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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
I was intrigued by the premise of this book: a world that is so overpopulated that childbirth requires a donor who is willing to give up his or her own life. In this world, a depressed woman named Mae finds herself pregnant with a child that she does not want, but that her partner, Pasha, desperately does. As they struggle to protect mother and child without costing anyone else’s life, journeys are taken, prejudices are confronted, and their perceptions of morality itself are challenged.
Despite the intriguing premise, I found it difficult to get invested in this book. The writing style threw me off—the book is full of sentence fragments that are clearly included on purpose as a writing style, but the device was overused. The characters didn’t feel multidimensional. Mae’s backstory was revealed slowly and should have made her character seem complex and nuanced, but instead she felt flat, as if her depression was all there was to her. Pasha also was one-dimensional: he was handsome, personable, unreasonably optimistic, and blindly devoted to Mae, who treated him with contempt as often as with love. Neither showed the complexity or growth I hoped to see, although there were hints toward the end that maybe some of that will happen in the second book of the series.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book, but it fell short of my hopes.
Disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book, with no obligation. The decision to leave an unbiased review was entirely my own.
Despite the intriguing premise, I found it difficult to get invested in this book. The writing style threw me off—the book is full of sentence fragments that are clearly included on purpose as a writing style, but the device was overused. The characters didn’t feel multidimensional. Mae’s backstory was revealed slowly and should have made her character seem complex and nuanced, but instead she felt flat, as if her depression was all there was to her. Pasha also was one-dimensional: he was handsome, personable, unreasonably optimistic, and blindly devoted to Mae, who treated him with contempt as often as with love. Neither showed the complexity or growth I hoped to see, although there were hints toward the end that maybe some of that will happen in the second book of the series.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book, but it fell short of my hopes.
Disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book, with no obligation. The decision to leave an unbiased review was entirely my own.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An interesting concept with disappointing execution. Can’t say I was eager to get through this, but somewhat enjoyable.
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Actually I finished this book 2 days ago, and I waited till now to write a review, because I was absorbing the details, my first reaction reading it, I need to admit, I was a bit put off by in the first chapter because I almost didn’t know the main character name, because Mae was addressed only as she, but now that I finished it, perhaps it was meant to be like that, and of course I wont spoil the story explaining what I meant, but it kind of makes sense this disconnect with reality. I also got mad quite some times with Pasha, because I was keep in the dark of what he was trying to accomplish the same way Mae was, but that was also understandable he didn’t want her to stress and how guilty could you be of something if you had no idea?
I really enjoy a dystopian world, and I dread just imagining that it could be true… this world is absolutely terrifying, women are killed in the streets because they are expecting, even if the mother has a bracelet that makes her pregnancy legal… in place of each born child, someone must die, and in this world most of the people that dies for babies are elder people, and besides being born more babies, old people are also killed because they are not allowed to have their medication, in my opinion a society that doest value life is very messed up… fathers are not allowed to give their life for their unborn child, if they are in a age that they can contribute for society, they can only voluntary themselves if they have a life threatening sickness… is a very sad situation, and I don’t know if I was in this world if I could chose where to go and what to do, but definitely asking someone to die for my child is not something I could easily do…
You have lots of twists and turns, we had one earlier in the book that I started thinking it was pointless to know, but in the end it makes more sense to have that bit of information, other thing is that I wish we learned more about Iris and her past, but besides that the book feels complete, while I know that a second volume in the story is to come, you wont feel disappointed or cheated of a ending, because you do have one, I recommend this book to all fans of dystopian stories and believe me when I say this, is worth the dive, don’t give up in the start, the story gets better.
I got a free ARC copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.
I really enjoy a dystopian world, and I dread just imagining that it could be true… this world is absolutely terrifying, women are killed in the streets because they are expecting, even if the mother has a bracelet that makes her pregnancy legal… in place of each born child, someone must die, and in this world most of the people that dies for babies are elder people, and besides being born more babies, old people are also killed because they are not allowed to have their medication, in my opinion a society that doest value life is very messed up… fathers are not allowed to give their life for their unborn child, if they are in a age that they can contribute for society, they can only voluntary themselves if they have a life threatening sickness… is a very sad situation, and I don’t know if I was in this world if I could chose where to go and what to do, but definitely asking someone to die for my child is not something I could easily do…
You have lots of twists and turns, we had one earlier in the book that I started thinking it was pointless to know, but in the end it makes more sense to have that bit of information, other thing is that I wish we learned more about Iris and her past, but besides that the book feels complete, while I know that a second volume in the story is to come, you wont feel disappointed or cheated of a ending, because you do have one, I recommend this book to all fans of dystopian stories and believe me when I say this, is worth the dive, don’t give up in the start, the story gets better.
I got a free ARC copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.