I received a complimentary copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity Group and was under no obligation to post a review. No compensation was received for sharing this review and all opinions are my own.
Series: Seventh Daughter #1
Published by Written World Communications on May 15th 2017
Source: Litfuse Publicity Group
Genres: Christian Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult
Pages: 253
Sixteen-year-old Amy doesn't like anything to die. She won't even eat the goats or chickens her mama has butchered every fall, but she can't let herself pity the inhabitants of New Lithisle. In a few short months the dome they built to isolate themselves from the deadly pandemic is predicted to collapse, but her whole life Amy has been taught it's God's will they die. They traded their souls for immunity to the swine flu virus, brought God's curse upon themselves by adding pig genes to their own.
Then, while on a scavenging trip with her father, Amy is accidentally trapped in New Lithisle. At first her only goal is to escape, but when she meets Daniel, a New Lithisle boy, she begins to question how less-than-human the people of New Lithisle are.
Amy's feelings grow even more conflicted when she learns she didn't end up in New Lithisle by mistake. Her father is secretly a sympathizer, and was trying to prevent the coming destruction.
Now time is running short, and Amy has to decide if she will bring the computer program her father wrote to his contact or save herself. Installing the program could prevent the dome's collapse, but if Amy doesn't find her father's contact in time, she'll die, along with everyone else.
Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.
Content Review:
Christian or Secular: Christin (Overt-Mentions of God)
Profanity: None
Sex&Violence: Mild violence: fighting and murder-non-descriptive. Sex: None. There is some kissing.
Trigger Warnings: Amy is given a pill (against her will) to cause an abortion though she is not pregnant. There’s discussion about her cramps and blood pooling at her feet.
Disclosure: This book can be enjoyed by Christian or secular audiences.
All Things Now Living is a début novel by a new author, Rondi Bauer Olson. It explores topics such as genetically modified humans and how some people may view them as less-than-human. Many Christians believe that animals do not have a soul. Well, what would happen if you had a human with pig genes? Would that human have a soul?
I found this topic fairly interesting. On one hand, you had people experimenting with genetics and doing what they could to survive. On the other, you have a group that thinks these kinds of modifications take things too far.
We already live in a world where scientists are cloning and vaccines are cultivated in animal cells. As weirded out as some may be, the idea of mutated humans is not entirely preposterous.
The story flowed at a nice pace and I genuinely cared what happened to Amy, Finhead (Leroy), Ruth, Baby LeAnne and Daniel. I wanted Amy to put aside her prejudices and learn to truly see people. To see their heart.
The only negative for me with this book was that the romance seemed rushed. Insta-love is difficult for me to accept but I also think that Daniel was different from most boys. All the girls fell for Daniel and I think his genetic engineering played a part in that. So, I chose to overlook this insta-love because Daniel didn’t fall for all the girls—just Amy.
Overall, this book is thought provoking and action packed. The characters were well developed and while I would have liked for a tiny bit more world building—I really enjoyed this book. I do hope to find out more about Amy’s biological mother and why she is a clone. I’m holding out hope that this will be addressed more in-depth in a future installment of this series.
I’d say this book is a fairly typical YA-Dystopian. If you liked The Hunger Games then you’d probably like All Things Now Living. A huge plus is that this book is fairly clean. There’s nothing beyond kissing. Some may be grossed out by Amy being given a shot to start her monthly cycle but I wouldn’t call that, “dirty.”
About Rondi Bauer Olson
Rondi Bauer Olson is a reader and writer from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her debut novel for young adults, All Things Now Living, was a finalist in the 2012 Genesis Contest. She and her husband, Kurt, live on a hobby farm with three of their four mostly-grown children, along with a menagerie of animals including, but not limited to, horses, cows, alpacas, goats, dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, and parrots. Rondi also works as a registered nurse and owns a gift shop located within view of the beautiful Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Learn more about Rondi at rondiolson.blogspot.com and the Seventh Daughter series seventhdaughter.weebly.com.
Great review. I just got this book to review myself. After reading your post, I am very excited to start this book!
Hope you enjoy!