Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/15/2014 *Starred Review* What happens when an international best-selling crime novelist tries his hand at a youth fantasy? Well, in this case, success. Baldacci, best known for writing thrillers, also has a talent for creating magical worlds. At first glance, though, Wormwood seems mostly depressing. Like most other Wugs, 14-year-old Vega Jane is dirty, hungry, and deprived. The few things that keep her going are her friend Delph; her brother, John; and a tree where she goes to ponder. (Pondering is in short supply in Wormwood.) She also has her job at the Stacks, putting the finishing touches on pretty objects. But everything changes one morning when she spies her mentor, Quentin Herms, heading into the Quag, the terrifying forest that surrounds Wormwood. There are beasts inside the Quag, and supposedly nothing past it, so why would Herms run? The cryptic note he leaves behind raises more questions, and despite danger from many directions, Vega is a girl who wants answers. Baldacci gets several things just right. He offers readers a smart, tough heroine worth rooting for; provides enough hints of a mysterious backstory to keep them wondering; and builds each chapter to a cliff-hanger that pushes them to turn the page. There is also head-spinning action, which is sometimes a bit too repetitious. How often can Vega be chased by a monster and run faster than she has ever run in her life? The ending is predictable, but it leads seamlessly into the next book, where, perhaps, some of Vega’s answers await. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: As with Rick Riordan and Ridley Pearson, among others, the interest surrounding a high-profile author writing children’s books should garner this a ton of attention. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2014 Gr 6–9—Wormwood is full of secrets, known mostly by members of the Council. The rest of the villagers live oblivious, regimented lives. They've been told there's nothing outside of the village except for a forest inhabited by deadly creatures. Vega Jane, 14, is understandably alarmed when she sees her mentor, Quentin Herms, running straight for the Quag. If Council members find out that he left her a note and a map of the forest, who knows what would become of her? Frustrated by the prescribed secrecy that shrouds the village, Vega takes matters into her own hands, embarking on an adventure to investigate the mysteries surrounding Wormwood, the Quag, and Quentin's departure. She grows in confidence and knowledge with each clue she uncovers and makes more than a few enemies along the way. Vega's investigations reveal that little in Wormwood is as it appears. Fans of action-packed fantasy will enjoy her mystical adventures. At almost 500 pages, with sophisticated vocabulary, the book is best suited for strong readers. The pace is occasionally uneven, with redundant descriptions of Vega's daily life in Wormwood, and the large cast of minor characters can be challenging to track. The imaginative and multilayered world is the novel's strength, with the bleak, ancient village serving as a stark contrast to the fantastical adventures and challenges the teen faces in her quest for the truth. Readers will be rooting for her but will not find much resolution in The Finisher, as the last chapter seems to set the stage for the next installment.—Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2014 Life is pretty crummy in Wormwood for the Wugs, and the Quag, essentially the end of the world right outside the village, doesn’t offer anything better. Vega Jane is barely scraping out an existence, torn between watching her parents slowly waste away, trying to care for her precocious little brother, and doing a demanding job that pays her very little. It’s not surprising that when an opportunity arises to find something brand new, even if it seems exceedingly dangerous, Vega Jane would decide to pursue it, but her curiosity and bravado are exactly the traits to get her into trouble in this dystopic world where the consequences for bucking the status quo are dire. Vega Jane is an angry teen, and the reader may be able to spot that she is an occasionally unreliable narrator, commenting from her assumptions rather than her observations. This insider perspective heightens sympathy for the beleaguered protagonist while also offering further glimpses into what drives characters in the carefully built world Baldacci has created. The book’s choice to overrely on “wug” as a wordstem is distracting, but this is a minor issue in what is otherwise a clever, intriguing, and refreshingly different world populated with flawed characters who respond to their environment with a unique set of moral guidelines, just as they should given their sheltered, intensely controlled lives. The conclusion is clearly a set up for a sequel, and readers will likely eagerly anticipate the next installment of Vega Jane’s life. AS - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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