Candor by Pam Bachorz

Amazon.com
In the model community of Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The son of the town’s founder, Oscar earns straight As, is student-body president, and is in demand for every club and cause. But Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor to make them respectful, compliant–perfect–through subliminal Messages that carefully correct and control their behavior. And Oscar’s built a business sabotaging his father’s scheme with Messages of his own, getting his clients out before they’re turned. After all, who would ever suspect the perfect Oscar Banks? Then he meets Nia, the girl he can’t stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever. Keeping her in Candor, Oscar risks exposure . . . and more.

When I first heard about Candor I knew I had to read it! Sounded so interesting and different and it definitely was! I wasn't immediately grabbed by the book (I think it was something with the way Oscar spoke, it didn't always flow for me) but after I had been reading for awhile I was definitely hooked and had to know how it was all going to turn out.

I love books that present questions and this one presented a lot of them. How do you know if you are what you think you are or if it's the messages telling you to be a certain way? Are there consequences to this perfect community? Why would someone knowingly agree to something like this? All sorts of great discussion points throughout the books.

I love how art is seen as something worthless in this community! But since freedom of expression is a bad thing in Candor so is art. It's really spooky to see how kids slowly would change after moving to Candor or how they would quickly change after visiting the Listening Room. This is a plot I've never come across before so it fascinated me!

And the ending, oh the ending, it was flawless to me. I closed the book and just sat there, like WOW! If you are looking for something different in young adult literature I would definitely suggest this book!

Candor will be released on September 22nd!
Genre: Young Adult
4/5 Stars
ARC provided by publisher

Visit the Candor, FL website! (This is awesome!)