AVA

by Lydia Baker

First, they came for the city and we allowed it, they put up the Barrier and we stayed quiet, silenced by the fear of what was beyond. Our elderly were next and still we didn’t cry out; then they came for the women, removed their fertility and stole our future, so I hid. I became Alec and I turned my back on my true self, Ava.
Ava can’t live as Alec any longer, the lie is killing her, destroying all that she is.
The world beyond MTech’s Barrier calls to her and she can’t ignore it. She has to know what, if anything, survived the terrible day that tore her family apart fourteen years ago.


But what if the Outside is far more dangerous than anything Ava has ever faced on the Inside?
Ava is set in a dystopian future, where individual rights are being eroded and the population live under a dome barrier that they have been told is for their protection. But, what is outside? Is escape possible and even if it is, will it be a death sentence?

311 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2022

Reviews

[Jules Sub · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novel that will make you think. About control, about how we give away our rights and ourselves without really knowing why or what that will mean for our future. We all plug in and switch off, are we being held prisoners in our own bubbles? When is control, too much? This is fiction but it is a powerful statement about women's treatment by governments and how our futures could play out. Do we turn a blind eye for a quiet life, or do we rise up, wake up and take back our lives? Ava will try, she will push back against the machine, and this book is so well written and full of heart-thumping moments that you will want to rise up with her and join the fight.

[Brodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong female characters are always a plus, and in Sci-fi they can be hard to find. This is rectified in AVA. A great story about a young woman in need of escape, stuck in a world that has been enclosed by a barrier. A prison that takes everything from her. Ava will try to find a way out, she will plan and scheme and see what is outside, what the government is denying her, and she hopes to find her family, who were trapped outside the barrier when it appeared. Read this today, it will not disappoint.

[Christine Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci-fi, dystopian story with a fast-paced narrative. A great read. Engrossing and full of brilliant scenes that are described perfectly. Jarring at times but it will keep you reading until the last page, and then leave you wanting more.

[Christine King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very full on story with lots of action. This would make a fantastic movie! I want to see Ava on the big screen. The world building and narrative is second to none. This is Scifi like it should be.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

14 years ago, the world as we knew it collapsed. MTech put up a barrier to keep people on the inside. But their control got worse. They killed off the elderly, removed women's fertility. Ava didn't want to live by those rules, to be controlled... so she changed into Alec. What is beyond the barrier though? Who survived? If Alec breaks free, can she have the freedom she so desires? Can Alec finally be Ava again? But what if beyond the barrier is actually more dangerous?

Have I just found a new favourite?! Yes I have!

This book was absolutely fantastic! It's one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read. I was completely memorised by the story, the writing style, everything. While the world is complex, nothing is too hard to follow. The story is easy enough to understand while still having everything you'd expect from this genre. Therefore this book is more than suitable for adults and younger adults.

I saw this and heard this as a movie in my head. It was so vivid. The world building and character building was just excellent. Even the people we met briefly felt like such real people. There were times I was shocked, fascinated, and times I wanted to cry. Following Alec/Ava was one heck of a journey. She faced so much. Her identify issues as being Alec, her identify issues even trying to reunite with her old self. She loved and lost. She saw the worse you could possibly see but she didn't give up.

I don't want to give spoilers for the outside world because honestly I was wide eyed invested!! It was awesome and terrifying and I had no idea where I'd feel safer if I lived in this world. Again, I have so much to say (and eek, I really want to!), but I simply cannot because you need to read this book and discover it yourself! Experience the same shock and fascination I did without already knowing.

All the stars! This book was a masterpiece. I've already ordered the authors other book!

Please give this one a read if it sounds like your thing! You won't regret it!

[Minu Freitag · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read in the fsfalliance bookclub. AVA is an interesting second novel and, though it's very (very!) dark, it will work well with a YA audience that is just discovering Dystopia and Alien Invasions. The close first-person narrative and short format is very fast paced. The setting reminded me of some of my favourite TV shows, especially Falling Skies.

+++++ Spoilers +++++

Ava lost her family in a devastating but unexplained bombing and finds herself logged in behind a barrier around her town. After fourteen years, the situation inside the barrier is deteriorating fast. An authoritarian system rules everyday life and keeps order using Mtechs—machines that can look like humans. The older generation is culled, and birth control is enforced using mandatory sterilisation—females only. To save Ava from that fate, her father installs a chip that can change Ava's appearance to male, but he dies soon after, leaving Ava and her foster brother to fend for themselves.

Ava struggles with her circumstances and tries to breach the barrier with the help of her father's friend Jackson. However, when Ava tells her brother about the plan, he betrays her and gets all of her friends killed while they attempt to breach the barrier. When Jackson reveals that her brother was turned into a Mtech to spy on her, Ava kills her 'brother'. Jackson and Ava manage to get through the barrier, but Ava loses one hand. Outside they find a world devastated by an Alien attack and have to fight for their lives and things turn even grimmer for Ava.

[whataimeereads_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

This novel was an incredibly addictive read. Sci-fi/dystopian genre. Baker crafted an amazing world build of a society corrupt by government and the war between mechs and ghosts behind the barrier that is now their “new life”. Oppression and destruction this book travels through the ‘new’ future with cataclysmic decline. A loss of identity and lots of death, I was engrossed in each chapter, it was hard to get through some scenes with how heart wrenching this can be but I was unable to put this book down, as I HAD to know what was on the next page. The first person narrative that Lydia conveyed enabled me to view the novel in a front row seat of all the action, feelings, confusion whilst portraying a clear identity of the strong feminine character ‘Ava’. Ava was stripped of her identity right at the beginning of the novel, becoming ‘Alec’. This novel really made me contemplate our own future and what truly happens if we have our rights stripped away, and our decision to fight for a future that we deserve.

[David Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of Ava in a contest held by the author. It's a pretty hefty book, as sci-fi sometimes tends to be. Don't be intimidated by the size of the book, it's easy reading and aimed at the young adult market. There's none of the dense exposition or complex, philosophical ideas so prevalent in the genre. It's a dystopian story, with a bleak, almost hopeless setting, reminiscent in some ways of Nineteen Eighty-Four or Brave New World. The world Ava inhabits is thoroughly broken and just coasting along aimlessly, and only Ava and a handful of others dare to do anything about it. No sooner do they try, though, that the story does a complete one-eighty, and everything changes. I did not see the twist coming, and there are plenty of gut-punches still in store when you recover from that first one. The ending left me with questions, but that just means I'll return for the sequel.

I would recommend Ava to fans of young adult dystopian sci-fi. It's got enough meat to satisfy most sci-fi enthusiasts and enough humanity for the general market. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

[Suzi White · Rating 5 out of 5]

My, what a wild ride this book was! I can not wait to read the next one and discover what happens to AVA. This is science fiction that will appeal to many but with a strong female lead and a female writer, it can also upset those that feel women should not write this genre. That is a shame, as it is a good story with an underlying message that is very relevant today. The control over our lives is often abused and do we follow like sheep or fight back? Ava chooses to fight, perhaps that scares some powerful men in their towers of superiority. Maybe, and maybe it should. But, this book is a cracker. A firecracker, that will explode in your mind and force you to think harder about what we should give up in the name of protection.

[Theo Gabrielli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got me out of my reading slump.

It's common for me to pick up a book and know nothing about it except it's genre, which is what happened here.
I freaking loved it.
Post apocalyptic? Check. Dystopian? Check. Aliens? Check.
You're immediately drawn into the dystopian society inside the barrier while trying to figure out what happened. What cataclysmic event happened that caused MTech to create a barrier around the city? Why was everyone who was outside the barrier not able to come in and be saved? These questions pop into your head as you follow Ava as she tries to escape her dystopian life while struggling to figure out who she can trust.

[Julia Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A futuristic book about a young girl trapped in a world of frightening mechs and even more frightening rules. See the rest on - https://simplyhonestreviews.webador.c...

[Jon White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would recommend to readers who want to branch out to sci-fi or as a starter for young readers. However not so much for the avid or seasoned sci-fi readers. Lots of similarities to well known sci-fi films and books. It felt rushed in places and where it felt deeper in others, seemed less relevant to what was actually going on with main plot.

[Eryn McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very good. It starts with a trapped post apocalyptic world ruled by machines and continues into a war against vicious aliens. It's well worth a read. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it gripped me from the very first pages and held my attention until the final word.

The story follows Ava, or Alec as she becomes known, hiding her true identity from the Mechs—beings who hunt women to strip them of their fertility, stealing their futures.

Trapped behind the barrier, Ava dreams of escape. But at what cost? And will the world beyond the barrier live up to her hopes, or will it hold even greater dangers?

This nail-biting tale immerses you in a vividly imagined science fiction world. The story of Ava and her family is so compelling and richly written that you’ll find yourself completely believing in her journey.

[Ziggy Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating 1 1/2 stars.

I found "Ava" - despite its appealing cover and interesting premise - to be at best an incomplete and ultimately unsatisfying mish-mash of a story. I struggled to finish it - noting I nearly quit reading several times in frustration - owing primarily to extremely poor editing. I found this to be a real shame, as somewhere in all this, there was AT LEAST one good story waiting to be told.

Unfortunately, the author rushes through this book, trying to cram far too much into far too little space, all the while failing to execute any of the key plot lines to any degree! I could imagine this to have easily fit into a worthwhile and interesting trilogy, taking the time to flesh out each of these interesting "worlds" and situations we find ourselves in. But for whatever reason, we are given this abbreviated version. Certainly you could tell the author wanted to deliver a very Orwellian tale - even mentioning Big Brother resp. big brother at different times - but fell well short of this target.

In addition, I found the writing to be very clunky, with far too many run-on sentences, tense disagreements, and vocabulary mistakes (check your homonyms folks!), all of which just made matters worse. Adding to all that was the repeated lack of well-conducted transition from one scenario to another, with multiple gaps in the plot just screaming out to be filled. And for the very limited character development we see, there was truly no one with which to feel anything approaching sympathy. Even the main protagonist herself said it best: she was hateful, full of anger and bitterness. And perhaps even worse, she was just melodramatic as heck!

Even the basic logic of the story ultimately falls apart. We never learn how or why the Barrier or even Mtech arose. In fact, in the case of the latter, their role fades far into the background past a certain point in the book. But so many questions remain. For example: these all-powerful Mechs can find and catch anyone they want to but somehow someone gets ahold of a gun in more than one scene? It says the children left… well, where did they go? Why would the "plotters" decide to meet exactly where Ava had already been caught, even if at that point they didn't realize Jackson was on their side? Speaking of which, on page 196, we are led to believe Jackson is black? Maybe? And on the outside: why is everyone worried about starvation yet deer and other animals seem to be abundant? Finally, here's a big one: did this entire story take place in or near London or not? That city is mentioned exactly ONCE in the entire book! And there are more points like this, too numerous to list here.

But really what sealed my opinion was simply that the editing mistakes just grow in number as the book progresses to a withering and lifeless end. Either this novel was not sufficiently edited or, even worse, it was released without at very least a sufficient beta review and/or "table read". Just a few examples:
- You give some a wide berth, not birth;
- "Despite the growing fear in my guy…" (gut)
- "making the long, drawn-out nights easier to bare" (bear)
- "DiDi’s relaxed slightly." (her what relaxed?)
- "…until I could take it no longer and sort comfort in the familiarity of my boots." (no clue)
- "Why shouldn’t we extend the same curtsey?” (courtesy)"
- "He thought for a moment thinking,…" (yes, that makes sense… sigh)

There were so many more, but I just quit, well, caring after a while. I know that it's difficult to produce and release a book, yes. But I also I know what it takes to support a team reviewing a book prior to release. In fact, I just finished a beta review for a duo of writers and their book was not bad, yet I filled over 70 pages with notes, from spelling and punctuation errors to plot issues. For "Ava", I would have had to take twice that amount of notes. Again, I find it a shame because the book - and its readers - deserved more.

[Rudrashree Makwana · Rating 5 out of 5]

As darkness was peering, death was gripping every soul and powerful evil people were taking control and everyone was entangled between life and death as their rights were abducted too and darkness was rising. The witness was the only the protagonist and everyplace suddenly became empty and darkness was rising in vivid shapes and taking away the loved ones.

Ava is the protagonist of the story, she became Alec to survive from Government intrusion against women rights. She has seen her father died of a broken heart, Sebastian and Eve were her replacements and Anna was her other half. And some people have died cold death. It’s an intriguing, gripping, heartbreaking and science fiction. When Alien’s took over the control and the world beyond M Tech’s barrier call to her. Ava is living in a state of grief and darkness in her heart is consuming her. The unfortunate incident that torn her family apart, 14 years ago still sink her into depression. Will she get over it ? Will she do a new beginning? Or Ava will now venture on a quest of avenge.

[Nikki B · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you hate predictable storylines, then this book is for you. It's totally unpredictable.

Originally, I wasn't excited by the title of the book but it's actually aptly named, because a lot of the story revolved around the main character figuring out who she is. And she is very different in each situation she's put in, almost like a different character, but with an underlying personality that tied them all together. It was clever.

A lot goes on in this story, so expect a wild ride with lots of twists and a world full of pain.

[Lucy A. McLaren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed AVA, which started out as a dystopian world controlled by government mechs but became… more than that! I didn’t expect what happened in the second half of the book, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that things weren’t what Ava expected them to be and that, actually, the grass isn’t always greener. I won’t spoil it any more than that. I’m not usually a sci-fi reader but this kept me hooked—even if Ava didn’t always make the best decisions, I was rooting for her.

[Tracy Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally hooked from the beginning. Not my usual genre for reading but enjoyed it immensely. The sights sounds and smells of the book live with you as you progress chapter by chapter. Well done. Can’t wait for the sequel.

[Emilie Ocean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read!

This book is so good! Such an amazing read. It gave me strong Divergent vibes. I can’t wait to start reading book 2 too!

[Nathan Harker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a stunning piece of literature, the Science Fiction was amazing, and the dystopian settings, extraordinary. Lydia is a gifted writer, and I can't wait to read about her other work. Characterization? Stunning. Creative writing? Next level. Well done, Lydia, keep up the good work.