Starred Review Even if someone tried to put a parental guidance sticker on this title, it would blister right off from the toxic rot inside. Two years after the escaped virus that got McKinley High sealed off from the world in Quarantine: The Loners (2012), the school has become a thunderdome of thuggery, violence, prostitution, and drugs. Having escaped the hell in Quarantine: The Saints (2013), Will is reunited with brother David in the relative peace of outside before they are both dragged back in to rescue the pregnant Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy is ejected from the Sluts and falls into the hands of the Burnouts, lesion-covered creeps getting high on "stinkers" rmented-feces fumes inhaled through a rubber glove. Yes, it's disgusting. Really disgusting. In fact, this is so far outside most readers' comfort zones that it feels like outsider art, a surreal attempt to extract meaning and purpose from the sickest of scenarios. The plot, such as it is, is powered by unbalanced ex-mean-girl Hilary, obsessed with finding new teeth to plug her tooth hole and determined to hold a demented "prom." This trilogy-ender is the hastiest of the three portant moments are rushed through with regularity t as a capper to this undersung "psycho soap opera," it sure does its dirty job. One character's last words sum up the whole mad series: "Peace, fuck, barf, love."

Will is reunited with David, his older brother, who was presumed dead. Having just survived the deadly virus still confining a large number of teens in McKinley High School, Will is torn between happiness at finding his brother and sadness at leaving Lucy behind. Lucy is thrown out of her gang, realizes she is pregnant, and eventually ends up with the drug-using burnouts. Meanwhile, Hillary, David's ex-girlfriend, now has the only gun with bullets in the school, and she uses it effectively to regain her position as the queen of the school. When Will discovers from another graduating teen that Lucy is carrying his child, he re-enters McKinley to rescue her. David follows him into the high-school hell that McKinley has become, and they quickly become separated. The race is on to find Lucy and escape from the roving gangs that plague the school, while surviving Hillary's wrath at the first infected prom.Readers unfamiliar with the first two books will be completely lost as the characters pick up where they left off in The Saints: Quarantine, Book 2 (Egmont, 2013/VOYA August 2013). The rampant violence, sex, drug use, death of main characters, and graphic miscarriage make this book appropriate only for older teens. Readers will better enjoy one of the many better done dystopians out there, such as James Dashner's trilogy The Maze Runner, Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing series, or Veronica Roth's Divergent. This title is dark, gory, and oversexed. Purchase this only if the first two books were popular in your library.Etienne VallÚe.The Burnouts paints a graphic picture of a dystopian society. The break-neck pace keeps readers engrossed as the characters fight for their lives. The Burnouts also elegantly draws into light the ideas of social roles, character, and morality, making readers think about the world around them. This book is a very exciting read and is certainly worth checking out. 4Q, 4P.Eric DuBois, Teen Reviewer.

In this trilogy-ender, brothers David and Will reunite Outside, helping parents rebuild society, starting with a small farm near McKinley High. Alone, pregnant, and still quarantined inside the school, Lucy turns to the only gang that will take her in: the Burnouts. Thomas's graphic scenes of violence and homemade drug addictions are stomach-turning, and the somewhat abrupt conclusion may leave followers unsatisfied.