Possession by Elana Johnson

Possession
Author: Elana Johnson
Publisher: Simon Pulse (a part of Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Edition: e-ARC
* Received for review via Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab.

Summary from Goodreads:
Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

My Thoughts:

Going into Possession, I wasn't too sure that I was going to love it. Violet, our protagonist, bugged the living daylights out of me for the first third of the book and her constant whining about Zenn irked me. However, I did like Zenn and he reminded me a bit of Peeta from The Hunger Games (by which, I don't mean Peeta in the first book) due to... well, I probably shouldn't say since it's a spoiler by nature. If you begin Possession and find yourself a tad disinterested, I'd give it until Seaside before calling it and deciding to stop or continue on. Don't worry though, Violet does indeed get less whiny and although she still isn't my favorite, she becomes tolerable and perhaps even likeable as the story presses on (and she grows up, so to speak). In addition to this, the tech was pretty interesting--and who wouldn't love to be able to use tech to get food or to teleport to different locations?

If you couldn't tell by now, I almost always root for the underdog in love triangles and Zenn is no exception to this. I like my romances tortured and in this case, Zenn is being used by the Thinkers as a way to--hopefully--control Violet while Jag is a rebel of sorts--who prefers hair gel and freedom, although not Freedom (things that will make sense if you read the book). Both, in a way, represent Violet's choices. Does she do what the Dictators want and become a Thinker? Or does she do everything that she can to thwart them? Unfortunately, decisions are not Violet's strong suit.

Violet's unique voice is definitely evident throughout Possession and during the last fifth of the book, I ended up barreling through to the end, only to find myself standing on that cliff that book lovers are familiar with--yes, it was somewhat of a cliffhanger. Perhaps not the sort of cliffhanger that will have you wanting to pull your hair out for the next book, but one that left me wondering what would happen next--because let's face it, there's no way that Possession can just leave off like that! It may not be my favorite dystopian of the year, but all in all, it wasn't bad.

If you're interested in Possession, then I'd suggest giving it a go. Sure, I might not have loved it as much as I was hoping to, but it really was pretty decent. If you enjoyed XVI by Julia Karr, you might like Possession.

Overall Rating: ★★★