Guest Review: Quarantine: The Loners

Reviewed by Tom P

Title: Quarantine: The Loners
Author: Lex Thomas

From Amazon.com, it was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

Quarantine was one of the best books I’ve ever read! It incorporates so many characteristics featured in a well-written novel.

Its suspense is constant throughout and gives just the exact amount of information away to make it entertaining. There were no “boring parts” of the book or sections where you just wanted to skip over completely. Something new is always unraveling from beginning to end and always surprises you. Quarantine is very hard to predict due to the broadness of the plot, but that’s what a real novel should look like. It’s never fun to read something where it’s obvious what’s going to happen next. Lex Thomas did a great job of pacing the story and speeding certain parts up to get to the action and more entertaining events that really defined the book.

The dialogue used in Quarantine was very realistic. Considering all of the characters are teenagers, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be swearing and inappropriate language. However, I like how it captures the situation in a real-world perspective with realistic reactions. I mean, if you were trapped in a school with violent gangs for three years and barely living, you wouldn’t exactly get your stress out by saying, “Gosh darn it!” Along with the captivating phrasing, I also enjoyed how Lex Thomas used description appropriately. Some books either go on and on with endless adjectives and phrases, or there are others that leave you saying, “So what is that?!” This book was definitely an epitome for the usage of description.

Quarantine’s plot is very unique and original. It’s fascinating the storylines people can come up with. This book reminded me of the Hunger Games at parts with it’s unfathomable situations and well-written sequences. I believe Lex Thomas really ended the book with well, incorporating both suspense and reassurance. If the sequel is half as good, I would look for it to still be great.