Nicole Ciacchella

Well written, dystopian, did not stand out ... not my thing Actually, my impression closer to the date of reading was:
Picture of a dystopian world in which people are only valued for their contributions to the success of the corporation/controlling force of their environmental bubble. Well written, well paced, well drawn protagonist and supporting characters. Of course, as with many dystopian futures, there are the rebels who have seen through the dictatorial and self-serving ways of the show more elite. The rebels are, of course, idealized people of pure and noble intentions...which is where I finally disconnected. As a Christian, and as someone who sees Solzehnitsyn's statement on good and evil as being definitive (summary: good and evil exists in every human heart...and even there, that line shifts back and forth), I find myself checking out of dystopian futures about to be challenged by the outsiders...even though I self-identify as a perpetual outsider myself.
I fully expect Ciacchella to write other stories with quality and craftsmanship. Good luck. show less

4.5

The food system on Earth is collapsing despite the best efforts of the Job Creators and their staff of Contributors to find ways to feed the masses. The human race is about to be wiped out and the only way to save it is to choose the ones who will be admitted to the newly constructed Domes.

With the death of his father, 19-year-old Liang Zhang’s shoulders now have the unenviable responsibility of choosing who to allow into his company’s Dome. Each family, each person, is evaluated and show more he must make the final decision as to who lives and who dies because the Dome will only sustain 125,000 people and the population needs to be diverse to take care of the jobs that need doing. Every person needs to Contribute in order to qualify for the limited resources. I wouldn’t want to make those decisions. Would you? Liang Zhang sure doesn’t, but he must. Time is running out.

After reading Contributor I saw that there was a prequel short available, one that describes how and why the Domes came about. This short story is filled with tension, lots of tension and a thousand, a million, terrible choices that must be made. To top it off those choices land squarely on a 19-year-old. I can’t imagine making those choices at the age I am now, making them at 19 seems grossly unfair. To be put into that position before you have had a chance to really live will shape a person for the rest of their life. But will it be a good thing or a bad thing? Will it give the person a God-complex, break his mind or remind him that life is precious and those left behind should never be forgotten? What do you think it would do to you?

*Book source ~ Picked up for free on Amazon. show less

"When the Great Famine threatened the existence of mankind, the Creators saved humanity. Humanity has been their loyal subject ever since."

Dara Morrow lives in a dystopian society where you are only as good as your contribution to society, and when you can't contribute anymore, you are pretty much discarded. The citizens of this society are taught basically from birth that the Creators are all powerful and always right, and you don't under any circumstances question their edicts. Dara is in show more a three way competition to determine who will be the assistant to the head of engineering, which is her dream job, but when things turn particularly cutthroat, she starts to question things. Then her mother is hurt in an accident, and the stress of managing everything makes her question even more what she's been taught all her life.

I liked Dara because she really believed in the Creators and only started questioning what she had been taught when her life was thrown into turmoil and everything started falling apart. It was then that she realized everyone was expendable, and that they were merely tools that the Creators used, rather than valued members of society. The pace of the book built slowly but increased throughout the book, so you could feel the tension build.

For the most part, this was a very engaging and quick read, and I enjoyed it very much.

4/5 stars. show less

A book, and series, like Contributor by Nicole Ciacchella, really strike home for me. I love books that deal with things that ‘could’ happen. I mean, think about it…what would you do to survive? And what would those who could save humanity do to make sure the right people were chosen?

What happens to a person when they are no longer ‘useful’ to the system that operates on limited resources? Are people disposable?

In Contributor by Nicole Ciacchella, we see what happens to those show more deemed disposable by the Creators. I was filled with anger and disgust, yet there are always those characters that will rise to the occasion and shine brightly.

Dara Morrow, a seventeen year old girl has been given everything. Her eyes are opened when she realizes not only must she must earn it, but when her mother becomes ill, what happens when a Contributor is no longer able to contribute.

Nicole Ciacchella has the creep factor going in full force when we meet the Head of Engineering, Andersen. Dara is competing to become his assistant. I love when an author can surprise me, and I was surprised when help came from an unexpected source.

The characters range from the worst of the worst to the best of the best. The danger is subtle, but I knew it was always there. I do wonder if a novel like this could be insight to what our future could be? I love ecological stories that highlight current events in real life, which has become truly frightening. Famine? Storms? Are books like this a warning? Something to think about with this thought provoking series.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com show less