Read too much like a children's book. Not what I was looking for at the time.

What is the Line? It's the invisible but very real border that the government built to keep the people of the U.S. safe - nobody (and nothing) can walk or drive or fly in. No one can really get out, either - unless the government says so, but that's good for everyone, right? If it keeps us all safe?

Rachel always felt like the line was a good idea. Her life outside the city, on the Property, with her mother and the woman they work for, was pretty isolated from the heavy hand of the government until events on The Property begin making her question, even deeper, the way things are. And while she's curious about the Line and, of course, what's on the other side, she fears it, too. Especially when she finds something that makes her think that someone out there is trying to contact those within the Line, she starts asking questions and seeing things that make her mom seem more nervous than usual. What the heck is going on?

So, it's a way interesting premise - that's why I picked it up. Dystopian all the way with an in-your-face nosy government and an intriguing history that takes our fear of "the other guys" to the nth degree by just closing them out completely. Interesting, yes? Disappointing, though, is the fact that the narrative voice just never got off the ground for me - the language was rote and unembellished, but not in a sparse way - more in a flat way. Maybe it was just designed to appeal more to middle grade readers than to young adults, since there wasn't even a spark of romance until the last two pages (when I finally knew for sure that this was yet another book with a sequel, dang it) and I never could really tell what age Rachel was. I liked the premise enough though (despite being vaguely predictable and obvious at times), and it wasn't BADLY written - it just wasn't beautifully written. A nice three star book introducing younger readers to ideas of national security and government. I'll read more to find out what happens.

Quite aptly named :) I really enjoyed this book. It was a different writing style for me. The author never really went into the characters too deeply. I would've liked for her to have done more than just scratched the surface. (this is the reason for four stars)

The book follows a young girl Rachel, who has lived her whole life, or all that she can remember, on The Property and The Property is bordered on one side by The Line. No one ever crosses the Line and there are horrible "sightings" from across the Line, what Rachel refers to as "Away". She works in a greenhouse on the border of The Line and finds that the idea of it constantly pulls at her. Her mother, Vivian, teaches her to question everything she thinks she knows about the world they live in...and Rachel's curiosity eventually gets the better of her...

Great book! The author really sucks you in at the end and I will definitely be getting the next book in this series!

I love books like this -- society has come apart at the seams and we get a glimpse into the possible future. This one is geared towards kids so it is a little different. Most books of this type are for teens or adults. I really enjoyed this and look forward to the next one in the series. The characters were good, the plot was well paced and perfect for kids - not too scary but will definitely hold their attention. A fun read.

This is actually a 3.5, I rounded up. Check out my review here:
http://the-104.blogspot.com/2011/02/line.html

Fast fun and a good book for kids. I would have loved this set when I was younger. I fear that no it was a bit to simple, but still enjoyed it and am intrigued by the world that lives in the pages.

I'm kind of over the dystopian teen novel...

This is a fast read.

This book is extremely hard for me to rate because a lot of parts were really good and others I strongly disliked. There were so many easy things that could've been fixed to make it great. I think my biggest issue was the pacing. This book is only about 200 pages long. The first 100 were spent setting up the background. Halfway through the book did ANY action start. It was really slow for me at first. Like, really, really, really slow. Hard to get through. Then, about halfway through it started to pick up. Then it kept going, as more started happening, it kept going and going. I started really getting into the story and the mystery, which was awesome. It built up to a climax at the very end and then suddenly- cliffhanger.

Ah! It made me want to throw the book across the room. I felt like the book had just started and suddenly it ended. I don't mind cliffhangers, but after so much preparation in the first 200 pages I was expecting more. Put simply, I hated the ending. Because it's setting up for a sequel, I understand, but this book was short enough on it's own that I think this book and it's sequel should be combined into one (of course, I haven't read the sequel yet, but that's how I feel from just reading the first book). Because of the length and the end, it makes me wonder if the author wrote it as one novel and then the publisher decided to split it into two to make more money or something. But that's just my opinion.

In terms of characters, Rachel was too naive and not as intelligent as I would've liked. She was always surprised when it turned out her mom or her employer Ms. Moore had some secret about The Line or collaborators that worked against the government. I was a little frustrated by the fact that she never saw some of it coming. I predicted a lot of what would happen in this book, and for awhile I was right on. Then, getting towards the end, I was pleasantly surprised when the plot started moving and secrets were revealed that I'd never guessed. It would've gotten a much lower rating if it wouldn't have redeemed itself at the end.


Since I had mixed feelings about this book, I'm giving it a 3/5. It's pretty short, so I would recommend it, but beware that it only starts getting interesting about halfway through. The way it ended leaving me dying to read the sequel... I feel like it's hard to judge this book on it's own without the next one. I'll be sure to get my hands on that as soon as I can.

Original Review at Book Infinity: http://avacypher-bookinfinity.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-review-line-by-teri-hall.html

"The Line took me 'away' in one page-turning gulp. Hall's writing is seamless, smooth, and compelling..." Review by Mary Pearson

What book was she reading and where can I get a copy of it?? At the very least tell me which single page took her away because for most of the book I was still waiting for some sort of action to arise out of the multitude of pages that consisted of nothing but info dumps poorly masked as history lessons for the main character. And finally when the action really did get under way (around page 180 of 220) and I totally got into the plot THE BOOK ENDED. (Yes, all publishers seem to want series or at least trilogies so they can milk them for every penny they are worth but at least make the books full length and not just 220 pages with no ending whatsoever.) Seriously the cliffhanger totally pissed me off, and it wasn't even about the main character but a secondary character that I cared for much more than Rachel. Just when I was interested it was over.

The writing is seamless? Smooth? Compelling?

REALLY?

More like choppy. Juvenile. Boring.

You have a main character so sheltered she barely speaks to more than 3 people for the majority of her life. Her mother whose past makes her wanted by the government but instead of teaching her child to fit in, not makes waves, etc teaches her all about the corruptness and injustices. Does she want Rachel to get arrested???

You get a plot that while not original is different since it applies to a country modeled after the US - making a nation whose foundation is based on individual freedoms into a martial law type government after near world destruction from world wide wars. But instead of taking this idea of a future dystopia and making it succeed like [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267255754s/2767052.jpg|2792775] you get a a book full of potential that fails to deliver.

Also, I needed a freaking map to explain the geography to me! The US was the only country name that was familiar (except I didn't realize for most of the book that whenever they said the U.S. they weren't referring to the United Stated but the Unified States!) Furthermore, the Line consisted of coastline, forest, and seemed like every terrain in the US, so what part of the country was it actually surrounding?? The called the area outside of the Line 'Away' (and was supposedly affected by weapons of mass destruction) yet all the foreign countries were outside the Line yet weren't affected like 'Away' was. So were they really far away from 'Away'? Do you see how confusing this is?! I feel like I am playing Who's on First with a book!!

Who knows maybe I went into this book with the wrong mindset, or expecting to much, or....I don't know. I really thought I would love it but that just didn't happen. I have to read the second book in the series though (since it will actually be like the end of the first book) because I really want to know what happens. So annoying. The plot didn't grab my interest till the end but now I am hooked. (Yeah, yeah, you win Mr. Publisher man - but I still won't buy it! Yay for libraries!)

Basically this book had so much potential that I want to rate it higher based on that alone. The plot ended with so many posibilities, but because of the lack of characterization and setting detail (oh and lets not forget the agonizing info dumps) I just couldn't give it 3 stars.

My review in one word: Disappointment.