The Outrage by William Hussey

Challenge #17 ~ “Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 3 ~ 21st Century.”

theoutrage

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My opinion in three sentences:

This one seems to be flying under the radar at the minute, but it really shouldn’t be – it’s absolutely terrific and well-deserving of hype form the YA book community. The pages teemed with suspense, adrenaline, and drama (and had a fantastic, cute ship to boot) and I was hooked from the very beginning. Hussey achieved a careful balance of detail and vagueness that left it open enough to be potential realistic future rather than dystopian, adding another element (and further depth) to the unsettling atmosphere.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

Hussey used a dual timeline approach and this proved particularly effective. In so doing, the wider context of the dystopian society could be explained without heavy info-dumps and whilst maintaining momentum and suspense in the present plot developing timeline. (And, yes, Hussey used this to sadistically drop a cliff-hanger and then switch timelines, but what good author worth their salt wouldn’t, however frustrating (and I mean that wholly in a positive sense) it may be to their reader?)

A warning for the book:

You’re going to need to set some time aside for this one, not because it takes a long time to get through, but because (a) it’s incredibly difficult to put down and (b) a book hangover is a real threat from this one. All that being said, it’s one I recommend to everyone, and one that I recommend reading now – it’s such a realistic potential future, it’s frankly alarming, and it’s a real tragedy more people aren’t talking about it. (P.S. If you can get your hands on the audiobook, it’s an absolutely stellar rendition of the story.)

Recommended for fans of: