The Line, Teri Hall

Goodreads summary:

Rachel lives with her mother on The Property. The good thing about living there is that it's far from the city, where the oppressive government is most active. The bad thing, at least to most people, is that it's close to the Line - an uncrossable section of the National Border Defense System, an invisible barrier that encloses the entire country.
She can see the Line from the greenhouse windows, but she is forbidden to go near it. Across the Line is Away, and though Rachel has heard many whispers about the dangers there, she's never really believed the stories. Until the day she hears a recording that could only have come from across the Line.
It's a voice asking for help.
Who sent the message? What is her mother hiding? And to what lengths will Rachel go in order to do what she thinks is right?

My Review:

I'm sorry, but this is just not a good book. The writing is amateur, the pacing is horrible, the characterizations are tolerable, but not interesting enough to tempt me into caring about them.

The exception to the flat, uninteresting characters would be Ms. Moore. She was the only character who seemed to have a well-rounded personality, somewhat full back-story, moments of actual humor, and the power to make me empathize with her. I would love to read a book about her and the events that happened while she was growing up.

The best I can say about this book is that it had terrific potential: give the same characters, plot, premise, and world to a better writer, and you could have a damn good read.

I was VERY interested in the entire world behind The Line, especially the people and their one and only message to the government that ruined them. I wanted to know more about the collaborators: how they came to be, what exactly they did, what Daniel's life day-to-day was. I wanted to know what Indigo's mission was, and why it went wrong. I wanted to know more about Jonathon. I wanted to know more about Peter. I wanted to know more about everything, pretty much, except for what I got: Rachel's history lessons, Ms. Moore's orchids, and Vivian's fear.

*sigh* I need to just stop while I'm ahead.

Rating: 2/5 stars.

Recommended for: Not really anyone, but if you're a die-hard dystopian lover you might like it.

Notes: This was the fourth YA book I've read in a row where the MC's father was missing and/or dead. I'm just pointing this out.

Here's my sum-up post for the debut challenge, which I update periodically: 2010 Debut Authors Challenge

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa review coming soon.