Holy hell! I am still reeling. What an ending! This book held me captive. Trust No One. My heart is beating so fast. I want to read more. The truly scary thing about this book? I could see reality in the whole scenario. Wow. Just wow. ( )

House of Stairs meets Maze Runners. Boy arrives at boarding school, only to discover it's not a real school, and escape is impossible. ( )

Well, this book had me on the edge of my seat. Loved all the twists and turns, but now I'm just confused....I'm okay with a cliffhanger but this feels more like an unfinished story. Curious to see what other readers thought.

Regardless, I'm interested enough to read book #2. ( )

Variant is the first of a two-book series about an orphan named Benson Fisher who applied to the private boarding school, Maxwell Academy, in order to escape the foster system where he had lived in 33 foster homes since he was five years old. Soon after entering school, however, Benson finds that Maxwell Academy is more like a prison. In most cases, students would love a boarding school where there are no teachers or adults. Instead, the students have formed gangs or "societies." that hold the contracts for all of the jobs that needed to be done to keep the school functioning. Students who earn detention never come back to school and other punishments include food being withheld and beatings by one of the gangs. Benson decides he will escape, but finds it more difficult than he expects. The students don't know who to trust which makes Benson's attempts at escape that much more difficult. This is a very interesting story with lots of twists and turns. I can't wait to read the second book Feedback. ( )

teen fiction. Took a while to get going, but was sufficiently exciting as soon as the paintball started. ( )