Traumaland by Josh Silver
Welcome to Traumaland. You are now Jack. Your story will start in 3… 2… 1…
Eli has been in a near-fatal accident, which has left him with no memory and no emotions. According to his therapist, he suffers from an Overwhelming Emptiness.
Desperate to feel something again, Eli winds up at TraumaLand, an underground club where crowds of emotionally numb party-goers seek a new thrill. Through hyper-real virtual reality simulations, they can experience nightmarish events happening to other people.
But when Eli immerses himself in Jack’s story, he starts to suspect there may be a darker – more dangerous – truth to the club.
I have read Josh Silver’s other books before this one and found that it raised the bar for all dystopian books that I will read after this. At first, I was slightly confused about what was going on. However, later in the book I was completely hooked, because not only did it prove to me that all is not good and right in the world but I also realised that power can be abused, and the people we trust could be deceiving you. This book had so many plot twists and somehow maintained the same atmosphere throughout. Eli’s head is chaotic but… fun? I can’t form the words to express what this book gave to me. I found that I was feeling slightly traumatised for everyone in the book who suffered, either in the video tapes IN Traumaland and the people in any of the asylums because of how they suffered and still suffer. This book was extremely action-packed and it made it all the more enjoyable because you could have never got bored while reading this. This is one of the many best books ever written!
10/10, loved it!
At the beginning I guess I had little expectations as nothing interesting was happening but as soon as Eli got to Trauma Land it all changed and the pace of the book quickened. I was a bit suspicious of Eli’s therapist but not at the start, she seemed nice. I enjoyed the stories of all the hidden identities of the characters. I really wanted to know more about Bella ‘s story and Amy’s story (no spoiler!) that Eli experiences in Trauma Land. I hated the ending because poor Eli gets another total betrayal. No spoilers but it’s an annoying ending, he has to figure it all out again…
I loved Tramualand. It was written so well. I especially loved the twist at the end. The plot was amazing. one of the best dystopian books I have ever read. Definitely the best out of the five. I loved how the character Eli was written. Fingers crossed this will become a movie. I liked Traumaland so much I went onto read some others by Josh Silver!
Warning for people who want to read Traumaland: “This book contains material that some readers may find distressing, including discussions of anxiety, mental illness, medical procedures, knife violence, homophobia, bullying, kidnapping, torture, self-harm, cannibalism, and pet death.”
This is the first book I read out of the five. It sets a really high bar for the others because the way it’s written is EXACTLY what I look for in a book. It’s tense and dystopian but my favourite quality about Traumaland is that the story comes full circle and all loose ends are tied off. The ending is slightly confusing, but no spoilers!!
Traumaland is my favourite book because it covers modern concerns such as AI and what it could do, it also spreads a message about trust. Eli trusted Lucas and Melinda in the end, but they just took away everything that he had learned. It also spreads a message that people with a lot of power can be corrupt. Eli’s dad was able to run over Jack’s sister, hurt him later and then make it seem like it never happened, this shows that people with a lot of power are dangerous, and people need to check what they are doing. My only criticism is that when Eli met Jack, Jack believed him a bit too quickly, but overall it’s a great book!
Honestly, I would say that Traumaland is one of the best out of the five books. My main reasons for this would be how disturbingly dark and complex the book was; I would describe it as one of those books that have you shivering as you read it, that makes you wonder if you really know the truth. One of my favourite parts of this book would be how Eli is portrayed as a character, he seems to be absolutely insane, with his strange hobby and sense of humour, as he thought of himself, but then, after remembering Jack, he begins to truly feel and we see that he realises it too. Overall, this book makes you see things in a strangely different way, and I would recommend it to anyone who is into to mysteries but with a very dark twist.
I loved Traumaland because it is a great dystopian story that also has a little bit of mystery. My favourite character in the book is Eli because of all the struggles that he has been through; he still was able to find who he was looking for and try to show them their life was amazing before it was taken away from them. I like how the author created Traumaland so that it could jumpstart lots of new possibilities to make you realise how deep the story can go and what the people that he thought loved him would do to stop him finding out the truth. This book is a type of book that I have never read before. I have read similar books like it but most of them didn’t have me gripping to the book and searching for more. I think the idea of brainwash made it quite thrilling. I loved the twist at the end and how Eli would realise that something was wrong because his dad had said it, but it was always just too late. I think that this would be an amazing book to make a sequel of because Eli and Jack would need to find each other again with the help of whoever was at the door of Eli’s room at the end.
TRAUMALAND
I really like Traumaland by Josh Silver, and personally out of the five it is my favourite. I love dark dystopian horror stories so this is like gold dust in my opinion. I like the unusual way the main character Eli is represented as a broken and emotionally numb teenager. I think the way that the villains are people you don’t expect them to be is brilliant. I also like the fact that the main character is gay, because it adds a good element to the story. My favourite character is Nisha because she is a cool, calm and collected character that helps Eli discover his true past and what actually happened to him. I think this YA Dystopian/Horror story is brilliantly plotted and I recommend it to any one who is looking for a traumatic reading experience.
I thought trauma land was a good book and I could definitely see it becoming a TV show/movie, I think Eli was presented well and I have not read a book with a character like Eli before so it was interesting to see how his character developed throughout the book. I feel like it is quite a good ‘stand alone’ book but I could also imagine a sequel as I can see ending of the book taking many different directions.
I really like Traumaland by Josh Silver as it is a very interesting dark dystopian fiction. My favourite element of this book is the twist at the end and how people are not what they seem throughout the story. It makes you wonder who’s telling the truth because you never know who you can actually trust. I like how Eli is presented as a broken, numb teenager, and it gives us a perspective of how a trauma survivor can feel. The fact that he’s gay also adds a nice, unique tone to the story. My favourite character is Jack because he’s loyal, protective, and acts as a supporting figure to Eli. I also think that Eli is a good character because his backstory is very mysterious but cool and it’s interesting to see everything from his viewpoint. Overall, I think this YA fiction is amazing, and I recommend it to people who like mysteries where everyone has dark secrets.
Traumaland isn’t really my type of book, but I still found it interesting as in that I’ve never read a book anything like it or like the concept. The book demonstrates how impactful and strong lies can be if they’ve been lied to their entire life. It kind of makes me think about if I were to step into someone’s shoes and experience their traumatic experiences in like a virtual reality as if you are the person. I wasn’t really a big fan of the main character always explaining his feeling every time he said something but I did like that the book was written in 1st person, it really helped me understand the feelings of the main character, Eli.