by Laura Kat Young
Published : 13th September 2022
Publisher : Titan Books
Format : Kindle, Audio, Hardback, Paperback
Genre : Dystopian Horror
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Synopsis
When Lady Mae turns 18, she'll inherit her mother's job as the Butcher: dismembering Settlement Five’s guilty residents as payment for their petty crimes.
An index finger taken for spreading salacious gossip, a foot for blasphemy, no one is exempt from punishment.
But one day Winona refuses to butcher a six-year-old boy. So their leaders, known as the Deputies, come to Lady Mae’s house, and, right there in the living room, murder her mother for refusing her duties.
Within twenty-four hours, now alone in the world, Lady Mae begins her new job. But a chance meeting years later puts her face to face with the Deputy that murdered her mother. Now Lady Mae must choose: will she flee, and start another life in the desolate mountains, forever running? Or will she seek vengeance for her mother’s death even if it kills her?
My Review
This story has everything you want.
A suspenseful plot, harrowing detail, characters you can not help but root for and a dystopian backdrop that pulls you right in.
Lady Mae, our main protagonist lives with her mother on settlement five. Life is basic and the author draws this picture for you by describing the shacks in which they live, the products they are allowed to eat and the weight which they all carry.
Every person who lives in this ‘town’ has a job which is passed down through generations. Lady Mae’s future lies with inheriting the position of The Butcher, a job her mother currently holds.
This consists of similarly playing the part of a butcher. Once the deputies that control the town have held court and anyone wronged has chosen the atonement, the butcher carries it out. That consist of sitting in a chair and having either a finger, a toe a hand or more cut off. This is the law. But lady maes mum refuses to do this to a child and is murdered.
I really felt the raw emotion that came through. Everyone hates the butcher and her child, yet she can not refuse to do her job or she will be punished.
After her mother's death, we fast forward five years. Lady Mae is doing her job as ordered, she is still hated but she isn’t living, her heart is empty after watching her mum die and the boy she loved gone. But he comes back and this is where it gets juicy!
There is descriptive horror when the author details the atonement’s she has to dole out, this in itself made me cringe but in a way that I couldn’t stop reading! Lady Mae wants justice and she decides to do what’s right rather than what’s been told. If one person stands up and tries to make a change, can it change?
Why I Loved It
This story has The Hunger Games vibes in a poverty-stricken town that is suffocating from oppressive and brutal sick men, using the name of Christ as a weapon for redemption. This makes you think about a mob mentality and corporal punishment doled out by those who like to watch human suffering.
It was compelling, it was atmospheric and suffocating at the same time and it was brutal. I felt fully immersed and loved how the author isn't afraid to question and describe an abusive power of the few over the many who feel they have no choice but to follow to survive.
Thank you @titanbooks for this gripping and compelling read.
Q. Do you read dystopian?
Rating
★★★★★
Purchase Here
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