Shaykitteh's World of Books

Becca Dalcourt is your standard high school student: she does her homework, spends time with her friends, and sometimes wishes a boy would like her instead of her friend Heather. But when Heather calls her in the middle of the night, Becca's world is turned upside-down... Heather's parents, two Internal Defense employees, have been arrested as dissidents. And Becca's mother is the person responsible for interrogating them.

The Torturer's Daughter takes us into a world where everyone is afraid to say anything negative about the government, because anyone overhearing you could turn you in. The wrong action -- even the wrong word -- can end your life. When her friend's parents are executed, and another friend is arrested based on a rumor, Becca starts wondering if Internal Defense is accusing innocents.

While this novel doesn't go into a lot of detail of the government or how the world came to be in this state, the characters themselves are well developed and you really feel Becca's fear and confusion as she tries to make sense of the world around her. This is a great first book in a series, since it gives you enough information to make you want to learn more, along with giving you characters you want to like and a story you can believe in.