Review: Pale

Pale by Chris Wooding

Genre: YA

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Says: The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can't imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands...


I loved Pale! I loved the cover! Mostly I loved the message this short novella carried within its pages.

Pales are dead people who have been injected with the Lazarus Serum and brought back to life. They are different in appearance. One of the side effects of the serum is that they wake up totally devoid of any color, hence the name Pale. The fact that they are the dead and look like the dead pretty much gives everyone else reasons enough to isolate them.

We explore racism, prejudice thoughts and bullying in Pale. We also explore what happens when things are turned around and the cool kid is no longer cool and the bully becomes the bullied.
   
I think the issues brought up in this book are obviously still prevalent today. This book would be great for kids in middle school. Bullying is becoming more and more of a problem in our schools and I think we need to find more creative ways to tackle this and the other issues brought to light in the book. This book lends the opportunity to discuss these issues in a more neutral way. I was completely impressed by the writing and how things unfolded. I think our youth would be able to relate and walk away with very important messages.

Yes, this is a novella. Yes, there were details not included that could have added to the story. No, I don’t feel as if I was cheated. I think all was perfect just as it was because the most important details were there. I consider this a good foundation and would be excited to read the next installment if Chris Wooding chooses to go there.

I definitely recommend this read to everyone!

ARC was provided by Stoke Books via NetGalley.