Book Review: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

Stung by Bethany Wiggins
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Genre: Young Adult Post Apocalyptic
ISBN: 978-0802734181
Source: Bought
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There is no cure for being stung.

Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right.

Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.

Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall.

Stung had been on my kindle unread for quite some time and I’m glad I finally read it. It was so much fun! Right away, we are thrown into our main character, Fiona’s disorientation as she finds herself in her home but clearly from a different time then she remembers as the home is essentially abandoned and destroyed. Then she discovers a tattoo on her right hand that she immediately hides and it turns out for good reason. She has the mark and that separates her from the rest of mankind. What’s left of it anyway.

Now, typically, I’m not a fan of the whole… character has lost a chunk of time and doesn’t remember what happened to them or the world – UNLESS the character figures it out shortly after waking up or re-entering society. In this case, Fiona has lost quite a few years and the reveal for her happens in enough time for me to not roll my eyes so that was very much appreciated. Thankfully, the pacing of this book is well constructed so that this wasn’t a problem.

What I always love though in stories like these is following the main character as they find out about the state of their loved ones. Fiona has a sister, a brother, a mother, a wheelchair bound father. They might be inside the wall or dead, missing, or worse, have the mark as well and are in even far gone off than she is. The mark means nothing good as the world is the way it is now because of a bee flu vaccine gone wrong. Yikes! It takes some time for this revelation to be completely laid out and the only reason I’m mentioning it so plainly here is because I think it would help the reader know what’s happening going into the book. I love the world that’s been created and the imagery and the beasts, the danger, the fear, the stakes. But it’s so much more powerful with this information upfront. That is one thing that I wished had had a bit more clarity for the reader after the first chapter or two, the world building. Anyway…

In Stung, Fiona meets a young girl named Arrin who may or may not be on her side. Fiona discovers that there’s a wall that separates the humans from the hives of beasts… the monsters – even though she finds that some humans are also monsters. Fiona also runs into a few people from her past. Dreyden, her neighbor is one of them and is quite the lifesaver. The dynamic between these two was intriguing and I’m glad with how their relationship progressed in the sense of trust in this world where it’s so difficult to trust anyone. That said, I loved the twists in this story and thought this was a well crafted story with writing that is gripping enough for me to want me to read the sequel. Yes, there are a few things that I had to suspend my disbelief in but if you can look over that and not jump off the ride because of a few little odd bumps, this is still a really cool story to read. So if you haven’t yet, pick this up!

Stung by Bethany Wiggins is available today.