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Writer's pictureVanessa Bettencourt

Dystopian I've read this past Month


5/5 Stars

I was excited to read this book because I love and respect food as a form of art and was curious. It didn't disappoint. It wrapped me in such a way that I couldn't put it down and read it in a day.


This novel will present a lot of triggers to people when it comes to exploring good and bad things that can relate to the theme of food and also sex. But I am so happy to see the author didn't fear or shy away from writing her story.


What a fantastic inversion. In this world sex and food switch places (for example, the characters are in a mall and people can go to a sex court as a common daily necessity, while going to a restaurant is a forbidden sinful activity). On top of this, religion mediates both areas to manipulate society.


Congratulations to the author. The concept is great and I can appreciate the hard work put into it to make this dystopian world work. It offers us something that sounds fresh instead of the usual dystopian tropes. The cover is amazing.


There are plenty of sex descriptions and scenes and a bit of romance but thank god it's not about the melodrama of relationships, but about the roles of these relationships in this society. Also, the roles we chose for ourselves, the courage vs what is imposed by us (our values) or by society.


A very clever almost alien world that is still very relatable showing oppression and freedom from it.


Two characters, two lives, fighting for a place to belong and to be loved.


Genres: Fantasy - Science Fiction - Fiction - Horror - Adult - Dystopia - LGBT

Buy from B&N or Amazon.


4/5 Stars - This was one of the Book of the Month from April that I've read on Earth Day.


From the Publisher: "In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor, and a mysterious collective of researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that “delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart” (Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author).


In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is break­ing ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp—but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she’ll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself.


Rose quickly secures the trust of her target, only to discover that everyone has a hidden agenda, and nothing is as it seems. Through skill­fully braided perspectives, including those of a young professor longing to escape his wealthy family and an all-woman military research unit struggling for survival at a climate station, the fate of Camp Zero’s inhabitants reaches a stunning crescendo.


Atmospheric, fiercely original, and utterly gripping, Camp Zero is an electrifying page-turner and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all."


Genres: Science Fiction - Fiction - Dystopia - Fantasy - Adult - Mystery

Buy from B&N or Amazon.



4/5 Stars - Indie feature - Just released.

"Your life is valuable. You have control over what you do with it."

This is the story of Corrie of Four, or perhaps it's best to say this is the world where Corrie's death date is stipulated by her tier. The number four tattooed on her skin tells everyone she will die at the age of twenty. She is protective of those who are younger and daily labor to make life better for the higher tiers. But a few anomalies will shake the foundation of this system.


It felt like it had a slow start but then I understood why and I like how the author brings us into this world as if we were a lower tier as well. We also learn enough about the main character through her actions, insights, and doubts. If you get hooked by the concept then you won't be able to quit the series when you hit 60%. This first volume is a great setup for something bigger.



From the Author:

"The “4” tattooed on the back of Corrie’s neck means she’ll die before she turns twenty.


The knowledge of death dates has become available to the world. Now, those with early death dates—the Threes and Fours—are forced to put their short lives to use in a labor camp called the Prime so the long-lived can thrive.


While Corrie tries to focus on using her leadership role to secretly create change in the Prime, her friend’s suspicious death makes her wonder how set in stone fate really is. In a search for the truth, Corrie finds the source of the death dates. She discovers that she has a family outside of the Prime…


…and her own death is even closer than she thought.


Facing rising questions about the world, her family, and her future, Corrie knows the answers lie outside of the Prime’s concrete walls. And if she can uncover them, then life must have a greater purpose—but can she find it before death arrives?"



Genres: Young Adult - Science Fiction

Buy from Amazon.

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