Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child. Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child? A plausible and original novel with sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.
My Thoughts: Where to begin! I actually got my biro pen and started editing this book at one point, it was that awful. The female characters are flat, forced and uninspiring, and they seem mostly irrational. I didn't really understand how Hope couldn't think of a reason not to take the fix, and yet was so adamant about it. People make their decisions based on a number of their own experiences in life, influences from upbringing, social standings, religion, education, the works. And so the whole foundation of the book wasn't credible as far as I could see it. She would have had some reason not to do it, no matter how small the reason might have been.
Apart from this, half of the text could have been missed out as it was just filler, the dialogue was terrible ("Man!" Said Bernard.) - there was so much rambling going on. I read 115 pages and still nothing had happened. When something exciting finally did happen it felt really out of place and unjustified.
I really like dystopian thrillers and I was looking forward to reading this one. It was money wasted unfortunately as I couldn't finish it.
No comments:
Post a Comment