The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

The Gardener
Mason has never known his father, but longs to. All he has of him is a DVD of a man whose face is never seen, reading a children’s book. One day, on a whim, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens at the nursing home where his mother works. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason learns she is part of a horrible experiment intended to render teenagers into autotrophs—genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms who don’t need food or water to survive. And before he knows it, Mason is on the run with the girl, and wanted, dead or alive, by the mysterious mastermind of this gruesome plan, who is simply called the Gardener.



Will Mason be forced to destroy the thing he’s longed for most?

It's funny how I came across this one. I was reading a blog and someone (I can't remember who, sorry!) reviewed this and I was like "OMG! I have to get this," because I'm recently in a wild dystopian, sci-fi thing. So I emailed the publisher that very day and they were so nice and sent me a copy! It was actually my first time emailng a publisher and having them send me an ARC so THANK YOU!

The book was not what I expected at all. I imagined a very far future dystopian sort of thing but it was not, it's set on current times which makes it even more scary! It really worked well with it.

The book is extremely thought-provoking and I liked both Mason and the girl's relationship. His best friend, Jack, is hilarious. I loved him to death. The Gardener is very fast paced and unique.

OH! And the end is just FANTASTIC. Just wait.

In one sentence:
"A old problem given a completely new and unique premise make this a one-of-a-kind read."

Plot: 5
Characters: 4
Writing: 5
Cover: 4
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.4