Very quick, easy read. Has humor, suspense, and personality. My first book by Neal Shusterman, but certainly won't be my last. ( )

4.1 ( )

Full Tilt is a short story that is quick paced and fun to read. It feeds off the characters fears and puts them to the test.

After going to a fair ground and playing at one of the stalls, Blake is given a inbred looking teddy (his words not mine!) with a secret invitation hidden in one of its pockets to visit a mysterious fair from 12am till 6am!
Blake is a headstrong, slightly scared boy traumatised by a past event that he wont let go of, refusing to be pressured by his older thrill seeking brother Quinn to go he puts it out his mind until later he is woken by ambulance lights flashing outside his window and paramedics in Quinn's room. He gazes into his brothers open eyes and sees a fairground.
Together Blake and his two friends follow the directions on the invitation and enter into a fairground that consumes those to afraid to overcome their fears on the rides.

I didn't really know what to expect from Full Tilt, all I knew was I loved the Unwind series by Shusterman and wanted to see what else he had going on in his wonderful imagination. This book was simple. Ride 7 rides by dawn and you may leave, until then you are trapped. The rides morphed into the deeply placed fears of the characters and if you couldn't overcome your fear then you would be stuck on the ride forever, becoming part of the fair.
A grim and entertaining read that wasn't too predictable and kept me wanting more. Full Tilt was a unique read. ( )

I have a thing for circuses and carnivals, I'm not quite sure why, I've only ever been to one (rather shitty) one when I was little. But something about them fascinates me, always has. In particular, movies, books, and tv shows that revolve around them always grabs my attention. This novel revolves around a carnival, but it is not just any carnival. This carnival takes prisoners. You must have an invitation to enter, and you have to make it threw seven rides before dawn, or you are stuck there forever. The rides are not all that normal, they appear to be, but once you get on them, they are deadly, somehow drawing on the riders worst fears in the most horrible ways. The narrator for this novel is a teenager named Blake. He lives in a small town with his mother, her revolving door of boyfriends and his maniac of a little brother Quinn. Blake is the good kid. He got a scholarship to Columbia in NYC, drives safely, keeps his room neat, doesn't hurt people's feelings, thinks before he acts, etc. His little brother, is the exact opposite. After going to a carnival with his two friends, Maggie and Russ (Quinn tagging along) Quinn has an attack that seems like an overdose. While he is rushed to the hospital, all Blake can think about is the invitation to a different carnival that he received on the way home. Somehow, he knows Quinn is there. He and his friends go back to save Quinn and Blake ends up learning a hell of a lot about himself. A lot to do with an accident he was in on a school bus when he was seven.


Its a short novel, only about 200 pages, and its a quick read. The characters are believable and interesting. But what I really liked about it was how thoughtful and interesting Blake's narration was. It makes you think about fear, and survival and what can make people tick. It was an interesting read.

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This book is all about horror, mystery, and of course the thrilling feeling that courses through your veins as you flip every page of this fictional book. At first I wasn’t that hooked up on it but it did interest me in the mid pages of the book where it started to be actually thrilling. I like how the author (Neil Shusterman) wrote this because it felt as though at lot of writers worked on it due to how good the scenarios are in every chapter. I read this in 8th grade and from their I got my taste in books from this exact book. I gives you a sensible storyline with great character involvement in their own sides of the book. I would highly recommend this to any individuals who has a interest in Sci-Fi, Horror or even mystery write-ups. ( )