The Handmaid’s Tale (Trump’s wet dream)

I finally read it! Okay so there seems to be societal pressure to read these modern classics, and after reading this book I get why, but at the same time please don’t feel like you must read these. This book is amazing and I loved it but if it’s not something you care about then don’t worry about it.

Anyways, that was a bit of a tangent that I went on so let’s get back to an actual review of this book. As you likely know, this book is a dystopian which is set within a world where there is an issue with mass infertility. We follow Offred (of Fred, as in Fred owns her…) as a Handmaid, she lives in a rich man’s house and must have sex with him in the aim to become pregnant and provide this household with offspring. If the Handmaid does give birth then the baby is straight away taken by the Wife of the house and is raised as their own child, with the Handmaid being moved on to the next household to serve the next family. Terrible, I know, but there is so much more depth, and therefore worse parts, to this world that I’ll leave you to find out yourself if you decide to read this book.

This book, despite being written a few decades ago, is still relevant today in a somewhat unsettling manner. If you’re a woman you will definitely recognise the exaggerated societal pressures and expectations within this book (blokes, you’ll probably see it too, please don’t take offense) that’ll strike a chord.

Overall, this book is one to give a shot if dystopians are your thing and if you want to read about Trump’s ideal world! Because I can only imagine how happy Trump would be if this was the reality and he was in charge *eye roll*

Shattered by Teri Tery

This series can’t be over? Surely?

…

Nope! Teri Terry has a prequel within this world and OMG I need to read it!!!!! But this is about the third book in the Slated trilogy, so let’s get down to business. First obvious thing first, I adored this book, 5/5*, it was amazing.

We not only get the wrapping up of so many loose ends, but at the beginning of the book new ends are created, and some are created by splitting apart threads we had thought were all twisted and wrapped up.

There were so many heartbreaking moments, those which will shock you and those which make you feel warm and fuzzy. There is romance present in this book, and surprisingly for me I absolutely loved it! It took a backseat to the main plot, but was also very much present throughout the book (which I find to represent real life and is my preferred romance representation and gives me the most heart fluttering feels), as well as being slowly developed over time rather than rushed into.

This is definitely a series you should start if you haven’t already (check out my review for book one here and give it a go!) and if you’ve not gotten around to finishing up the series then I hope this pushes you towards it as I massively enjoyed it and am so excited to read more from Teri Terry in the future! I definitely need to get more of her books!!!

Fractured by Teri Terry

This is the second book in the Slated trilogy by Teri Terry, (check out my review of book one here) which follows a girl named Kyla after she has been through the slating process and has lost her memories.

Yes, this is the middle book in the series, but it definitely doesn’t suffer from middle-book-syndrome! This book not only keeps up the fast pace set by book one but smashed through that and ups the ante yet again, keeping you on the edge of your seat and making the book incredibly difficult to put down.

There is so much character development within this book, as well as introducing new characters and developing them well also. Kyla’s memories are becoming more clear, although still blurry, and she has a great desire to question why she was slated. Who she had been. This is done very well, and feels very realistic and it also feels that it is how a teenage girl would react to this bizarre situation.

I am incredibly invested in the relationships that have been developed throughout these two books, both those that are romantic and platonic, friendly and unfriendly. There is so much thought and attention to detail put into this book and book three can only get bigger and better! I just hope it doesn’t break my heart in the process!

Have you picked up Slated yet? Or any other books by Teri Terry? I’ve only read this series by her but I definitely need to read more from her!

 

Aaru beat my expectations

Have you heard of this book? I hadn’t until the author contacted me and asked if I would review the book. I read the synopsis (click here to visit the Goodreads page) and thought that it sounded like a really interesting concept, so I said yes. It’s a dystopian book, about the possibility of storing the consciousness of an individual (whether alive or dead, as long as they had their data collected before their death) in a utopian world. Our main two characters are sisters, with one who has leukemia and is likely to pass away soon and the other is her younger sister and agrees to be the face of this new company in return for her sister being “saved” within this system.

I will say, that the beginning third of this book wasn’t great. The concept was still interesting but the writing wasn’t good enough to carry the story and I was feeling disappointed. However, I’m really glad I carried on with the book as the end two-thirds of the book are done so well and I was fully absorbed. The writing improves vastly and I was so invested in the events, that when I finished the story I knew I needed to read Halls of Hel! (The second book, click here to see it on Goodreads)

I still maintain that the beginning of this book could be improved, there’s a lot of information in there that is essential to the rest of the book so the content is important. However, the writing could be more engaging and I worry that others may be put off and not reach the more intriguing sections.

Overall, I think you should give this book a shot and be prepared to not fully click with the first section. Just be aware that it gets so, so interesting (and you could be the opposite of me and adore the whole thing) so give it a shot! I’m happy to add this to my collection!

Have you heard of and/or read this book? I’d be interested to know how many people know of this already!