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cindywho's review against another edition
2.0
The life of a woman in a not terribly distant dystopian future. She is trapped by her class, the drugs that she is required to take and the expectations of her family and peers. Becoming an unlicensed teacher gives her life a direction and the journey has many harrowing moments in her sad and hard life. Depressing, but maybe I read about dystopias to remind me that things could be worse... (October 18, 2005)
coffeeandink's review
Near-future sf with elements of satire. The US has even more rigid class and race hierarchies than it has now; schools overtly enforce class status by treating kids who are rebellious--or too smart for their designation--with drugs. Judas Girls (Judicious Girls) swear virginity and trade one eye for a camera, which monitors their peers. (If they've already had sex, their hymens can be reconstructed for a mere $60,000.) Jayne rebels in a self-destructive fashion and ultimately becomes an outlaw teacher, part of an underground network of people offering skills and knowledge supposed to be restricted only to certain classes. Ore is particularly sharp on the failures and successes of middle-class radicals ministering to the poor, and on the effects of the paranoia and emotional isolation of participating in an underground resistance.
Ore's prose is always full of abrupt transitions, a kind of knotty feel, but it's especially noticeable here. I think a lot more of this was supposed to black humor than I laughed at; not because the humor fell flat, but because it's not quite compatible with mine.
Ore's prose is always full of abrupt transitions, a kind of knotty feel, but it's especially noticeable here. I think a lot more of this was supposed to black humor than I laughed at; not because the humor fell flat, but because it's not quite compatible with mine.
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