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Reviewed by Eileen Johnson for Readers' Favorite
In Meritropolis by Joel Ohman, the protagonist is 17-year-old Charley. Living in a society after the “Event” that changed the world, Charley is angry at a system that classifies every individual by a merit score imprinted on the forearm. Living in the fortified city of Meritropolis, the youngest citizens live underground until the age of 17. When we first meet Charley, he has just come up to the relative freedom of the outside world. What happened during the Event is never fully explained, but it is clear that there have been huge changes in the world outside the gates of the city. Animal mutations abound – for example, bulls and lions have crossed to create Bions, tigers and lions to create Tigons, and rottweilers and hogs to create Rotthogs. It seems as though every animal has been crossed with another to create a new and deadly creature. The only safety for people is within the gates. Of course, everything is not as it seems. Any individual with a merit number under 50 is likely to be culled and put out of the gates to be devoured by creatures that roam the night. In fact, this is exactly what has made Charley such an angry young man – his beloved older brother, Alec, who had Downs syndrome was put out of the gates on Assessment Day during Charley’s time underground.
Meritropolis by Joel Ohman is a book that had me fully engaged from the first page. The story is as old as the ages as a young person fights against the injustices of an evil system. The fact that the story is not new did NOT detract from my absolute enjoyment of the book. Well-written and fast-paced, the characters are well developed and multi-faceted. My only real complaint about the book was that it ended too soon! I eagerly await the second in what I hope will be a series of books.
