3.5 / 5
Themes
- Light romance
- Dystopian
- Young adult
- Science fiction
- Secret Society
Overview
“A world where self-expression is banned. A world where survival is everything. A girl who will be heard.”
Throughout the novel Self/less by Aviva, we follow 17 year old Teddy as she uncovers the truth of her city. Taking place in Metropolis, a walled-in city full of strict and unrealistic laws, Teddy finds herself in a place where she is forced to conform with the rest of the general population. Meaning; no drawing, no dancing, no sexuality, no cinema, no music, no natural love, and overall no self expression. Otherwise risking being sanitised and never to be seen again. However, after discovering a secret society called The Underground - a hidden community of escapees concealed from the strict regulations of Metropolis - Teddy finds herself stuck in a world of repression, yet drawn to a world of freedom. This book will take you on a journey of friendship, new found power, decision making, conflict, and a whole lot of discovery.
Review
I need to start off this review by saying that for this book to be a debut novel, Aviva wrote extremely well. The world building was seamlessly incorporated throughout the entire book, making it incredibly effortless to understand and visualise settings. Although the book was slow paced at times, I found it exceptionally easy to pick up and read throughout the duration of the book. Classed as Young Adult, I feel this novel is great for ages from 12/13 above. Despite being similar to dystopian favourites like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner etcetera, this book provides a different social structure, just with a few indistinguishable yet popular ideas displayed. The reason why I rated this book only 3.5 stars was due to the ending feeling rushed, as well as the climax being somewhat unoriginal and commonly used within books of a similar realm. However, saying this I think that this book would satisfy those who are new to dystopian themes and enjoy the other concepts included within the book.
Overall an awesome read! I can't wait for the next book to come out :)
