What a simple premise yet a horrifying novel!
The dystopian vibe and the main concept are somewhat similar to [b:The Running Man|11607|The Running Man|Richard Bachman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660830795l/11607._SY75_.jpg|3652165], but this is also completely different.
Watching (reading) a bunch of teens participate in this Long Walk for no good reason, watching them slowly realize the realness of the situation, try to deal with their fear of death, their slow descent into madness, and finally their acceptance of death was absolutely terrifying and depressing.
The descriptions of their pains and struggles was so real and vivid, I could totally feel my feet hurting at times, I could feel their exhaustion, everything.
None of these characters are perfect; they're all flawed, some more than the others, but they're kids after all and watching their downfall was painful every single time.
And the ending...I'm not sure this story could've had a better ending.
This is definitely one of those stories that's gonna stay with me.