Solitary

The story picks up immediately where the first book, LOCKDOWN, left off, and the suspense and action doesn’t stop. The imagery and feeling present is still so gritty, dark and hopeless. Alex is still just as determined to escape Furnace as ever, and he latches on to any hope he can get. Alex doesn’t just sit and except his fate, or let it break him (though he’s definitely damaged. He wouldn’t be human if he wasn’t effected by the horrors of his prison). I missed seeing the day to day interactions of Alex and the other inmates of Furnace, but SOLITARY gives a deeper look into the Warden, Wheezers and the men in black suits that run Furnace, and terrify the prisoners. There are some other…monsters, I suppose, introduced and show more the Rats are truly horrific.

SOLITARY brings us so much closer to understanding how the Warden can get away with how he runs Furance, and I just want to scream at anyone above ground. How can they not realize what is going on in this prison for teenagers? Obviously there is a massive conspiracy, and I so want Alex to be the one to bring it all crashing down. But he’s a criminal…a teenage criminal (for murder, no less), and even though he was framed, who will believe him over the Warden, and the mysterious person who is really in charge? I’m so anxious to see where everything ends up, and how Alex is going to escape being changed into something not-human.

SOLITARY is definitely a solid second-story, and will chill readers with it’s dark descriptions of Furnace, a place that would rival Hell. This book holds it’s own, and though it sets up things nicely for book three, it in no way feels like filler material. Readers will hope for Alex to succeed in escaping and bringing down Furnace…but Smith takes advantage of the cliffhanger and leaves you breathless and wanting more. Right now. show less

I have to be honest, I've been on a bit of a binge. I inhaled “Lockdown” and “Solitary” in one day.

It has left me on a downer, though. Smith writes such brilliantly gritty stuff, that I know that the chances of seeing Furnace in any other format except written are slim to none at best. I mean there is so much high quality entertainment in books that slowly trough past few years TV kind of lost it's meaning. Truth be told, it never offered much anyway, but I lost the taste for the watered down Hollywood/Disney version of puppetry they throw at us.

Every single book, every single novel I liked that Hollywood got it's greasy mitts on they've ruined. Why? Because suits that run diagnostics that include moral code, target viewers and show more god knows whatnot. Tits, ass, heroes and villains that are really good guys deep down are the only things that sell.

Yeah well, Smith writes about things that go bump in the night. He writes about kids doing crimes, parents that turned their backs on them. No absolution from sin, just a new day ahead. Truth be told, authors like this bring more to entertainment than thousands of reality shows and HEA's out there. Because life isn't about do-overs, people aren't good or evil, they are both all the time; the only difference is witch button you push, and are you at the right place at the wrong time. The first few chapters of “Lockdown” say it all. How easy a few wrong choices can impact a person's life, how quickly are we to simply judge. Do something evil, and automatically all your life is evil, everything you ever did was wrong, and your future holds nothing but wrongness ahead.

Ah, the super-inflated human morality and the rancid stench that it spreads over the society gets me every time. Although Alex made some crappy choices, he is not a bad guy. He was a kid, he was stupid and he paid his dues. Even with the monstrosities running around, even with such imaginable cruelty and child abuse depicted in his stories,Smith manages to create a better morally charged story than most of the series shown on TV. Go figure that.

It has acceptance of self, rather than seeking approval of self in the eyes of others. It has a focus on true bonds of friendship, not just fair-weather smiles and popularity. It focuses on rebuilding of broken things rather than simply finding a replacement. It has human contact in all it's imperfect glory, where people are people who make mistakes and grow; they are not just facades on imaginary platforms that cater to hordes of imaginary pilgrims.

At the very first glance, you would think that stuff like this isn't really what people expect to find in a dystopian horror story, but think about it – life sets us up in prisons of our own making, provides our own unique hells to test us and see could we overcome it, escape, survive. In the darkest hour you really know what you're made of, and who your true friends are. No matter where you live, if you are rich or poor, color of your skin, none of it matters. It's something that is universally true and everyone can relate to.

That's why, honestly, I am disappointed when I realize that books like this have a hard time landing an audience, even harder getting a fully supported platform.

Not all of my feelings are lovey dovey about this novel, either. It was action packed from beginning to the end, a style that Smith seems to have and I adore. I hate it when you pick up a book and find about a hundred pages of nothing before some real action starts. It's like watching a soap opera – a character sets the kettle to boil – a month later you have a cup of coffee. The world building offers more clues about Furnace, but you still don't know it all. Kids live, kids die, kids disappear...some of them even come back. show less

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Lockdown, so I'm not sure why I waited so long to read book 2. This book did not suffer from the sequel slump for me. I was immediately pulled back into Alex's plight and could not wait to see what awaited them underneath the Furnace. Alex opens up this story by telling how horrible of a person he really is and why he feels he deserves to be in the Furnace and not be pitied. However, as you follow his attempt to escape and also rescue his friends you cannot help but feel sorry for him. Despite doing some pretty terrible things he does not deserve this horrible fate.

Donovan was a favorite character of mine in book 1 so I was a little worried we wouldn't see him in this one since he was show more taken away in book 1. So I was surprised at how deftly the author brought him back as a subconscious figure that keeps Alex company when he is alone and despairing. It comes off almost as if Donovan was still there without seeming cheesy. We also see the introduction of a few new characters that provide a new level of intrigue to the story line. There is also the revelation that the head bad guy isn't all that first thought. There are a few surprises that are going to leave you eagerly waiting to get your hands on book 3. The whole story was an exhilarating roller coaster ride that had me immediately wanting to dive into the next book.

I won't say this is a "guy" book per say because obviously I really enjoyed it but if you have a teenage, male, reluctant reader this might be a great series to start them out on. show less

This book is complete popcorn. I am apparently in the mood for popcorn. It doesn't add much in the way of story from the first book (except Simon) but I still tore through it. The waiting can be a little over the top sometimes. I didn't really care. I felt like I was reading an old movie serial, only it's a horror story. Fast, moody, and full of nasty. I look forward to the next book.

This book rocked!!! I thought that maybe because it's a sequel, it wouldn't quite live up to the first book, Lockdown, but it definitely did and then some. Solitary has everything a reader may look for in a good, action packed thriller. It's full of nasty characters you just love to hate and want annihilated almost as much as the good guys do, it's very fast paced, almost not allowing a reader to surface for even one intake of breath, and the protagonist, Alex Sawyer along with his friends (old and new), are such likable boys that you can't help but want them to succeed.

I have seen this series (Solitary is part two of the Escape from Furnace and there are apparently three more coming our way, yay!) being pitched as 'boy and reluctant show more reader' books and while it's certainly that, Solitary should be really read by all YA fans and even reader of adult thrillers. It asks important questions (How much authority is too much? How much punishment is too harsh?) and definitely makes a reader think. I like that there are some introspective passages in Solitary that were missing in Lockdown and that a little more is revealed about the Warden. It looks like the curtain of secrecy will be lifted every few inches with each book, until the grand finale. Besides the great, roller coaster fun, the secrets will make you want to come back for more. show less

Seriously terrible. The whole book takes place in a space the size of a coffin and when we do get to "escape," we end up floating through a space that hasn't even been described in detail. Seems the premise of the series is to spend a whole book in one room after another to avoid world-building and description. The author asks that we suspend any hope or expectation of belief with what I can describe as nothing less than lazy writing. And don't even get me started on the horrid, cliche metaphors and similies. Here's an example:

"Panting like an overweight dog, and sweating more than a sumo wrestler in a sauna, I pulled my aching fingers from the grille and collapsed."

Yeah. Skip it. I won't be continuing this series.

We follow the first book and see the aftermath of the explosion and the escape. But all does not end well and it's not all sunshine and burgers. Instead, our protagonists are thrown into Solitary. And who knows if escape is even possible. Ever.

I thought the first book was decent, and I had middling hopes for Solitary (yeah, I'm not that optimistic for sequels). But this book quickly made me regret that.

To be honest, the first book's greatest appeal was the exploration of the world, to see the horrors and strange creations that would appear next. With those mysteries mostly seen and solved, this book fell flat.

First of all, the plot was crap. I cannot beleive that Alex and Zee would be the first to go pull out their grill and bang it show more to stay sane. Or that a group of people would depend completely on Alex to get them out when he doesn't even have a freaking plan. Or that no one has thought of the incinerator as an escape. Or that they didn't get caught leaving Solitary. Too many unrealistic plot movements that made me roll my eyes. I can take some incredulity, but not for an entire book!

I think there was also some very thoughtless character development. That story about stealing his mother's locket for money and not feeling guilty? Obviously the purpose of that story is to show us that our protagonist is quite a bad kid. But when the rest of his first person thoughts and tone comes off across as very innocent (especially as he tries to save all his friends for the most part), it seems like he is bipolar or not true to his character.
Similarly, why is Donovan always portrayed as such a good guy?
There is also not enough character development for me to believe that Alex would choose friendship over self-survival. In this book and the first book. Where does this inherent stick-together and save-my-friends come from? It isn't natural for humans to think that, but he does.
Yeah, yeah. Sure someone could point out that he does make the decision to leave them behind once. But that was more like in the face of impossible odds, and even then he quickly retracted it. Like a fake dip into selfishness to pretend he's isn't a glowing protagonist.

The only scene I thought was worth reading was the very last scene with Donovan. That is it. The rest wasted my time.

One star. I didn't like it at all. The shine of this world has worn off and the characters and plot are not enough to make me stick around to see more. I'm going to drop the series.
Not recommended. show less