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The Disappeared
Winner of a Northern Writers’ Award Longlisted for The Bath Novel Award * What if reading the wrong book could get you arrested? In a decaying city controlled by the First General and his army, expressing the wrong opinion can have terrible consequences. Clara Winter knows this better than anyone. When she was a child, her father was taken by the Authorisation Bureau for the crime of teaching banned books to his students. She is still haunted by his disappearance. Now Clara teaches at the same university, determined to rebel against the regime that cost her family so much – and her weapons are the banned books her father left behind. But she has started something dangerous, something that brings her to the attention of the Authorisation Bureau and its most feared interrogator, Major Jackson. The same man who arrested Clara’s father. With her rights stripped away, in a country where democracy has been replaced with something more sinister, will she be the next one to disappear? * ‘Provocative and prescient, The Disappeared is an unflinching tale of resistance in dark political times. Set in a near-future Britain where books are banned, this is a thought-provoking dystopian debut.’ – Caroline Ambrose, Founder of The Bath Novel Award
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
April 23, 2019
This is a gripping dystopia which cuts close to the bone at times. Set in an imagined, near future UK, the sinister Authorisation Bureau, led by the First General, have imposed martial law in Britain for the protection of its citizens. But, in reality, that protection looks very much like oppression with people forced to leave their homes; families torn apart as anyone with ideas contrary to the government’s conveniently ‘disappears’; and strict restrictions placed on what can be taught in schools and universities so that whole generations grow up exposed only to the knowledge the government wants them to have.
The Authorisation Bureau is a disturbing presence throughout the narrative - you feel the threat of it there always, much as the characters do. The Major is a fascinating character and I found myself hoping and wondering if he would turn out to be a better man than initially portrayed, his brutal mode of operation a disguise to keep him safe and hidden in the ranks of the Bureau.
Clara, haunted by the disappearance of her father when she was eleven, lives with his passion for books as a guiding light inside her, resolving to use them as the only way she knows to fight back, in spite of the dangers. Her character is compelling with equally tangible fear and determination.
The freedom fighting organisation, Lumiere, is rather enigmatic. There are hints of its presence that pop up before it emerges fully into the storyline but I’d have liked to see more of it, as we don’t learn much beyond those hints. Nevertheless, I loved the incorporation of its logo into previous scenes and the characters from within the group are all well written: considering how little we see of them, there’s a clear sense of who they are.
All in all The Disappeared is a compelling read: brutal, moving and very, very human.
The Authorisation Bureau is a disturbing presence throughout the narrative - you feel the threat of it there always, much as the characters do. The Major is a fascinating character and I found myself hoping and wondering if he would turn out to be a better man than initially portrayed, his brutal mode of operation a disguise to keep him safe and hidden in the ranks of the Bureau.
Clara, haunted by the disappearance of her father when she was eleven, lives with his passion for books as a guiding light inside her, resolving to use them as the only way she knows to fight back, in spite of the dangers. Her character is compelling with equally tangible fear and determination.
The freedom fighting organisation, Lumiere, is rather enigmatic. There are hints of its presence that pop up before it emerges fully into the storyline but I’d have liked to see more of it, as we don’t learn much beyond those hints. Nevertheless, I loved the incorporation of its logo into previous scenes and the characters from within the group are all well written: considering how little we see of them, there’s a clear sense of who they are.
All in all The Disappeared is a compelling read: brutal, moving and very, very human.
May 19, 2019
You cannot read this story and come away untouched. This is a fearless tale in times of dark political control by the Authorisation Bureau, where the populous is controlled by the powers that be and those who don’t conform, disappear.
Matthew a professor, is one such person who is abducted in front of his wife Lucia, and 11-year old daughter Clara, in the middle of the night for teaching the writings of banned books. Heading the raid on their home is the sadistic Major Darius Jackson, who becomes besotted with Lucia.
In an effort to save herself and her daughter Lucia agrees to ask Matthew for an annulment of their marriage while he is held in detention and marries Darius. She then drowns herself in alcohol to forget the love of her life and make life with her new, cruel and abusive husband tolerable. She has a son with him, Will, who sadly follows in his father’s footsteps and joins the Authorisation Bureau.
Years later, following in Matthew’s footsteps, Clara teaches literature at University where she meets and falls in love with Simon. Together they agree to teach a select group of students secretively from books that are banned.
The story is set in the future (but not that far forward from now) in the UK, where the laws are presented as a guise for the protection of the citizens but in fact keep the people oppressed and controlled with for example certain terms such as freedom fighters and social media being banned.
This book ticked many boxes for me: intrigue, fear, horror, emotion, bravery, and hope.
Gripping, violent and ultimately positive. 4 and a half Stars. Congratulations to the author.
Matthew a professor, is one such person who is abducted in front of his wife Lucia, and 11-year old daughter Clara, in the middle of the night for teaching the writings of banned books. Heading the raid on their home is the sadistic Major Darius Jackson, who becomes besotted with Lucia.
In an effort to save herself and her daughter Lucia agrees to ask Matthew for an annulment of their marriage while he is held in detention and marries Darius. She then drowns herself in alcohol to forget the love of her life and make life with her new, cruel and abusive husband tolerable. She has a son with him, Will, who sadly follows in his father’s footsteps and joins the Authorisation Bureau.
Years later, following in Matthew’s footsteps, Clara teaches literature at University where she meets and falls in love with Simon. Together they agree to teach a select group of students secretively from books that are banned.
The story is set in the future (but not that far forward from now) in the UK, where the laws are presented as a guise for the protection of the citizens but in fact keep the people oppressed and controlled with for example certain terms such as freedom fighters and social media being banned.
This book ticked many boxes for me: intrigue, fear, horror, emotion, bravery, and hope.
Gripping, violent and ultimately positive. 4 and a half Stars. Congratulations to the author.
June 10, 2019
Finished reading: May 27th 2019
"Our stories are how we grow and understand our place in the world. They give us a voice. They are fundamental to our being. We shouldn't have to live without them."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Anne Cater and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
June 1, 2019
I’m actually a fan of Unbound Publishing. Normally I might be somewhat questioning the quality control of self (kinda sorta) published work, especially one supported by fans, I’ve had enough experience on GR alone with rabid fans of crappy authors and books, but…something about Unbound really works and well. The quality of their books is consistently on par with major publishers and this book is no exception. To be fair, I would have wanted to read it even if it didn’t come from Unbound, because I love, love, love a good dystopian story. And actually that’s what you get here…a good dystopian story. Maybe all the more so (major kudos to the author) by not taking the well trodden road of reproduction related situations and instead going straight for the bleak totalitarian sort of tale straight out of the much mentioned within the book Orwell. I mean, I read a lot of dystopias and can’t even think the last time a female author wrote one that didn’t have something to do with baby making. Which isn’t to say it isn’t an important subject, it is a huge important subject, especially in the present political climate. But books don’t seem to be having any effect there, are they? No matter how magnificent Atwood’s long awaited sequel might be or a myriad other books in the same vein, things seem only to be getting consistently crappier for women’s rights (at least in this new America made great), so why not have some reading variety at least. And anyway, this book takes place in Britain. Another country that used to be great. In this fictional near future military junta took over and instilled a brutal regime straight out of Stalin (or insert a socialist dictator of your choice) playbook. People are forced to live in fear and privation, their basic freedoms oppressed and basic rights denied. It is in this forbidding political climate that a college teacher, who father was disappeared by the government years ago, decides it’s time to make a difference by educating the young minds in her charge. She enlists the assistance of her partner, a fellow teacher, but whether for one or for two, the undertaking is still much too dangerous, especially when there is a renegade guerilla group making a stand of its own against the powers that be. And on top of it all, the man who arrested, disappeared and replaced father is no other than a Major within the Authorization Bureau and its most feared and brutal interrogator. So the entire time this daring act of defiance is as terrifying and claustrophobic and the world that inspired it. It creates for great dramatic suspense, the characters are interesting and well developed, nuanced even, especially the terrible Major. The ending seemed slightly rushed, but worked. For a novel with a fairly straight forward black and white premise, there are terrific moments of moral complexity, such as the casual indifference to the value of individual lives displayed (horrifyingly enough) by both side. Something about the end justifying the means and all the heavy implications of that. But the main protagonists carry a finely tuned moral compass and strive, always, for the greater good. Because, of course, evil is what takes place when good people do nothing. So yeah, read this book and find out how it all plays out. Read it to contemplate modern politics that are all too often stranger than fiction. Read it simply because it’s a powerhouse of a story about a frighteningly plausible future. One that was and is a reality in some areas of the world today. Really good book and a most auspicious debut. Not to mention a refreshingly gender neutral estrogen free work of dystopian fiction. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
August 6, 2021
Clara Winter was only a child when her father disappeared. A poet and English teacher, he made the mistake of criticizing Britain’s new order, the martial rule imposed on it after a terrorist attack at Whitehall. Now, a teacher in her own right, Clara prepares to follow in her father’s footsteps, and will face down the very man who took him from her life in the bargain.
I checked out The Disappeared after spotting it on goodreads because it brought to mind the increasingly frequent issue of books being pulled from marketplaces for being Wrongthink, like When Harry Became Sally, for instance. (I immediately imported a copy from a private seller in defiance of Amazon’s attempt to smother dissent.) The Disappeared has little to say on that particular aspect of censorship, however, as its villains are fairly generic Grumpy Military Men who seal Britain off from Europe and institute such rampant bookburnings that Clara’s students have no idea what 1984 is: the book has been cast into the memory hole, as it were. Clare and her boyfriend Simon are both private dissidents, who sneak into a university library with such voluminous holdings that not everything juicy has been banned yet: they attempt to fight the Man in their own way, by offering a secret history course. After Simon is taken by Grumpy Goons in a Grumpy Man Van, the plot accelerates.
The meat of The Disappeared, frankly, is not the spectre of a dictatorship in Britain (thanks to covid, we all get to live in draconian dystopias, with the added joy of smothering ourselves when we’re not avoiding each other), or the message about censorship, but the absolutely twisted family dynamics that poor Clara grew up in. Her stepfather is not just any member of the Authorisation Council: he’s the very man who arrested her father and personally oversaw his long, drawn out interrogation while he was seducing his victim’s effective widow. It gets worse.
I appreciate the core point of The Disappeared, the importance of stories and ideas and the inherent immortality in preventing people from accessing them. Fighting censorship — eviscerating censorship, tying it up and throwing it screaming off a cliff into a pit of spikes and alligators and noseeums — has never been more important than in the 21st century. The story here, though, is generic aside from family dynamics more twisted than anything seen since…oh, Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII. The regime is so nondescript that it’s chief grumpy man is simply the “First General”, and to infuse it with personality I imagined something like the world of V for Vendetta or the televised version of The Man in the High Castle.
The Disappeared is entertaining and relevant, but lacks a certain…oomph.
Related:
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi. A teacher holding a covert literary course amid a regime that bans Wrongthink.
I checked out The Disappeared after spotting it on goodreads because it brought to mind the increasingly frequent issue of books being pulled from marketplaces for being Wrongthink, like When Harry Became Sally, for instance. (I immediately imported a copy from a private seller in defiance of Amazon’s attempt to smother dissent.) The Disappeared has little to say on that particular aspect of censorship, however, as its villains are fairly generic Grumpy Military Men who seal Britain off from Europe and institute such rampant bookburnings that Clara’s students have no idea what 1984 is: the book has been cast into the memory hole, as it were. Clare and her boyfriend Simon are both private dissidents, who sneak into a university library with such voluminous holdings that not everything juicy has been banned yet: they attempt to fight the Man in their own way, by offering a secret history course. After Simon is taken by Grumpy Goons in a Grumpy Man Van, the plot accelerates.
The meat of The Disappeared, frankly, is not the spectre of a dictatorship in Britain (thanks to covid, we all get to live in draconian dystopias, with the added joy of smothering ourselves when we’re not avoiding each other), or the message about censorship, but the absolutely twisted family dynamics that poor Clara grew up in. Her stepfather is not just any member of the Authorisation Council: he’s the very man who arrested her father and personally oversaw his long, drawn out interrogation while he was seducing his victim’s effective widow. It gets worse.
I appreciate the core point of The Disappeared, the importance of stories and ideas and the inherent immortality in preventing people from accessing them. Fighting censorship — eviscerating censorship, tying it up and throwing it screaming off a cliff into a pit of spikes and alligators and noseeums — has never been more important than in the 21st century. The story here, though, is generic aside from family dynamics more twisted than anything seen since…oh, Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra VII. The regime is so nondescript that it’s chief grumpy man is simply the “First General”, and to infuse it with personality I imagined something like the world of V for Vendetta or the televised version of The Man in the High Castle.
The Disappeared is entertaining and relevant, but lacks a certain…oomph.
Related:
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi. A teacher holding a covert literary course amid a regime that bans Wrongthink.
May 19, 2019
The Disappeared is a deeply disturbing but thought provoking novel about what happens when power falls into the wrong hands. Set in and around London the country is basically being governed by some kind of dictatorship. People live in fear of their lives should they step out of line, books are banned etc so it’s incredibly reminiscent of past atrocious regimes and sadly not beyond the realms of possibility. I warn you that this book is not for the faint hearted for there are many passages that are brutally violent but necessary to the storyline. I would urge any reader to see pass this as the writing is excellent. The novel begins with Clara’s father, an academic, being arrested by the regime. What then happens to Clara and her mother Lucía is a direct result of the Major (rising star in the regime) quickly insinuating himself into their lives with devastating effects. It looks like history will repeat itself when Clara and her partner, Simon, both university lecturers start taking risks with discussing texts that are forbidden by the regime and Simon is arrested. This book has many themes running through it, from love and betrayal to abuse of power, torture but also of hope. Imagine having to live such a restricted existence, told what to read, what to say, fearful of what could happen should you step out of line then this book will really make you think about all the freedoms we as a society take for granted. I wasn’t sure I was going to ‘enjoy’ this novel but I’m glad I persevered as it had me totally gripped by the end. The actual ending was surprising but hopeful and if I could rate this book as four and a half stars I would!
July 22, 2019
A DNF @ 20%
Some small spoilers below-
While the premise could be an interesting take on a Fahrenheit 451 type society, I found the main character and her husband to be so emotionally underdeveloped that I couldn’t continue reading. The first chapter that details how the main character’s father disappeared was quite well-written, so I was curious to see where this would go. But it did not continue on a similar trajectory...
Basically, this story takes place in an authoritarian dystopia where everyone is watched, and many books and media are banned or tightly controlled to uphold the government. Our main character decides she wants to start teaching a class abt what really happened and why this government is in power. But the Initial event that sparks her idea doesn’t seem that big of a deal to create such a change in her demeanor, to truly ~inspire~ her. She is also still heavily influenced by her father’s memory, maybe 15-20 years after he disappeared, so I’m like... why didn’t you decide to do this earlier on? The catalyst just didn’t make sense to me.
At one point she also says she is losing her connection to her father because she is not involved in the teaching of the class itself (due to a stupid reason to be honest). But how can her connection to her father “begin to ebb” when she has supposedly had a rlly strong connection to him ever since he disappeared? Wouldn’t it have ebbed in the years prior when she wasn’t teaching this class?
Also her husband Simon is so judgy to her about how careless she is, when he didn’t even want to do this in the first place. He is So self righteous for no reason. He also gets mad at her for taking notes when all these kids are taking notes abt their class and probably being less careful than she was?
I just found each of her and Simon’s decisions and reactions to be so immature and rash, very unlike the intelligent, experienced, adults they are made out to be. I wish the characterization had been better, then maybe this book would have been more bearable and could’ve turned out to be okay.
Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Some small spoilers below-
While the premise could be an interesting take on a Fahrenheit 451 type society, I found the main character and her husband to be so emotionally underdeveloped that I couldn’t continue reading. The first chapter that details how the main character’s father disappeared was quite well-written, so I was curious to see where this would go. But it did not continue on a similar trajectory...
Basically, this story takes place in an authoritarian dystopia where everyone is watched, and many books and media are banned or tightly controlled to uphold the government. Our main character decides she wants to start teaching a class abt what really happened and why this government is in power. But the Initial event that sparks her idea doesn’t seem that big of a deal to create such a change in her demeanor, to truly ~inspire~ her. She is also still heavily influenced by her father’s memory, maybe 15-20 years after he disappeared, so I’m like... why didn’t you decide to do this earlier on? The catalyst just didn’t make sense to me.
At one point she also says she is losing her connection to her father because she is not involved in the teaching of the class itself (due to a stupid reason to be honest). But how can her connection to her father “begin to ebb” when she has supposedly had a rlly strong connection to him ever since he disappeared? Wouldn’t it have ebbed in the years prior when she wasn’t teaching this class?
Also her husband Simon is so judgy to her about how careless she is, when he didn’t even want to do this in the first place. He is So self righteous for no reason. He also gets mad at her for taking notes when all these kids are taking notes abt their class and probably being less careful than she was?
I just found each of her and Simon’s decisions and reactions to be so immature and rash, very unlike the intelligent, experienced, adults they are made out to be. I wish the characterization had been better, then maybe this book would have been more bearable and could’ve turned out to be okay.
Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 21, 2019
A thought provoking and disturbing tale set in near future Britain, a country governed by the Authorisation Bureau under the leadership of the First General. And it’s not good at all! Certain books are banned, previous histories are deleted and any rebels are removed, ‘disappeared’ as it were!
This is quite a gripping and exciting story. It’s action packed and well paced, but be warned there is some violence and it also contains torture scenes, not usually something I particularly like in my reading. It did have me on the edge of my seat at times, definitely on tenterhooks to say the least. There are some interesting characters, one or two of whom are really quite scary. You would not want to be in a locked room with them! Say no more.
Dystopian fiction is not my favourite genre but I did find this one very compelling and absorbing. I read it via the Pigeonhole app and I was eagerly awaiting each instalment in trepidation at what would happen next! A great read if you enjoy futuristic and gritty stories.
This is quite a gripping and exciting story. It’s action packed and well paced, but be warned there is some violence and it also contains torture scenes, not usually something I particularly like in my reading. It did have me on the edge of my seat at times, definitely on tenterhooks to say the least. There are some interesting characters, one or two of whom are really quite scary. You would not want to be in a locked room with them! Say no more.
Dystopian fiction is not my favourite genre but I did find this one very compelling and absorbing. I read it via the Pigeonhole app and I was eagerly awaiting each instalment in trepidation at what would happen next! A great read if you enjoy futuristic and gritty stories.
June 24, 2019
The Disappeared by Amy Lord is a bold tale of rebellion against a repressive regime. Clara Winter's father was disappeared by the authoritarian military regime when she was just a child. Years later, she is working at the same university where he was teaching when the government accused him of terrorism and took him away. How far is Clara willing to go to fight for her father's legacy and her own freedom?
The Disappeared is not a groundbreaking dystopian novel, but it is a quick and compelling read. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the genre.
I received this book free from NetGalley/Unbound in exchange for an honest review.
The Disappeared is not a groundbreaking dystopian novel, but it is a quick and compelling read. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the genre.
I received this book free from NetGalley/Unbound in exchange for an honest review.
May 20, 2019
Although I found the first chapters a little slow, I’m so pleased that I continued to read this book.
It is set in a dystopian future where due to a variety of circumstances, the country is run by a brutal authoritarian regime. Many people have been ‘disappeared’ by the state and it is difficult to know who you can trust.
This was a very thought provoking novel.
It is set in a dystopian future where due to a variety of circumstances, the country is run by a brutal authoritarian regime. Many people have been ‘disappeared’ by the state and it is difficult to know who you can trust.
This was a very thought provoking novel.
May 21, 2019
I really enjoyed this dystopian novel. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because the descriptions of violence were a little graphic for my taste.
A well written and thought-provoking read.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to discover an author whose work I am looking forward to reading.
A well written and thought-provoking read.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to discover an author whose work I am looking forward to reading.
May 19, 2019
If you enjoyed watching The Man in the High Castle you’ll enjoy this book. If you don’t like to read descriptions of violence then this book is not for you!
May 19, 2019
Thought provoking. We shouldn't take anything for granted...what if things changed? Great book, highly recommended.
August 4, 2019
A gripping and thought-provoking portrait of a post-Brexit dystopian England. The story gathers pace as it goes on, and Clara becomes increasingly desperate and reckless in her quest to find out what has happened to her vanished father and partner.
The book has a cinematic feel - I could visualise every scene clearly, including the brutal violence, which is vividly described. I could see it working well as a play too. I also liked how real it felt. Clara is a believably imperfect heroine, and the totalitarian state didn't seem so far-fetched.
If I had to make a criticism it would be of the character of the Major (Darius). I thought it was a great idea to have some of the chapters from his perspective, contrasting with Clara's narration, but it was also perhaps a missed opportunity. He just seemed so over the top evil - unlike the other characters, who are much more nuanced - and I found his character development a little frustrating, especially towards the end. Perhaps I'm in denial, or over-optimistic, but I don't believe (or don't want to believe) that people that evil exist! Or if they do exist, they should seem more comprehensible when we get their first person narration, or perhaps have some kind of backstory that "explains" them.
Overall a enjoyable, fast-paced read that I'd recommend to fans of dystopian fiction. If you enjoyed Nineteen Eighty Four, A Clockwork Orange or The Handmaid's Tale, this one's for you.
The book has a cinematic feel - I could visualise every scene clearly, including the brutal violence, which is vividly described. I could see it working well as a play too. I also liked how real it felt. Clara is a believably imperfect heroine, and the totalitarian state didn't seem so far-fetched.
If I had to make a criticism it would be of the character of the Major (Darius). I thought it was a great idea to have some of the chapters from his perspective, contrasting with Clara's narration, but it was also perhaps a missed opportunity. He just seemed so over the top evil - unlike the other characters, who are much more nuanced - and I found his character development a little frustrating, especially towards the end. Perhaps I'm in denial, or over-optimistic, but I don't believe (or don't want to believe) that people that evil exist! Or if they do exist, they should seem more comprehensible when we get their first person narration, or perhaps have some kind of backstory that "explains" them.
Overall a enjoyable, fast-paced read that I'd recommend to fans of dystopian fiction. If you enjoyed Nineteen Eighty Four, A Clockwork Orange or The Handmaid's Tale, this one's for you.
September 23, 2019
A very half-baked dystopia, where the characters and government have questionable motives. The characters feel wooden and change their whims at breakneck speed. The dialogue is pedestrian, and the bad guys talk like pantomime villains. For a government so strict and authoritarian, the main character, Clara, is surely very quick to all of a sudden want to teach students about banned literature, the very thing her father was arrested for. I found it very disappointing that the author never fully explored her dystopian Britain, or the motives behind the government's ruling with an iron fist. Ideas such as racism are touched on ever so briefly, but never explored. To build a dystopian world, your reader has to understand it and feel it.
October 4, 2020
I loved this book! I absolutely could not put it down. I purchased the kindle edition, however I have also ordered a print copy. A very strong debut and I look forward to reading more from Amy Lord.
Set in a not-so-distant future, the junta have taken over and turned the UK into an authoritarian state, headed by the Master General, and Clara has to fight for her freedom to teach, amongst the 'disappearance' of her father, partner and friends.
I loved that the story was told from polar-opposite points of view and I felt Clara's inner-turmoil and her struggle with her moral compass as the story unfolded. The characters were as relatable as they were real, and the story is set around a tight plot.
One would hope that with our current political climate, that this story remains just that and no a prophecy of where things are headed.
A must read for everyone.
Set in a not-so-distant future, the junta have taken over and turned the UK into an authoritarian state, headed by the Master General, and Clara has to fight for her freedom to teach, amongst the 'disappearance' of her father, partner and friends.
I loved that the story was told from polar-opposite points of view and I felt Clara's inner-turmoil and her struggle with her moral compass as the story unfolded. The characters were as relatable as they were real, and the story is set around a tight plot.
One would hope that with our current political climate, that this story remains just that and no a prophecy of where things are headed.
A must read for everyone.
May 20, 2024
If you like a dystopian novel, The Disappeared by Amy Lord is a must-read. The heavy influence of 1984 is overtly referenced to throughout the book which I really appreciated.
It’s got a great plot and definite Evil vs Good set up, whilst also making it clear that the ‘good’ are not perfect and that there are flaws in both their methods and character.
Lord’s writing is incredibly easy to read and follow. The different perspectives worked perfectly with the telling of the story in a slightly non-linear way and I loved the fact that there was no announcement of whose perspective a chapter was from and you had to just work it out as you read - to me this felt like an intentional move to show how everyone together were part of the bigger picture.
Sometimes find in dystopian novels that there can be a bit of waffle about the ‘regime’ and the history, to fill in the blanks from before the book is set, but Amy Lord avoided that beautifully - she gives a bit of information and context when required and doesn’t over-explain but also sometimes leaves some blanks where they don’t affect the story and that was quite refreshing!
Where this fell short for me is actually a bit of a compliment to the book really - it’s that I wanted more. Mainly I wanted more character development because it sometimes felt like the main characters did things that I felt were a bit of of character but at the same time I didn’t feel like I really knew them all that well at all. This then meant that some of the things that happened (no spoilers here!) didn’t hit me as hard as they definitely would have if I’d felt a bit more involved in the characters. A few extra chapters probably would have done it!
Giving this 3 stars hurts my book-soul a little to be honest bit because it was so good I couldn’t put it down, but the frustration of how it could have been even better has left a 3-star taste in my mouth. It’s worth noting that whilst I very much enjoy a dystopian story, it’s not my every-day-type of read, so where I felt things were missing, your seasoned dystopia-reader would probably completely disagree. I can absolutely understand why it won the Northern Writers award and it’s an incredible debut release from Amy Lord - I will definitely be checking out what she releases next.
Very grateful to SRL Publishing for the free ARC, which I throughly enjoyed!
It’s got a great plot and definite Evil vs Good set up, whilst also making it clear that the ‘good’ are not perfect and that there are flaws in both their methods and character.
Lord’s writing is incredibly easy to read and follow. The different perspectives worked perfectly with the telling of the story in a slightly non-linear way and I loved the fact that there was no announcement of whose perspective a chapter was from and you had to just work it out as you read - to me this felt like an intentional move to show how everyone together were part of the bigger picture.
Sometimes find in dystopian novels that there can be a bit of waffle about the ‘regime’ and the history, to fill in the blanks from before the book is set, but Amy Lord avoided that beautifully - she gives a bit of information and context when required and doesn’t over-explain but also sometimes leaves some blanks where they don’t affect the story and that was quite refreshing!
Where this fell short for me is actually a bit of a compliment to the book really - it’s that I wanted more. Mainly I wanted more character development because it sometimes felt like the main characters did things that I felt were a bit of of character but at the same time I didn’t feel like I really knew them all that well at all. This then meant that some of the things that happened (no spoilers here!) didn’t hit me as hard as they definitely would have if I’d felt a bit more involved in the characters. A few extra chapters probably would have done it!
Giving this 3 stars hurts my book-soul a little to be honest bit because it was so good I couldn’t put it down, but the frustration of how it could have been even better has left a 3-star taste in my mouth. It’s worth noting that whilst I very much enjoy a dystopian story, it’s not my every-day-type of read, so where I felt things were missing, your seasoned dystopia-reader would probably completely disagree. I can absolutely understand why it won the Northern Writers award and it’s an incredible debut release from Amy Lord - I will definitely be checking out what she releases next.
Very grateful to SRL Publishing for the free ARC, which I throughly enjoyed!
April 9, 2025
This book asks a question that many others have asked before: what if reading the wrong book could get you arrested? We see this play out in both older dystopian fiction like ‘Fahrenheit 451’ (1953—can you believe it?) and ‘The Memory Police’ (1994). The fact that books about authoritarian governments and censorship were relevant then and still relevant today is honestly quite depressing. I dream of a day when children read these books and marvel at how impossible it all sounds. Unfortunately, the events in ‘The Disappeared’ don’t just sound possible but very plausible.
The story is set in an alternate universe where a city in Britain is controlled by a junta called First General. Clara is the daughter of a university professor and when she witnessed his brutal arrest by the Authorisation Bureau. Her mother ends up marrying Major Jackson, the guy who took and tortured her father. Clara decides to follow in her father’s footsteps by teaching Literature at the university, which is also where she meets Simon, a much-older History professor who she gets into a relationship with. Definitely because of her daddy issues, if you ask me. Clara and Simon decide to teach a secret class where they discuss banned books like ‘1984’ and political events that were suppressed by the government. This puts into motion a chain of events that will cost Clara everything.
The story is told from the POVs of young Clara, Major Jackson, and older Clara. Given certain recent events in Singapore, I found the scenes where the police forcibly entered people’s houses to seize their personal possessions to ‘check’ for evidence of rebellion especially chilling. What more, most of the scenes were set in the university where both educators and students live in constant fear of saying or reading anything that might be construed as unacceptable to the regime. “The military were especially careful to enforce their rule in universities”—I think we all know why, and I think it also speaks to the very valid fear that if enough people gain enough access to knowledge and to community, any regime can be overthrown. Any.
The story is set in an alternate universe where a city in Britain is controlled by a junta called First General. Clara is the daughter of a university professor and when she witnessed his brutal arrest by the Authorisation Bureau. Her mother ends up marrying Major Jackson, the guy who took and tortured her father. Clara decides to follow in her father’s footsteps by teaching Literature at the university, which is also where she meets Simon, a much-older History professor who she gets into a relationship with. Definitely because of her daddy issues, if you ask me. Clara and Simon decide to teach a secret class where they discuss banned books like ‘1984’ and political events that were suppressed by the government. This puts into motion a chain of events that will cost Clara everything.
The story is told from the POVs of young Clara, Major Jackson, and older Clara. Given certain recent events in Singapore, I found the scenes where the police forcibly entered people’s houses to seize their personal possessions to ‘check’ for evidence of rebellion especially chilling. What more, most of the scenes were set in the university where both educators and students live in constant fear of saying or reading anything that might be construed as unacceptable to the regime. “The military were especially careful to enforce their rule in universities”—I think we all know why, and I think it also speaks to the very valid fear that if enough people gain enough access to knowledge and to community, any regime can be overthrown. Any.
June 16, 2019
I must shamefully admit to not reading Nineteen Eighty-Four until earlier this year, but it gave me a whole new appreciation for Dystopia, much in the way watching V for Vendetta first did. (Yes, I haven't read the graphic novel yet but I will, I promise!) In many ways I think reading it now, at this moment in time for our world, made it even more relevant to me, much in the way that the release of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale is scarily well-timed. Orwell's novel continues to be an inspiration for many writers, and The Disappeared is one of those. Thanks to Unbound and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Amy Lord is not shy about the novels that inspired her novel. Whether it is Fahrenheit 451, V for Vendetta or The Handmaid's Tale, she acknowledges them within the novel as books stolen or burned. They're the books that inspired Clara's father and now inspire her. However, the novel at the heart of The Disappeared is Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is the novel Clara uses to inspire her students to quiet contemplation and from there almost open revolt. It is also the novel upon which The Disappeared is very clearly based and having only just read Orwell's masterpiece myself, the comparison didn't do Lord a lot of favours.
The premise of The Disappeared is strong. In a post-Brexit UK, a new government has established itself after terrorist attacks makes the general populace more fearful and therefore easier to control. Certain books have been banned and only government-approved writing makes it to the public. Clara's father is arrested after it is discovered he has a library stock-full of banned books. His arrest is a traumatic event for the young Clara, further intensified by the fact that the one doing the arresting becomes her step-father. Now an adult and professor in literature herself, Clara convinces her partner Simon to teach their students the truth. This decision brings with it consequences she may not be ready to face. I can't share more without spoiling, of course, but for those aware of Nineteen Eighty-Four there won't be many surprises. As I said, I liked the premise of The Disappeared and Amy Lord makes a number of interesting choices, but overall her novel suffers from weak dialogue and odd twists and turns. Clara is hard to understand at times. She seemingly makes her choices out of conviction, but then backtracks on them immediately. Her trauma in regards to her father is pushed to the extreme, making it almost uncomfortable at times. And the novel ends on an odd note that feels out of touch.
This is Amy Lord's first novel and that may explain some of the weaknesses of The Disappeared. The dialogue often falls flat or feels too casual for the tone of the novel. Characters aren't fully fleshed out, which means some of their actions seem out of character. There is also no clear timeline for the novel, which meant that for me some things happened surprisingly quickly, while others happened incredibly slowly. There are also some rather graphic violence in the novel, which actually grounded the novel quite well, explaining what was at stake for Clara and the other characters. One of the things that really interested me about The Disappeared, however, was how Lord doesn't just give us Clara's point of view, but also gives us a look into Major Jackson, the man who arrested her father, married her mother and now becomes her enemy as well. We see his disillusionment with his own job, as well as his disappointment in himself and the regime he supports. I would have really liked to see this worked out more. Lord did excel at the descriptions in her novel, creating some imaginative and memorable moments which were very promising. Overall I am interested to see what Amy Lord comes out with next.
The Disappeared captured my interest, even if it didn't always manage to hold on to it. Amy Lord set herself a hard task by trying to follow in the footsteps of Orwell and others, but there are some great moments in The Disappeared which hold promise.
https://universeinwords.blogspot.com
Amy Lord is not shy about the novels that inspired her novel. Whether it is Fahrenheit 451, V for Vendetta or The Handmaid's Tale, she acknowledges them within the novel as books stolen or burned. They're the books that inspired Clara's father and now inspire her. However, the novel at the heart of The Disappeared is Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is the novel Clara uses to inspire her students to quiet contemplation and from there almost open revolt. It is also the novel upon which The Disappeared is very clearly based and having only just read Orwell's masterpiece myself, the comparison didn't do Lord a lot of favours.
The premise of The Disappeared is strong. In a post-Brexit UK, a new government has established itself after terrorist attacks makes the general populace more fearful and therefore easier to control. Certain books have been banned and only government-approved writing makes it to the public. Clara's father is arrested after it is discovered he has a library stock-full of banned books. His arrest is a traumatic event for the young Clara, further intensified by the fact that the one doing the arresting becomes her step-father. Now an adult and professor in literature herself, Clara convinces her partner Simon to teach their students the truth. This decision brings with it consequences she may not be ready to face. I can't share more without spoiling, of course, but for those aware of Nineteen Eighty-Four there won't be many surprises. As I said, I liked the premise of The Disappeared and Amy Lord makes a number of interesting choices, but overall her novel suffers from weak dialogue and odd twists and turns. Clara is hard to understand at times. She seemingly makes her choices out of conviction, but then backtracks on them immediately. Her trauma in regards to her father is pushed to the extreme, making it almost uncomfortable at times. And the novel ends on an odd note that feels out of touch.
This is Amy Lord's first novel and that may explain some of the weaknesses of The Disappeared. The dialogue often falls flat or feels too casual for the tone of the novel. Characters aren't fully fleshed out, which means some of their actions seem out of character. There is also no clear timeline for the novel, which meant that for me some things happened surprisingly quickly, while others happened incredibly slowly. There are also some rather graphic violence in the novel, which actually grounded the novel quite well, explaining what was at stake for Clara and the other characters. One of the things that really interested me about The Disappeared, however, was how Lord doesn't just give us Clara's point of view, but also gives us a look into Major Jackson, the man who arrested her father, married her mother and now becomes her enemy as well. We see his disillusionment with his own job, as well as his disappointment in himself and the regime he supports. I would have really liked to see this worked out more. Lord did excel at the descriptions in her novel, creating some imaginative and memorable moments which were very promising. Overall I am interested to see what Amy Lord comes out with next.
The Disappeared captured my interest, even if it didn't always manage to hold on to it. Amy Lord set herself a hard task by trying to follow in the footsteps of Orwell and others, but there are some great moments in The Disappeared which hold promise.
https://universeinwords.blogspot.com
October 3, 2024
This dystopian novel follows Claire as she struggles with her conscience in a dystopian Britain with Orwellian undertones (indeed, Nineteen Eighty-Four is explicitly referenced by the characters in the book). We learn more about her past and the events that shaped the country through flashbacks and scenes from present day from her POV and from the POV of a character working for the authoritarian government.
Although I found the POV changes slightly confusing, I really enjoyed experiencing the situation from the point of view of a villainous character, as I felt that it emphasised the rationale of the people supporting the regime in power and made the story richer.
A recommended read for fans of Nineteen Eighty Four, The Handmaid's Tale and dystopian fiction in general.
Thank you to SRL Publishing for sending me the paperback version of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Although I found the POV changes slightly confusing, I really enjoyed experiencing the situation from the point of view of a villainous character, as I felt that it emphasised the rationale of the people supporting the regime in power and made the story richer.
A recommended read for fans of Nineteen Eighty Four, The Handmaid's Tale and dystopian fiction in general.
Thank you to SRL Publishing for sending me the paperback version of the book in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2019
"If we don't mention it, the people won't even realize it's happening. They're too stupid, like cows, chewing on the cud we provide for them."
We've seen dystopian literature many times before in classics such as George Orwell's 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood as well as many others. I don't believe Amy Lord is reinventing the wheel here with The Disappeared, however, this is an intense, brutal vision of a future that...seems almost scarily inevitable in the current U.S. political climate.
The brutality in this book is plentiful and isn't easy to read at times at all. That's one thing I enjoyed the most about it. Lord isn't afraid to raise her voice, she isn't afraid to "go there" and bluntly depict the torture and violence that many of these characters experience. It is heartbreaking. I also saw a connection between this brutality and toxic masculinity. Men feeling they need to use violence to assert their power over those they deem weaker than them...using rape, using humiliation to feel superior. It's a major point running through the entire book and it reflects too much of what's currently going on in the world.
That sort of power, that sort of thirst for superiority is dangerous. It's what has lead to so many atrocities throughout history and we can't forget that. Sadly, it seems too many appear to be forgetting as per recent studies concerning the Holocaust and Adolph Hitler. Millennials aren't being as exposed to the numbers of people murdered or how or why. Which makes me thankful for books like this. Because our freedoms could someday be at stake and it isn't, at all, a far fetched idea seeing as many of them actually ARE right now. If this novel can spark a curiosity in classic literature and actual history...that's fantastic.
I had a few small issues here and there as well. While I think this is a very well written book, some of the dialogue between characters seemed a bit forced. Some of the interaction felt a bit stilted while at other times it felt very natural and quite powerful. I think Lord is a very cinematic writer, I had no issue whatsoever picturing this world she was creating or the people in it, this could very well become a film someday. There were times when I felt annoyed with Clara. There were times I just flat out didn't like her. But there were also times when I felt immense respect for her and I genuinely wanted her to succeed. She didn't feel phony, she felt real, she felt imperfect and most of these characters were like that. I didn't WHOLLY love anyone in this book and that felt more true to life than a lot of characters I've read.
Again, this isn't a new concept, dystopian worlds aren't new to most people and this story is very similar to ones we've already seen. But I think this is an important book in certain ways. Mostly in that we need to remember how important ideas are. How important art and literature is. How important our voices are. We can never forget that.
History CAN repeat itself, dangerous regimes have been allowed to take hold all over the world, these things CAN and HAVE happened. It's just up to us to make sure that they never do again.
We've seen dystopian literature many times before in classics such as George Orwell's 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood as well as many others. I don't believe Amy Lord is reinventing the wheel here with The Disappeared, however, this is an intense, brutal vision of a future that...seems almost scarily inevitable in the current U.S. political climate.
The brutality in this book is plentiful and isn't easy to read at times at all. That's one thing I enjoyed the most about it. Lord isn't afraid to raise her voice, she isn't afraid to "go there" and bluntly depict the torture and violence that many of these characters experience. It is heartbreaking. I also saw a connection between this brutality and toxic masculinity. Men feeling they need to use violence to assert their power over those they deem weaker than them...using rape, using humiliation to feel superior. It's a major point running through the entire book and it reflects too much of what's currently going on in the world.
That sort of power, that sort of thirst for superiority is dangerous. It's what has lead to so many atrocities throughout history and we can't forget that. Sadly, it seems too many appear to be forgetting as per recent studies concerning the Holocaust and Adolph Hitler. Millennials aren't being as exposed to the numbers of people murdered or how or why. Which makes me thankful for books like this. Because our freedoms could someday be at stake and it isn't, at all, a far fetched idea seeing as many of them actually ARE right now. If this novel can spark a curiosity in classic literature and actual history...that's fantastic.
I had a few small issues here and there as well. While I think this is a very well written book, some of the dialogue between characters seemed a bit forced. Some of the interaction felt a bit stilted while at other times it felt very natural and quite powerful. I think Lord is a very cinematic writer, I had no issue whatsoever picturing this world she was creating or the people in it, this could very well become a film someday. There were times when I felt annoyed with Clara. There were times I just flat out didn't like her. But there were also times when I felt immense respect for her and I genuinely wanted her to succeed. She didn't feel phony, she felt real, she felt imperfect and most of these characters were like that. I didn't WHOLLY love anyone in this book and that felt more true to life than a lot of characters I've read.
Again, this isn't a new concept, dystopian worlds aren't new to most people and this story is very similar to ones we've already seen. But I think this is an important book in certain ways. Mostly in that we need to remember how important ideas are. How important art and literature is. How important our voices are. We can never forget that.
History CAN repeat itself, dangerous regimes have been allowed to take hold all over the world, these things CAN and HAVE happened. It's just up to us to make sure that they never do again.
June 12, 2019
First off, I think we should all know by now that I'm super huge fan of Dystopia (note my many gushing times I've listed The Hunger Games under a fave book list in my posts as reference). Secondly, this was just a really great standard dystopia, it combines elements from the great classics and Lord [man I sound super religious] gives us a really enjoyable and engaging dystopia read for us in this day and age. She's not afraid to count Brexit and other events that are currently happening as part of the world she's weaving, this is no throw back to 1984 though the inspiration from it is clear and in fact the people of this society, if they're old enough, remember reading it. This is one more case of how change can sneak up on a Dystopian society to create the sort of thing we think unimaginable when we read about it.
Much like Fahrenheit 451 reading the wrong books can get you into a world of trouble. After trouble with violence, and political terrorism, modern day U.K. decides to close itself off after a time, there is a new regime, and a new government dubbed the 'Junta' and Amy Lord isn't afraid to take inspiration from the Russian Revolution when you read about what this new government has done.
Clara was traumatized by the abrupt end of her Father in her life as he's taken away one night for reading the wrong books, the real twist will be who she ends up growing up with as a 'Father figure' and I won't spoil it for you but I did enjoy that. Not only that but we get more than just Clara's POV we get the main antagonist's POV as well, well main antagonist to Clara, the Major. The book divides into parts, switching times and POVs but never getting too muddled and all of it builds up to clearly tell the story of Clara in the now. Any 'backtracking'/looking into the past is for the benefit of the reader and I loved getting the backstory honestly.
This was not a story with particularly new elements to Dystopia but it is the first one I have personally read in a while that wasn't specifically YA oriented. That being said, this could easily be read by a huge age range, including YA. I flew through this book in a day, I was so engrossed and I think that Lord really just has this groove, she gives you details and she gives you such an element of reality. I think that she's yet another author I'll be keeping my eye out for.
If you want a bit of a classic dystopia with a modern day feel and style, I would strongly recommend The Disappeared by Amy Lord, it was a treat to be part of this tour! Thanks to Anne, Amy Lord, and the publisher for the copy and being part of the tour!!
Much like Fahrenheit 451 reading the wrong books can get you into a world of trouble. After trouble with violence, and political terrorism, modern day U.K. decides to close itself off after a time, there is a new regime, and a new government dubbed the 'Junta' and Amy Lord isn't afraid to take inspiration from the Russian Revolution when you read about what this new government has done.
Clara was traumatized by the abrupt end of her Father in her life as he's taken away one night for reading the wrong books, the real twist will be who she ends up growing up with as a 'Father figure' and I won't spoil it for you but I did enjoy that. Not only that but we get more than just Clara's POV we get the main antagonist's POV as well, well main antagonist to Clara, the Major. The book divides into parts, switching times and POVs but never getting too muddled and all of it builds up to clearly tell the story of Clara in the now. Any 'backtracking'/looking into the past is for the benefit of the reader and I loved getting the backstory honestly.
This was not a story with particularly new elements to Dystopia but it is the first one I have personally read in a while that wasn't specifically YA oriented. That being said, this could easily be read by a huge age range, including YA. I flew through this book in a day, I was so engrossed and I think that Lord really just has this groove, she gives you details and she gives you such an element of reality. I think that she's yet another author I'll be keeping my eye out for.
If you want a bit of a classic dystopia with a modern day feel and style, I would strongly recommend The Disappeared by Amy Lord, it was a treat to be part of this tour! Thanks to Anne, Amy Lord, and the publisher for the copy and being part of the tour!!
June 6, 2019
This book is LIT!
AND I am not one to exaggerate,. I LOVE Unbound, their catalogue of crowd funded books stands head and shoulders above many other indie oeuvres, and this book, this is on fire.
From the opening scene where Clara watches as her father is dragged away by armed militia for having ‘dangerous’ ideas and reading illegal books, to the gripping and heartrending conclusion, this is absolutely a book for these times.
The idea of books, the notions inside them creating and driving readers and writers to think for themselves is not new, it has been done before so to take this and make it your own in your debut novel shows an author with absolute conviction in her soul about her writing.
This book lives and breathes through Clara’s dystopian existence as she engages her boyfriend, Simen, in her plan to use the forbidden books in the university where she works to teach. A subversive army whose ideas are spread through symbiosis, from page to brain and brain to action, this is a call to arms.
The future that Amy Lord paints is not a great distance from our own and that is what makes it so believable.
We live in a world where countries ban books because they feature a ‘permissive’ attitude to sex, homosexuality, break the ten commandments or, in the case of the Harry Potter books, encourage children to practice withcraft ( come on ! this seems so incredibly far fetched until you see the pictures of burning books and suddenly, the laughter chokes in your throat. It no longer seems ludicrous but terrifying.)
Books are gateways to another world and when their are censored and hidden away they become even more vital.
‘The Disappeared’ is actually about making it visible, taking the ones who were vanished by the new regime, led by a terrifying dictator, Major Jackson,who wants a following of non thinking sheep, not rational questioners and giving them back their agency. I LOVED IT!
AND I am not one to exaggerate,. I LOVE Unbound, their catalogue of crowd funded books stands head and shoulders above many other indie oeuvres, and this book, this is on fire.
From the opening scene where Clara watches as her father is dragged away by armed militia for having ‘dangerous’ ideas and reading illegal books, to the gripping and heartrending conclusion, this is absolutely a book for these times.
The idea of books, the notions inside them creating and driving readers and writers to think for themselves is not new, it has been done before so to take this and make it your own in your debut novel shows an author with absolute conviction in her soul about her writing.
This book lives and breathes through Clara’s dystopian existence as she engages her boyfriend, Simen, in her plan to use the forbidden books in the university where she works to teach. A subversive army whose ideas are spread through symbiosis, from page to brain and brain to action, this is a call to arms.
The future that Amy Lord paints is not a great distance from our own and that is what makes it so believable.
We live in a world where countries ban books because they feature a ‘permissive’ attitude to sex, homosexuality, break the ten commandments or, in the case of the Harry Potter books, encourage children to practice withcraft ( come on ! this seems so incredibly far fetched until you see the pictures of burning books and suddenly, the laughter chokes in your throat. It no longer seems ludicrous but terrifying.)
Books are gateways to another world and when their are censored and hidden away they become even more vital.
‘The Disappeared’ is actually about making it visible, taking the ones who were vanished by the new regime, led by a terrifying dictator, Major Jackson,who wants a following of non thinking sheep, not rational questioners and giving them back their agency. I LOVED IT!
June 26, 2019
I really enjoyed this book!
This is a story of fear, rebellion, and hope. In this world, reading banned books can get you killed. The generation before Clara's remember the time before the regime; everything's changed since the First General rose to power. People are made to disappear over, seemingly, small crimes. Fear punctuates every action and decision. The disappearance of Clara's father in the middle of the night sparks a rebellion in child Clara that the soldiers couldn't have anticipated
This book has vibes of 1984 by George Orwell, set in the very near future. It also, more frighteningly, mirrors present situations in some countries and the recent past in others. Controlling what people learn, altering the history taught, encouraging neighbours and colleagues to spy on one another: it's all startlingly familiar and believable
This book has one of the scariest villains I've read, in my opinion. Clara's step father was terrifying because he could and does exist in the world, encouraged by the regime of this book. His is a type of believable and tangible evil that sends a shiver down my spine and, at times while reading, made me feel physically ill!
As I always feel after reading dystopian fiction, I wish we'd got the POV of someone living a normal life under the regime. Not the rebels, not the enforcers, just a member of the public going about their days. I know it wouldn't be as exciting a narrative but I always wish for snapshots of their stories
The only negative I can say is the ending of this book left me feeling just a little dissatisfied: everything seemed to wrap up just a little too easily. Saying that though, it was an ending of hope which I think was necessary and did buoy me
Overall I really enjoyed this book! It spoke to the part of me that loves dystopians, the other part that used to have a passion for politics, and the other part that fears the rawness of human nature
This is a story of fear, rebellion, and hope. In this world, reading banned books can get you killed. The generation before Clara's remember the time before the regime; everything's changed since the First General rose to power. People are made to disappear over, seemingly, small crimes. Fear punctuates every action and decision. The disappearance of Clara's father in the middle of the night sparks a rebellion in child Clara that the soldiers couldn't have anticipated
This book has vibes of 1984 by George Orwell, set in the very near future. It also, more frighteningly, mirrors present situations in some countries and the recent past in others. Controlling what people learn, altering the history taught, encouraging neighbours and colleagues to spy on one another: it's all startlingly familiar and believable
This book has one of the scariest villains I've read, in my opinion. Clara's step father was terrifying because he could and does exist in the world, encouraged by the regime of this book. His is a type of believable and tangible evil that sends a shiver down my spine and, at times while reading, made me feel physically ill!
As I always feel after reading dystopian fiction, I wish we'd got the POV of someone living a normal life under the regime. Not the rebels, not the enforcers, just a member of the public going about their days. I know it wouldn't be as exciting a narrative but I always wish for snapshots of their stories
The only negative I can say is the ending of this book left me feeling just a little dissatisfied: everything seemed to wrap up just a little too easily. Saying that though, it was an ending of hope which I think was necessary and did buoy me
Overall I really enjoyed this book! It spoke to the part of me that loves dystopians, the other part that used to have a passion for politics, and the other part that fears the rawness of human nature
June 9, 2019
Set in the U.K in the near future, Clara is haunted by the arrest of her father, Matthew, by agents of the Authorisation Bureau and Major Darius Jackson. He has disappeared.
Major Jackson becomes besotted by Clara’s mother, Lucia and to keep her family safe, she has her marriage to Matthew annulled and marries Darius. A violent, evil man to say the least.
The government controls what books can be read, or taught, that free thinking is dangerous and so just owning banned books is enough to be arrested.
As Clara grows, literature is her passion and like her father, she becomes a teacher. She meets and falls in love with Simon, and together they begin teaching a few select students from the banned books…will they be found out? Or will they too disappear?
This is a fraught, dystopian tale (reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, which does get a mention) that feels all too real in the current political climate of ‘fake’ news and hate.
This is full of fear, violence and tension, but also love and hope. Compelling and disconcerting writing by Amy Lord. A thought provoking read… I loved every minute…..
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
My thanks also to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read along with them.
Major Jackson becomes besotted by Clara’s mother, Lucia and to keep her family safe, she has her marriage to Matthew annulled and marries Darius. A violent, evil man to say the least.
The government controls what books can be read, or taught, that free thinking is dangerous and so just owning banned books is enough to be arrested.
As Clara grows, literature is her passion and like her father, she becomes a teacher. She meets and falls in love with Simon, and together they begin teaching a few select students from the banned books…will they be found out? Or will they too disappear?
This is a fraught, dystopian tale (reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, which does get a mention) that feels all too real in the current political climate of ‘fake’ news and hate.
This is full of fear, violence and tension, but also love and hope. Compelling and disconcerting writing by Amy Lord. A thought provoking read… I loved every minute…..
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
My thanks also to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read along with them.
May 31, 2019
Thanks to NetGalley and Unbound for the ARC.
This book calls on dystopian classics like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, and while it's not quite up there with Ray Bradbury it did do an effective job of evoking what it might be like to live in that kind of authoritarian society. It was nice to have a dystopian work set in England, as most deal with America as their subject. Especially in our current political climate, it was easy to see how the author was signalling this as a potential future.
While the main story was engaging, I did feel there was a lack of depth to it - I would have liked more information or back story about how the dictatorship came to be (what there was felt quite expository) and I would also have liked to hear from more characters - perhaps someone from the Lumiere group as a POV, for example. This may have been a purposeful move by the author though, as it very much felt like we were landed in the regime without much information, which is presumably how the characters were meant to feel. However, I did think that the Major's POV lacked balance - it felt like the author was trying to get us to sympathise with him in places, but without giving us a back story he just landed as pure evil, which hardly anyone ever actually is.
Overall I enjoyed the book - to be honest most of my criticism is that I'd just have liked more time in the world!
This book calls on dystopian classics like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, and while it's not quite up there with Ray Bradbury it did do an effective job of evoking what it might be like to live in that kind of authoritarian society. It was nice to have a dystopian work set in England, as most deal with America as their subject. Especially in our current political climate, it was easy to see how the author was signalling this as a potential future.
While the main story was engaging, I did feel there was a lack of depth to it - I would have liked more information or back story about how the dictatorship came to be (what there was felt quite expository) and I would also have liked to hear from more characters - perhaps someone from the Lumiere group as a POV, for example. This may have been a purposeful move by the author though, as it very much felt like we were landed in the regime without much information, which is presumably how the characters were meant to feel. However, I did think that the Major's POV lacked balance - it felt like the author was trying to get us to sympathise with him in places, but without giving us a back story he just landed as pure evil, which hardly anyone ever actually is.
Overall I enjoyed the book - to be honest most of my criticism is that I'd just have liked more time in the world!
June 9, 2019
Set in the U.K in the near future, Clara is haunted by the arrest of her father, Matthew, by agents of the Authorisation Bureau and Major Darius Jackson. He has disappeared.
Major Jackson becomes besotted by Clara’s mother, Lucia and to keep her family safe, she has her marriage to Matthew annulled and marries Darius. A violent, evil man to say the least.
The government controls what books can be read, or taught, that free thinking is dangerous and so just owning banned books is enough to be arrested.
As Clara grows, literature is her passion and like her father, she becomes a teacher. She meets and falls in love with Simon, and together they begin teaching a few select students from the banned books…will they be found out? Or will they too disappear?
This is a fraught, dystopian tale (reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, which does get a mention) that feels all too real in the current political climate of ‘fake’ news and hate.
This is full of fear, violence and tension, but also love and hope. Compelling and disconcerting writing by Amy Lord. A thought provoking read… I loved every minute…..
Thank you to The Author and NetGalley for a free ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review
Major Jackson becomes besotted by Clara’s mother, Lucia and to keep her family safe, she has her marriage to Matthew annulled and marries Darius. A violent, evil man to say the least.
The government controls what books can be read, or taught, that free thinking is dangerous and so just owning banned books is enough to be arrested.
As Clara grows, literature is her passion and like her father, she becomes a teacher. She meets and falls in love with Simon, and together they begin teaching a few select students from the banned books…will they be found out? Or will they too disappear?
This is a fraught, dystopian tale (reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, which does get a mention) that feels all too real in the current political climate of ‘fake’ news and hate.
This is full of fear, violence and tension, but also love and hope. Compelling and disconcerting writing by Amy Lord. A thought provoking read… I loved every minute…..
Thank you to The Author and NetGalley for a free ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review
July 22, 2019
I love a good dystopian novel, and this one did not disappoint.
Clara Winter lives under the control of a regime where even expressing the wrong opinion can get you killed, and strict restrictions placed on what can be taught in schools and universities mean that whole generations grow up exposed only to the knowledge the government allows them to have. When Clara was just a small girl, her father was taken by the Authorisation Bureau for the crime of teaching banned books to his students. Now grown up, Clara is teaching at the same university and is determined to rebel against the regime that tore her family apart.
There are nods to historical precedents (the Nazis burning books etc) that lend the story a chilling accuracy, and as the book descends into violence and anarchy, the reader is swept along towards a thrilling climax.
I really enjoyed this book, even if it made me uneasy at times when it veered a little close to the bone. I would definitely recommend to other readers looking for a well written dystopian thriller.
NOTE: I was provided with a free ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Clara Winter lives under the control of a regime where even expressing the wrong opinion can get you killed, and strict restrictions placed on what can be taught in schools and universities mean that whole generations grow up exposed only to the knowledge the government allows them to have. When Clara was just a small girl, her father was taken by the Authorisation Bureau for the crime of teaching banned books to his students. Now grown up, Clara is teaching at the same university and is determined to rebel against the regime that tore her family apart.
There are nods to historical precedents (the Nazis burning books etc) that lend the story a chilling accuracy, and as the book descends into violence and anarchy, the reader is swept along towards a thrilling climax.
I really enjoyed this book, even if it made me uneasy at times when it veered a little close to the bone. I would definitely recommend to other readers looking for a well written dystopian thriller.
NOTE: I was provided with a free ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
June 30, 2019
This is an outstanding book about fascism and authoritarianism and sacrifice and resistance and resilience and hope. In a Britain under authoritarian rule, Clara Winter’s father, a literature professor, is arrested and “disappeared” when Clara is eleven. Her mother marries the major who oversaw the arrest in order to protect Clara, paying a heavy personal price. When Clara herself becomes a literature professor and falls in love with a colleague in the history department, she becomes involved in a project to spread dissent; when her partner is similarly arrested, she becomes even further involved ins plot to overthrow the government. Deftly written and full of the pain of making choices in impossible situations, coming to terms with self-sacrifice and the costs of war, this book is an excellent and all-too-real meditation on political silencing and the ways individuals react to and cope with brutal regimes.
July 10, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and Unbound Digital for this ARC!
It pains me to say, but I truly could not finish this book. I requested it because I am a big fan of dystopian novels, and ones about books tend to pique my interest even more. But this novel is just not a good one for this genre, at least for me. I only got about 10 chapters in before I decided I wasn't going to waste any more time trying to like this story. I felt that the writing was very rushed, and that none of the characters were relatable. Clara and Simon's relationship moves insanely quickly, with no background, and the whole daddy issues plot was just off putting for me. I couldn't connect with the writing at all unfortunately, and there are too many other books that I want to spend my time reading.
It pains me to say, but I truly could not finish this book. I requested it because I am a big fan of dystopian novels, and ones about books tend to pique my interest even more. But this novel is just not a good one for this genre, at least for me. I only got about 10 chapters in before I decided I wasn't going to waste any more time trying to like this story. I felt that the writing was very rushed, and that none of the characters were relatable. Clara and Simon's relationship moves insanely quickly, with no background, and the whole daddy issues plot was just off putting for me. I couldn't connect with the writing at all unfortunately, and there are too many other books that I want to spend my time reading.
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