Branded

Branded by Abi Ketner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You'd better be good or rich in this world, or you're headed for big trouble.

This is the story of Lexie, unjustly accused and sentenced to life in prison. In this dystopian society, all the laws are based on the seven deadly sins. Offenders of these sins are branded with a tattoo around their necks and sent to a place called The Hole. The Hole is essentially a town that functions as a prison - everyone has a job and there are guards. But crime is rampant. Lexie is sent to The Hole for the sin of lust. There she meets a resentful guard who is highly annoyed that he has to keep her safe for 48 hours, basically suicide watch. He acquaints her with her new, dreary, hopeless life and things go from there.

Lexie was a character I liked for the most part. She's been controlled and abused for most of her life, so she doesn't put up much fuss when she's shipped off to The Hole. She does have a mind of her own and she takes some chances, but they aren't much. The real change comes when she starts deciding to do things for herself and stops letting the men in her life control her. It was a refreshing change to see a character who'd been so downtrodden, especially a young woman, start to stand up for herself.

My one problem with Lexie is that she was always nauseous. Every time she got nervous we heard about how she felt like throwing up. Really, Lexie? She was always either vomiting or feeling like she wanted to vomit. It seems like there should have been more ways for this girl to feel when she was scared or upset. However, points to the authors for making a comical note of this in the story - at one point during a conversation she is told "yeah, you do tend to throw up a lot." I thought it was just me, but no - even characters in the book noticed.

I liked the secondary characters, especially Zeus the big dog. The bad guys were really, really bad. Lexie went through some things and there were times when I kept waiting for the authors to get her out of a horrendous situation - and they didn't. They weren't afraid to take the risk to really go there when it came to violence and torture. It isn't overt, but it is realistic and even appropriate in context.

This was no case of instalove. The romantic interest didn't even like her at the outset. He was distant and even kind of a jerk, proclaiming all too often that he was risking his life for her every day. She didn't treat him well either - and yet the case was made for Lexie distancing herself for him in order to get free of everyone who tried to control her. I liked this guy a lot, but I felt myself saying "you go girl!" when she pulled away so he wouldn't be yet another guy in her life who controlled her in the name of protecting her.

That said, she did treat him rather badly. I guess when you act like a jerk you get treated like one. Fair is fair.

One other problem for me was the way Lexie's family was portrayed. I didn't like them at all, even though she admired them. Her activist father was killed for his efforts to change the system; while Lexie and her brother thought he was amazing, I found him to be a workaholic guy who neglected his family in order to serve the greater good. Lexie's mother was a terrible person with questionable motives. Her brother was a bully. These people in Lexie's life that she held so dearly really hurt her and kept hurting her. She forgave quickly and while that's a great thing to do, she ignored their history and the consequences of their actions. It was somewhat contradictory to her her character; for all her breaking free of those who controlled her, she let those closest to her hurt her.

Kate Rudd narrates and is dependable fabulous. She is able to really enhance a story and make it come alive. She made it a pleasure.

This is a good dystopian that leaves room for more action in the next book. It will be interesting to see how Lexie fares and if she can grow as an independent woman. She is certainly off to a good start.

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