I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Series: Breeders #1
on 8-1-2012
Genres: Dystopia, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 276
Goodreads
Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-- moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?
The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out.
The Breeders is a novel about a family living in a dystopian society. The natural order has been upset…only men (or transgender) are born. Society has broken down and is a lawless mess. The government (breeders) kidnap every fertile female they can and experiment on them to try to repopulate the society with new females.
Riley is the star of the story. After her mother and aunt are kidnapped, she sets out on a quest to save them. The whole time she has to disguise that she is a girl or she will be handed over to the Breeders. Her younger brother accompanies her on most of the journey, but he doesn’t do much in my opinion. She meets Clay, her love interest in the story, and these two grow and develop dramatically through the story.
I really enjoyed this. It was a good page-turner for me and I didn’t want to put it down. The writing flowed well and for me it never lost my interest. Setting a dystopia in the future and yet making it like the wild west was definitely unique. The characters were strong and the writing was well-done. I’m really looking forward to reading book 2.
About Katie French
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English. Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she’s ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children. You can find her at www.katiefrenchbooks.com, at www.undergroundbookreviews.com or on Facebook.
