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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

This is the American Title fight, so people are watching this one all over the globe. When a gladiator wins the American Title, this is his job: to look large, to be the largest man on Earth really. His name appears in novels, it's shaved into hair art.
In the age Lyn lives in, the biggest sport, the biggest entertainment, is gladiators. The sport came back as a way to (hopefully) stop war. It didn't really work, and now she lives in a world where life is all about blood, money, and a lot of publicity. Her mother has married seven gladiators- the seventh being the current, Tommy. The thing is, a glad wife is only allowed to marry seven times. If Tommy dies in a fight, she's done. When Tommy does die, and the enemy accidentally becomes Lyn's fiance, she says she'd rather die than marry him. And she means it literally.
He grows larger and larger. He becomes the sign. He becomes a giant where endorsments are concerned. He helps the population buy poorly assembled vehicles with tires that will blow out, and small overwrapped meals, and trillions of bottles of diluted water.
This book was very interesting. Very, very interesting. It is written in present-tense, which I think helps bring it to life. I cannot, however, say that it is one of the best books I've read. I really didn't like the ending- it was happy, sure, but it... it was just a let down, really. As most of you know, I take points off for a lame/bad/incomplete ending. So I'd say that, overall, this book really only gains a 2 3/4 amount of stars. Maybe a 3.

1 comment:

lutzskate said...

Have you read the Hunger Games?