by Jenni Fagan
First published 2012
Anais Hendricks is fifteen and already a ward of the state, bounced between foster homes and institutions. When she's transferred to the Panopticon—a circular prison where every movement is watched—she arrives under suspicion of brutally assaulting a policewoman. Strung out and uncertain of her own actions, Anais knows only that something isn't right. The facility looms around her, its watchtower tracking her every move, while she's haunted by a sense of being part of some larger "experiment." With a ragged crew of fellow inmates, she begins to unravel the mysteries of her own fractured history. But in a system designed to contain and control, Anais's survival depends on understanding who—or what—is really watching.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, crime, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Panopticon
Period: contemporary
282 pages · Hardcover · Hogarth
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness