Read + Review — Beneath by Roland Smith

Pat O’Toole has been keeping voice recordings with his brother Coop, who left home shortly after an argument with his family. A month or two afterwards Pat stopped receiving messages from his brother and began to search for him. Pat travels to New York and encounters the Community, a society who lives underground, and where his brother was a member. However, as it turns out, Coop had flown the coop and was heading deeper underground searching for whatever it was that brought him there.

Despite the fact that a lot of the buildup during the book is kind of wasted due to most of it being predictable, it was still a fun read. The characters were a definite strong point in the book as both Coop and Pat were likable characters; however, the main villain didn’t get as much exposition as the main protagonists. A lot of thought did go into the book though, as much of the conclusion surmises facts that have been laid out in the book for the reader to piece together. Overall the book does a good job providing for the reader.

Probably the most memorable thing in the book was a mile long stretch of tunnel that Coop had the wriggle through. There was nothing special about the tube really but Coop has intense claustrophobia.

Reviewed by Alsharief, 11th Grade, Twin Hickory Area Library