Reading at Dawn - Book Review Blog

This was a surprise. I really wanted to read this but was stuck waiting or so I thought until I was in my sister's room and noticed she had an advanced reviewer's copy. And she has no idea why she had a copy. Lucky for me because I started reading it right away and only took three days to read the whole thing, which is fast for me right now. This was an advanced copy, so things might be a little different in the one published last month. But either way, the overall reaction is summed in one word. It was... wow.

From Goodreads: "What if you knew exactly when you would die? 


Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 


When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home..."


This book is amazing. Seriously. A-Maze-Ing

Story: The idea of the world is an intriguing one. My only concern was the two males shown as interested in the one female main character, but this is the type that I can handle and even enjoy. It's not the girl/woman is indecisive or trying to even pick. Instead, it's a matter of circumstances. And I ended up liking both males.  I loved the little elements that were shown in the world. The music of the piano, the fish illuminations in the pool and the attempts to recreate existences from the past to make the harsh reality of the truth in their world more bearable.

Characters: All of the characters are well developed. I liked Rhine, the main character. She was interesting and easy enough to feel empathy towards. Linden may have three new wives, but he really isn't a bad guy and his character was well developed. And the servant, Gabriel added dimension to the story. His interactions with Rhine were good to read. The female characters had their own depth and the variety of characters dealing all with the situation made for a great story. Variety in characters was great to read and having them stand out with decent development was a relief to see. I enjoyed this book mostly for the characters.

Overall: I didn't want to stop reading. The only difficult parts I had with the copy I read is sometimes the flashbacks would catch me off guard and I would be confused for the first paragraph. Even with the stranger subjects like polygamy, death happening at ages 20 and 25, and the strangeness of the world, it was easy to visualize the story. I found it to be an amazing read and hope others give it a chance. Read this book.