3.5 to 4 stars. This was a BOTM for Sci Fi and Fantasy Book Club (August 2022). Read it a few years ago but couldn't remember it well, except that I d3.5 to 4 stars. This was a BOTM for Sci Fi and Fantasy Book Club (August 2022). Read it a few years ago but couldn't remember it well, except that I didn't much enjoy it at that time. So I thought I'd try it again with an open mind. Whilst it's not a book to 'enjoy', I did like the read much better this time. I think I read it more closely and carefully this time around.
Full of interesting and challenging ideas that really make you think. A dystopia with a complex societal structure that the reader doesn't really come to understand till almost the very end of the book. The story was slow-moving, but gradually built its power. The ending made it worth persisting with the slow development and lead-up. I liked that the ending wasn't all sunshine and unicorns. The characters were well aware that the world they were perpetuating was far from perfect, and the reader is left to think about the society and the reasons why it developed that way.