Published: 3 May 2023 (print)/2 May 2023 (audio) 
Publisher: Simon Schuster Australia/Simon and Schuster Australia Audio
Pages: 280/6 hrs and 18 mins
Narrator: Shabana Azeez
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars
What happens when a group of teenagers is stranded indefinitely in a shopping centre, alone? With all the stuff they could possibly want … and a baby? Is it paradise – or hell?
With no phones and no internet, Shannon and her fellow prisoners are completely disconnected from the outside world… and their online lives. It’s hard to say whether they’ll be driven to delinquency, or – even worse – forced to make friends irl. Will the limitless bubble tea, Maccas, high-end trainers and tech equipment be enough to keep the six teens safe and happy until they can find a way out, or is this all the start of something more sinister?
Acclaimed author Tegan Bennett Daylight’s first novel for young adults reconceives Lord of the Flies for Gen Z, and in a suspenseful, character-driven and enthralling story, reveals that surviving in isolation just might bring us closer together.
I do love books like this where something is happening and the regular world has shifted somehow. The teens trapped alone somewhere is not a new concept, but I absolutely adore the way Bennett Daylight has constructed this. The mystery of the outside, the mystery of what’s happening inside, it’s a fascinating premise and one that has been executed beautifully. Azeez does a wonderful job as narrator for the audiobook. Shannon’s voice comes to live and immerses you deep in the story from the beginning.
Being locked inside a shopping centre unsupervised is probably a lot of people’s dreams and while I think Bennett Daylight would have done a fantastic job with any variation, I love the creativity of this story. I don’t get where the Lord of the Flies reference from the blurb come from aside from kids being alone to fend for themselves. There are better comparisons inside the story itself where the characters discuss their situation and cycle through everything from The Breakfast Club to The Hunger Games to The Truman Show.
The length of time and the activities the group does is filtered through the whole story, and while there is obvious linear progression, there are also moments where time becomes an unknown entity. The way the characters work with and around the shops and the food court, the interactions between each character and the activities they do is engaging and interesting to read. I really loved the unexpected revelations and I loved the snippets of information mentioned early on that leaves the reader wondering while the story or character has moved on.
Information about Shannon is gradually revealed and it never felt forced or out of place. Bennett Daylight is great at using the environment and the events of the story to add information and does so for each character is clever ways. As a narrator Shannon is an engaging voice making this book an easy read. Bennett Daylight has done a brilliant job giving her a voice that feel young and inexperienced while also projecting the wisdom of youth, reminding the reader they aren’t as shallow and selfish many think them to be.
I genuinely loved these characters by the end. I loved their friendship, their lives, and their relationship. I loved the found family and the community they established. I don’t want a sequel because this book is perfect by itself, but I do want to know what happens next. I also now imagine it happening again. No spoilers (despite by absolute burning desire), but I do want to know if it’s happened before or if it will happen again.
This is a fun, easy read that does what it says on the tin; it navigates the experience of teenagers living in an all access, no worries shopping centre. Bennett Daylight beautifully covers some main problems that may arise, but at the same time she offers enough issues that the characters still have to have some responsibility.
As much as I am dying to discuss the ending, I shan’t. I will say however I was very impressed with Bennett Daylight’s approach. For all my theories through the story, the ones that changed and shifted with each new little bit of information, I really loved where it settled. It was a mixture of satisfaction as well as keeping some of the mystery.
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