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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: women in labor and in depth descriptions of labor, public execution by hanging, whipping, death of a pregnant woman, babies being taken from mothers, descriptions of blood and corpses, incest, abortion mention, infanticide, climate change, parental death, suicide
"You always have a choice, Gaia. You can always say no. They might kill you for it, but you can always say no."
Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien is a speculative fiction dystopian not unlike The Handmaid's Tale.
We follow Gaia, a midwife living in one of the sectors outside of the Enclave wall. Each midwife must deliver a quota of babies to the Enclave, taking them from their parents. The babies are then adopted by families living inside the wall with all the privileges and amenities they could hope for.
When Gaia's parents are arrested, she takes it upon herself to break into the Enclave, and find out what is going on. She finds the Enclave needs a more diverse gene pool thanks to years of inbreeding in a small community. Somehow the Enclave believes the answer to their problem lies with babies outside the wall.
This was fast paced and an interesting concept, but it needed more world building and I didn't feel like the romance was properly earned. There was some interesting commentary about blindly following orders to keep the status quo and about fascism. There was a lot of birth scenes that were pretty graphic.
Gaia was a strong character, but I didn't feel particularly much for her. If there is a second book, I will probably pass on it.
"You always have a choice, Gaia. You can always say no. They might kill you for it, but you can always say no."
Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien is a speculative fiction dystopian not unlike The Handmaid's Tale.
We follow Gaia, a midwife living in one of the sectors outside of the Enclave wall. Each midwife must deliver a quota of babies to the Enclave, taking them from their parents. The babies are then adopted by families living inside the wall with all the privileges and amenities they could hope for.
When Gaia's parents are arrested, she takes it upon herself to break into the Enclave, and find out what is going on. She finds the Enclave needs a more diverse gene pool thanks to years of inbreeding in a small community. Somehow the Enclave believes the answer to their problem lies with babies outside the wall.
This was fast paced and an interesting concept, but it needed more world building and I didn't feel like the romance was properly earned. There was some interesting commentary about blindly following orders to keep the status quo and about fascism. There was a lot of birth scenes that were pretty graphic.
Gaia was a strong character, but I didn't feel particularly much for her. If there is a second book, I will probably pass on it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, Violence, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Blood, Incest, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
women in labor, babies being taken from mothers, public executions, whipping
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