Book Review
Title: The Loop by Ben Oliver (The Loop Book 1)
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dark
Rating: 5 Stars
I have read both The Loop and The Block before but since The Arc came out recently I am rereading the first two books to read the conclusion. We are following Luka Kane who has just turned 16 and he celebrates inside a state of the at prison known as the Loop, which is run by the AI, Happy. The Loop keeps the prisoners in almost completely isolated apart from one hour a day where they can talk over the walls. All the prisoners have been sentenced to death and the only way to prevent the execution is by taking Delays. Delays are medical trials and experiments that the prisoners take part in to pay back their execution date. One thing to note is the society is split between Alta, genetically modified cyborgs and Regulars, non-altered humans and there are Naturals too, these are Regulars that are more beautifully that others but not as much as an Alt. Luka used to have a friend in the loop, Maddox but he went for a Delay and never returned which is pretty common, however, there is some good about Luka’s prison life. The warden, When seems to care about them smuggling them in non-technological items like books and using Happy’s update time to let them or of their cells to interact and it’s here we get to meet some of the other prisoners.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we follow Luka’s routine which is the same day in and day out until suddenly it isn’t. It starts with the arrival of a new inmate, Kina who takes Malakai’s cell next to Luka’s. He sympathises with her since he knows how scary coming to the Loop is and tries his best to make her feel welcome which she appreciates. However, shortly after her arrival the neat routine of the loop begins to collapse with the nightly rain being late and then not arriving at all, Galen Rye’s address not being aired for several days and talk of a war outside. Wren is useful here since she mentions receiving an email which wasn’t meant for her which mentions some disturbing things and she is now under 24 hour watch because of it but she still manages to get the information to Luka. Then comes the mass Delay where people are sorted into two groups, A and B. Luka, Kina and most of the others are sorted into group B which is going for the Delay two days after group A. When group A returns everyone is worried and Luka learns from Wren that some didn’t return at all and the others have slowly been going mad and killing themselves in disturbing ways. She eventually gets him a note telling him that he has to get out of the Delay not matter the cost because she doesn’t want him to go through that but with the Delay upon them he isn’t sure what to do.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, things really start picking up as Wren warns Luka about the Delay and tells him to take any opportunity he can to escape. Luka is smart enough not to panic and try to escape straight away and ends up being presented with the perfect opportunity and he follows through. In the facility he briefly impersonates a guard but it’s quickly caught but he knows they won’t kill him because he is of some value to them and we don’t know why yet but we are going to find out soon. He is forcibly taken for the Delay even after opting for deletion because they need him for something and Luka thinks this is the end because of what happened to group A. After being returned to the Loop Luka falls asleep only to awake with the power to the prison and most of the city out. Wren comes to let them out and presents them with freedom but something happens to her and she changes killing two people she saw as friends before turning on Luka. He tries to reason with her but she’s completely mindless even after losing her arm but Luka can’t give up on her yet and gets her aid although he does disarm the boundary to the prison as well. Now the question remains about what is going on outside, is it a mistake or has a way broken out and what was done to them in the facility and what does the mentions of batteries and the ARC mean?
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Luka is shocked awake by Wren waking him explaining that something is going outside that means all the power has gone out in the city and she believes it is the war that has been rumoured. Luka immediately notices something is wrong with Wren but can’t put his finger on what it is and he seems to be more focused on the fact she is releasing people from their cells. However, Wren changes here and begins killing people as they begin diving for cover, Luka tries to talk some sense into Wren when she targets him but this only results in his heart trigger being activated and Wren’s arm being cut off. Luka manages to find a first aid kit and stops to blood flow from her arm but he knows without professional help she is going to die. He released Kina from her cell giving her the trigger from his implant before springing himself from the prison to get help. Luka didn’t count on being attacked by rats in the tunnel though and after a brief fight he finds himself in the outside world for the first time in years and knows immediately that Wren was right and a war has begun. In the outside world, Luka realises that everything has gone to hell with a lot of people ending up like Wren as crazy, psycho killers and he retreats back to the Loop when he realises he can use the drone poison to slow Wren’s heart rate down until he can get proper help. Once there he gets help from Woods to get the poison before freeing his other friends from their cells and explaining the situation. They are all for leaving but Kina won’t allow it freeing a boy named Blue from his cell making the others realise that a lot of the inmates here are kids and they decide to set them free before leaving but Luka is a little worried about Tyco Roth since he wants to kill Luka and might just do it.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the group primarily consists of Luka, Kina, Pod, Igby, Akimi, Pander and Malakai with some others that have decided to stick with them after being freed from their cells. However, the operation isn’t as simple as it seems since many just leave regardless of the danger and some come from a rival gang to Pander’s and they recognise her tattoos deciding the kill her but they do escape. Tyco Roth is also released and wants to kill Luka and it takes some effort from the whole group to trap him back into a cell. Very few people seemed to have survived the cull on the prison and they are preparing to make their escape but Luka can’t leave Tyco there to die. He tries to convince the older boy he didn’t kill his brother but he won’t listen to reason, it is Malakai who gets Tyco to agree to a 24 hour head start and then he can kill Luka later if he isn’t already dead or mad by then and he surprisingly agrees leaving them to their business. Pod and Igby have been working on getting the doors to the yards open so they can escape without having to use the tunnel like Luka did but things start going wrong when Mable is killed leaving Blue distraught and Akimi breaks her ankle climbing the walls which isn’t good considering the situation in the world right now. Once they are free of the walls though everyone sems to breath a little easier which is when Blue turns on Luka blaming him for the death of Mable since she didn’t know they were planning to escape using the walls rather than the tunnel leading to her horrific deaths via the rats. I have to say for a young adult novel Oliver doesn’t shy away from death and all the horrific details that come with it without being overly explicit.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Tyco takes advantage of the situation to try and kill Luka but Luka finally gets to explain what went on the night Tyco’s brother was killed. Luka explains that his brother was selling a drug called Ebb and they wanted his money to save their mother and Luka’s sister, Molly ended up pushing him off the roof although there was more too this than Luka said and he took the blame for the murder in order to protect her. Tyco seems to be back off here but this isn’t my first reading and I know he hasn’t really let go of the anger yet but when they encounter a massive hoard of Smilers they are now running for their lives. They end up splitting up with Malakai and Kina heading in one direction and Luka and Tyco heading in another until they eventually arrive at Tyco’s home. After Luka took a dunk in the river to escape the Smilers he is fighting off hypothermia and Tyco ends up saving him only to confess he still wants to kill Luka slapping an Ebb patch on him before Luka is completely taken by the drug. He does end up waking up to learn that two women, former Ebb addicts, saved him from Tyco and that the boy is seemingly dead now. Luka is grateful for what the women have done for him but he needs to find the others and his family before time runs out for them all which might be pretty soon considering the way things have been going.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Luka does end up finding his family although not in the state he imagined he would and ends up being found by soldiers but his friends arrive just in time to get them out of there. Here, Galen Rye makes an address telling them to turn themselves in or Wren will be killed which confirms Luka’s theory that there is a cure for the Smilers. They end up hijacking a tank and hiding themselves inside before making their last stand where Blue is killed despite their healing abilities just before the rebels arrive. When Luka wakes up he is in the block and Happy is searching his memories for the others who Luka refuses to give up. Although after being psychologically tortured for nearly a month it looks like he has given in and this is where the novel ends. This is my second reading of the Loop and I still adored the characters and world building but I have to say the best thing about this novel is how consistent the pacing is. I have come to realise since I started reviewing books that pacing is often something overlooked when reviewing and it can make or break the reading experience. The pace in The Loop starts strong and remains strong right up to the final page and it makes the book way more enjoyable and completely bingeable as both times I have read it, I have flown through it in a single sitting.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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