‘The funny thing is, and speaking in hindsight, I had come to feel a certain fondness for the man. He was infuriating, yes, but his amiable manner made it impossible to dislike him. One rarely meets a person of such geniality, and I genuinely wished him no further ill.
Nevertheless, I stabbed him.’
Summary:
Proctor Bennet is a ferryman in Prospera. The citizens have monitors in their forearms that measure their mental and physical wellbeing. Proctor, as a Ferryman, helps people with the retirement process, and sometimes enforces it. If your monitor goes underneath 10% you will be forced to retire. Once they retire they get sent to the island Nursery by a ferry. One day Proctor has to help his dad retire which changes everything, it changes his view on life, his mental health, his relationships and more. His life gets thrown upside down.
Meanwhile, people who help Prospera run starts to feel out of place. Rumours starts to go around about a resistance group called ‘Arrivalists’ who may want to start a revolution.
Review:
I started this novel in February this year, and please don’t take it the wrong way. I had to put it on pause because I had college work. Once I picked it up again, a few days ago, I couldn’t put it back down. The novel was finished 2 days later.
I will admit it was hard to get into. I remember feeling confused about the world I was in and once I understood what was happening, Cronin threw something else in my face, introducing new places and new people. It was hard because I have never been a person to read sci-fi before. However, once I got a hang of it I enjoyed the world and it sucked me in completely. Cronin describes the world so well and beautifully. His language is direct but it paints the picture well. He uses multiple perspectives when he sees it fits and it works well.
Regarding Proctor as a character, sometimes, or a lot of the time, I wished he had more of a back-bone, tell them to piss-off, get angry, do something. He does end up doing a lot but I just wished he would have been more angry. Nobody believes him and instead of getting angry he doubles down. It made me angry.
At times I felt discombobulated, especially after the first half of the novel. Yet, it didn’t bother me. I saw it as Cronin attempting to make the reader feel as confused as the character. Since Proctor’s perspective is written in first-person narration, it only made sense for the reader to know as much as he does, hence some parts were confusing.
Without spoiling, I will say, the plot-twist made me laugh. I was reading, my alarm for the wash went off so I put the book down and started to head to the washing machine. Along the way I kept thinking about what I had just read and once I simplified it I burst out laughing. In disbelief maybe? I can’t even be angry. For me it was completely unexpected. I was slightly mad at the ending before I read the last chapter, then I wasn’t anymore. The plot-twist. Oh man. Is all I have to say. Even thinking about it now I smile. It’s a little funny.
Overall, I did enjoy it a lot.
Happy Reading ❤
Elin's Reading Corner 
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