My Rating ~ Five Stars

RELEASE DATE: 1 August 2020

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Today is my stop on the tour for The Erasure Initiative, thanks to Allen & Unwin!

Blurb

I wake up, and for a few precious seconds I don’t realise there’s anything wrong.

The rumble of tyres on bitumen, and the hiss of air conditioning. The murmur of voices. The smell of air freshener. The cool vibration of glass against my forehead.

A girl wakes up on a self-driving bus. She has no memory of how she got there or who she is. Her nametag reads CECILY. The six other people on the bus are just like her: no memories, only nametags. There’s a screen on each seatback that gives them instructions. A series of tests begin, with simulations projected onto the front window of the bus. The passengers must each choose an outcome; majority wins. But as the testing progresses, deadly secrets are revealed, and the stakes get higher and higher. Soon Cecily is no longer just fighting for her freedom – she’s fighting for her life.

Review

Thank you so much to Allen & Unwin for sending me a copy of The Erasure Initiative, in exchange for an honest review!

When Cecily wakes up on a bus, with no memory of who she is, just a name tag, a strange wristband and a few other passengers, she has no idea who any of them are and whether she can trust them. After they all reveal they have no memories either, they set about trying to piece together any clues they can find – tattoos, scars, or the intricate images on one of the passenger’s prosthetic leg – but before they can figure anything out, a series of tests, akin to the old ‘trolley problem’ ethics dilemma, appear on the buses screens, and it looks like they’ll have to play.

When I heard there was a new Lili Wilkinson book on the horizon, I was SO excited. I loved Lili’s book After the Lights Go Out and was hoping for another one I’d love just as much. I was definitely not disappointed! Lili’s writing style is brilliant. She writes books that are not only full of nerve wracking scenes, but books that make you think about scenarios you might never have considered before, in a ‘what would I do?’ kind of way. I loved that the plot twists and information about the passenger’s real lives were distributed throughout the book, in the form of text message and articles revealed to them through various means, instead of all coming to light at the end. It made for a gripping story that had me on the edge of my seat.

I honestly don’t want to reveal a lot more about this book, because it’s best experienced without too much prior knowledge, but if you’re a fan of books that make you ponder morality and ethical situations, like Neal Schusterman’s, or you love piecing together mysteries, then I’d highly recommend picking this one up!