Series: The Registry
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 336
Formats Available: Paperback
Genre: Dystopian
BLURB from Edelweiss
Everyone knows The Registry saved America from collapse. Which is why girls are raised to be brides auctioned off to the highest bidder, and boys are raised by the government to be hardened soldiers. Everyone accepts this as their patriotic duty, except for two girls who are determined to find a way out.
Mia has been dreading her eighteenth birthday for as long as she can remember. It marks her coming of age and the time for her appraisal as a potential bride. She's one if the pretty ones, and she passes her appraisal with flying colors. She's what every man desires - beautiful and sheltered. Snapped up in record time with her parent's blessing for more money than she ever imagined, Mia will not succumb to this life. She escapes with her best friend Whitney, who's been on the marriage block with no takers for a year and will end up a slave working for the government if no one chooses to marry her.
After tricking Mia's father's farmhand - with his dark stormy eyes - into helping them, the three are soon running for their lives, with government agents, bounty hunters, and Mia's intended hot on their heels. They'll make it to Mexico, where a free if uncertain future awaits - or die trying.
MY REVIEW
I received this e-arc from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.
I'll start with the cover, it's a close up of, who I presume is Mia. I do like the cover, though my pet hate of someone quote on the cover is here again. I think review quotes, no matter who they are by should be on the inside or back of the cover or perhaps on a page at the start or end of the book. Personally these types of quote really do not influence me so much that I would buy a book just on the strength of them. On to a more positive note, I love a good byline! This one is "Freedom is the ultimate crime", though it works where it is placed on the cover it could have been placed where the quote about the book is. I do like the font of the Title and the authors name. So on the whole I do like the cover. Would I pick the book up from a book shelf? Yes I think I'd take a closer look.
Then obviously as soon as I read the blurb I would be sold on this one to read, just as I was when I saw it on Edelweiss.
I felt immediately drawn into the book and the story of "The Registry". All the way through the book Mia asks various people how "The Registry" came about, why was it created, when was it created and why did it still exist. The Registry is very sexist in that women are literally a commodity to be bought and sold. the women have no say who they marry they are basically sold to the highest bidder. The women really doesn't know who she will end up with, where she will live or how she will live. The father dictates how the female child/woman lives until they are of age to be sold to their husband. then the husband dictates how the woman thinks etc. When children are born, if it is a boy there is disappointment and the child is turned out of the family home and given to the government to raise in a communal home, until they are 13, then they have to earn a living, and finally at eighteen they have to join up and serve their country all without question. Which on the surface makes it sound like the males have things as bad as the females but once the males finish their service they are free to go about their lives as "heroes" that have served their country. They then have to make money to buy themselves a wife from The Registry.
When a female is born it is seen as a great gift and loved and treasured and raised as sheltered as possible util she reaches the age for evaluation and being put on The Registry. The prettier and more subservient and uneducated the girl the higher price she will bring on The Registry. The females are expected to be great cooks, be able to sew, keep a house, be the perfect hostess and give birth to many daughters. The more daughters a man has the richer he will become.
Once a female is placed on The Registry, she cannot stay on there for an unlimited time. After a certain length of time the government takes the unmarried women to become work slaves for the government. Also when a female does get sold, she leaves her old life behind and rarely see's any of her friends and family again.
So that's the gist of the book. The girl stuck on The Registry with no interest is Whitney, the daughter of Mr Morrissey's farm manager. The girl who is sold to the highest bidder is Mia Morrisey. And the guy about to sign up for his service is Andrew, one of Mr Morrissey's farm hand workers.
This book is action packed, it's also a really interesting read. What's even better is there's going to be a book 2! The book has really well described, to the point that you can visualise them characters. The people that Mia, Whitney and Andrew meet along their journey all have their own stories to tell. Another character who has many facets, is nasty but still interesting is Grant, the man who buys Mia and then proceeds to chase her and her companions. Grant is not a man to be messed with as different people along the way learn to their cost. He kills if you get in the way or are no longer of any use to him. What will he do to Mia? Who knows, sure he likes that she's beautiful, she would make a great trophy wife. He also likes that she has spirit, but he really wants to break that spirit too. Grant is ex military with plenty of money, access to weapons and men, which makes him a very dangerous man.
So did I enjoy the book? Yes, loved it. Would I recommend the book? Yes to all ages and especially to those who love the dystopian genre. Would I read a BK#2? Yes please, I'd read it now if it was available. Would I read more by Shannon Stoker? Definitely.
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