Tear Me Apart, The Forgotten Women Series

by Lucy V. Hay, Farzana Rahman, Jacqui Canham

What if 99% of the female population died out?

This is exactly what happened when The Fall set in motion the mysterious deaths of women. Since then, wars have been waged and civilisation has completely broken down. Feral packs of young men called Raiders scour the land. Violence and disease is rife.

The only way to survive is by dabbling in the black markets – where the highest currency is an increasingly rare commodity:

Women and girls.

But what of the 1% of the women who are left?

What does Φ mean? And who are the Sons of Gaia?

The Forgotten Women is a series of novellas exploring four young women's journeys through the brutal post-apocalyptic world after The Fall.

Those who are not enslaved might find sanctuary in the Havens and Projects, entreating male allies to help protect them from the threat of Raiders. Or they may band together, distrustful of men, creating female-only colonies, looking for their sisters in arms.

But they’re all out there, waiting for us to join them ... Hunted, isolated, it’s not only about staying alive, but discovering who they are in a totally masculine world.

The brutal yet poignant post-apocalyptic world after the Fall plays host to a collective storyworld - TEAR ME APART - that includes a feature film, novellas, animated web comics and more.

For more information, including still from the feature film, check out www.tearmeapartmovie.com.

315 pages, ebook

Published July 1, 2016

About the author

Lucy V. Hay script editor and blogger who helps writers via her Bang2write consultancy. She is the associate producer of Brit Thrillers DEVIATION (2012) and ASSASSIN (2015), both starring Danny Dyer. Lucy is also head reader for The London Screenwriters' Festival. Lucy is also an author, writing both screenwriting books and crime fiction. Check out her website.

Reviews

[Pamela Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the 'SkyJack' episode of the series. Lucy V. 's writing style encompasses all the senses. In a confined setting, this story elevates you to pins and needles and keeps you captivated. In the desperate confines of an abandoned hotel, "single minded soldiers follow orders at the end of the world". The 'Fall' has killed almost all but a few women, these women are hiding from the menacing Raiders, who are marauding for women and girls. A mysterious mute boy falls from the sky, is he a Raider, a decoy, a runaway? The supporting characters all carry secrets and surprises, including Maddy, the heroine. It moves rapidly and leaves you hungry for more.

[J.M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Forgotten Women series is an anthology of four novellas, dystopian in nature and an exceptionally good read.

This review is for SkyJack, the first in the series by Lucy V Hay.

The story follows Madeleine, a young woman who has the dubious honour of being in the 1% of the females who survived The Fall, which wiped out almost all the females. We learn along the way that it is no longer earth as we know it, indeed even London has fallen. For the main part SkyJack is set on the coast of Lynemouth, and the picturesque visions that are conjured up are a polar opposite to the brutal, annihilated place that is now the real world.

The few women that remain are thought of as ‘assets’, and sometimes even referred to as this too.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading SkyJack, it was full of twists and turns and you’re never sure of who you should trust. SkyJack is confident, mature writing and I can’t wait to see more of Hay’s work in the future.

The nature of the novella called to mind a cross between Stephen King’s The Stand, and Orwell’s 1984.

SkyJack is dark and thrilling, yet hopeful. It has left me with great confidence to read on with the other three in the series.

[Sarah Maleficent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read anything like this kind of dystopian fantasy for a while. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This series is made up of 4 short stories, with the common theme being the annihilation of women. The total amount of the female population remaining after The Fall, is reduced to 1%.
Each of the stories are told about different groups of survivors, in different places and each one has a different narrator.
You, as the reader, find yourself in a society that is extremely dark and scary. Where women are viewed as 'assets' and as a result, treated as such. With stories that are full of twists and turns. Who do you trust? Should you trust?
As I said before, a really enjoyable read.
I would also say that if you haven't read this genre before, this would, in my opinion, be an excellent series to start you off. 4 short stories, each could be read as a stand alone and the author has such an excellent writing style that you really do get the most from it.
Thank you TBConFB and the author herself for allowing me an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book from #TBConFB in return for an honest review.
This book is actually four novellas; all set after The Fall. Women are rarely seen in this new world and treated as a commodity whilst children are sold and stolen for slavery and food. We follow four very different characters, including a djinn and a hermaphrodite. I enjoyed this book and it really made me think. I have two young daughters myself and some of the scenes made me shudder.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished the Tear Me Apart: The Forgotten Woman Series by Lucy Hay which is dystopian/science fiction about 99% of the female population dying out. With 4 books in the series I thought it was a very enjoyable read and particularly liked Darklight which was the 3rd book in the series. This book is available to download now and is published on 1st July. My thanks to TBC THE Book Club for the opportunity to review this ARC.

[Elaine Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found these novelettes absolutely fascinating, I couldn't put them down & read them all in one sitting. I was totally immersed in each story, they flowed incredibly well considering they were written by different authors. They are written with a perspective I could never have imagined, the mind boggles... Excellent read.

[D. Messing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting, thought provoking read. I'm not a fan of short stories generally, I prefer longer, more detailed novels. Be that as it may though, these were very well done. I liked that they were all completely different but ran on the same themes. Very well done!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a long tradition of post-apocalyptic novels and literature, one of the earliest examples being The Last Man by Mary Shelley. Whether the disaster is man-made or natural it seems there is no end to our fascination with these stories. The list is endless but among the best known are perhaps The Day of the Triffids and I Am Legend. The stories often depict the survivors of the catastrophe struggling to live in their changed circumstances. In the Forgotten Women the disaster takes the form of The Fall, an event which sees the death of 99% of the female population. The book consists of four separate novellas by four different authors. Each one tells of events in different parts of the country, where groups of survivors have gathered. Although the stories are quite different in style and theme there are some unifying elements, most noticeably the mysterious ‘Sons of Gaia’ who crop up throughout. This serves as a unifying thread to the series. The stories are told in a straightforward cinematic style with plenty of action and the characters involved are believable and well written. The use of women as the man protagonists and the nature of the catastrophe raises some interesting questions about gender politics. The remaining women are valuable ‘assets’ to be fought over yet remain vulnerable and subject to male control. The way the characters deal with this paradox is what adds an interesting twist to the topic. If you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories you should enjoy this.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of four dystopian novellas, all centred on the same cataclysmic annihilation of the female population by The Fall but written by different authors, is a stark and at times scary view of a society where the women who have survived are viewed simply as 'assets'. Each story looks at a different group of survivors in different locations but there are some common threads and characters which hold the novellas together.
I thought this was a very enjoyable read and although it is set in a dystopian future, there are uncomfortable parallels with the treatment of women in some parts of the world today. In fact, it's not so long ago that women had few rights in our own society. I particularly enjoyed Skyjack and Darklight but all four were well written and I think each could have been a stand alone novel. It would be nice to know what happens to all the characters in a way but I think that the loose ends really suit the plot lines, in an uncertain future you can't have nice neat endings.
Thank you to TBC and the authors for this arc in return for an honest review.

[Loraine Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tear Me Apart, The Forgotten Women Series
Thanks to #TBConFB I had the privilege of reading Tear Me Apart, The Forgotten Women: a series of four short stories. I enjoyed all four of them and was left sad when each story ended. However, for me I don't like what I class as 'loose ends' or an 'incomplete picture' and I was left wanting to know more about 'the fall' and why it only affected women. Worth a read and I can only hope there are more short stories to come in this series.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC for an honest review.
To me the 1st story was a bit grating Maddie annoyed me no end but it got better.
I enjoyed books 2-4 more giving more information about how others fared in this climate.
This was an interesting take on apocalyptic type end of the world scenario.

[Shirl Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be offered an advanced copy of The Forgotten Women in exchange for an honest review.
I found the concept behind this collection of novellas refreshing and well planned. Each story is set in a future Uk where 99% of females (animals as well as humans) have died out after 'The Fall'. You would think this would mean the remaining woman and girls would be treasured as the only way to preserve the species, but in this world the opposite is true.
Women are treated as commodities and treated brutally by most men.
I liked the 4 novella format of this book. Each story was complete in itself, while contributing to the overall picture of this world. Each story showed a different yet similar aspect to life at different parts of the UK. So it was easy to read each story fairly quickly and feel satisfied while eager for more.
Skyjack
The first story is written from the 1st person POV of Maddy, a young woman. Maddy is a well rounded character with a good solid background. She is naive yet intelligent. Although she has recently led a protected life as daughter of the commune leader she turns out to be a strong young woman. This story is about an attack on her small community by an outside force looking for women to sell.
The Dijinni
The Djinni is set in London where groups of Barebones (women) try to protect themselves from the atrocities inflicted on women by the 'Chosen'. There's the additional tension between the Christian Chosen and the Musalman Chosen and the respective sets of Barebones. It follows the members of a commune of Barebones led by Nusaibah, a Musalman woman as they try to protect themselves from the Chosen and a gang led by Pastor John.
The Djinni of the title attach themselves to Hawa from Nusaibah's community and Rhiannon, a white woman, who later joins them. Despite warnings from the Djinni the women struggle to avoid their terrible fate.
Darklight
Darklight is the story of a caring young woman, living in an isolated community trying to avoid the horror of encounters with Brutes. She gradually realises that all is not as she has been told and leaves the community with a few companions, to face danger in the outside world with the unexpected help from Finn - a man.
Sons of Gaia
Sons of Gaia is set in Scotland where rumour has it, throughout the previous stories, there is an island where people men and woman can live safely. It follows the adventures of Sav, an intersex youngster who goes is search of their mother who was kidnapped by raiders. By the end they find the answers to questions raised through all four stories.
Although the stories are about young women this collection will appeal to much more than a YA audience. The storylines are well plotted and the characters believable. The world is well created and involves hardship and horror. It has rekindled my enjoyment of SF/fantasy books which has recently been jaded by a constant diet of werewolf/vampire YA stories.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally read novellas; especially those in a series. I'm not sure why - I guess I'm just usually so engrossed in my fave genres of crime and psychological thrillers that I just don't leave room for experimental reading. However, knowing some of the writers, I wanted to read this series, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! This isn't what you might think it is - you might be mistaken for thinking it's just another teen fantasy genre, but actually it's more like a post-apocalyptic thriller - just in small doses from different characters. I absolutely love post-apocalyptic movies and TV shows - gimme The Walking Dead and The 100 any day! Which is why I am THRILLED that this series is an accompaniment to a movie, because I was definitely thirsty for more after reading these four novellas as well as the short story preface. I'd say these novellas are most like The 100, but with a very real feeling to it - no cyber technology - as though it could ACTUALLY HAPPEN. This makes it all the more scary. The premise is brilliant - what if women died out and the remaining few were hunted and kept like precious commodities? With this in mind, you can imagine how intriguing and thrilling it is to hear about life from the point of view of five girls at various time frames after The Fall - the dying-out event. I actually read these in the incorrect order, which I don't think mattered - though I would suggest reading the Sons of Gaia one last as it gives some of the answers to mysteries in the other novellas. I really liked each and every one of the novellas; each with female protagonists that were neither weak and feeble nor invincible. My personal favourite was Darklight, because I felt thrilled by the idea that everything the protagonist thought she knew was a lie; plus the living underground aspect. I really enjoyed the setting of Skyjack, with the battle between "sides" and the mystery of the people who fall from the sky. The inter-gender and more adult aspects of Sons of Gaia had me captivated, as did the reveals of the island, and Djinni was really interesting how it looked at the evolution of prejudice - although I would have preferred a less inconclusive ending on this one. In a nutshell: I want more! When are the next ones coming out, so we can find out what happens to the characters in the next phases of their journeys. Plus, will any of them ever meet?!!! :)

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dystopian YA fiction has been popular since before Katniss learned to hunt, and if the quality remains as high as in this, then long may it continue.

Containing one short story and four novellas, Tear Me Apart: The Forgotten Women Series is based around a chilling conceit: what if 99% of women died out? That's what happened during The Fall, and the ramifications are played out beautifully. Each story follows a new set of characters, with very few crossing from one to another, and the mysterious Sons of Gaia being mentioned more prominently as the series unfolds.

The narrators are satisfyingly distinct from each other, and reveal a new facet of this all-too believable world. The pacing is well maintained throughout and the writing excellent, and as you reach the end of each section you can't help wishing for more. The one downside is a lack of overall resolution - however, this is part of a wider universe, which includes a film, so perhaps the answers lie elsewhere (along with more about the actual Fall). Hopefully this will lead to more volumes in the series; it certainly merits further exploration, and the five talented authors here (Jennie Eggleton, Lucy V Hay, Farzana Rahman, Jacqui Canham and Elinor Perry-Smith) have written an excellent, engrossing book that deserves to succeed. Highly recommended.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many interesting sub-stories under the umbrella of post-apocalyptic dystopia. The Forgotten Women Series has four parts. I particularly liked Skyjack and The Sons of Gaia. Although there was disturbing subject matter such as rape and children being separated from families and forced to survive in the wild like animals, there was a humanity that flowed easily through most of the characters which made them likeable and kept you reading. This happens in all four parts but mainly in the first and last. We have to assume that The Fall was some kind of apocalypse which is the catalyst to the search for the Forgotten Women as The Fall is not mentioned that much. Then groups branch out, colonise themselves and live in their own fortresses or safe havens under self-government. Some stay, some break free, some find safe passage and some don't. My only other thing with this book was that I was hoping that some of the characters across the four parts might meet and unite towards the end. However, I did enjoy the hope that transcended the adversity. I would recommend this book; 'twas a good read! :)

[Alan Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tear Me Apart as a whole was thoroughly enjoyable: four post apocalyptic novellas by different authors, all set in the same world, a world where most women have mysteriously died off, and society has crumbled.

I was able to get my hands on a copy, in return for reviewing the first novella, SKYJACK.

The point of view character in Skyjack is Maddy, one of the few surviving females. She is part of a group that holes up in an old hotel in England, chosen for its situation, as it is protected by nature on most sides: cliffs and the sea, along with additional barricades of the group's making. They have a strict policy of isolationism: stay away from everything out there, and you put yourself at less risk.

But none of this stops those on the outside, those who want in, who want their hands on any remaining women and girls – now rare and precious commodities.

Skyjack was a fun read, as was the whole book. There will be a movie set in this same world too and I’m so excited to see how it all comes together!

[Rachel McKenna-McKeown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of dystopian novellas tells the separate yet cleverly interlinked narratives of groups of survivors from different perspectives and backgrounds, as they struggle to exist post event. The event, referred to as 'the fall', has had far reaching consequences for the characters we meet here.

As a fan of the short story form and dystopian fiction I was looking forward to reading this collection.

Two novellas in particular resonated more with me personally, though I think most readers will find something to fear for the future hinted at in these pages, even if only metaphorically. There are varying levels of darkness in the narratives and the style of writing does vary between stories, which is an interesting element.

The writing is engaging, there's suspense, drama, moments of high emotion and I found myself wishing there had been another tale to tell more of this future world's events. A sure sign of a good read!

Thanks to #TBConFB and the writer/publisher #RR for a copy of this collection in exchange for an impartial review.

[Lauren Parkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this dystopian set of four novellas. Beautifully written, harrowing at times. A powerful theme in a world where women died out and the minority who have survived are hunted like prey. This is Divergent meets The Hunger Games meets Dilerium.

[Kim Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading SkyJack by Lucy V Hay; such a page turner and unique concept, well executed. Clear and concise story which has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.