0 rating, I am leaning towards getting Feedback (book 2) because I am curious to know where the author takes the story..

Audio Notes: Michael Goldstrom does a good job narrating the teen characters. He manages to convey the tones of cheerfulness, fear, bravado, anger, snideness, meanness and other aspects fitting the teens. I think the audio version helped me move along in the story which might have been more difficult in print/ebook.

It was so good

I don’t normally read because I don’t like books but this was so good. I recommend it for All teens!