I wanted so badly to LOVE this book. I wanted it to take up residence on my "favorites" shelf. The subject matter of this book, I just knew, as soon as I saw it, this was right up my alley. I promptly put it on my wish list over at barnes and noble, high priority, even. When I saw that the nookbook had one day dropped in price to $3.99 from $14 , I got that tingly feeling that only getting a much-wanted book at a bargain price can give.

The story started okay, explaining who the character was, her predicament and the hows and whys of how she got there. After that, the story pretty much dropped off and it just felt like it was all over the place and NOTHING was resolved. What happened to her sister and Cole? What happened to the people that ran the home she spent those six weeks at? There was mention that the Novembrists might do something to them, but nothing ever happened. Her situation with Aidan, I felt there was no resolution there either. I was sorely disappointed with the story and felt like the author just hurried up and finished. It's almost as if Hillary Jordan got tired of writing and said "screw it, I'm done, let's wrap it up and put a bow on it." I give the book three stars because the idea behind the book is a good one and I did enjoy reading about that. This is just another one of those books that I feel the author could've done so much more with. ( )

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Jordan-carlate/428948

I could barely finish this. The first half of the book is terrifying in its take on a possible future where fascism based on right-wing religion gains not only legitimacy, but political and governmental agency. That's not the church that Jesus founded and I have loved. The latter half of the book loses its way, just as the protagonist seems to find hers. Coincidences and stupid decisions abound and lead to an obvious and unsatisfying ending. ( )

A modern re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter, in which people who are convicted of crimes have their skin modified to be tinted a color that correlates to the kind of crime they committed. For Hannah, who was caught just after having an abortion, it means her skin is red, the color for murder. She refuses to name the father, who is a famous evangelist and recent appointee to a religious post in the federal government, and she must navigate a society that is completely hostile to her all while struggling to with the notion that her conservative Christian upbringing may not have been an accurate outlook on the world.

A great tribute to Hawthorne while also being a bit terrifying for how close to the current state of things it gets. Excellently strong, feminist ending as well. Recommended. ( )

WOW it was NOT a good idea to read this right after Kennedy announced his retirement...

This is a lovely awful dystopian novel, and I appreciate that it stands alone and that it called into question faith and the various ways one can embrace it. I don't have any myself, but regardless, I enjoyed reading about Hannah's devotion changing.

Same issue as always though--there's never quite an easy solution to dystopian novels. Kinda like our world today. ( )