Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith Series: Escape From Furnace #2
Published by Farrar Straus and Giroux (12.21.2010)
Genres: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
Source: I own it
My thoughts
There was only Furnace. It was our world, our grave, our hell.
I don’t know if it was a mood issue for me or what, but this book didn’t quite live up to the first one. For some reason it didn’t have the magic, it wasn’t as intense, and it wasn’t as scary. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a creepy setting with disturbing things happening, but it didn’t have me all:
like the first one did. And for some reason the pacing seemed super slow, despite the short length of the book. It took me a whole week to get through it! Not good at all.
Not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I think comparing it to the first book – which was cinematic, mind-blowing, and wildly, disturbingly engrossing – is what killed this one for me. It just didn’t fill the giant shoes that the first one left behind.
The setting is still super creepy, though! Furnace is such a horrible place, and Smith brought it to life. Furnace rivals hell and holds unspeakable horrors. I was pretty disturbed by some of the things in it – like slop (*cringes* how could I have forgotten?!), the room full of corpses, and the “rats.” Eeeeeek.
I still really want to continue to the third book, despite this one being kind of a letdown. Hopefully some of that gruesome magic will return!
Overall Assessment
Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 3.5/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Feels: 2/5
Cover: 2.5/5
Overall rating: 3.5/5
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