Blurb from Goodreads
Cassie Dannacher wakes up in a hospital over 1,000 years into the future after her space capsule is retrieved from space. She soon learns that 600 years prior to her arrival, the earth was struck by a plague, killing over half of the world’s population. Naïve and desperate, Cassie, who longs for home and is having trouble adjusting to the new, dictatorial 31st century government, is comforted by Michael Bennett, the 20-year old lead geneticist at the hospital where she was revived.
But why is Cassie in genetics’ hospital in the first place, and why do several of the people around her seem so familiar, including Travel Carson, the hot and edgy boy she is fated to meet? Soon she discovers there is a sinister answer to all of her questions – and that they want something from Cassie that only she can give.
The ending was so hurried and rushed while the middle felt long. It was a great concept, and I thought the implications of a future society unable to replicate were well reasoned. The insta-love was a bit of a turn off. One minute Cassie would be thinking about how to escape, and the next she is kissing one of the doctors who is keeping her confined. It didn't make any sense as most romances written for teens nowadays are written.
I thought the way Cassie's viewpoints from our time frame were completely out of synch with how a future society thought and what they believed was well done. Society is always evolving, and what is widely held conviction in today's world will seem out of place in the past or in the future. Cassie's value on freedom was foreign to Michael's world.
Loved the inclusion of the Washington Irving quote and the shout out to the Van Wrinkle project. Cassie woke up to an entirely different world just like old Rip. The quote about wanting someone to know who are you in the world was especially poignant.
The message that life is special and sacred is an important one. I thought the book really highlighted this well and did so in a non-didactic way. For those women who cannot have children, the message will be especially poignant. I know this was written for teens, but the struggles of a future world who cannot conceive can create an empathy for women who are struggling with the same thing. And really isn't that a great benefit of books - stepping out of our own worldview and into another creating empathy and compassion?
This book was good, but I felt the pacing was off and the romance played way too much of a part in the story. This will make you think about the future of humankind, but it wasn't really a stand out in the field of dystopians.
Spoiler alert...
No sex. One swear word. There is a sense that Cassie was raped as she is held against her will and impregnated.
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