Review: Above by Leah Bobet

Above by Leah Bobet
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Format: ARC
Pages: 368
*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Matthew has always lived in Safe, a community hidden far beneath the pipes and tunnels of the city Above. The residents fled to Safe years before to escape the Whitecoats and their cruel experiments, and now Matthew is responsible for both the keeping of Safe’s stories and for Ariel—a golden-haired shapeshifter, and the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. 
But one horrifying night, an old enemy murders Safe’s founder, Atticus, and the community is taken over by an army of shadows. Only Matthew, Ariel, and a handful of friends escape Above. Now they not only have to survive in a sunlit world they barely know, but they must unravel the mystery of the shadows’ fury and Atticus’s death. It’s up to Matthew to find a way to remake Safe—not just for himself and his family, but for Ariel, who’s again faced with the life she fled, and who needs him more than ever before.

My Review: This is very different than what I originally expected it to be like. There was one downfall but we can talk about that a little bit later.
       First, the characters. Matthew is our main protagonist. He lived in the city of ''Safe''. Safe is an underground place where I guess you could call them creatures?... live at. One day, the shadows come down into Safe and the place goes into complete and utter chaos for everyone who lives there. Matthew and   girl, Ariel, get out of there quick enough to go to ''Above''. Above is a place where average people like us live. Matthew is terrified of this but quickly changes his thoughts to other problems than worrying about the others he left down in Safe.
       Next, the writing style and plot. The writing style was very very different and something new. Bobet talks just a tad like someone from the South in this novel by saying '' 'bout'' instead if ''about''. It was really strange and hard to get into until maybe about one hundred pages in? I was finding myself going back and rereading what I had just read sometimes just so I could understand it. Random words are also capitalized in this novel so I didn't know if that was a place or person or what. The plot sounded alot different in the synopsis than what it actually turned out to be. If I tell you like more than three details about the plot, the whole novel would be given away.
      My overview of this book would definitely be that it would be something very,very,very, very different than anything I have EVER read before. This was an okay debut novel and I'm grateful that I got to read it but I don't know if I would read it over and over again. Definitely give it a shot though and tell me what you think.
                                                                        3/5