I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
Genre: Dystopia
Age Range: YA
Star Rating: 3 stars
Series: standalone
Blurb:
The world didn’t end all at once but drip by drip…
Manon Pawlak has just turned eighteen – a debutant at the start of The Virtue Season: a process which will result in a match with a suitable genetic mate.
Her best friend, Agatha, has been decommissioned. Her seizures mean that she has been branded with a scar on the crest of her cheek which will forever sit at the corner of her vision, colouring the world in shades of mauve.
This is the story of their ritual year. And the Council is watching…
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
THE VIRTUE SEASON is a dystopia set after a flood where rebuilding the population has led to a world where bloodlines are strictly controlled.
The book explores how society ostracises those with disabilities and mental health troubles. They are forbidden from reproducing, made into servants. At the same time, the negative, hypocritical effects of eugenics is explored – reducing the gene pool by removing these “bad” genes actually weakens the overall pool.
At the same time, the book explores how this sort of “must preserve the population so we survive and have enough people to do the jobs” is used to control people, especially women. The society controls who can go where, what they wear, and has strict chastity rules. I liked that this world had severe consequences and restrictions on both men and women, but the brunt of it falls most heavily on the women.
Most of the book is told from Manon’s perspective, but her friend Agatha has a few chapters. I really liked Agatha’s perspective – these show what it’s like as an outcast and also had the strongest emotions and stakes.
The reason my star rating is low is because I struggled to find the book’s stakes, which are key for me to engage. What was Manon risking? Yes, there is the implied “it’s a dystopia, it needs to end” but Manon didn’t feel personally invested about it, so if she didn’t care, it didn’t feel like a stake.
Occasionally, she’d internally make comments about how exploitative it was, but it felt resigned and more “this is the world, so what?” It was like she was sleep walking through the world, not really caring whether there was change or not. And then, one chapter from the end, she suddenly ignites a revolution? It was pretty jarring.
While I liked that this didn’t go down the typical “this main character is an out and out rebel fighting the system from the start” of dystopia, it also didn’t feel like there was anything Manon wanted. She wasn’t after anything, which meant there weren’t goals to pursue. She went to balls and endured the injustices of her world. And that was it.
I’m not sure if this is the first book in a series or not. It ends in a way that feels like it must be – not everything is resolved and the future of the island is certainly murky. However, I can’t find a confirmation one way of another.
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 