Tuesday, August 20, 2013

GIVEAWAY and Book Review: The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan


Title: The Panopticon
Author: Jenni Fagan
Publisher: Hogarth
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Source: copy received for honest review through TLC Book Tours

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

Anais Hendricks, fifteen, is in the back of a police car. She is headed for the Panopticon, a home for chronic young offenders. She can't remember what’s happened, but across town a policewoman lies in a coma and Anais’s school uniform is covered in blood.

Raised in foster care from birth and moved through twenty-three placements before she even turned seven, Anais has been let down by just about every adult she has ever met. Now a counter-culture outlaw, she knows that she can only rely on herself. And yet despite the parade of horrors visited upon her early life, she greets the world with the witty, fierce insight of a survivor.

Anais finds a sense of belonging among the residents of the Panopticon – they form intense bonds, and she soon becomes part of an ad hoc family. Together, they struggle against the adults that keep them confined. When she looks up at the watchtower that looms over the residents though, Anais knows her fate: she is an anonymous part of an experiment, and she always was. Now it seems that the experiment is closing in.


My Review:

Have you seen the movie Trainspotting?  My immediate thought upon finishing the first chapter of The Panopticon was that Anais Hendricks would be a great extra in Trainspotting.  Her funny/crude/witty Scottish voice is a perfect fit.  (Plus, you know, the whole drug thing.  That too.)

This could just be because I'm a lame American who associates cool Scottish accents with Ewan McGregor movies.  Sorry for that.  But after that intro, you have to admit you're at least a LITTLE intrigued.

I wasn't sure what to think of this novel in the beginning.  Should I focus on the question of whether Anais beat up the policewoman or not?  Should I concentrate on the awful realities of the foster system that are depicted in the novel?  Or should I just focus on Anais as a character?  My advice to you, as a reader, is to go with option #3.  The "mystery" of the policewoman's injury is relatively unimportant...the details about the foster system are compelling for sure...but Anais is the star here.  As a protagonist, she really shines.

Anais is lost within the foster system, and having lived without any family or solidity for so long, she is now at the point where she is struggling to determine her lot in life.  The social workers and the courts no longer see her as a person capable of intelligent or wholesome action--she is a lost cause to them.  But inside, she knows she is able to do something more--even if the rest of the world refuses to see it.  Watching her battle with this internally throughout the novel is both fascinating and heartbreaking.

Heartbreaking: because all Anais really wants in the world is for someone to be watching her, and to care.  Despite her hard outward facade, this is what lies underneath.  Jenni Fagan does a great job melding this confused inner persona with Anais's tougher outer shell, and I think that's part of what makes her characterization so great.

The ending is perfection.  It doesn't wrap everything up perfectly, but it gives you enough to imagine what the end result could be for Anais's future.  (Okay, and it also makes you want to throw your fist up and give her an "EFF YEAH!"  That's a plus.)

My only warning: the language is not for the faint of heart, and there are some very R-rated scenes involved (drugs, sex, you name it).  However, it's all relevant to Anais's history and lifestyle, so it's not gratuitous in any way.  If you can handle that, I'd say it's worth working through the graphic parts to give this one a try.

This is a solid 4-star for me on Goodreads.  It took me a while to see where it was going, but in the end, I found myself with compelling story, and a main character who is getting added to my short list of favorite protagonists.

Much thanks to Lisa and TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour!
Check out the other blogs on this book tour HERE.  And connect with Jenni Fagan on her website and Twitter.


GIVEAWAY TIME!

TLC Book Tours is offering up a copy of The Panopticon, which is pretty awesome of them, I'd say.  Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter.  US residents only please.  Giveaway ends the night of August 27, 2013!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

24 comments:

  1. I've heard good things about this. Loved reading your review!

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    1. Thanks Monika! Yes, there's been a lot of reviews popping up lately.

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  2. I'm completely torn about whether or not to read this! It's gotten really great reviews, but I'm not big on tough subject matter so I'm not sure it's for me.

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    1. Yeah, you'd have to consider that for sure. Like I said, it's not gratuitous, but that doesn't make it easier to digest sometimes.

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  3. I've been hearing such good things about this book and I'm kinda dying to read it myself. I happen to love dark and twisty and R rated stuff ;)

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    1. Haha it's definitely dark, not sure about twisty, I think more character-driven than a lot of the dark fiction I've read lately. But I still think you'd enjoy!

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  4. I haven't read this novel but am very interesting. thanks. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. Darn it, why didn't I pick this one for the tour? I'm adding to my list because I love that Scottish accent!

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    1. Scottish accents are awesome indeed! It was a little hard to read the dialect at first, but I got used to it quickly.

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  6. Have it! Can't wait to read it! Lord how long will that be? Ack!

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  7. I really loved this one, too - I can't resist a good, gritty curse fest sometimes!

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    1. Yes, I was thrown off by it at first (didn't realize the language/scenes would be graphic) but once I got used to it, it was so well done.

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  8. Woohoo! I actually won this one on another blog so I'm not going to enter (but I DO follow you on all the important networks) and will share it!

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  9. I can't tell if I will like this or not! I did enjoy reading The Death of Bees, with vaguely similar subject matter but didn't really like The Language of Flowers. Thanks for the giveaway offer!

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    1. Hmmm I will have to check those two out if they're somewhat similar.

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  10. My first thought was Truman Show, but with the rest of the summary I'm assuming it's more far more politically charged. Given how it sounds so current and important I'll definitely have a look for it.

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    1. Yes definitely a more serious tone than that movie...though the idea of people always watching is certainly there.

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  11. your review certainly makes me to want to read it. thanks for the giveaway!

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  12. Wow, sounds like a great read! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for being on the tour. I'm featuring your review on TLC's Facebook page today.

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