This is a dystopian novel that really made me think about current society as well as both the past transgressions and hatred toward those people that "don't fit in" and the horrifying potential future if we as a society allow all our forward openminded thinking progress be stopped and turned back. I felt so many emotions reading this intense, yet slower paced novel from giddy happiness to fear and rage at how a certain group (straight men) were allowed to take control and decide what gender roles were in society.
I liked Eleanor as a protagonist and hoped she would figure out what the Meadows was created for and what the matrons were trying to do. Eleanor faced the difficult emotional games and self-worth belittling and had to decide whether she wanted the easy way out and accept the new roles and change herself to fit in or fight against them and stand up for herself and people like her despite the life-threatening dangers.
The pacing seemed to drag for the first half of the book, but as Eleanor neared completion of her time as an adjudicator, the stakes ramped up exponentially and the dangers and secrets of the "new" society were revealed, making me want to keep reading to find out what happens next.
I liked Eleanor as a protagonist and hoped she would figure out what the Meadows was created for and what the matrons were trying to do. Eleanor faced the difficult emotional games and self-worth belittling and had to decide whether she wanted the easy way out and accept the new roles and change herself to fit in or fight against them and stand up for herself and people like her despite the life-threatening dangers.
The pacing seemed to drag for the first half of the book, but as Eleanor neared completion of her time as an adjudicator, the stakes ramped up exponentially and the dangers and secrets of the "new" society were revealed, making me want to keep reading to find out what happens next.