It had been far too long since I'd read a Chuck Palahniuk novel and Shock Induction reminded me that I have been missing out on his unique and incisive writing style. 

Shock Induction explores a phenomenon where incredibly bright teens are committing suicide at an alarming rate, and we soon find out the culprit behind this is an organization called Greener Pastures, that auctions teens off to the highest bidder to become influential members of society at the highest levels. We follow Sam Deel and Garson Stavros down the rabbit hole as they are inducted into this world. Along the way, Palahniuk provides us excerpts from A Guide to Greener Pastures, full of stories of families and their efforts to get into the institution, and we read testimony about the ESE program, a project designed to get more teens literate by infusing books with different manners of substances so that you directly experience what happens in the book. These interludes are all in the name of Shock Induction. 

Despite the fact that I'm not entirely sure I understood the whole book, I was down for the ride. I found myself googling items from the book like "Jim Carrey syphilis" and "Self-Amputation of Penis and Tongue after use of Angel’s Trumpet" two things I was rather horrified to find were entirely true, but I should not have been surprised.  I was really invested in Sam's journey throughout the book and why she had been selected to go Greener Pastures. I also very much appreciated the broader critique of the commodification of every single thing and experience. 

Overall, I definitely recommend the book - if you've enjoyed Chuck Palahniuk's writing before, you'll feel right at home.