Monday, August 22, 2011

The Line ~ Teri Hall review

The Line (Line #1)
Dial (Speak for pb)
March 4, 2010
224 pages
Goodreads/Amazon - I read the hardcover, but paperback came out in April




The Line
by Teri Hall is a book that gets better and better and better until a conclusion that will leave you flipping the last page back and forth sure there has to be more. Rachel and her mother live on an estate, The Property, that borders the Line. Her mother is Ms Moore's housekeeper and Rachel works with the orchids in the greenhouse and does her schooling with her mother at night.

All of this, though, leaves enough free time for Rachel to be plenty curious about the Line and those that live Away on the other side. The Line has been maintained as a tangible border around the US since the Korusal dropped bombs. The Others are trapped on the other side of the Line but Rachel's time that's just that.

That doesn't stop Rachel from wondering, especially living as close to the Line as she does. A curiosity that's only heightened when she receives a messages from the Others asking for help.

Is there a way for Rachel to help the Others? And not get caught and punished?


Rachel's attempt - or at least desire - to help those in Away brings to light a lot of the history and secrets of how everything got to how it is (with Away and the Line and Others). It's a great way of telling the story and history without it making it seem like a The Line history lesson.

It's fantastic the way The Line slowly unravels. In the beginning it's an interesting tale that you are, okay, kind of invested in but as you read you get more and more into the plot and the characters and wanting to know what happened.

By the end I'd decided I love this book and wanted to tell everyone to read it if they hadn't already!! (And find one of those stress balls, it has one crazy cliffhanger ending - it's why I'm posting this now actually, the second book comes out on the 15th so I'm giving you less time to go crazy waiting on what happens.)

Books that slowly unfold and unveil their story as you go are something that can really be a pleasure to read. (Hard to summarize and even review sometimes - but a great joy to read.)

The Line doesn't focus solely on Rachel so while readers do get to know her and she's well developed this isn't a character study book. Rachel's mother, Ms Moore, and Rachel are all important characters in The Line and the world they live in is used to tell their stories, too.

I am looking forward to more of the characters in the next book now that we know things about them and seeing how they grow and develop.

I really can't wait for September 15th when the second book comes out and I can see where the characters and the story progresses.

10/10

(won this from LibraryThing's Member Giveaways)

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