Incarceron

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside—she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don’t realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye, and escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know. Because Incarceron is alive.
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Beth says 5 Stars...

Wow. I must say that this book rocked my socks off. First of all, the concept is so incredibly fascinating. You have the self contained living prison that is Incarceron, which is mind blowing in and of itself. However, the depths of the prison have yet to be explored and I can't wait to see where they lead. Fisher didn't just stop with one amazingly crafted world, though. She just had to be an overachiever and fashion another completely separate kingdom for a world within a world. You'll have to read it to find out which is which, though. Another delightful thing is the ambiguity in the time sequence. I was never entirely sure of when the book was taking place, if it was the future, the past, or something entirely separate and loved every minute of it. The book not only kept me guessing with the story, but it made me think. It assumed that its readers were intelligent and could be taken on a wild ride without condescension. The plot moves along at a delightful pace, and manages to keep it up despite constantly switching perspectives from Finn to Claudia.

The characters were fantastic as well. They weren't the best ever, but they fit into the flow of the book perfectly. The chemistry between Finn and Claudia was perhaps not as amazing as it could have been, but it wasn't the most important part of the story. They were much more interesting as individuals in their separate worlds. They handled situations completely differently which further emphasized how for removed they were from one another.

I honestly can't wait to see where this series goes. I have no idea what can be done for the second novel and can't wait to find out. This is a refreshing fantasy that assumes intelligence on the part of the reader and most definitely does not fall into the paranormal romance genre.