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Breeder
Will Meadows is a seemingly average fifteen-year-old Westie, who lives and works in Zone F, the run-down outermost ring of the Corporation. In the future state of the Corp, a person's value comes down to productivity: the right actions win units, the wrong ones lose them. If Will is unlucky and goes into unit debt, there's only one place to go: the Rator. But for Zone F Breeders, things are much worse--they're born into debt and can only accrue units through reproduction.
Every day in Zone F is a struggle, especially for Will who is fighting against time for access to an illegal medical drug, Crystal 8. Under the cover of night, Will travels to the Gray Zone, where life is less regulated and drugs--and people--are exchanged for gold. There, Will meets Rob, a corrupt member of the Corporation running a Breeder smuggling operation. Will also meets Alex, another teen whom he quickly recognizes as a Breeder in disguise.
Suddenly, Will has an illicit job and money, access to Crystal, and a real friend. As the pair grows closer, Alex shares her secret: she is part of the Response, an uprising to overthrow the Corporation. Caught up in the new friendship, Will and Alex become careless as the two covertly travel into Zone B for a day of adventure. Nothing goes as planned and Will's greatest fear is realized. Will his true identity be revealed?
Every day in Zone F is a struggle, especially for Will who is fighting against time for access to an illegal medical drug, Crystal 8. Under the cover of night, Will travels to the Gray Zone, where life is less regulated and drugs--and people--are exchanged for gold. There, Will meets Rob, a corrupt member of the Corporation running a Breeder smuggling operation. Will also meets Alex, another teen whom he quickly recognizes as a Breeder in disguise.
Suddenly, Will has an illicit job and money, access to Crystal, and a real friend. As the pair grows closer, Alex shares her secret: she is part of the Response, an uprising to overthrow the Corporation. Caught up in the new friendship, Will and Alex become careless as the two covertly travel into Zone B for a day of adventure. Nothing goes as planned and Will's greatest fear is realized. Will his true identity be revealed?
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 13, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
March 14, 2021
Pacey, gritty and inventive, Breeder buzzes with a dark energy as it follows the fate of two teens trying to survive in a crumbling dystopian society where men are valued for their work productivity, and women for their reproductive ability. In this intricately imagined and fascinating world, teenage friends Will and Alex find themselves trapped in the Corporation’s frightening web.
Fifteen-year-old Will lives in Zone F, one of the poorest parts of this corrupt and terrifying city. The only people worse off are those who live in the Badlands, the chemical wasteland extending endlessly in all directions beyond the fortress-like city walls. The city is controlled by the Corporation, an invisible, menacing force. Spies lurk in cafes, on buses and street corners. Fertility is one of the biggest challenges this society faces. From the age of seven girls can be placed in Preincubation, and from the age of eleven they can be used as surrogate mothers in the Incubation facility. Whilst women are exploited for their fertility potential, low-status men who do not work hard enough are sent to the ominous Rator, which is a death sentence. Will requires an illegal medicine - Crystal 8 – which can be obtained in the Gray Zone, a dangerous no-man’s land where drugs and people are trafficked. Inadvertently, Will becomes a breeder runner - smuggling girls from the Badlands into the city in exchange for a delivery fee – in order to afford the medicine.
An initial impulse might be to judge the characters for their choices, but the underlying theme urges the reader to ask themselves: if your life was at stake, how far would you go to save yourself and those you love? Would you feign complicity with a powerful government, or would you sacrifice your life alongside those who believe in individual freedom? The Corporation’s black heart is the jumping off point for the novel, but ultimately it is the ordinary person’s desire for wealth and position that greases the wheels of the sinister organisation.
As I read I felt fraught: caught between wanting Will to do whatever was necessary in order to survive, and simultaneously urging Will to do the right thing. By taking us inside a dark nightmare that offers its protagonists no easy answers, Honni Van Rijswijk holds a fearless and ferocious mirror to our own lives. Written with gleaming prose, these characters are fully formed, and their triumphs and betrayals are as harrowing as they are heartfelt. A brilliant debut novel filled with heart-in-your-throat tension as it races toward a stunning finali.
Fifteen-year-old Will lives in Zone F, one of the poorest parts of this corrupt and terrifying city. The only people worse off are those who live in the Badlands, the chemical wasteland extending endlessly in all directions beyond the fortress-like city walls. The city is controlled by the Corporation, an invisible, menacing force. Spies lurk in cafes, on buses and street corners. Fertility is one of the biggest challenges this society faces. From the age of seven girls can be placed in Preincubation, and from the age of eleven they can be used as surrogate mothers in the Incubation facility. Whilst women are exploited for their fertility potential, low-status men who do not work hard enough are sent to the ominous Rator, which is a death sentence. Will requires an illegal medicine - Crystal 8 – which can be obtained in the Gray Zone, a dangerous no-man’s land where drugs and people are trafficked. Inadvertently, Will becomes a breeder runner - smuggling girls from the Badlands into the city in exchange for a delivery fee – in order to afford the medicine.
An initial impulse might be to judge the characters for their choices, but the underlying theme urges the reader to ask themselves: if your life was at stake, how far would you go to save yourself and those you love? Would you feign complicity with a powerful government, or would you sacrifice your life alongside those who believe in individual freedom? The Corporation’s black heart is the jumping off point for the novel, but ultimately it is the ordinary person’s desire for wealth and position that greases the wheels of the sinister organisation.
As I read I felt fraught: caught between wanting Will to do whatever was necessary in order to survive, and simultaneously urging Will to do the right thing. By taking us inside a dark nightmare that offers its protagonists no easy answers, Honni Van Rijswijk holds a fearless and ferocious mirror to our own lives. Written with gleaming prose, these characters are fully formed, and their triumphs and betrayals are as harrowing as they are heartfelt. A brilliant debut novel filled with heart-in-your-throat tension as it races toward a stunning finali.
April 12, 2021
I loved this book. Thank you Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review.
Is it really so bad to do nothing?
What if doing something is pointless?
Should we stop trying and look out for number one?
So I am a big dystopian fiction fan, and I read a lot of YA too. This was everything I wanted in a book. I had just finished a much publicised book before starting this, and I felt so disappointed with the characters and the world, so reading this was a real shock and a great pick me up.
Plot wise, this is a really good idea. There is definitely that HMT feel to it, but a little more modern and down to earth. It felt like something that could happen in a not to distant future. The way in which the society runs is very plausible and there is just enough description to emerse you into the new world.
Characterisation was brilliant. I really like Will. There's nothing worse than a protagonist you cannot relate to, but I found Will not just relatable, but likeable too. Will doesn't always make the right choices but for me that's what added the edge. I had guessed what crystal 8 was for, but I felt it was done nicely and avoided a lot of cliches. I really liked the way Will reacts after the crystal is taken away. It felt raw and real to me that someone would react with disgust at their own body. ( Sorry I'm being deliberately vague so as not to reveal anything).
I liked Alex too. She is clearly naive and a bit of a prat at times, but it works in the story and helps the author to explore morally grey areas. She adds a juxtaposition to Will. I have to say I was routing for Rob too, and it's this that I liked most about the book.
The reader is challenged. Will is not doing a good thing. Will is essentially part of the problem and so is Rob, and yet in a strange way, you find yourself as a reader, making excuses for them. Yes, I said it. Somehow listening to Will, you find yourself trying to justify child trafficking on the grounds that at least they get fed, the Corp is better than the badlands and the parents do it willingly. But of course afterwards, when Will is confronted, we too have to confront ourselves. The book is clever like that.
This is a clever book which is well written and includes solid characters and has a good pace. There are some serious political and moral undertones, and the author will have you questioning your own morality especially the notion of complicity and ignorance. Can't wait for the next installment.
Is it really so bad to do nothing?
What if doing something is pointless?
Should we stop trying and look out for number one?
So I am a big dystopian fiction fan, and I read a lot of YA too. This was everything I wanted in a book. I had just finished a much publicised book before starting this, and I felt so disappointed with the characters and the world, so reading this was a real shock and a great pick me up.
Plot wise, this is a really good idea. There is definitely that HMT feel to it, but a little more modern and down to earth. It felt like something that could happen in a not to distant future. The way in which the society runs is very plausible and there is just enough description to emerse you into the new world.
Characterisation was brilliant. I really like Will. There's nothing worse than a protagonist you cannot relate to, but I found Will not just relatable, but likeable too. Will doesn't always make the right choices but for me that's what added the edge. I had guessed what crystal 8 was for, but I felt it was done nicely and avoided a lot of cliches. I really liked the way Will reacts after the crystal is taken away. It felt raw and real to me that someone would react with disgust at their own body. ( Sorry I'm being deliberately vague so as not to reveal anything).
I liked Alex too. She is clearly naive and a bit of a prat at times, but it works in the story and helps the author to explore morally grey areas. She adds a juxtaposition to Will. I have to say I was routing for Rob too, and it's this that I liked most about the book.
The reader is challenged. Will is not doing a good thing. Will is essentially part of the problem and so is Rob, and yet in a strange way, you find yourself as a reader, making excuses for them. Yes, I said it. Somehow listening to Will, you find yourself trying to justify child trafficking on the grounds that at least they get fed, the Corp is better than the badlands and the parents do it willingly. But of course afterwards, when Will is confronted, we too have to confront ourselves. The book is clever like that.
This is a clever book which is well written and includes solid characters and has a good pace. There are some serious political and moral undertones, and the author will have you questioning your own morality especially the notion of complicity and ignorance. Can't wait for the next installment.
June 4, 2021
This book is fucking brilliant.
"There are never any Breeders in the Transit. I might see a young Breeder -- still with her family, under the incubation age -- in public maybe once a year, if that. Families keep Breeders at home because the bounties are so high, even CSOs will kidnap Breeders to sell. I look at the families in line for the buses and all the little kids are boys--most families these days send their Breeders to the Preincubation program very early on. To be honest, that's what I would do."
I feel like Breeder encapsulates the intense rage I feel about the current terrifying reproductive injustice (particularly in US). This book is very dark and dystopic, but so is the society we live in. The Corp could easily be Amazon or Uber. I think this is an important book for a time when people are only seen as capital - either as workers or breeder. Covid has really shown that for governments and corporations at least, human life has absolutely no value. It's great to read a book that makes that fact so clear and then resists it.
Breeder is intense at times but it's not totally overwhelming because the narrator's humor breaks it up well - the pacing is really well handled by the author (plus the writing is excellent).
This is an awesome novel and as a bonus it will probably piss off terfs if a lot of people buy it.
"There are never any Breeders in the Transit. I might see a young Breeder -- still with her family, under the incubation age -- in public maybe once a year, if that. Families keep Breeders at home because the bounties are so high, even CSOs will kidnap Breeders to sell. I look at the families in line for the buses and all the little kids are boys--most families these days send their Breeders to the Preincubation program very early on. To be honest, that's what I would do."
I feel like Breeder encapsulates the intense rage I feel about the current terrifying reproductive injustice (particularly in US). This book is very dark and dystopic, but so is the society we live in. The Corp could easily be Amazon or Uber. I think this is an important book for a time when people are only seen as capital - either as workers or breeder. Covid has really shown that for governments and corporations at least, human life has absolutely no value. It's great to read a book that makes that fact so clear and then resists it.
Breeder is intense at times but it's not totally overwhelming because the narrator's humor breaks it up well - the pacing is really well handled by the author (plus the writing is excellent).
This is an awesome novel and as a bonus it will probably piss off terfs if a lot of people buy it.
July 14, 2021
I LOVE this book so much. Breeder is the novel I wish I had growing up.
Breeder is extremely well written, deeply moving, very funny and suspenseful in the best way. It's like The Handmaid's Tale meets Mad Max Fury Road. It's late capitalism, patriarchy and class-based eugenics on steroids and Will Meadows is the perfect ambivalent queer hero for our time.
I found it cathartic to read a compromised hero - most of us are in some way complicit in the inequalities and injustices of our time. Part of Breeder's brilliance is the way it imagines resistance from a place of compromise. In this way it's one of the best of recent queer challenges to the idea of empire (including Tamsin Muir's Gideon the Ninth series, Seth Dickinsons' Masquerades series and Arkady Martin's Teixcalaan series).
If you like any of these books, you will love Breeder.
Breeder is extremely well written, deeply moving, very funny and suspenseful in the best way. It's like The Handmaid's Tale meets Mad Max Fury Road. It's late capitalism, patriarchy and class-based eugenics on steroids and Will Meadows is the perfect ambivalent queer hero for our time.
I found it cathartic to read a compromised hero - most of us are in some way complicit in the inequalities and injustices of our time. Part of Breeder's brilliance is the way it imagines resistance from a place of compromise. In this way it's one of the best of recent queer challenges to the idea of empire (including Tamsin Muir's Gideon the Ninth series, Seth Dickinsons' Masquerades series and Arkady Martin's Teixcalaan series).
If you like any of these books, you will love Breeder.
June 4, 2021
This is a really great and unusual book.
These are the things I loved about it:
1) Genre: dystopia / sci-fi / thriller, but not in a way where the world-building is the end-point, or where the technical aspects overwhelmed the story/character.
2) Its politics: this is the kind of book that makes you want to run to the barricades to join the revolution, so we can together overthrow capitalism, gender, racism and class.
3) Moral questions: basically, all the characters in this book are compromised in one way or another. I love that. I love exploring moral grey areas.
4) Will--great voice, compelling and flawed character
5) How I felt reading it--it's was a place to hold all my anger for a while.
6) It's short. Damn, but I love a short book.
These are the things I loved about it:
1) Genre: dystopia / sci-fi / thriller, but not in a way where the world-building is the end-point, or where the technical aspects overwhelmed the story/character.
2) Its politics: this is the kind of book that makes you want to run to the barricades to join the revolution, so we can together overthrow capitalism, gender, racism and class.
3) Moral questions: basically, all the characters in this book are compromised in one way or another. I love that. I love exploring moral grey areas.
4) Will--great voice, compelling and flawed character
5) How I felt reading it--it's was a place to hold all my anger for a while.
6) It's short. Damn, but I love a short book.
June 4, 2021
"To be honest, I’ve never exactly felt like a boy, but I sure as hell don’t feel like a Breeder. I wish I didn’t have to be either. I wish I could just float above all this, without a body at all. Or without a body that had to be one particular thing. But if I have to choose—and it seems I have to—then I’ll live as a boy."
"I hate having a body. ... every day I have to fight to keep this body. I trace the scar down my side, from when I fell on a sharp piece of machinery at work. I have another scar, very faded, down my arm, from when I was a little kid. As Westies, our bodies are sick, failing machines: we’re only allowed to keep them alive if we pump more and more units into the Corp, and to do that, we have to wear them out."
An eviscerating attack on gender, capitalism, the illusion of 'equal opportunity for all,' and an insight into the violent ways that our society treats young people. I LOVE THIS BOOK.
Well-written, and full of pain and rage. The book I needed to read right now.
"I hate having a body. ... every day I have to fight to keep this body. I trace the scar down my side, from when I fell on a sharp piece of machinery at work. I have another scar, very faded, down my arm, from when I was a little kid. As Westies, our bodies are sick, failing machines: we’re only allowed to keep them alive if we pump more and more units into the Corp, and to do that, we have to wear them out."
An eviscerating attack on gender, capitalism, the illusion of 'equal opportunity for all,' and an insight into the violent ways that our society treats young people. I LOVE THIS BOOK.
Well-written, and full of pain and rage. The book I needed to read right now.
April 29, 2021
Queer af and super dark. Love
June 5, 2021
Edward would love this book 🌈🔥
June 4, 2021
I loved the hell out of this book. Can totally see it as a movie with my favorite queer actors in it. Fast-paced, emotional, astonishing.
June 4, 2021
I loved this book.
TERFs would haaaaaate this book.
I hate TERFs.
A fun, angry take on class warfare and gender.
TERFs would haaaaaate this book.
I hate TERFs.
A fun, angry take on class warfare and gender.
June 4, 2021
Really enjoyed this super dark book
April 21, 2021
This post apocalyptic dystopian is disturbing to say the least. The subjugation of women is The Handmaid’s Tale times 50. Females of reproductive age are Breeders, and forced to bear children for the corporation. If they do not bear enough live children then they are disposed of. If they have enough children to pay off their debt then they can gain their freedom, and become Shadows (who can get married, have jobs, and have children of their own). There isn’t a tremendous amount of world building in this book, which is normally a problem for me with dystopian novels, but didn’t really bother me with this book. The plot is laid out in such a way that we know what’s going on and it seems pretty self-explanatory. I really enjoyed Will as a character. He keeps fighting so hard just to live this life. The self loathing and hatred that Will shows later in the book is heartbreaking, and the brutality shown to Will can be very difficult to read. I had to put the book down a couple of times just to take a deep breath. But even though this is a really tough read, it is well written and a worthwhile read.
Thank you to NetGalley & Blackstone Publishing for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley & Blackstone Publishing for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
February 7, 2022
Oh, this one was unexpectedly good. Loads of triggers that I could not keep track of and wouldn't even be able to name since this is a sci-fi/dystopia, but I guess it would be safe to say it's a better version of The Handmaid's Tale.
This is the story of Will, their life under the Corporation, their gender dysphoria, and their lifetime in a web of lies.
I loved Will's character, the way they approached matters, and their way of acting and finding solutions. It was all very mature and level-headed that I sometimes forgot I was dealing with a 15yo. Of course, there were certain "gaps" in the story, and sometimes the writing style faltered a bit, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
This seems to be a first installment, considering how it ended, and I hope that there is a second book on the horizon, especially if it involves more insight into the history of Will and their grandma, because it felt like we didn't get enough of her in this book and her history would make a dope side story.
This is the story of Will, their life under the Corporation, their gender dysphoria, and their lifetime in a web of lies.
I loved Will's character, the way they approached matters, and their way of acting and finding solutions. It was all very mature and level-headed that I sometimes forgot I was dealing with a 15yo. Of course, there were certain "gaps" in the story, and sometimes the writing style faltered a bit, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
This seems to be a first installment, considering how it ended, and I hope that there is a second book on the horizon, especially if it involves more insight into the history of Will and their grandma, because it felt like we didn't get enough of her in this book and her history would make a dope side story.
June 8, 2021
bleak as hell. loved it
June 11, 2021
Couldn’t put it down. Hopefully it will become a series.
February 13, 2021
Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Breeder in exchange for an honest review.
I understand that the title Breeder implies something along these lines, but the description doesn't make it explicitly clear what this book's about and I feel like with this kind of subject matter that's really important so for those of you who haven't read this yet, this book focuses on a society that takes girls at 13 to use them to forcefully produce children.
That's a lot, obviously, but it's not a plot that I think inherently can't work. I think you need to be an incredibly responsible author with a bulletproof plot to pull that off though without it being more problematic than it's worth and ultimately, I didn't get that here. The pacing is way too fast, blunt, and exposition-y and a lot of the scenes that are actually given time to play out are really, really dark. I also didn't get a clear moral message which is so, so important with books like this. Not every book needs to exist to push some kind of message or cause some grand revelation within the reader, but this one should have.
I understand that the title Breeder implies something along these lines, but the description doesn't make it explicitly clear what this book's about and I feel like with this kind of subject matter that's really important so for those of you who haven't read this yet, this book focuses on a society that takes girls at 13 to use them to forcefully produce children.
That's a lot, obviously, but it's not a plot that I think inherently can't work. I think you need to be an incredibly responsible author with a bulletproof plot to pull that off though without it being more problematic than it's worth and ultimately, I didn't get that here. The pacing is way too fast, blunt, and exposition-y and a lot of the scenes that are actually given time to play out are really, really dark. I also didn't get a clear moral message which is so, so important with books like this. Not every book needs to exist to push some kind of message or cause some grand revelation within the reader, but this one should have.
March 19, 2021
The writing in this book is actually pretty good, but the world building felt like it was missing something.
The Corp is essentially the "government", but it's not technically a government, and everyone has to work to pay back the "debt" they're in for the Corporation taking care of them, using "Units". You can also get units from everyday things, like watching an ad the Corp. Females pay this debt back by being breeders (we're not even going to get into that).
The plot hole that bothers me the most though, is that there are all these illegal things, you pay for regular things by scanning your arm chip. Which tracks your whereabouts, your units, etc.
So why is Will using this chip to also pay for and do these illegal things? Gold is also a currency in this world, I don't understand.
There was a lot wrong with this world, which I believe was an intentional choice, but it was very hard to get through this book because of it.
*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The Corp is essentially the "government", but it's not technically a government, and everyone has to work to pay back the "debt" they're in for the Corporation taking care of them, using "Units". You can also get units from everyday things, like watching an ad the Corp. Females pay this debt back by being breeders (we're not even going to get into that).
The plot hole that bothers me the most though, is that there are all these illegal things, you pay for regular things by scanning your arm chip. Which tracks your whereabouts, your units, etc.
So why is Will using this chip to also pay for and do these illegal things? Gold is also a currency in this world, I don't understand.
There was a lot wrong with this world, which I believe was an intentional choice, but it was very hard to get through this book because of it.
*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2021
Just loved the main character in this book--was hooked from the first page, and read the whole book in 2 days
September 11, 2021
BREEDER by Honni van Rijswijk is a YA Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic novel in which natural disasters and war have killed off most of the population. The survivors went on to form the Corp, a non-government, business entity that controls society. Under the Corp, people live in different zones according to their socio-economic class. In the outer, poorer zone where Will lives, Westies have to work off the units they owe the Corp for protecting them, education, and whatever else the Corp decides. If Westies are lucky, they’ll make it to retirement age, and if they’re not, they’ll get sent to the Rator to die. That is, of course, unless they’re girls, in which case they are sent off to the Incubator to produce children for the Corp until they are bought or until they are no longer capable of live births. Will, though, has figured out a plan to get by, and most importantly, he has a vision for his future— but that all changes when his dangerous secret is found out and his life flips upside down.
What works extremely well in this book is the tone the author creates. Every circumstance is life-or-death and no one’s safe. There’s no sense that the main character will be okay because he’s the main character, and since anything could happen, it feels real. Because of this, the book made me reflect on the structure of our current society in comparison to where Will is growing up. Spoiler alert, it’s upsetting.
As a rule of thumb, I don’t love it when the main character or narrator of a book hides secrets from the reader, which is how BREEDER is structured. Instead of interacting with the world through the eyes of the character, we as readers only find out about what the character already knows when the character is confronted with it. In my opinion, it’s a missed opportunity for greater tension-building and it also robs the reader from being able to fully imagine the world or connect with the character. For example, I am very confused about how fertility works here if only five percent of people can reproduce. If all reproduction is controlled by the government, except in regards to released Shadows, how are there enough Westie babies to replenish the working class, which the Corp desperately needs? Details like that are those that get lost when the POV is limited.
Aside from that, BREEDER is a fast-paced read with nail-biting plot developments. It’s perfect for fans of THE HANDMAID’S TALE and THE GIVER.
Review originally posted on YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/yafict...
What works extremely well in this book is the tone the author creates. Every circumstance is life-or-death and no one’s safe. There’s no sense that the main character will be okay because he’s the main character, and since anything could happen, it feels real. Because of this, the book made me reflect on the structure of our current society in comparison to where Will is growing up. Spoiler alert, it’s upsetting.
As a rule of thumb, I don’t love it when the main character or narrator of a book hides secrets from the reader, which is how BREEDER is structured. Instead of interacting with the world through the eyes of the character, we as readers only find out about what the character already knows when the character is confronted with it. In my opinion, it’s a missed opportunity for greater tension-building and it also robs the reader from being able to fully imagine the world or connect with the character. For example, I am very confused about how fertility works here if only five percent of people can reproduce. If all reproduction is controlled by the government, except in regards to released Shadows, how are there enough Westie babies to replenish the working class, which the Corp desperately needs? Details like that are those that get lost when the POV is limited.
Aside from that, BREEDER is a fast-paced read with nail-biting plot developments. It’s perfect for fans of THE HANDMAID’S TALE and THE GIVER.
Review originally posted on YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/yafict...
June 8, 2022
This Lambda Literary Award nominee for 2022 is a dark, trigger-filled read. It has strong echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale, but believe it or not, darker. It’s a dystopian future after the Fourth Depression. Climate change, world war, infertility, everything bad you can think of has happened. There’s one city that has reinvented itself, controlled by a massive corporation that has created its own caste system based society and isolated itself from the rest of the surviving world. Girls are taken at 12 or 13 and placed in incubators where they bear children derived from the embryos of the super fertile. They are called breeders. After a large number of live births, they become shadows, women who have earned enough credit by their birthings to marry and possibly bear their own children. It’s so dark, I normally would have had a tough time getting through it. But it is very well written and very fast paced and I ended up devouring it.
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
June 9, 2022
Someday I will learn my lesson about scifi dystopias based on reproductive scarcity, but today is not that day. "Breeder" is yet another attempt to create a terrifying future for white women by co-opting the lived experiences of women of color.
This novel is voyeuristic tragedy porn for white feminists. I think that since this book won a lambda award I was hoping it would spend more time examining gender and sexuality, but that isn't what happened.
This novel is voyeuristic tragedy porn for white feminists. I think that since this book won a lambda award I was hoping it would spend more time examining gender and sexuality, but that isn't what happened.
July 22, 2021
Excellent book with a lot of twists and an ending that leaves you wanting more.
December 3, 2021
I think I would've liked a bit more time spent developing the relationship between Alex and Will ahead of the day they decide to make their fateful journey, but overall, this book was really good. I liked the modern take on a dystopia - this one plays more on the role of gender and gender identity, as well as having elements of classism, rather than having only classism and racism to be the causes of oppression. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a dystopian that brings something new to the table. I also like that Will does his best to take control of his circumstances; he does get pushed around, but he's not a football being moved around the book by everyone else. I love a main character with agency. The first big thing he does in the book is motivated externally, but immediately how he goes about it is all him, even when the guy he's talking to tries to manipulate him. I also liked that he was frank and open about his dislike for his body; as someone who has not experienced any sort of body dysphoria, I felt like I learned a bit about it. I like that at the end of the book, he feels like he has reclaimed some of his agency over his own body as well. It's still not quite what he wants, but he's gotten a lot more say in what goes on with it, and he's figuring out ways to work with it.
October 23, 2021
holy shit, what an incisive look at capitalism, class, morality, and gender norms. what makes this scifi dystopia particularly terrifying isnt just the outright state sanctioned violence but it’s the fact that this could easily happen to us if we continue to exist under capitalism. the Corporation could easily be amazon and walmart and a bunch of other leeches, we basically already exist in a world where our worth is derived from however our labor can be exploited, and everyday it seems like there’s another development to how fucked we are environmentally. what a great read.
July 29, 2022
LOVED this chilling and timely horror-sci-fi. Eerily prescient as we head into a USA where 10-year-olds can be made to stay pregnant, for the purposes of cheap labor and cheap/free babies for adoption.
September 12, 2021
This is very good. It is written for a young adult fiction audience but it reads well to an adult. It is one of those books that keeps reverberating in one’s mind. It is dystopian fiction but there is a subtlety in it in the way that it explores choice in a context that offers crude binaries.
April 1, 2021
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“My name is Will. I’m a Westie. I live in Zone F. My corporation account is in credit.”
It’s hard to know where to start with this review, much less what to say without spoiling the book. My rating is a 2.5, which could teeter more towards 3 stars.
First, Rijswijk’s writing is actually fantastic. They do a good job of world-building. Despite the very good writing, this book has minimal redeeming plot qualities. If you’ve read my reviews before, then you know that character growth is extremely important to me. Will consistently makes choices to save his own skin, and this doesn’t change even at the end. I wanted more for Will, and I wanted Will to do more for the society he lived in.
The content in this book is dark, and would most certainly be triggering for others. You never get a break from this content. This made it a touch difficult to get through.
My full review will be out July 12th, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“My name is Will. I’m a Westie. I live in Zone F. My corporation account is in credit.”
It’s hard to know where to start with this review, much less what to say without spoiling the book. My rating is a 2.5, which could teeter more towards 3 stars.
First, Rijswijk’s writing is actually fantastic. They do a good job of world-building. Despite the very good writing, this book has minimal redeeming plot qualities. If you’ve read my reviews before, then you know that character growth is extremely important to me. Will consistently makes choices to save his own skin, and this doesn’t change even at the end. I wanted more for Will, and I wanted Will to do more for the society he lived in.
The content in this book is dark, and would most certainly be triggering for others. You never get a break from this content. This made it a touch difficult to get through.
My full review will be out July 12th, 2021
February 19, 2023
How am I only the 206th person to ever review this book on here?!? This is one of my favorite books I’ve heard in YEARS and I will absolutely not spoil a single detail. Feel free to not even read the description. Just trust me. This book deserves to be read by millions. It’s fast paced, breathtakingly creative, hauntingly realistic, and the characters are unanimously fascinating. I have no idea how I found it on here — I think it was just listed as similar to some other dystopian book I was looking at. I’m so beyond thrilled I found it. 5 stars is not enough, and neither is a couple hundred reviews. If word of mouth is the only hope to grow its audience, consider this me shouting from the rooftops
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