The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson
This book has made me realize that high school probably was one of the most dangerous places on earth. Looking back on my own high school experience I never perceived it, at the time, as being dangerous. Sure there were these ‘anomaly’ events, but it did not seem to touch me, or those around me. But at the same time there were some close scrapes. The Most Dangerous Place on Earth follows the journeys of a handful of students from around eighth grade until their senior year observing how they have changed and survived. They all undergo different challenges and experience danger in different ways.
Nothing he has ever done or said to you, none of that happiness, was as true as this is (71)
While I liked the premise, the book was a little lackluster for me in a few ways. Number one, the characters. I could not relate to any of them. Maybe this is by definition of my age now, but even trying to remember how I felt in high school, it was so hard for me to emotionally connect with them. Or it could be the fact that they lived in a life of affluence and money I could never dream of. The only character who came close was actually a teacher’s perspective and only because she loved books. Number two, the ending. I felt like the whole book I was waiting for something to happen, a larger overarching message. There were little hiccups and bumps of events that brought it all up to a climax that was never reached.
She loved that this human machine could be opened, examined. Could be held in the palm of a hand. Revealed, repaired, even replaced, encased in its jewel box of bone and sewn closed, and the person’s whole life would be different. All her old problems would cease to exist (154)
To conclude,
The novel was interesting in that it showed me a section of culture I never would have known. Additionally, the writing has a simplistic elegance that sometimes shocked me. There would be moments where a line or sentences was truly beautiful. However, in the end, it left me feeling a little disappointed and unable to really emotionally connect with the characters. I always encourage you to try it and check it out for yourself though! If you enjoy YA fiction, or the lives of the spoiled elite, then try reading this book, which you can order here and check our her website to find out more about her. You may end up really liking it!
As food for thought,
I feel like teenagers are really mean, before when we did not have social media, you could not really be cyber bullied. Do you feel that bullying is enhanced now with social media? Comment below you opinion!
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from First to Read.
Book cover image from here.
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It’s too bad that this one didn’t work out for you. It’s always hard to enjoy a book where you feel no connection to the characters. I really feel like bullying has evolved thanks to social media. I can’t imagine how hard it is for kids to grow up now with twitter and facebook and can only imagine how hard it is (and how easy it is for bullies) when you’re the target on these platforms. It doesn’t help that twitter has a bad reputation for not really doing anything when their platform is used for abuse. The things I’ve seen.
Yeah. I wanted to. And the social media aspect is really current. I totally understand how it’s become a way to bully and also be anonymous. I can’t even imagine the pressures. So I definitely saw that aspect as being very good! Have you read it!
As a former teacher, and current school librarian, I definitely agree that bullying happens more with social media. It is really sad. While I remember being bullied by a few people in high school, like you, I don’t remember it as being dangerous like it seems to be more today. Your review makes me interested in at least checking this book out. Great review!
Yeah it definitely talks about bullying in a way I never even thought about. My high school seems so tame compared to theirs, so maybe that was one of the reasons I couldn’t really relate to them.
It’s so cool you are a librarian!