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A review by betwixt_the_pages
Aberrant by Ruth Silver
2.0
In the future Dystopian society of Cabal, the government instills equality for all and offers its citizens the perfect system. There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone. The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations. Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison. The only crime committed, her existence. Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen." The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system.
With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.
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WARNING: Spoilers
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Quick Reasons: Unique society; interesting ideas; poorly written and executed plot; very flat, 1-dimensional characters; weird plot holes and lost explanations; bad world-building.
When I started reading this, I REALLY wanted to like the book. The premise was unique and interesting; the blurb above left me wanting to know what happened. It sounded AWESOME.
And then, I realized my expectations failed me.
From sentence one, you know this is a dystopian society. Humans no longer have the ability to breed naturally, so babies are "born" in a laboratory. Every (insert blank amount here because I don't think the book ever specified how often it was done) family(ies?) are chosen to “win” the lottery—and have a child. If they get chosen more than once, they must give up their child to the government for unknown reasons.
On the day of the marriage ceremony, when Olivia and her childhood best friend, Joshua, turn eighteen, they are paired together. They are required to marry and will later be chosen to have their own child(ren). They move into Olivia's house (because apparently her mom vacated it once the ceremony was finished? It doesn't say where she moved TO, though, so perhaps after the ceremony parents are required to live on the street.)
Because Olivia is some sort of special, she had access somehow to illegal books during her childhood (HOW this is, we aren't told) and knows about things like love and sex. It is during the evening the Mayor shows up and arrests her for treason. The reason: she was born, not made. And that's bad, apparently.
From this point on, Olivia and Joshua become enemies to the government and wanted necessities to EVERYBODY else. Joshua's mom, who is part of a secret rebel council, helps break her out of prison and sends them to the nearest town, Haven. When they arrive there, they are told that everything they'd been taught at home was wrong. This sets the pair on what might, had this been better written, have been a harrowing, wild ride...but actually ends up being Olivia accepting PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING that happens without question or emotion and the two flip-flopping NUMEROUS times on how they feel and what they think is right.
I got frustrated with this book quickly. By page 50, I was almost tearing my hair out. The characters are flat and 1-dimensional; there are A LOT of unexplained or logistically unsound plot holes (why did the doctor help Olivia's mom in the first place and then turn them in later? why does Joshua think it would be “weird” to be married to her but then decide so easily he actually is in love with her? what books are illegal and why? they've never seen a car but suddenly know ALL about them??? WHY, if the children are born in a lab, are the families even given the chance to win the lottery more than once when the government KNOWS they'll be taking the kids away!?!?! and why, knowing the government will be taking the kids away after the first, are the families even allowed to connect to the second child at all?! wouldn't they just keep them separated and leave it at that?--among so many other questions I can't begin to list them all here.)
The plot is unique; it was just enough that it made me want to know what happened regardless of being disgusted by everything else. The writing was sub-par; we're given very little description of the characters or their surroundings, which made it difficult for me to connect to what I was reading. There's no sense of urgency to the plot, and it seems the same thing happens each time they find a new town or city—they get there, someone provokes or attacks or accuses them of something, they get in trouble, they fight, they flee. When the nearby town is raided, they steal a car and drive right on out without batting an eye. I mean yes, sure, the town only wanted Olivia for their own personal breeding stock.......but still, there are a lot of logistical errors.
Overall, I feel I might have wasted my time reading this. I'm not interested in reading the next two books in the series. While the premise was promising, the flat characters and lack of connection left me feeling wholly ripped off.
I did not enjoy this book. Putting bamboo slivers beneath my fingernails might have been a better use of my time. I probably will not be reading anything by Ruth Silver in the future.
With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.
---
WARNING: Spoilers
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Quick Reasons: Unique society; interesting ideas; poorly written and executed plot; very flat, 1-dimensional characters; weird plot holes and lost explanations; bad world-building.
When I started reading this, I REALLY wanted to like the book. The premise was unique and interesting; the blurb above left me wanting to know what happened. It sounded AWESOME.
And then, I realized my expectations failed me.
From sentence one, you know this is a dystopian society. Humans no longer have the ability to breed naturally, so babies are "born" in a laboratory. Every (insert blank amount here because I don't think the book ever specified how often it was done) family(ies?) are chosen to “win” the lottery—and have a child. If they get chosen more than once, they must give up their child to the government for unknown reasons.
On the day of the marriage ceremony, when Olivia and her childhood best friend, Joshua, turn eighteen, they are paired together. They are required to marry and will later be chosen to have their own child(ren). They move into Olivia's house (because apparently her mom vacated it once the ceremony was finished? It doesn't say where she moved TO, though, so perhaps after the ceremony parents are required to live on the street.)
Because Olivia is some sort of special, she had access somehow to illegal books during her childhood (HOW this is, we aren't told) and knows about things like love and sex. It is during the evening the Mayor shows up and arrests her for treason. The reason: she was born, not made. And that's bad, apparently.
From this point on, Olivia and Joshua become enemies to the government and wanted necessities to EVERYBODY else. Joshua's mom, who is part of a secret rebel council, helps break her out of prison and sends them to the nearest town, Haven. When they arrive there, they are told that everything they'd been taught at home was wrong. This sets the pair on what might, had this been better written, have been a harrowing, wild ride...but actually ends up being Olivia accepting PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING that happens without question or emotion and the two flip-flopping NUMEROUS times on how they feel and what they think is right.
I got frustrated with this book quickly. By page 50, I was almost tearing my hair out. The characters are flat and 1-dimensional; there are A LOT of unexplained or logistically unsound plot holes (why did the doctor help Olivia's mom in the first place and then turn them in later? why does Joshua think it would be “weird” to be married to her but then decide so easily he actually is in love with her? what books are illegal and why? they've never seen a car but suddenly know ALL about them??? WHY, if the children are born in a lab, are the families even given the chance to win the lottery more than once when the government KNOWS they'll be taking the kids away!?!?! and why, knowing the government will be taking the kids away after the first, are the families even allowed to connect to the second child at all?! wouldn't they just keep them separated and leave it at that?--among so many other questions I can't begin to list them all here.)
The plot is unique; it was just enough that it made me want to know what happened regardless of being disgusted by everything else. The writing was sub-par; we're given very little description of the characters or their surroundings, which made it difficult for me to connect to what I was reading. There's no sense of urgency to the plot, and it seems the same thing happens each time they find a new town or city—they get there, someone provokes or attacks or accuses them of something, they get in trouble, they fight, they flee. When the nearby town is raided, they steal a car and drive right on out without batting an eye. I mean yes, sure, the town only wanted Olivia for their own personal breeding stock.......but still, there are a lot of logistical errors.
Overall, I feel I might have wasted my time reading this. I'm not interested in reading the next two books in the series. While the premise was promising, the flat characters and lack of connection left me feeling wholly ripped off.
I did not enjoy this book. Putting bamboo slivers beneath my fingernails might have been a better use of my time. I probably will not be reading anything by Ruth Silver in the future.