A Better World by Sarah Langan - A Review

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A cunning, outside-the-box satirical thriller about a family’s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.
You’ll be safe here. That’s what the tour guide tells the Farmer-Bowens when they visit Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. On a very trial basis, the company offers to hire Linda Farmer’s hus­band, Russell, a numbers genius, and relocate her whole family to this bucolic paradise for the .0001 percent. Though Linda will have to sacrifice her medical career back home, the family jumps at the opportunity. They’d be crazy not to take it. With the outside world falling apart, this might be the Farmer-Bowens’ last chance.
But fitting in takes work. The pampered locals distrust outsiders, snubbing Linda, Russell, and their teen twins. And the residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow...but what exactly is Hollow?
It’s Linda who brokers acceptance, by volunteering her medical skills to the most influential people in town through their pet charity, ActHollow. In the months afterward, everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyper­ventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have become secretive, but living in Plymouth Valley is worth sacrificing their family’s closeness, isn’t it? At least they’ll survive. The trouble is, the locals never say what they think. They seem scared. And Hollow’s ominous culminating event, the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival, is coming.
Linda is warned by her husband and her powerful new friends to stop asking questions. But the more she learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?
Sarah Langan’s latest novel, A Better World, is gleefully ruthless in its dissection of wealth, power, and privilege, timely in its depiction of a self-destructing world—and it is a prescient warning to us all.

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Review

Standalone or series?
Standalone 

How did I get this book?
I was sent a hardcover by the publisher for consideration

Why did I choose to read this book:  
I was in the mood for a thriller and this looked interesting. The "Bullet Point" taglines from previous reviews sounded like something I would like for example " A Better World is terrifying, shocking, sinister . . . and yet heartfelt and often hilarious."

Genre:
Psychological Thriller / Dystopian Thriller 

Who would enjoy this book:  
Fans of dystopian thrillers might like it - honestly I am not sure. I am going to offer it up as a giveaway in the subscriber group as I would be interested to see what others think.

And Now To The Review!

First Impressions:
This has a really strong start. The first, almost half of the book, set an interesting premise and I was pleased I had decided to read it. 
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General Review
Sarah Langan is a new to me author. She has won numerous awards and has lots of fabulous critiques, but the further into the book I got, the more it lost me. I didn't find any of it funny, and followers of my blog will know I have a definitely dark sense of humor so based on what people were saying this should have been right up my alley.  The main underlying darkness was pretty obvious from early on, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but to me it felt that the author knew where she needed the story to go ... but wasn't quite sure how to get it there.  I felt that the plot points became inconsistent (if you DO read this then about 3/4 of the way in there is a security incident that really lost me), and the convenient thing happened, even if there wasn't really a logical way for that to be the case. One of the things I least enjoyed was how the characters became more two dimensional for me during the time that they should all have been showing the most.

Final Thoughts
I don't get it. That's my final thought on this one. I don't understand what others loved in it (I mean all book reviews are subjectional), I really just didn't get it in general. What could have been a great commentary on how the world is basically being destroyed by corporations saving the high flyers and leaving the little people to rot, became a lackluster story with a very unsatisfactory ending. I don't think it's set up for a sequel, although I was definitely left with questions, but not enough to really care now if they are answered. 

Rating:
This started at a solid 4 stars but by the end I was at a 2. The book systematically lost its appeal as it went on and I am sort of mad about it.

As always let me know what you think in the comments!


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