Book #Review: Captives – A Must-Read

Captives (Book One of the Safe Lands series) by Jill Williamson

‘Captives’ is the first book of The Safe Lands series. The tale opens with a Prologue, where one is given a glimpse of the “Safe Lands”. I felt like I was looking through a character’s eyes—which, I must say, is a good thing for a reader to experience—as the character moved from one place to another, and I was given a good idea of the surroundings.

The story revolves around the Elias tribe, the Safe Lands and the people governing that place. It is about family, home, loyalty, ambition and what one has believed to be right—subtly urging you, in the end, to look at your own life in a different way.

One of the things that kept me reading this book was its well-formed and believable characters. Hour after hour, I found myself guessing each character’s fate. I perused each page until I realized that it has kept me up for more hours than what I initially expected.

I also love the book’s emotional appeal. At certain scenes in the book, I’d feel a strong pull of emotion tugging at my heartstrings and stretching it to unbelievable distances. I find myself sharing the burdens of the story characters in the tale as if they opened up their hearts and willingly whispered their secrets to me.

The only thing that I didn’t like was its string of conversations from some leaders at the beginning that didn’t show a reader much of what was happening. Thankfully, that was cut short by one of the characters, and I could see and feel the story again.

As a whole, it was a thrilling ride that I want to experience again in the next book of the series.

‘Captives’ is a compelling read that will leave you wanting for more. I highly recommend this to YA readers.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze which is now BookLook Bloggers and I have written my honest opinion about it.