"Pleasantly surprised"
Blurb:
“A mysterious worldwide epidemic reduces the birthrate of female infants from 50 percent to less than 1 percent. Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-five years later there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women.
Zoey and some of the surviving young women are housed in a scientific research compound dedicated to determining the cause. For two decades, she’s been isolated from her family, treated as a test subject, and locked away—told only that the virus has wiped out the rest of the world’s population.
Captivity is the only life Zoey has ever known, and escaping her heavily armed captors is no easy task, but she’s determined to leave before she is subjected to the next round of tests…a program that no other woman has ever returned from. Even if she’s successful, Zoey has no idea what she’ll encounter in the strange new world beyond the facility’s walls. Winning her freedom will take brutality she never imagined she possessed, as well as all her strength and cunning—but Zoey is ready for war.”
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First off, I have to say that I am not a huge fan of post-apocalyptic books but I was drawn to this as I have read some of Mr Hart’s work before and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
The story, as the blurb describes, is set in the not too distant future where female births are as rare as rocking horse poo! The solution, thought to be the best idea by scientists, is to take girls from their families and house them in a highly fortified complex where they are kept until they turn 21 at which point they go through a door to a place where they are told they will be reunited with their family. One girl, Zoey, has her doubts and so begins her plan to escape and to find out just what is through the door and on the other side of the walls.
For me, I felt it took a bit too long to get to the real ‘page-turning’ stage and there were a few plot holes that I struggled to overlook with the major one being why are they treating these girls/women so poorly when they are a rare and important “commodity” that should be pampered and cared for; if they are the only potential future mothers of the world, they need to know how to be a mother.
Despite this, the way the book is written draws you in; the characters are interesting and complex especially Zoey - she is one tough cookie! There is tension and atmosphere aplenty with action and suspense.
Overall, a good read which I think is aimed at young adults and even though I’m far from one of them, I would be interested in seeing where the story goes in the next installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for providing me with an e-copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Author website: http://www.joehartbooks.com/
Author twitter: @AuthorJoeHart
Other books I have read by Joe Hart:
For me, I felt it took a bit too long to get to the real ‘page-turning’ stage and there were a few plot holes that I struggled to overlook with the major one being why are they treating these girls/women so poorly when they are a rare and important “commodity” that should be pampered and cared for; if they are the only potential future mothers of the world, they need to know how to be a mother.
Despite this, the way the book is written draws you in; the characters are interesting and complex especially Zoey - she is one tough cookie! There is tension and atmosphere aplenty with action and suspense.
Overall, a good read which I think is aimed at young adults and even though I’m far from one of them, I would be interested in seeing where the story goes in the next installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for providing me with an e-copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
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Author website: http://www.joehartbooks.com/
Author twitter: @AuthorJoeHart
Other books I have read by Joe Hart:
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| The River is Dark |
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| The Line Unseen |
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