The first thing to say is I don't read a lot of SciFi. That said, I do very much enjoy a good dystopian tale that is set in the future. And that is exactly what this book is. In this story, people's vocal chords are operated on at birth so that they cannot speak. Because speech is illegal. I loved this as a concept for the novel. The only query I had was why people communicated through words written on Compads. They still shared words. Words were still everywhere. It was only the sound of them that was stopped.

The plot spans decades of the main character's life. We first meet Rose in school, where we also meet her friends Simoni, Roger, and Isaac. This is a great way of showing the reader the characters of these key players in Rose's life. I love the part where the young Roger takes Rose for a date and she has beef — real beef — and the two of them spend a wonderful evening together. Rose thinks it is the start of a relationship with Roger. He, however, knows that it is more of a farewell. He is part of a rebel group set to blow up the president's motorcade. Roger disappears, assumed dead.

Isaac and Rose grow closer after this, eventually marrying and having their daughter, Hailey. But things end badly after an afternoon in the park.

I won't give too much away, but Rose ends up as part of a rebel group, where she reconnects with Roger. Her life after this is very different from her life before. She learns that the vocal chord operations are reversible and finds her own voice. She and Roger have an incredible life together working for the cause.

The ending is classic dystopian, in that a lot of people die. However, it has hope. It ends with a freedom given to the world that is fantastic to read. So, in some ways, it is not so dystopian.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the end very moving. Rose and Roger got under my skin, and everyone else. I hated Simoni. I loved Treggers and Gwen.

The only (slight) problem I did have was with the grammar, punctuations, typos, and (occasionally) formatting. It could use an editor to go through professionally and sort out all the issues because there were a lot of them.

Other than this, though, thoroughly enjoyable.

Lovers of SciFi, action, dystopian fiction. It is also a great love story. This shines through.

The plot. It is really clever, really well thought-out. The characters are really well written, also. It is impossible not to fall in love with Treggers.

The editing. It needs someone to go through and correct it.

Excited, sad, happy, angry. A whole host of emotions.

Vanessa Heath.

It's a great, fast-moving plot that will keep you hooked and intrigued. The concept is unique. The characters are great.

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Created Mar 06, 2022 at 7:39am • Submit your own review...