Book Review: Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

Image (c) Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Girl in the Arena by Lisa Haines
Release Date: October 1st, 2009
Book Format: Library Book
Rating: One Star

It’s a fight to the death—on live TV—when a gladiator’s daughter steps into the arena.

Lyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through.  Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family.

Always lend ineffable confidence to the gladiator. Remind him constantly of his victories. And most importantly: Never leave the stadium when your father is dying.

The rules help the family survive, but rules—and the GSA—can also turn against you. When a gifted young fighter kills Lyn’s seventh father, he also captures Lyn’s dowry bracelet, which means she must marry him...

For fans of The Hunger Games and Fight Club, Lise Haines’ debut novel is a mesmerizing look at a world addicted to violence—a modern world that’s disturbingly easy to imagine.

This story has a pretty interested premises- a girl who decided that she wasn't going to be married off to a guy that she barely knows and, therefore, decides to battle for her own freedom and so she can build her own future. I have nothing against that. Sadly, it wasn't what I was expecting at all in the end.

The story is about a girl named Lyn who, like a lot of people, grew up around the world of Gladiators. Her, especially, since she had seven fathers- including her current one- growing up and she's gained popularity for having so many 'Glad' fathers. It's like celebrities disguised as Gladiators in this world, I would suppose. But when her current father dies in the arena, and the young gladiator who defeats him takes the bracelet from him. This means that he now has Lyn's hand in marriage, but she doesn't like it. At all.

What I did like about this book is that the main character is completely against marriage with someone who killed off her dad. I also liked that Lyn was slowly going against the rules that she grew up with all of her life. On top of that, there was most definitely a lot of thought going into the start of the Gladiators and the history about it. It's a shame that the rest of the story didn't get the same treatment, though.

What I disliked was that I felt like the book, itself, was a bit too long. It felt like it didn't really move all that much until about 80% into the book. I wanted to keep reading because I was looking for a 'bamf' ending, with Lyn battling against her 'fiance'. Instead, I ended up only getting a couple of pages with me just staring in disbelief and just... I was just highly disappointed.

Lyn: I feel like that she had a lot of potential. She even had a history of dabbling in fighting with a sword with one of her fathers, even if it was only something fun. I could even see her as someone who could hold her own in the battlefield, but... still, she didn't get much training beforehand and even if she did she didn't seem very confident closer to the match. (Highlight text to see spoiler). She even allowed her friend to create a illusion of her to fight in her place, despite the fact that they knew there was a high chance that it wouldn't last that long anyways.

Honestly, though, considering all the benefits that her mother and her brother would have gotten if Lyn HAD married to Uber... I personally think it would outweigh the bad. She would have kept her house and she would still be getting money to support her family. On top of that, when Lyn was with Uber I didn't see anything wrong with him. In fact, all I saw was a guy who made a mistake picking up the bracelet (although I would think that anyone who enters the ring is suppose to know ALL the rules, just like Lyn...). I saw him as someone who would treat her right and I found myself irritated that she just didn't want to do anything with him, even with the threat that her little brother Thad would have to live somewhere else if there's no money coming in.

In short, though, this book dragged on way too long for my taste and if Lyn had a bit more character development to excuse her actions, then I would have liked this book a little bit more.

However, if you like reading a book that goes in depth with the backstory, you may like it. But I wouldn't have high hopes reading this.

Originally released and shared on November 29th, 2013