As I was doing my end-of-the-year library inventory and scanning every book on the shelves, I came across this one and just figured I'd take it home to read over the summer. The cover was appealing, the back blurb sounded interesting, so I put it in my pile. I'm so glad I did! It's another dystopia book, but sometimes these books involve regimes utilizing extreme technologies, or even repressed groups developing some kind of fantastic-supernatural abilities. This one instead discussed what might happen to a gene pool of the wealthy without enough genetic diversity. Yay for something different!
Gaia Stone is a midwife, and the daughter of a midwife, living in the poor area of Western Sector 3 - outside of the Enclave and next to Unlake Superior. Only the wealthy and powerful can live in the Enclave, and residents of the outer sectors have difficult lives and further must submit to the baby quota. Every month, each midwife must give the first three babies she delivers to the nursery inside of the Enclave. These babies are raised inside of the walls, adopted by wealthy families. This is supposedly to show how the Protectorate cares for those outside of the walls too. However, the reason for the baby quota is really that the families inside of the walls are becoming inbred with side effects like hemophilia and other defects. Those mating with their close family members are convicted of genetic crime, and not everyone inside of the walls feels that the Protectorate is doing enough. Gaia's mother and father are arrested and this becomes the catalyst for Gaia to find out what is really happening within and outside of the walls. Aided by Leon, the adopted son of the Protectorate himself, she seeks to figure out the code her mother used to mark babies to save both her family and perhaps her entire sector.
Anyone who enjoyed "The Giver" by Lois Lowry might also really like this book too. They both include many of the same themes and plot points. Furthermore, this book touches on the topics of adoption, genetic disorders, and the problems with dictatorship, torture, and surveillance. Overall, a solid book that's actually a part of a trilogy, the rest of which I can't wait to read! Want someone else's review? Check it out!
After reading this book, you'll totally understand why this is the only shirt that you could wear to represent your love of this story. #Birthmarked
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