Book Review: The Predicteds by Christine Seifert

Genre: Young Adult (Science Fiction/Dystopian)

The Predicteds are teenagers who are tested and "predicted" to exhibit delinquent behavior and commit future crimes using a system called PROFILE. When a shooter enters Quiet High, the students and their parents insist that the results of PROFILE are posted as public knowledge. Daphne is the new girl and is immediately attracted to Jesse, who is hiding something from her. After a girl is found beaten within an inch of her life, the Predicteds become second class citizens and everyone starts pointing fingers.

The Predicteds grabbed me early on with the action surrounding the shooter only to start losing my attention towards the middle, but it reeled me back in again towards the end again. It was a roller coaster of reading. Fear and ignorance takes over, and the people of the book are quick to judge everyone else based on a number. Daphne wasn't a strong female character. It bothered me that she immediately started hanging out with the most annoyingly superficial group of people in her new school. She seemed too smart to fall in with a crowd like that. Also, you expect her friends to learn some great lesson in the end, and become better people for having overcome the events, but no. They are just as annoyingly superficial in the end as they are in the beginning. Jesse was the mysterious love interest. I wondered why Daphne stayed hung up on him through his many ventures off to rescue a damsel in distress without him ever explaining the nature of his relationship to this other girl until the end. In Daphne's defense, she was also a damsel in distress, so I can see how this would endear him to her from the start. With the prejudices and segregation, there are many similarities to our own histories. Although in the real world I would expect at least some opposition rather than blind acceptance from all the people involved. The Predicteds is a story that is frighteningly possible in today's world.

To learn more about Christine Steifert and her books, visit her Website. 

You can also see this review on Examiner.


This book was provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley for review. The opinions are my own.

 

Teaser Tuesdays: The Predicteds by Christine Seifert

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share  doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from The Predicteds by Christine Seifert:

Sirens are blaring outside. How long have they been there? How long has this been going on? Seconds? Hours? Days? I can't remember anymore.

"Come out of there," the shooter yells, angry now, "or I'll start shooting out here! Your choice: you or them. Feel like a hero today?"

Do you have a blog? Post a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in the comments. No blog? Post a Teaser in the comments anyway!