Book Review: Detention (The Outliers, Book #1) by Claire Chilton #YA #SciFi

Detention (The Outliers #1)

by Claire Chilton

Print Length: 61 pages

Publication Date: April 9, 2014

ASIN: B00JLVDNJE

Goodreads Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25647907-detention

About the Book:

She’s been sentenced to teenage prison for the dumbest reason, ever!

When Carla Mainston is sentenced to two weeks in juvenile detention for dirtying someone else’s carpet, she promises to never break the rules again—no matter how stupid they are.

She thinks that the worst that can happen is she'll be bored to death, but it seems that the wicked warden of the institute plans to keep her imprisoned indefinitely in the detention center, along with all the other kids trapped behind its dark walls. .

In an attempt to escape, Carla discovers the monster on the fourth floor and uncovers a darker purpose to the institution. She will have to fight for her freedom if she wants to go home. She will have to break all the rules if she wants to survive...

Detention is an interesting beginning to the futuristic scifi series, The Outliers. Carla is sent to teenage prison for getting mud on someone's carpet. Carla's mother insists that it's only for a short time, however, when Carla comes face-to-face with the warden, she finds out that leaving may not be an option (Hotel California anyone?? "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave....").  He's keeping "bad" children trapped in the prison, never letting them go.  Carla knows that she and the other kids need to escape and she's just the one to do make it happen.

A quick read, Detention focuses mainly on what happens as Carla is being driven to prison and shortly thereafter.  Other than knowing Carla is purple when the rest of her clan is green, we don't get a lot of background information.  We basically take her at face value without any history.  The author does a good job being descriptive of the characters and world within Detention.  I didn't connect with any of the characters but that didn't make the story bad.  I enjoyed the short jaunt through Claire Chilton's Outliers world.  

The book is primarily suited for teens and young adults.  Even though I enjoyed the book, parts of it were juvenile and silly, especially the part with the monster on the fourth floor.  I do think Clare showed a nice bit of leadership.  She knew something wasn't right within the prison and instead of sinking to despair, she rose above it and did what she had to do to expose the corruption.  

I'm not sure I'll move on with the series at this time but I might in the future.

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My Rating: