Thank you Berkley Books #partner, for the finished copy of One of the Boys in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: July 11, 2023
Summary:
A mother knows best… Doesn’t she?
Antonia and Bea are sisters. They are both doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.
Antonia had her son tested at an early age to ensure her little angel did not possess the ‘violent’ M gene.
Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result.
Both of these women will go to any length to protect their sons.
But one of them is hiding a monster.
And there are going to be fatal consequences for everybody…
My thoughts:
I don’t typically read dystopian books, but when I saw this one, I was oddly intrigued and couldn’t stop thinking about the synopsis, so I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. It’s such a thought-provoking read and one I know will stay with me for quite some time.
This dystopian thriller really threw me for a loop. I loved the way the author told the story, and I do not feel that this was political in any way – just an idea that she wanted to explore, an idea that unfortunately may not be too far off in the future with the way science is progressing, but I digress. Told from multiple points of view, alternating from two sisters who don’t always get along, the husband of one of the sister’s and the son of one of the sister’s, we see just how far a mother is willing to go for the love of her child.
In this future world that these sisters live in, they are able to test their sons to find out if they have the gene that determines violence, but to do so would then ostracize them for life if they turn out positive. And this is where we see a division of society as those who have the gene are treated versus those who do not.
This book is such a crazy thriller in that you never knew what to expect next. And on top of that the family drama kept me flipping the pages. I loved that both sisters were not particularly likeable characters, but they had their moments when I felt little bits of sympathy here and there.
This book would definitely be a great book club pick because there is so much to unpack. I found myself constantly putting myself in the two sisters’ shoes, asking myself what if? This might have been the first book I’ve read by Jayne Cowie but it certainly will not be the last!
