Vox - Christina Dalcher

Vox by Christina Dalcher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was my book club pick for May 2019, and I think it will lend itself to some interesting discussions.
This dystopian novel is set in a United States where the women and girls have been effectively silenced. Each is allotted only 100 words a day. No female can hold jobs; girls are taught only the skills for homemaking in school. Dr. Jean McClellan can’t believe this limited existence came about so quickly, and she is determined to do what she can to make her voice heard.
I had heard amazing things about this book from many different people. The story itself was fascinating. The way the country came to be so restricted. Jean chafing against the new order but unsure how to change it. The characters representing the conservative Christians who instituted and enforced the new laws were more caricatures than the other main characters were. I’m assuming that was on purpose to create a bias.
I could have done without the romance and sex. I think it took away from the overall (and more important, in my mind) story. Also, there was so much language. It was distracting, not adding to the characters in any way. Additionally, I felt that one of the thread conclusions was just too pat, too easy for the build up it had.
Probably would have been a 3 star “I liked it book” but for the above. It does make one think, though.

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The Choosing - Rachelle Dekker

Publisher:        Tyndale House Publishers

Market:            Christian

Genre:             YA, Fiction, Dystopian

Length:            464 pages

Pub. Date:       May 19, 2015

 

Description (from Amazon):

Like all citizens since the Ruining, Carrington Hale knows the importance of this day. But she never expected the moment she’d spent a lifetime preparing for—her Choosing ceremony—would end in disaster. Ripped from her family, she’ll spend her days serving as a Lint, the lowest level of society. She knows it’s her duty to follow the true way of the Authority.

But as Carrington begins this nightmare, rumors of rebellion rattle her beliefs. The whispers contradict everything she’s been told; yet they resonate deep within.

Then Carrington is offered an unprecedented chance at the life she’s always dreamed of, but she can’t shake the feeling that it may be an illusion. With a killer targeting Lints and corruption threatening the highest levels of the Authority, Carrington must uncover the truth before it destroys her.

 

My Review:

I received this book as an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

I have been reading Ted Dekker’s books for years and have read most of them.  They are intriguing.  So when I came across a book written by his daughter on Edelweiss, I knew I wanted to read it.  Regardless of what it was about, I wanted to see how her writing compared to her father’s.  

While there were some similarities between the two, Rachelle shows in this book that she is more than capable of standing on her own and writing a story worth reading.  I was very pleasantly surprised with the story telling, character development, and overall message targeting her Young Adult audience.

The book jumps right into the action of a Choosing Ceremony.  While it was puzzling to jump right into the middle of a scene and a character’s thoughts, it certainly made me want to keep reading.  I wanted to follow Carrington as she is questioning all that is occurring as well; I was putting the pieces together to understand what was happening.  This book was definitely a page turner from start to finish.

I will say the text was full of typos, and that is probably the main negative I have to say about the book.  However, since I was reading an ARC, I imagine those have all been fixed in the final copy.  Additionally, the story was so engaging that I was able to overlook the annoyances, even as a former English teacher.  That is rare for me.

The story is very smooth flowing between dialogue, character interaction, character introspection, and description.  I would say the only thing that broke the flow was when the first few chapters each ended with retellings of the society’s history.  While this was necessary for an understanding of the story world, it was jarring at times.  I was glad when those history lessons dropped off early in the book.

Carrington was a very dynamic character.  She has a very visceral struggle between all she’s been taught to believe as truth versus what her heart tells her truth really is.  What is her worth?  Where does her value come from?  How do you navigate what your life is to be?  What do you do when you work so hard but don’t get the results you expect? 

Her challenges were portrayed in a very realistic way.  The other characters were equally as realistic and their motivations as believable.  I could feel Carrington’s father’s emotion for her and her pain.  I understood Larkin’s feelings of loneliness at her ostracism.  The whole set up of The Authority and its cast system was troubling to its very core.  The growing feelings between various characters (including Carrington’s own conflicting emotions) were handled in a manner appropriate to the intended audience and in a true-life manner.  All of it together drew me in to the story world and kept me captured. 

While I did find parts of the story line predictable, like the mystery behind the murdered Lint girls and the budding romance, that didn’t detract from the overall story for me nor did the predictability detract from the well-developed characters and plot.  The much needed message of value and worth just because of whom we are and WHOSE we are (children of God) more than compensated for the predictability. 

Scriptures are quoted throughout the book.  At times, members of The Authority twisted them for self-serving purposes or to justify actions.  This showed that if you don’t know the Word for yourself you can be easily led away from the truth by those in leadership. 

There is some violence in the book.  It is not gratuitous in any way. 

I look forward to having both my tween and teen daughters read it and discussing the book with them.  I think the book definitely reaches its target audience of young adult girls and can be an opening to important conversations.

I did feel the book wrapped up too quickly.  It left several threads loose.  I am hoping there will be a second book to carry on the characters and their story.

Pros:  an important message packaged in a story that is intriguing and focused; kept me up late nights turning pages

Cons:  I want a sequel  J

 

My Rating:  5 out of 5 stars (near perfect)

The First Principle - Marissa Shrock

Publisher:        Kregel Publications

Market:            Christian

Genre:             YA; dystopian

Length:            240 pages

Pub. Date:       December 20, 2014

 

Description (from Amazon):

In the not-too-distant future, the United Regions of America has formed. Governors hold territories instead of states, and while Washington, DC, is gone, the government has more control than ever before. For fifteen-year-old Vivica Wilkins, the daughter of a governor, this is life as usual. High school seems pretty much the same--until one day, that controlling power steps right through the door during study hall.

When Vivica speaks out to defend her pregnant friend against the harsh treatment of Population Management Officer Marina Ward, she has no idea she's sowing the seeds of a revolution in her own life. But it isn't long before she discovers her own illegal pregnancy. Now she has to decide whether to get the mandatory abortion--or follow her heart, try to keep the baby, and possibly ruin her mother's chances at becoming president.

A rebel group called the Emancipation Warriors, who are fighting to restore freedoms once held unalienable, offer her asylum. Can Vivica trust these rebels to help her or will they bring everything crashing down around her? Accepting their help may come with consequences she isn't ready to face.

Marissa Shrock's debut novel crafts a chilling story of what may be to come if we allow the economic and moral crises currently facing our country to change the foundations on which we built our independence--and of the difference one person can make when they choose to trust God's lead.

 

My Review:

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.  I requested the book for two reasons.  The first being that futuristic dystopian literature is still such a hot area for young adult fiction.  I like to explore authors’ different takes on the prevalent theme.  However, the bigger draw for me was the author herself, Marissa Shrock.  She is a middle school language arts teacher, as I was once, publishing her first novel.  So my assumption was that she would have a good handle on what appeals to teen readers.  I was not disappointed.

Fifteen-year-old Vivica Wilkins is the daughter of a governor in the not too distant future United Regions of North America.  She has been indoctrinated that government knows best and to toe the line.  Vivica doesn’t question her life until she discovers her illegal pregnancy and begins to wonder about the sanctity of life and if the government is really looking out for the best interest of those it’s meant to serve. 

Vivica is driven by both internal conflict and external events.  She is surrounded by characters who are each true to their own natures and have their own agendas.  This at times creates support for Vivica and her journey and at other times creates a lot of the plot tension that kept me turning pages.

While the idea of a United Regions of North America and the government structures was confusing at times, I think both were adequately explained throughout the story.  It was just such an unfamiliar (yet recognizable) “country” and government system that at times I had to pause in the story and think.  Never a bad thing.  Shrock creates a very believable option of a future society full of government control and the acceptance of any beliefs but those founded on Biblical principles. 

My qualms with the story came in two linked areas.  The first being the relationship between Vivica and the father of her child.  It just seemed a bit too dramatic and forced to me.  It also seemed in place for the sole purpose of pushing Vivica to accept Christ and the Emancipation Warriors beliefs.  The beliefs the Emancipation Warriors are fighting for in the book are unashamedly Christian and biblically based.  Both good things to expose young readers of today too.  However, many times it seemed nothing more than a plot device and will perhaps turn some readers off the book as a whole.

As far as questionable content for the conservative reader, there is both violence (although not graphic) and, as mentioned, teen pregnancy.  However, I believe it is perfectly acceptable for young adult readers.  The book brings a perspective not really found in current YA dystopian novels.  Most are based on the achievement of the individual protagonist.  While Vivica is strong and certainly does her part, it is clear that there is a bigger work at play and that God ultimately helps people succeed.  Additionally, the story world created by Shrock is not as fantastical and fictional as most dystopian worlds tend to be.  She took trends we already see in our current culture and simply magnifies them in her future story world.

Overall, I think this is a worthwhile book for both teens and adults alike.  It made me ponder some of the things I see around me in society and government.  I was rooting for Vivica, which kept me turning pages.  And the book ended in such a way that I wonder if this is the first in a series – an idea that I would fully support as a reader.

Pros:  fast-paced; dynamic protagonist with antagonists I loved to dislike; realistic future worldview

Cons:  some plot jumps; spirituality as plot device

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars (Good)

*This review is also posted on The Christian Manifesto website