Short Story Review - Tortured by Caragh O'Brien (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Size: 239 KB
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Release Date: December 6, 2011
ASIN: B00633W62I
Stand Alone or Series: Part of the Birthmarked series
Source: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

This free short story for Kindle is a "bridge" story between Birthmarked and Prized. It basically tells about how Leon escaped into the Wastelands.

It is free and well written so those are the positive points. It is very, very short though. I think it took me 10 minutes to read. The second half of the download is a preview of Prized (which I have already read and enjoyed).

I also thought this didn't add much to the series overall. It basically tells us that Leon was tortured and then, with the help of his mother, escaped into the Wastelands. It doesn't cover any of Leon's journey through the Wastelands or talk about how he survived his journey to Sylum. We don't even get to hear much of Leon's thoughts, so it doesn't really fill out or give additional insight to him as a character.

Overall it is an okay read if you are a huge fan of this series. It is well written and it is free. I didn't feel that it added much to the series overall or to our understanding of Leon. I guess read it if you really are dying to read more about these characters and have already read Prized and Birthmarked. Otherwise if you have a lot of other great stuff to read I would skip it.