Review: Breeder by Casey Hays

Title: Breeder
Series: Arrow's Flight
Author: Casey Hays
Pages: 359
Date Published: January 14th 2014
Publisher: The Grumpy Dragon

"God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine down on him." ~ Job 33:29-30

Beyond the Village, nothing exists . . . except devastation. A war waged by men and their hateful weapons long ago made it so, and my people--the women of the Village-- are the only survivors. This is what our history lessons teach us, and this is what we are to believe. But I am sixteen now . . . and I question everything. The Archer has spoken, but I have no desire to heed his command. I long for more.

In a world demolished by war and ruled by the hands of Fate, individual choices have become obsolete. Essentially, there is only one requirement: Bow the knee to the wisdom of the Council without question. Many of the women in the Village have acquiesced to this mandate, including some of Kate's closest friends. But Kate longs for something more; she hears the call of another life. On the day of her sixteenth birthday celebration, the reality of what this means invades her with a vengeance, and she is forced to contend with her own moral conscience. Kate's destiny has always been the Pit--the life of the breeder--which she is expected to embrace without complaint. Her rebel's heart, however, refuses to comply with Fate's demand, and what she finds in the Pit draws her one step closer to learning the truth about herself and the Village. And it changes the course of her destiny for all eternity.

*I recieved a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

This book for some reason didn’t work for me; it really never captured my attention, I didn’t really like the characters.

What I liked:

-World building: unlike many dystopias I’ve read this book actually explains why and what things happened to the world as we knew it. The concept of a village runs by women and with men only used as breeders was a very good idea.

-Mona: she is the leader of the village which she rules with an iron fist; as far as oppressive leaders go she is a pretty well written one.

What I didn’t like

-The use of biblical passages: this really didn’t work for me I really think the book didn’t need them.

-Kate being very naïve at times. You live in a village where absolute obedience is expected yet she thinks her leader is going to change her profession just because Kate wants her to.

-I don’t really think this book was for young adult even if the characters were 16, I would recommend it to an older audience.

I’m willing to give Breeder the benefit of the doubt and call it one of those books you have to be in a certain mood to enjoy.

Rating: