Wisdom Beyond Her Years

Wisdom

by J-L Heylen

Have you ever dreamed of living your life over again?Would you make different choices this time around? Would you use the wisdom of hind-sight to make sure you didn’t make the same mistakes? Would you have more confidence, take more chances, love more, and live more? Would you die without regret?When 67 year old Ariel Connolly participates in an experimental attempt to capture the brain functions and memories of 20 ordinary Australians in 2017, she honestly thinks nothing will come of it. She can hardly believe, in fact, that anyone would give good money to fund such research.Three days after the scan, Ariel dies. As she passed, she thought that would be the end of the story.So when Ariel wakes up 192 years later, in a new 19 year old body, in a post-apocalyptic underground city, her scepticism about the experiment isn’t the only thing she is forced to re-evaluate. She finds herself excited and confronted in equal measure, with hormones raging and a body that looks like it could do anything.When she meets the charismatic and dangerous Carla, one of the most powerful women in New Sydney, Ariel learns just how much her new body is capable of.But Ariel’s new body can’t change who she is and who she has always been. Through love, rebellion and betrayal, Ariel learns one timeless lesson – no matter how many times you get resurrected, you can’t escape from yourself.Ariel has wisdom beyond her years, but all the wisdom in the world may not be enough to save her.Please this book contains adult themes, occasional coarse language, and lesbian sex scenes

Genres: LGBT

368 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2012

About the author

J-L Heylen is a quirky antipodean who writes speculative fiction, science fiction and Steampunk with a smattering of gender politics and left-leaning ideals. She lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her wife and dogs.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy reading about dystopian futures, story lines that make you think and characters you really enjoy spending time with, stop what you are doing, put down what you are reading and pick this book up now. I love books with an apocalyptic theme, set in a future that someone has so painstakingly imagined and written down for my imagination to run wild. Yes, there is a love story wrapped up inside, but really the focus of the story is how a woman essentially frozen in time handles the future 192 years from when she "died". Even though this takes place in Austrailia (a place I have never visited), one could easily see this same situation occurring anywhere. Themes of human rights, class structure and unionization play strongly throughout. I spent a lot of time considering what my reactions would be if placed in a similar situation of a waking up in a seemingly utopian society that turns out to be anything but. If I'm completely honest, I did not always like what I learned about myself. That's the beauty of this book, though. The characters also have mirrors held up to them that makes them question prior beliefs and motivations. You see and feel them go through transformations that (I assume) will figure prominently in future books. I can't wait to read the next installment.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often have trouble finding a novel that understands the need for a healthy balance between character relationships/love and action/story, so imagine my delight when I stumbled across the Wisdom series by J-L Heylen.

The novels are written in such a way that they seem to flow seamlessly into one another, the characters come to life off of the pages along with the world in which they live. It's the first novel where I have been able to fully imagine, down to small details, the environment and the characters themselves yet I have no doubt in my mind that what I am "seeing" is different to how each reader will "see it" which I believe shows a beautiful ability/skill of the writer as this enables the reader to feel more engaged in and a part of what they're reading.

The setting itself was very intriguing to me and having lived in Australia and seen Sydney for myself it helped a lot with the visualisation and geographical aspects of the plot yet in no way has it been made essential to have knowledge of this, if anything it has been written in a way that it could be anywhere in the world and it is in no way far-fetched or unbelievable.

I found myself having a soft spot for each of the characters, including the "villains" for lack of a better word (whether this was the writers intention or my own inner evil peeking out I am not sure). I found all characters were relatable in some form and the relationships between them, the dialogue and interactions were wonderfully written.

If you are looking for something a bit different with a great balance between romance and action/story, that makes you think about the world, its current state and its future, something that is a bit steam punk or something a bit sci-fi even I would strongly recommend picking up this series. I look forward to the next instalment and to be reunited with the lovely ladies that grace the pages.

[Sif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging spec fiction, great to read content with references to Australian history. I enjoyed the social justice themes.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acceptable for a cheapie book but not well written by any means. The idea is good, the themes explored are very interesting, but the point-of-view narration feels artificial and the story isn't well integrated.