- Lifers by M. A. Griffin
ISBN 978-1-338-06553-4 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 8-10
Preston’s sort of in love with his friend Alice so when she disappears, he follows her trail, sneaking into a creepy, hidden research facility. In the facility he finds a portal to another dimension and discovers that those who go through it are, like Alice, trapped in a prison. Resolute Preston decides to rescue Alice from this prison, and fortunately he has the help of an employee who found him skulking around and (inexplicably) filled him in on all the details of this secret operation. The book’s at its best in describing the other dimension, particularly after Preston reports to the already desperate inmates that the food and water transports to the prison are going to stop soon. Unfortunately, there is so little substance to these characters that it is hard to connect with anyone—Preston is so focused on saving Alice that any other aspects of his personality are forgotten, Alice herself is bafflingly void of any spark or depth, and the bad guys lack nuance. In addition, given the fact that people are willing to send teens to a different dimension and then stop sending them sustenance, it’s not at all clear why they have to go through all of this scientific portal fuss—why not just kill them and be done with it? Even with those weaknesses, this British import is still an ambitious and clever sci-fi reimagining of the modern prison system and the way some people might exploit a system like this one to send more and more rebellious teens through it, regardless of guilt or innocence. Readers will likely leave slightly dissatisfied with the plot flaws but as indignant about society as the author intended.