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Willow #1
Chase
Chase Hunter knows something is wrong with the society she lives in. The fact that her daughter, Willow, even exists is proof since Chase and her husband are no more than friends, despite keeping up appearances.
When the government’s hospital staff expresses too much interest in Willow after her required five-year exam, Chase is ready to do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe—even if that means breaking the law.
With the help of her husband and friends, Chase discovers secrets that go beyond who Willow’s real father is.
Nate Ashcroft is a content bachelor and proud member of PCR, the task force designed to not only keep the city safe, but prevent crime from happening in the first place.
Nate’s privileged world starts collapsing when he’s forcibly engaged to further his father’s political agenda and his fiancée admits to helping PCR imprison and torture a civilian.
Soon, Nate finds himself attempting to rescue a woman he’s never met and running for his—and her—life.
When the government’s hospital staff expresses too much interest in Willow after her required five-year exam, Chase is ready to do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe—even if that means breaking the law.
With the help of her husband and friends, Chase discovers secrets that go beyond who Willow’s real father is.
Nate Ashcroft is a content bachelor and proud member of PCR, the task force designed to not only keep the city safe, but prevent crime from happening in the first place.
Nate’s privileged world starts collapsing when he’s forcibly engaged to further his father’s political agenda and his fiancée admits to helping PCR imprison and torture a civilian.
Soon, Nate finds himself attempting to rescue a woman he’s never met and running for his—and her—life.
- GenresScience Fiction
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 9, 2019
About the author
Kate Breuer
9 books6 followersKate has been writing for as long as she can remember. As a child she could be found cooped up in armchairs, bed, or propped inside of door frames reading book after book.
During summer vacations at her grandmother’s house, she would read books like The Little Prince and The Diary of a Young Girl albeit being too young to read it. This is where she ultimately wrote her first story about a little cigarette going on an adventure to avoid death by fire, which was inspired by her grandmother’s chain-smoking habits.
Reading a poem at her best friend’s funeral as a teenager made her realize just how much power words hold.
With the help of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, as well as Bilbo, Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, and the like, she began writing fantasy novels and short stories. One of her first finished books, and one of the most embarrassing choices of her writing career, was a sequel to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
It was years before she finally went on to original work and even longer before any of it had much value. In 2015, she wrote this very book during NaNoWriMo, well, a very rough first draft. In 2018 it is now finally edited and ready for you to read.
Constant Vigilance!
During summer vacations at her grandmother’s house, she would read books like The Little Prince and The Diary of a Young Girl albeit being too young to read it. This is where she ultimately wrote her first story about a little cigarette going on an adventure to avoid death by fire, which was inspired by her grandmother’s chain-smoking habits.
Reading a poem at her best friend’s funeral as a teenager made her realize just how much power words hold.
With the help of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, as well as Bilbo, Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, and the like, she began writing fantasy novels and short stories. One of her first finished books, and one of the most embarrassing choices of her writing career, was a sequel to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
It was years before she finally went on to original work and even longer before any of it had much value. In 2015, she wrote this very book during NaNoWriMo, well, a very rough first draft. In 2018 it is now finally edited and ready for you to read.
Constant Vigilance!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 13, 2019
“Her genes are perfect. I don’t think this one is going home for long.”
“We’ll have to wait for the results but I’m sure the experiment was successful.”
Those were words Chase Hunter was never supposed to hear, and were it not that the door had creaked open right then while she sat in the waiting room she wouldn’t have. But she did hear them, and that changed everything.
Things aren’t as they appear in this mysterious utopian city surrounded by series of concentric walls erected supposedly to safeguard the lives of the residents. This was just becoming painfully clear to Chase, a seamstress, when she starts to suspect that without her consent her young daughter Willow has been made the unwitting subject of a medical experiment under the guise of the mandatory exam.
It was no great secret to Chase and her friends, that something wasn’t right with their society that surveils its people at all times, decides who marries who by government arrangement, and perhaps worst of all conducted those dreaded, but all important exams. But it had been that way for everyone as long as anyone could remember, maybe since the war, but that was long ago. Nobody knew anything else.
Willow was just turning five, which meant that on her birthday and annually thereafter the government would conduct the exams supposedly to help people lead their best lives. Chase didn’t believe any of that, and nobody really did, but fighting the city was futile and maybe suicidal. Even her husband admonished her to just “trust the system”, even though he knew that was impossible. So without much of a real choice, Chase reluctantly relents and takes her daughter in to her scheduled five year exam, hoping it will be no big deal.
But then she overheard those nurses talking about Willow, that they were using her a guinea pig in of some experiment and they weren’t telling her about. It was inescapable to Chase now that something was not just a little bit wrong but very wrong, and that she had to do something to protect her daughter.
Set in the backdrop of the mysterious concentric city, the young heroine Chase Hunter hatches a daring plan with her husband and friends to switch out Willow’s experimental medical samples and stop the government doctors from continuing their experiments in secret on Willow. However, when the plan goes awry, Chase finds herself detained in the hospital and under inquisition by the dreaded police force (“peacers” as she called them) in a world of hurt, cut off from her friends and who are now her only hope to save both her and her daughter.
Caught up in the ensuing action is Nate Ashcroft, son of the city’s powerful mayor and a proud member of the P.C.R. police force. Up to then, things had been pretty simple for Nate, but that had all changed now that he had just been told by his father, that he had arranged his marriage. Things get even more complicated for Nate when his fiancée shows up to his apartment in distress and proceeds to tell him nothing about their marriage but rather to confess to he and his friends how she had been forced to play a part in the torture of a young woman who had broken into the hospital. She knew what they made her do was wrong but didn’t know how to stop them or what to do, that she was being used. Believing her story, a disillusioned Nate together with his now woke comrades, vow to free Chase despite the risks of actively working against his father the mayor.
So begins Chase, the first of a promised three book Willow series by newly minted and versatile author and (I am pleased to call my friend) Kate Breuer (who also just released her first children’s book, the adorable and inspiringly warm-hearted “You Can Do It, Squirrel!”). As the premier book in the proposed Willow trilogy, Chase brings to life a diversity of colorful characters that populate Chase’s world as a small band of friends work together to free Chase from the peacers and keep Willow away from the government doctors’ genetic experiments.
While situated many years beyond our present day, Chase offers us a vision into an austere world where the truth is as terrifying as it is dangerous for those who dare to question. Yet it also carries with it the eternal acorn of hope that the weakness of tyranny often is the courage of those fighting for love in the face of overwhelming odds against dangerous adversity.
Chase is a solid debut for Kate Breuer as a science fiction writer and the two sequels to follow of the Willow series hint of adventure and danger to come both within and beyond the walls as the the story unfolds and the world of the concentric city comes into closer focus. Sci-fi fans everywhere should enjoy this this book and keep an eye peeled for future works by Kate Breuer. Bravo, Kate!
“We’ll have to wait for the results but I’m sure the experiment was successful.”
Those were words Chase Hunter was never supposed to hear, and were it not that the door had creaked open right then while she sat in the waiting room she wouldn’t have. But she did hear them, and that changed everything.
Things aren’t as they appear in this mysterious utopian city surrounded by series of concentric walls erected supposedly to safeguard the lives of the residents. This was just becoming painfully clear to Chase, a seamstress, when she starts to suspect that without her consent her young daughter Willow has been made the unwitting subject of a medical experiment under the guise of the mandatory exam.
It was no great secret to Chase and her friends, that something wasn’t right with their society that surveils its people at all times, decides who marries who by government arrangement, and perhaps worst of all conducted those dreaded, but all important exams. But it had been that way for everyone as long as anyone could remember, maybe since the war, but that was long ago. Nobody knew anything else.
Willow was just turning five, which meant that on her birthday and annually thereafter the government would conduct the exams supposedly to help people lead their best lives. Chase didn’t believe any of that, and nobody really did, but fighting the city was futile and maybe suicidal. Even her husband admonished her to just “trust the system”, even though he knew that was impossible. So without much of a real choice, Chase reluctantly relents and takes her daughter in to her scheduled five year exam, hoping it will be no big deal.
But then she overheard those nurses talking about Willow, that they were using her a guinea pig in of some experiment and they weren’t telling her about. It was inescapable to Chase now that something was not just a little bit wrong but very wrong, and that she had to do something to protect her daughter.
Set in the backdrop of the mysterious concentric city, the young heroine Chase Hunter hatches a daring plan with her husband and friends to switch out Willow’s experimental medical samples and stop the government doctors from continuing their experiments in secret on Willow. However, when the plan goes awry, Chase finds herself detained in the hospital and under inquisition by the dreaded police force (“peacers” as she called them) in a world of hurt, cut off from her friends and who are now her only hope to save both her and her daughter.
Caught up in the ensuing action is Nate Ashcroft, son of the city’s powerful mayor and a proud member of the P.C.R. police force. Up to then, things had been pretty simple for Nate, but that had all changed now that he had just been told by his father, that he had arranged his marriage. Things get even more complicated for Nate when his fiancée shows up to his apartment in distress and proceeds to tell him nothing about their marriage but rather to confess to he and his friends how she had been forced to play a part in the torture of a young woman who had broken into the hospital. She knew what they made her do was wrong but didn’t know how to stop them or what to do, that she was being used. Believing her story, a disillusioned Nate together with his now woke comrades, vow to free Chase despite the risks of actively working against his father the mayor.
So begins Chase, the first of a promised three book Willow series by newly minted and versatile author and (I am pleased to call my friend) Kate Breuer (who also just released her first children’s book, the adorable and inspiringly warm-hearted “You Can Do It, Squirrel!”). As the premier book in the proposed Willow trilogy, Chase brings to life a diversity of colorful characters that populate Chase’s world as a small band of friends work together to free Chase from the peacers and keep Willow away from the government doctors’ genetic experiments.
While situated many years beyond our present day, Chase offers us a vision into an austere world where the truth is as terrifying as it is dangerous for those who dare to question. Yet it also carries with it the eternal acorn of hope that the weakness of tyranny often is the courage of those fighting for love in the face of overwhelming odds against dangerous adversity.
Chase is a solid debut for Kate Breuer as a science fiction writer and the two sequels to follow of the Willow series hint of adventure and danger to come both within and beyond the walls as the the story unfolds and the world of the concentric city comes into closer focus. Sci-fi fans everywhere should enjoy this this book and keep an eye peeled for future works by Kate Breuer. Bravo, Kate!
April 14, 2019
I was given an ARC copy and asked to give a honest review.
First, I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK! 4.5 stars! I need to know what happens after that cliffhanger ending! I immensely enjoyed reading this book, and will definitely be picking up the next book, Rebel.
This is a delicious dystopian novel which has a world that’s somewhat reminiscent of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, with a walled city and the citizens being under constant surveillance, required to do the job they’re assigned, accept the person they’ve been matched to, and nonexistent (or at least, they want you to think that) crime.
The synopsis tells you what you need to know about this book, but I want to add that this book has wonderful friendships, people who will support each other without question and will commit crime to protect them.
The pacing is somewhat sedate at the beginning, as there’s time being spent on introducing us to the characters and world-building. It certainly picks up, and I can’t pinpoint where, since I was reading the eARC and got sucked in until I smacked headfirst into the ending. It does feel like it suddenly ends, but I would guess that’s because there are two more books coming.
The .5 that I took away from the rating is in part due to the pacing. The other part - I did appreciate the way the characters were introduced then woven together as the story went on, but it did feel a little too convenient sometimes. I saw some of the introductions coming from a mile away, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book.
All in all, I had fun reading this, and will possibly reread it before picking up the next book when it’s released.
First, I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK! 4.5 stars! I need to know what happens after that cliffhanger ending! I immensely enjoyed reading this book, and will definitely be picking up the next book, Rebel.
This is a delicious dystopian novel which has a world that’s somewhat reminiscent of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, with a walled city and the citizens being under constant surveillance, required to do the job they’re assigned, accept the person they’ve been matched to, and nonexistent (or at least, they want you to think that) crime.
The synopsis tells you what you need to know about this book, but I want to add that this book has wonderful friendships, people who will support each other without question and will commit crime to protect them.
The pacing is somewhat sedate at the beginning, as there’s time being spent on introducing us to the characters and world-building. It certainly picks up, and I can’t pinpoint where, since I was reading the eARC and got sucked in until I smacked headfirst into the ending. It does feel like it suddenly ends, but I would guess that’s because there are two more books coming.
The .5 that I took away from the rating is in part due to the pacing. The other part - I did appreciate the way the characters were introduced then woven together as the story went on, but it did feel a little too convenient sometimes. I saw some of the introductions coming from a mile away, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book.
All in all, I had fun reading this, and will possibly reread it before picking up the next book when it’s released.
April 13, 2019
This work is the sort of work which does everything well, but I wished it could be more.
The story begins with a young mother, who has her own secrets with her situation being defining of what sort of world she lives in. In a loveless marriage, without any real way out.
It got me to really like her character and understand that this was not a forgiving world. It also affected the other narrator severely, and made this a strong beginning.
But I felt that it trailed on nowhere for too long. The whole deal about Willow and her finding answers stupid have been earlier. Since it seemed to not really be going anywhere for a while before picking up.
And having me keep reading. And it quietly pulls the rug from me, with the world she lives in taking a darker turn. But one which was obvious given the fact that many were forcefully matched, and could be said to result in all sorts of terrible, cynical, or strange matches. And if you're cheating, and boast of it, goodbye to you.
But I never manage to get any more than that. What do they want with Willow? I definitely would have liked some answers which I did not have.
The two narrators are brought together in a way that feels reasonable if a little convenient.
Overall, I really liked the work. A strong beginning and satisfies everything, and leaves me with a clear idea of where to go. The main character is likeable and determined, even as I would have liked her motives to be shown, and her distress as a mother losing her daughter.
And that the plot threads could have been a little better. Other than that, a solid work.
The story begins with a young mother, who has her own secrets with her situation being defining of what sort of world she lives in. In a loveless marriage, without any real way out.
It got me to really like her character and understand that this was not a forgiving world. It also affected the other narrator severely, and made this a strong beginning.
But I felt that it trailed on nowhere for too long. The whole deal about Willow and her finding answers stupid have been earlier. Since it seemed to not really be going anywhere for a while before picking up.
And having me keep reading. And it quietly pulls the rug from me, with the world she lives in taking a darker turn. But one which was obvious given the fact that many were forcefully matched, and could be said to result in all sorts of terrible, cynical, or strange matches. And if you're cheating, and boast of it, goodbye to you.
But I never manage to get any more than that. What do they want with Willow? I definitely would have liked some answers which I did not have.
The two narrators are brought together in a way that feels reasonable if a little convenient.
Overall, I really liked the work. A strong beginning and satisfies everything, and leaves me with a clear idea of where to go. The main character is likeable and determined, even as I would have liked her motives to be shown, and her distress as a mother losing her daughter.
And that the plot threads could have been a little better. Other than that, a solid work.
May 2, 2019
Was provided with an ARC in for an honest review
Chase by Kate Breuer is a Adult Dystopian that made me gave up society for a day to finish the book.
First of all it spans over a very short period of time and I love reaching such books. In just a few days we cross over the idea of this society sounds messed up to this has all been a lie!
The fast paced books kept me engaged through and through.
Chase afraid to lose her daughter to the rule makers of her society will do everything to stop it from happening.
Nate who is born into the privilege only wants to go what's right.. and for certain knows his father is not doing any of it.
Kate brings out Chase and Nate's personality and brings out the color is a dry and grey city.
I can't wait for the other parts of the book.
Chase by Kate Breuer is a Adult Dystopian that made me gave up society for a day to finish the book.
First of all it spans over a very short period of time and I love reaching such books. In just a few days we cross over the idea of this society sounds messed up to this has all been a lie!
The fast paced books kept me engaged through and through.
Chase afraid to lose her daughter to the rule makers of her society will do everything to stop it from happening.
Nate who is born into the privilege only wants to go what's right.. and for certain knows his father is not doing any of it.
Kate brings out Chase and Nate's personality and brings out the color is a dry and grey city.
I can't wait for the other parts of the book.
January 18, 2019
Before you start reading Chase by Kate Breuer make sure you cleared your schedule because once you start you will not want to put it down.
From the first page, Chase grabs your attention with her worry and concern over the upcoming tests on her daughter, Willow. She knows something is wrong, really wrong, but doesn’t know what.
The characters are engaging and likable. By the end, I was sitting on the edge of my chair!
From the first page, Chase grabs your attention with her worry and concern over the upcoming tests on her daughter, Willow. She knows something is wrong, really wrong, but doesn’t know what.
The characters are engaging and likable. By the end, I was sitting on the edge of my chair!
May 20, 2019
This book, man! This book! I read another book before this one and it was so boring, but Kate Breuer and Chase surprised me. I was a bit reluctant to read another dystopian story but this one was SO DAMN GOOD. It was a non-stop reading and it reminded me of Divergent -in the good way-, I was so INTERESTED since page 1, guys you have to read this story and I cannot wait to read the sequels, that final... I need to know what else is happening!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews