Athena’s Choice

Author: Adam Boostrom

Publication Date: March 2019

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Mystery/Dystopian

Pages: 274

Publisher: Indie

What if a stray virus accidentally killed all the men on earth?

Athena Vosh lives just like any other teenager from the year 2099. She watches reality shows with her friends, eats well, and occasionally wonders to herself: what would life be like if men were still alive?

It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth. However, a controversial project is currently underway to bring men back. There’s just one catch. The project has been sabotaged.

So begins the award-winning novel, Athena’s Choice. When the police of 2099 are tasked with finding the saboteur, they receive a mysterious command to investigate the otherwise innocuous Athena Vosh. After it becomes clear that the young girl might know more than she lets on, Athena is brought in to participate in the official investigation. Simultaneously, the girl begins to experience a series of cryptic dreams featuring a ruined library and an old book containing the saboteur’s true identity. As the police close in on their prize, Athena finds herself on a journey of her own. Her clue-filled dreams and incorruptible spirit bring her face-to-face with a pair of forgotten truths about happiness and gender. The world waits to see if men will return as Athena fights a separate battle, culminating in the choice that will define her and others’ lives forever.

Athena’s Choice is both a compelling and thought provoking novel that explores a future where men have been wiped from existence thanks to an experimental virus that was accidentally (maybe?) released.

I’m not going to lie, I went into this dystopian novel excited at the possibility of seeing a world based on females and their strengths. But as with all dystopian worlds, you have to be careful what you wish for. The threads of this picture perfect society slowly start to unravel and it seems that Athena Vosh is at the center of its undoing.

I definitely appreciated the sci-fi/mystery combo and the investigation that Athena was brought in to. There were some twists and turns that kept the pace pretty even throughout.

One aspect of the novel that I really didn’t like was the obvious male bashing. It was clear that men were erased because they were blamed for all of the oppression, racism, and hatred in society, which I just personally don’t agree with. Additionally, there were some plot holes that I think could’ve been developed a bit more.

Overall, this is definitely an interesting read and different approach on a feminism based dystopian society.

Thank you to @athenas_choice for the gifted copy for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.