The Choice by Claire Wade

From Goodreads

'Eat the best, leave the rest! Remember Mother knows best.'

Olivia Pritchard lives in constant fear since Mother Mason came into power. Everything from healthy eating to exercise is controlled by the government, all in the name of health and happiness. Olivia hates being dictated to, but to protect her family she must follow the rules or face a stay in the Shame Box - a perspex box, placed in a public place for everyone to judge.

After Olivia witnesses an innocent woman being violently arrested, she is no longer able to ignore the injustice. The underground rebellion 'Cut The Apron Strings' is gaining momentum and for the first time in years Olivia has a choice: keep her head down or join the fray...

#CTAS #JoinTheFray

My thoughts

My thanks to the Author via the Publishers for the opportunity to read this through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am an avid dystopian genre fan and jumped at requesting this one straight away when I saw it was up for request. I was drawn in by the cover initially as it was reminiscent of other books in this genre with the stylised head.

I finished this one on New Years Eve, it was the last read of 2019 and was a great read to finish the year and decade with. I gave this a 4.5 stars or 9/10. It was almost a 5 star read, but just missed it.

I loved the premise of the story where Mother Mason was watching and monitoring the eating habits of the population. All things fattening be they sugar or fat related where banned and people were encouraged to eat healthy and exercise well in order to maintain a well balanced state.

As members of the population begin to rebel and form secret groups, Olivia Pritchard and her family are soon thrown into the spotlight. Olivia hates being forced to conform to what Mother Mason states that everyone should conform to. It's not long before her actions come to a head and she discovers the existence of the underground rebellion known as 'Cut the Apron Strings' #CTAS. As her actions have consequences for her and her family, can Olivia survive at the hands of Mother Mason and her associates or will this be the end for her? Like others that have been in her situation before.

This is a great addition to the dystopian themed books and I can thoroughly recommend it for any fans of that genre. This is a debut story from Claire Wade and she's an Author to watch in the future.