Publish Date: September 18, 2012
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 368
ISBN: 978 1616201937
When She Woke
tells the story of a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a
not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been
eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but
chromed – their skin colour is genetically altered to match the class of their
crimes – and then released back into the population to survive as best they can. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder.
In seeking a path
to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path
of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and
the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith.
My Thoughts
This would have never been a book I would have chosen for myself and was a bit skeptical - it was selected at my local library as the January Book Club pick - and I ended up really enjoying it. I found the concept to be brilliant and devoured this novel in just a few days. It really got me thinking - is this where we could actually be heading? Imagine walking among criminals. Chroming (maybe not totally like this) could be a way of the future - you just never know. We already microchip pets, why wouldn't we start doing something like that with babies at birth?
I have to say though that I did enjoy the first half of the book better than the last half. It started to get a little too preachy and felt rushed. I also felt like Hannah's character made a drastic change and by this I'm referring to the Simone encounter. I just found it added no value and unnecessary to the plot of the story. I understand what the author was trying to relay - that Hannah's outlook on gay people were wrong, but I still found it irrelevant. The ending just didn't have enough closure for me. I was left with too much wonder about some of the characters and how they fared. I need closure in a novel - I crave it. Even an Epilogue would have been amazing. I would be okay with a sequel, I'm interested in seeing Hannah now living her new life. Just leave Simone out of it.
Having never read The Scarlet Letter, I am very interested in reading it as there seem to be a number of similarities.
It is also good to know that the future still has Target and McDonald's...
My Rating: ««««
Buy it Now!
The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor. I do this for the love of books.
The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor. I do this for the love of books.
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