Dystopian Pick: Quarantine: The Saints

Quarantine: The Saints (book 2)
by Lex Thomas
Egmont
2013
400 pages

Available July 9, 2013

Edgy, creepy, caustic, and terrifying, The Saints picks up where The Loners left off. Will and Lucy and their rag-tag bunch of Loners are hoping that things are looking up. After eighteen months of being locked up under quarantine by the military after a deadly virus outbreak , the kids look forward to being released. They have had to fight, sometimes to the death, for food, water and clothing. Rival gangs rule the school and enforce strict policies and terror.

Varsity has terrorized McKinley High since the beginning, but Sam is beginning to lose his edge, and other gangs mean to take his power. When the canopy is lifted from overhead, kids are excited. They realize this is their chance for freedom. A man with a microphone tells the kids that they have brought food. They can't release the kids because the military thinks all the kids at McKinley have been killed. The only way to keep the kids safe, is to keep them locked up in the school. The parents promise to take care of things and drop a giant crate of food, but kids are starving and rabid. They scramble to grab what they can and will kill for the food. The Loners lose out in the food situation and Will and Lucy have to decide what to do next.

It's gang against gang for food and dominance in this no-man's land of high school hallways. Only the strong and the most cunning will survive. Can Lucy save Will? Can she even save herself? Is surviving worth it if living is being locked up? If either one of them have a chance at freedom, will they take it?

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Mature situations, violence, sex, language. Quarantine: The Loners is suitable for middle school. This second in the series is high school level. I do not have Quarantine: The Saints in my middle school library. This title is far edgier and much more violent than book one. Also, much more profanity and the mention of a sexual act.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the arc from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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