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Imaginative and intricate, this sci-fi thriller blends a near-future world of inventive hi-tech gadgets and norms (fantastical, but perhaps only barely), with a thoughtful commentary on engineered procreation – in this case labeled “precision reproduction” – and its affect on the fragile identities of the generations of these humans “selected” for the privilege of birth.
Told in the third-person POV voices of three women, each of them struggling with “baby” related issues, the story winds and weaves on separate tracks, right up to an unexpected finale, that culminates in (no spoilers here) a satisfying and well-crafted conclusion.
- Lily Thompson is a wanna be journalist, recently graduated from college, and desperately looking for the byline that will turn her internship at the well-esteemed Vanguard magazine into a full-time gig.
- Ember Ryan is a biochemist, a PHD, with the remarkable job of protecting celebrities from stolen DNA, which in this advanced world, can be used (illegally and without consent) to unleash all sorts of privacy issues, including its lab-driven extraction into what may become new humans.
- Quinn Corrigan is a copper-haired, somewhat naive, surrogate mom, looking for nothing more than a pregnancy-funded respite from financial worry.
With the tech-creativity of “Black Mirror”, meeting dystopian breeding capabilities much advanced beyond “Brave New World” , this is a fun and interesting read, recommended for those who enjoy near-worlds sci-fi and the not-too-implausible world of futuristic biotechnology.
A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.
