So. I wasn't sure what I felt like listening to. Nothing felt quite right. After a while I came across a dystopian book with DNA on the cover and I thought "well, I could do this." I don't know how much of this decision was me just getting frustrated about the search, but I'm glad I made it!

Set far in the future, humanity was largely wiped out by a disease (that's all we know about it). In order to aid population recovery and to make the best possible use of the limited available resources people are divided into three tiers, from most valuable (desirable genes - get all they need, allowed to reproduce with genetically compatible people, etc) to least valuable (undesirable genes such as many disease markers - get the scraps the higher tiers didn't use). This is possible thanks to the ruling power - a genetics company who have been researching the human genome and finding all kinds of links. I liked that the impacts of epigenetics were also touched on (people are constantly evaluated in order to maximise their health, and for tier 2 citizens the opportunity to move up into tier 1), although I feel like the impacts may have been slightly exaggeratedI also feel like there's a lot of discussion to be had about how the tier system reinforces itself if social conditioning has such a large effect. If you are raised as a certain tier, won't that tend to perpetuate itself? One of the kids and even kind of Kate gets very close to touching on this but I do hope it's something that's explore more explicitly later on!. This story follows Kate and her family in this new world, where she works as a healthcare provider for tier 2 citizens and her partner as a researcher who is trying to solve cancer - the main cause of death in the new world and the main reason that life expectancy is so much lower than t once was.

This book very much has a 2010s YA dystopia feel to it. But unlike most of these books, the characters are adults who have found their place in the world (jobs, kids, etc) rather than teens who are just entering it. That being said, the way they spoke and some of their interactions did sometimes feel very reminiscent of these kinds of books (although there were fewer of the frustrating behaviours that you start to notice in YA books when you are a little older!). I didn't like the characters very much (the classism was very strong and so was the white saviour complex (although applied to class rather than race - is there a name for this?) but I did enjoy reading about them and their world. I must say that I'm rather interested in the older days.

I did predict one of the main reveals pretty early on (I think I got it the first time it was hinted at) but I didn't mind too much. I think the story got a little off track after it was actually revealed (look, it makes sense but I don't know how I feel about the sequence of events? They basically felt like they happened because plot but I get why they happened) but it definitely picked up again towards the end. I kind of liked that the ending got vague. I have theories and I am interested to see how they hold up in the next book! If you enjoyed (or at least like the concept of) 1984 and Matched it is definitely worth giving this a shot! Just be aware that the tone is a lot more like the latter (albeit darker) as this kind of style is definitely not for everyone. ( )