elizabetta

3.5 stars

The author manages to build a futuristic dystopia in just a few pages, fleshing out a world at war, seen through the eyes of one of its programmed soldiers.

Joah was culled, taken from his family, his husband, Tobin, and forced into the army. His memories are then stripped away in order to remake him into a fierce fighting machine and nothing more, and for five years he lives with nothing more than following orders. He loses everything he had but hangs onto the memory of his name and the feeling of belonging somewhere else.

The trope about love overcoming all odds is well used but it gets a special twist here when Joah finds that he still has something to give, and isn’t that what it’s all about?

This actually ties up well in the end, I’d read more about Joah and his Tobin but I’m fine leaving them here too. Just one question… why does it take Joah so long to make his escape and what triggered the decision, finally? I swear I thought that reprogramming chip the Army put in Joah’s head would also act as a homing device. One would think the army would want its goods back especially after spending so much effort on getting and training him.