
Whoops, it's been a long time since my last book... haven't quite been able to get back into a routine since returning from the Italy trip... work has needed a bit of extra effort and in my down-time I have been working on vacation pix. But I totally forgot I had a book post (or two) saved up prior to the trip. So here it is!
Despite how long my to-be-read list always is, I often get easily distracted by a new release and have it "jumps the line."
The premise of Hillary Jordan's When She Woke ... a futuristic, dystopian twist on The Scarlet Letter just seemed too good to pass up (or figure out what priority to give it on my list). While in the classic from Nathaniel Hawthorne, it was Hester Prynne being branded with the scarlet "A" on her clothes after conceiving a child out-of-wedlock with a priest... in the Jordan's future vision it's Hannah Payne likewise being punished after an adulterous affair with a preacher... but not so much for the adultery (which is still frowned upong) but more so, for the now illegal act of abortion. This leads her to be "melachromed" -- having her skin genetically altered to turn red for the duration of her sentence. Pretty nifty, huh?
While I breezed through the novel, I grew increasingly disappointed with the direction it took after starting off like gangbusters with whole revelation of the premise. I was expecting/wanting this to be more an examination of this darkly conservative version of a future America... which granted it is in subtext, but I felt it just devolved too much of a "damsel in distress" story crossed with a somewhat unconvincing story/journey of female empowerment. While Hannah is pretty well drawn (though, at times, a bit gushy and overwrought for my taste), the rest of the cast of characters just seemed too black/white, good/evil... even the ones who are supposed to be some shade of grey. And I will do my best to remain spoiler-free, but a "romantic" twist in the latter half of the book, was a bit too "jump the shark" for my taste.
Still a good and quick read, but was just left with a sense of unfulfilled potential with that premise that was so rich/ripe for exploration vs the story that was told.









