Brendan Ritchie

Nox is an arts graduate wondering what to do with his life. Taylor and Lizzy are famous indie musicians, and Rocky works the checkouts at Target. When they find themselves trapped in a giant mall, they eat fast food, watch bad TV and wait for the mess to be sorted. But when days turn to weeks, a sense of menace grows.

Carousel

Jamieson

She knew it was a small space, and that me and my secrets were in there somewhere


Carousel was a very unique book to me personally - because it's set in Perth (where I live!) specifically in the Carousel shopping centre, one I've been to many a time. 

So all the descriptions of whats where, and what it looks like and what they're eating or doing seemed really familiar. And since there isn't many books coming out of Perth, about Perth, that was really fun and exciting for me to read.

Inspired by John Marsden's Tomorrow, When The War Began Carousel follows four characters who become trapped inside of a shopping mall, with no access to the outside world, in what they assume is an apocalyptic event. Unable to escape the mall, they battle between wanting to stay inside - where their is abundant resources, or venture into the outside world, where the situation is unknown. Although it's pitched as young adult, only one character is under 18 (Rocky, 16) The others - Nox, Lizzy and Taylor - are all in their mid twenties. 


  POSITIVES


 • The descriptions of the mall, and how they are using the resources inside to survive were really fun and interesting. If you like the planning aspects around Apocalypse events like me, as in "what would I do in this situation", this book has lots of details on that aspect. The characters use the food, clothes and items throughout the store to create their own home, and develop their own rules and rituals that keep them carrying on. 

 • Representation. The two girls in the group (who are twins) are both lesbians and that is talked about right at the start. I was worried this book might descend into that awful "you're gay but it's the apocalypse so lets hook up" cliche which, is awful, but it didn't. So yay!

 • No romance. There is no romance and I liked that, because I just feel like in the apocalypse you should worry about if you're gonna die before anything else.

 • Setting. Like I've said the Perth setting was really, really fun for me and I so loved the descriptions of everything and how familiar it was. At one point they ..... start talking about the place where I work it was such a trip. Anyway that was a first so it was pretty exciting. 

 • I did like the characters and their arcs overall. Rocky was my favourite character but I liked them all really. The book focusses on how isolation is effecting each character personally, and their way of dealing with it mentally and I thought that aspect was well done. 



  DIDN'T LIKE AS MUCH


 • UNCLEAR AND VAGUE AS TO WHY THEY IN A SHOPPING CENTRE. The book starts with Nox, the main character, meeting Taylor and Lizzy in an abandoned shopping centre. It's unclear why they're there, where everyone else is, and whats going on. You just have to assume it's the apocalypse but it's unclear. Although this aspect is given more clarity toward the end of the novel, it is still confusing, and some of the circumstances surrounding the event seem ..... a bit of a Stretch. HOWEVER, there is a sequel which I hope will clear things up

 • Pacing could be a bit off. The book was really drawn out, and while the suspense and mystery was there enough to keep me turning pages, it also wasn't nail-biting and I often caught myself skimming. Exciting plot points were dropped awkwardly when they could have been exciting. For example, at one stage the characters realise someone else is in the mall with them, and they are not sure who. This was tense and exciting, and then it was a letdown. 

 • There were some moments or character thoughts I just found kind of cringeworthy, though I'm pretty sure it's just because I sometimes struggle with male narrators. 


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  Overall
 Carousel was a fun read, and I enjoyed the setting and concept a lot. The execution was not perfect, in my opinion, but it was definitely fun and kept me turning pages. I finished this nearly 400 page book in one day so thats a pretty good effort to keep me occupied. It definitely has an addictive quality that keeps you hooked and wanting to know what happens - its just that the revelations and happenings kind of underwhelmed me when they DID happen. 

Happy days though! I finished book 1 for #TheReadingQuest

Carousel

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