Review: Obernewtyn

Obernewtyn
The Obernewtyn Chronicles, Book 1

Author: Isobelle Carmody
Pages: 245
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
In a world struggling back from the brink of apocalypse, life is harsh. And for Elspeth Gordie, it is also dangerous. That's because Elspeth has a secret: she is a Misfit, born with mysterious mental abilities that she must keep hidden under threat of death. And her worries only multiply when she is exiled to the mountain compound known as Obernewtyn, where—for all her talents—Elspeth may finally and truly be out of her depth. Then she learns she’s not the only one concealing secrets at Obernewtyn.

First Sentence: "In the days following the holocaust, which came to be known as the Great White, there was death and madness."

Review:

First published in 1987, Obernewtyn really just reads like a book from that era. I don't really know how to explain that, except that I've read dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction from then and from now, and it very much reads like the former. Partly, this stems from the formatting, broken into a number of short books, because in the 80s and 90s publishers did not have the same faith in teenage attention spans that they do now.

Pulled in by the pretty cover with the intense looking girl, pretty mountains and a cat, I had no conception of what I was getting myself into. Apparently, as the infodumping all over the beginning of the novel told me, humanity made machines that destroyed the world, irradiating and polluting it. Many people died immediately, but some hardy farmers survived. These farmers established a new order, one opposed to technology and worshipful of Lud (their God). They also dictated a policy to kill any seditious people and those affected by radiation, Misfits.

Oddly, though, they don't kill ALL of the misfits. Some are kept alive as workers or sent to the mysterious estate of Obernewtyn, much feared, because, like with a roach motel, those who go there check in but don't check out. Elspeth, the heroine, has, of course, psychic powers, able to speak with animals in her mind and sometimes having prophetic dreams. She, as expected, gets discovered, though for the more minor misfit tendency of the dreams, and shipped off to Obernwtyn.

There, mysterious happenings are afoot. People disappear. There's a creepy doctor running tests. A weird machine that attempts to take over Elspeth's mind. The people running Obernewtyn appear to be evil. On the other hand, for once in her life, Elspeth has real friends who know her for who and what she is and accept her. She has more freedom than ever before, but her life is in great danger.

Obernewtyn failed to really shine, though the story does exhibit promise. For one thing, you never really learn anything about the characters particularly. While I liked Elspeth, Matthew and Dameon well enough, all I really know is that they're nice people with powers. The world building, too, is half-hearted. I enjoyed the idea of this book, but never got sucked into Carmody's world.

Personally, I would label the book more post-apocalyptic than dystopian, though many people on Goodreads would disagree with me. There are elements of both, however. On the plus side, there's no romance in here, so I suspect there will be eventually. For now, it's a nice respite from the modern, romance-focused dystopian and post-apocalyptic tales.

Despite how slow much of the book was for me, I am curious enough to keep going with this series, because, at the very least, the books are short. I suspect these might be more enjoyable for middle grade readers.

Rating: 3/5