The novel Prized is a great book for those who are interested in mystery and romance novels that I would highly recommend to teenagers 12 and up. As for someone who is not really interested in either genre, Prized is still a great book due to the details in each description the author, Caragh O'Brien, gives. 

Prized is about a lost girl called Gaia and her starving newborn sister, Maya. Their mother had died from giving birth leaving them starving in an unknown forest for more than a week with no one to guide them. Both were rescued by a villager from the Sylum; a place that was once ruled by her late grandmother who she only knew the name. There were many mysteries in the book mostly related to her grandmother and the Sylum found in Gaia’s grandmother’s journal. For example, the abnormally low numbers of females in the ‘city’; only one girl every 2 years. This forced Gaia to separate from her sister. Not only that, the people who came into the ‘city’ can’t leave. Those who have tried, died. And no one knows why. 

Personally, I love the fact that this book is realistic fiction. Because of that, there are many situations that I can relate to, allowing me to truly understand the character’s feelings. Some parts caused second-hand embarrassment, others caused tears, I even cringe in certain situations. The book has a great flow of emotion that, again, I really love.

I also love Prized because the book isn’t a ‘happily ever after’ like many other books. The author didn’t only show the happiness of love and life, but the pain caused by it and its dangers. Because females were rare, they were in power. Therefore the smallest things, things that aren’t even considered a crime, could turn into one if it was done by a male person. This made relationships in the book, not easy to achieve and to keep; therefore leaving many characters in emotional pain. I find this quite realistic since not all love cases end with happiness. The only thing I really don’t like in this book is the separation of the two sisters, Gaia and Maya, the switching and a bit confusing timeline, and the sexist content in one of the scenes. But these flaws are made for the sake of the great plot, so they cancel out. 

As I mentioned above, this novel is great for people who are interested in mystery and romance novels. Though I’d like to recommend this book to readers who like exploring the true meaning of symbols inside books. There are many connections in this book that require a deep understanding, hidden and are to be discovered by readers like you!