The Line by Teri Hall

The Line by Teri Hall
"An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?"- summary from Amazon

It took me a little while to get into this book. The beginning, with the world building, was a bit too infodump-y for me and I started to get bored. But the book did eventually pick up and it got more suspenseful, and I loved when a new secret was revealed.

Rachel is a wonderful character that is strong, but has doubts and reservations about what she's doing, and the character is written really well. When the ending comes, she knows what she has to do and realizes what it will entail. She's led a sheltered life and is now having to branch out on her own. It's a great scene at the end as she has to shed her kid self who's codependent toward her mother and step into her adult life and into the unknown.

So despite the shaky start, this is a really good novel that brings up a lot of issues, which dystopian novels tend to do, of the way our world could be going. And despite the female protagonist, I do still think guys would enjoy this book. I'm excited for the sequel which will be out next year.