Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Yet another great book brought home from the library (seems like a recurring theme lately).   Many people have been blogging about this book, so I'm ready to add in my thoughts now that I've had a chance to finally get my hands on it.

Per Penguin, the description is as follows:  Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know. 

My thoughts:    Although I had an inkling right away about Finn and who he might really be, I found other little surprises in this story.  Characters would seem straightforward and then would show another facet, making it tricky to tell sometimes who was really who, and what their agendas might be.   I liked this, because it kept me off balance at times, and kept the story from being predictable.   I found the idea of Incarceron to be completely compelling, and really enjoyed how the author wrote the prison as a character unto itself, and also how she developed the world of this book.  The ideas here are really unique!  It is definitely a story that will stick with me for a while, and a book that I think I'll recommend (although I did find that at times, the plot moved a little slowly).   I think the cover art alone will draw a lot of people in -- the shimmery detailing on the key is exquisite, and there is a lot of fine detailing in the art that made me wish I had a full print of this.