Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.
Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.
In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .
The first novel in a two-part series, Archetype heralds the arrival of a truly memorable character—and the talented author who created her.
Hardcover, 384 pages
Expected publication:
February 6th 2014
by Dutton Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Romance/Dystopia
Kristine's Thoughts:
* I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Penguin Canada through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.*
Sci-fi/futuristic can be hit or miss for me with a lot more misses in the last few months than hits. Being that I have not had the best of luck lately in this genre I was a little reluctant to pick this book up and start it. Am I ever glad I did because it just blew me away! I absolutely loved it!
The story begins when Emma wakes up in a hospital with no memory of anything. She meets Declan who tells her he his her husband and she basically starts her life. He is handsome, charming and caring and Emma has no reason to believe that this is not her life. If not for the dreams and nightmares she has while asleep and awake as well as the voice talking to her in her head she would never suspect that things may not be what they seem. Who is this mysterious man that she dreams about and why can't she get him out of her head?
You may think that this sounds like any romance novel but add a future where fertility is an issue, the State is divided into East and West, young girls are put into camps to be trained to be wives and sold to the highest bidder and science and medicine are far beyond our reality and you have the perfect ingredients for a page turning sci-fi/romance.
What I really liked about this book is how it would go back and forth between Emma's present with Declan and her dreams/memories of the man she called Tucker. I found that it kept me guessing and surprised with each twist and turn. As the reader you are in Emma's head and you are just as clueless as she is and shocked as each new thing is revealed. I found I couldn't put the book down because I had to know what happened next.
If I had to critique the book I would say that the lack of contractions made Emma sound a little robotic at times but I chalked it up to her having to learn everything over again after her losing her memory. Also as the reader we don't really learn a lot about the outside world and what it is like in that future but I have a feeling that will come to fruition in the sequel.
When I got to the end of the book and read the little epilogue I just about fell out of my chair. WOW!!! That's all I can say about that! I cannot wait for Prototype, its sequel, to come out in July because I am dying to know how it all plays out. Excellent job M.D. Waters, you have renewed my faith in this genre with this amazing book!
About the Author
Website-http://www.mdwatersauthor.com
Twitter-_MDWaters
Great review! futuristic/sci-fi books are often hit or miss with me as well, and I don't read too many of them to begin with. But this sounds really good. Mystery, romance, future; it has a little bit of everything.
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Let me know what you thought if you decide to read it.
Delete