In a nation built upon lies, the truth could mean freedom...or death. Jack knows the truth.
Born into Capernica’s lowest social tier and not permitted to leave Settlement 56, Jaclyn Holloway refuses to pour out her years in the local fish cannery. She gambles on the one chance available to her to advance—the high school Exit Exam. In a country that still keenly remembers the horrors of the Provocation, the period of unexplained disappearances that led to revolution, the smartest and strongest are richly rewarded in exchange for military service. Jack is adamant that her best friend, Will Ransom, join her in striving for induction. But if Jack fails to pass the stringent physical standards and Will succeeds, she will not be allowed to see him again until his tour of duty is completed—in twenty years.
Meanwhile, the government has been keeping a tight lid on a new string of abductions. Jack’s Exam score places her in a position to aid Axis, an underground organization charged with investigating events that threaten national security. The evidence leads her back forty-seven years, to a series of high-profile cover-ups linked to the Provocation. Blowing the whistle could place her in danger, but holding her silence means history will likely repeat.
And Capernica could never survive a second Provocation.
MICHELLE ISENHOFF writes for women, teens, and tweens. Her work has been reader-nominated for a Cybils Award, the Great Michigan Read, and the Maine Student Book Award. She's also placed as a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review Book Awards, a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and earned multiple Readers' Favorite 5 Star seals of approval. A former teacher and longtime homeschooler, Michelle has written extensively in the children's genre and been lauded by the education community for the literary quality of her work. More recently, she has enjoyed writing historical romance for older teens and women. Currently, she is relishing the creative freedom of branching out into adult speculative fiction.
How to describe this book? Dystopian, yes, but with hints of Jack and the Beanstalk. Heh. It is, in some ways, a typical dystopian with Hunger Games vibes and a love triangle, yet it avoids the aspects of that series I liked least. The heroine is strong and driven, and she struggles in many relatable ways. I appreciate her loyalty, focus, and initiative. She is strong despite a rough childhood, largely due to the love of her foster mother and adopted siblings, and her longtime friendship with Will--people whose love works as anchors in her life. I also appreciate her working relationships with Ethan and her other co-workers. There is violence, but it is not graphic, and there is romance, but it is sweet. Yes, there is a love triangle, but overall I would say our heroine handles a difficult situation well. This is the first in a 5-book series, but it is FREE, so you can easily get a taste of the writer's style and fall in love with her world. The opening is rather slow, mostly set-up of Jack's life and the dystopian world, but once she leaves home and starts discovering mysteries, it picks up pace and gets exciting. I'm currently reading book 2, so you know I liked it a lot! If you enjoy a bit of dystopian fantasy and like your books clean and not depressing, be sure to give this series a try!
There are chunks of this which are a little too Hunger Games. Most obviously, the authoritarian government and rigid class structure, with the heroine at the bottom. There’s also the (sigh…) love triangle, with Jack increasingly torn between hunky local boy Will, who did pass the Military test, and hunky sophisticate Ethan, her partner in the Axis. Is is just not possible for any YA heroine to remain in one, committed relationship for the duration of a series? Hell, a single volume? That’s the bad news. The good is… well, just about everything else, to be honest.
What I particularly liked was that it’s not the case that Lowers = good and Uppers/Military = bad. It’s easy for this kind of book to settle for simplistic black and white; Isenhoff doesn’t go that route, and it’s the better for it. The motivations of almost all the characters seem legitimate and well thought-out, though as yet, we don’t know much about the real antagonists here. For spoilery reasons, I can’t say a lot, but I imagine they are going to come out of the shadows much more in subsequent volumes.
I loved this book! It had just the right amount of adventure, strong heroine, sexy males and dystopia heaven :)
The characters were likable, the story draws you in immediately, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The love triangle isn't even unbearable as they are in some stories.
I loved this. It was gripping and I hung on every page. There are certainly enough stories set against a dystopian backdrop to go around, but this, in my opinion, was a more than welcomed addition. The characters and their motivations seemed authentic, and the twists...they were much appreciated.
Jaclyn (Jack), Holloway, is an orphan in a system that would rather forget her than preserve her basic rights as a human. She was born into the lowest caste of a three-tiered caste system. A system so ridged that a person could not relocate in an attempt to increase their social standing without government approval. She lives in sector fifty-six with Opal Wildon. A woman she trusts and a woman who is the kindest person she has ever met. This village is where she will live for the rest of her life, probably working for the only industry in town, the cannery, if she does not pass the exit exam and qualify for the military. But, a few days later, she learned that she did not qualify for the military, but that did not stop a strange man from offering her a more secret than the military and military adjacent job.
While I’m not a fan of everything but the kitchen sink approach when it comes to genres, I think you could have added at least one more mystery. You had me guessing and surprised me in places. The physical world-building is enough to give me a sense of where the characters are. The ethereal world-building is mostly of a personal nature. The character interaction is a little soft in places, but overall, the conversation between characters is as expected.
This series starter has quite a lot going for it. It is a science-fiction, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and political, not to mention romance, among others, read. I give this manuscript five stars out of five stars.
Isenhoff ‘s trilogy is a heart-pounding and thrilling read with gorgeous writing, mesmerizing world building and gripping story line that culminates in a series that is absolutely addictive. She masterfully builds a world that is believable, haunting and creates a realistic backdrop for her multi-layered and authentic characters in Jaclyn (Jack), Will, Ethan, Aunt Opal, Willoughby and Jewell. They are flawed, powerful, vulnerable and will draw you deeply into their high-stakes story. The heroine, Jack, is such a likable character, who repeatedly demonstrates strength of body, mind, and spirit throughout the series. You’ll be cheering for her from the very first page. The thing I liked about the large cast of characters is that you never know who you can trust and when you can trust them. They keep you on your toes and utterly glued to the pages. And there is a sweet love story. Readers will enjoy sinking into the thoughtfully constructed details of Isenhoff’s ravaged future Earth, as well as a number of terrifying action sequences that build to a game-changing twist. The plot is riveting, action-packed and complex. Isenhoff has a sweeping imagination and you never know what to expect next. Each chapter ends with a cliff-hangar which keeps you reading because you want to know the outcome. I lost a couple of nights of sleep because I couldn’t put her engaging novel down. My favorite new dysptopian series.
I was given this book for an honest review. This is the story of Jaclyn Holloway or as she prefers, Jack. Jack is an orphan in a society that has been recovering from a strange disappearance of thousands of people called the Provocation that nobody has been able to explain. A new government was formed and people places in castes, tiers of society, for their contributions needed to support society. Or so they have been told by the government leaders who say this is for the best of society. She is adopted by a nice old lady named Opal after Jack's many problems with other foster parents and homes. Jack graduates High School and tries to join the military with her friend and love interest Will which would mean better status and money for their families and they would get to see each other. A military career is 20yrs and only family can communicate with the military. The testing starts a long chain of events and takes Jack into a world she never had a clue existed. The story is very exciting, character development very well done. I enjoyed this so much I had to buy the 2nd in the series right away to continue the story. And I will certainly be continuing to read the next volumes as well.
Thought this was interesting. I'd say one of the best parts was that I couldn't predict what was going to happen. It's hard to surprise me anymore but I couldn't guess any of the plot points before they happened.
I did expect there to be a twist of Will being evil and batting for the other team but that didn't happen. So my one guess as to what would happen was wrong.
For me though it was almost too unpredictable of a plot. I wasn't even sure what the plot was or where the story was going until quite a ways into the book. I thought at first it was going to be some sort of dystopian take the current power players down thing. Instead there was an entirely different group.
I also felt there was a lot of time focusing on things like training that ended up not having much of a point except to show that Jack was doing things. Or the school thing had quite a bit of time dedicated to it just for them not really to find out anything. I mean, they got a lead once they witnessed a kidnapping but they hadn't needed to be attending the school undercover for that. They could've just been prowling around from a distance or something to figure that out. I kind of expected there to be some information they'd uncover or something that they found out that made being undercover as students make sense. Instead it just seemed like they needed more characters and help later in the book so the author had to do the school bit just to work that in.
I am curious to see what happens later on and I'm hoping the love triangle gets smooshed pretty quick. This is a unique dystopian novel with a focus on a character who's not looking to rebel and is actually working from inside the system with a government sanctioned organization that is headed by someone that isn't a power-hungry support the current tyranny type. I like the points of this that stand out and it's worth continuing on.
I came into this novel with absolutely no preconceived ideas: one second I was opening my mind to the idea of the post-Provocation world and the next I was fully invested in the life of Jack and her close circle of friends and family.
Don't let my four stars discourage you: I am a notoriously strict reviewer. I save five stars for books that have changed my life and reshaped my world view. This one isn't quite there, but it is close. When I walk away from my Kindle and find myself mulling quietly over the details of this strange new reality, you know it has earned a solid place in my mental lexicon
I don't want to spoil the reading experience so let's go with this: come for the characters and stay for the plot. This is not an earth-shakingly new reality, but, as Adrienne Rich once said "There are no new ideas. There are just new ways of making them felt." Part Hunger Games, part Handmaid's Tale, part 1984, the first book left me more than ready to dive into the rest of the series in short order.
You'll like Jack: you'll hate the implications of her world; you'll stay to help her navigate an ever-broadening world view.
At first, it gave a Hunger Games-ish feeling. Then it soon started pulling a Dan Brown; with its suspense and mysteries.
The story is engrossing. And the characters are very likable.
To summarise the story: There was an event (The Provocation) that happened 47 years ago that caused quite a pandemonium. So like it generally happens in movies, some totalitarian leader came up, took control of the situation and turned it into a dystopia. Now, after like half a century, the new generation has forgotten the Provocation and there's unrest among the lower rungs of the society.
Jack, just another Lower (or maybe not) from Settlement 56, tries her best to not be Lower anymore for herself and the betterment of her foster family.
Then Jack joins a super secret organization and The Provocation starts again and she's supposed to uncover all the secrets and solve all the mysteries related to this incomprehensible event and save everyone.
I was immediately drawn into Jack's point of view, but the beginning of the book seemed a bit cliche, and I settled in to enjoy a fun but average dystopian novel. However, the book is very well-written, and the story took a turn or two that I did not see coming.
Colorful, three-dimensional characters flesh out an intriguing, often intense plot full of mystery. Not everything - or everyone - is as it seems, and I found myself reading this book at all times of the day because I couldn't wait to find the next puzzle piece.
Recompense is remarkably well-edited for an indie book. If there were errors, they were so few and far between - and I was so engrossed in the story and characters - that I didn't notice any. Plus, all of the books in this series have refreshingly simple, tasteful covers.
Overall, I found Recompense to be an enjoyable, action-filled dystopian novel with a few tropes and a handful of twists to make up for them. I definitely recommend it and am looking forward to book 2!
*Note: I received a free copy of Recompense from the author in exchange for an honest review.
An entertaining YA sci-fi adventure! Give it a shot, and I know you'll be hooked like I was. It's not my usual genre of choice, but I connect with Isenhoff's characters. I care about what happens to them. And the pacing of her novels keeps me in suspense...there is a good ebb and flow to the story. If you enjoy series like the Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent, you'll definitely love Recompense!
The storyline in this dystopian series (think there is going to be four books in total) went in a different direction to what I expected. The characters are likeable, the relationship between the main character Jack and her family is endearing and believable. The one area I think it is lacking a bit is that there could be more action to create further suspense. Will be reading next book in series.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from a giveaway.
I loved this book. It was interesting, and the main character (Jack) was very likable. The story had shades of Hunger Games at the beginning, but very soon started reminding me a lot of something like Partials, by Dan Wells. The writing was clear and easy to follow, and the story had a few twists I didn't expect. It was a great read, and any fans of the Hunger Games, Partials, and other stories along those lines will love it.
Very good dystopian novel. In this world, there are three castes; lower, middle and upper. The only way to rise out of the lower caste is to qualify for military. Jack (Jaclyn) and will have been training in preparation for the exams. When Jack fails to qualify by 3 seconds, she is recruited by a secret organization. What she discovers will change her life. Although part of a series, this book can be read alone.
This book started off slow for me. There is so much description needed at the beginning to understand where the story is going. I was bored but then about 1/3 way through it starts to make sense what the author is doing. What a ride after that! It's incredible. You will only understand by reading the book. I loved the ride!!! Now pushing on to Book 3. Gotta know the continuing story of Jack & Ethan.
The author has spent considerable time to put together such an awesome story. The characters pop, the action is believable and my interest never waned. Did I mention that there are enough twists in the plot to make you say hmmmmmm? This could easily be material for a televised miniseries
An excellent storyline for this story. The main characters were very believable and very consistent as represented in the book.
It was a post apocalyptic story, but didn't have the horrible, pervasive environment that is typical of apocalyptic stories. It started in a very comfortable home, very home town environment that the reader would love to visit.
This the first sci-fi book I have read. I think it is a thriller. This story is for young people, say teens and twenty years olds. I gave the book 5 stars because I thought it was pretty good. The book is very interesting.
I really enjoyed this book. It was an imaginative story that grabbed me on page one and never let go. If you like dystopian sci-fi with a little romance thrown in, this book's for you. Great for readers 12 and up.
Great read. Recompense is one of those books you'll want to read non-stop! With well-developed characters, plot, and action, it's very entertaining. I've already bought the sequel for my Kindle. I'm just waiting for my vacation to have time to keep on reading.
She lives in a poor fishing village but is determined to get into the military academy so she can feed her family and give them a better life. He world feels like it will end when she can’t make the cut; but that’s just the beginning of her story.
A note of caution, this is a series and if you read this book you will be hooked! Engaging story and wonderful characters that will keep you wanting more. If you like Hunger Games you will enjoy this series.
a truly memorable heroine whose world is turned upside down. I have to give at least four stars to a book I read as an ebook that held my attention so determinedly that I lost track of time.