When She Woke in Bound Together

Jul 16, 2012 Britany rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian, bookriot, science-fiction

A Modern day, dystopian Scarlet Letter.

I devoured this novel like it was a chocolate covered caramel. When She Woke follows Hannah Payne, as she had an affair with a prestigious man involved in the church. She becomes pregnant and decides to abort the fetus.

This book takes place in a society where the church rules most of the law and the government is overally involved in people's lives. Abortion is considered murder and is handled underground. You have revolutionaries that are feminists and ar ...more

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May 19, 2013 Alana rated it liked it

Shelves: political, dystopian-post-apocalyptic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3.5/5 stars

I don't know how to review this without spoilers, so this time I will go into every detail and warn you right now that it will be full of spoilers: beware!

Main theme: If you could, would you want criminals identified by coloring their skin, or some other physical indicator that showed you on sight what level of crime they have been convicted of? On the one hand, this would be incredibly helpful identifying convicted sex offenders or violent criminals on sight instead of having to look 3.5/5 stars

I don't know how to review this without spoilers, so this time I will go into every detail and warn you right now that it will be full of spoilers: beware!

Main theme: If you could, would you want criminals identified by coloring their skin, or some other physical indicator that showed you on sight what level of crime they have been convicted of? On the one hand, this would be incredibly helpful identifying convicted sex offenders or violent criminals on sight instead of having to look at a registry for who is living in your area. On the other hand, for more minor crimes, one would be identified as a "criminal" with nothing else known about them and treated as a leper even for a minor crime. In some ways, as the book says, it would alleviate the clogging up of the prison system, but what about the rights of the criminals who are out on the street? Would those for minor crimes be treated with scorn and would the police look the other way when they are mistreated? And what about someone who begins to identify themselves as a criminal, never capable of being anything else? And the ability of every citizen to track all criminals? All things that bear much thought.

The religious aspects of the book are very interesting. In the current political climate in this country, I frankly can't envision the country swinging into this ultra-conservative political view, but I suppose stranger things have happened. As a person of faith myself, I did not feel that the book tried to attack religion per se, although it certainly had an opinion about many aspects of it. It attacks sheltering children to the point that they do not have a healthy idea of how to cope with the "real world." It attacks hypocrisy of trying to whip people into shape but showing them none of the love that their faith claims. While I am against abortion myself, in any circumstance, that by no means causes me to believe that the woman who choose this way out are horrible people deserving if disrespect and scorn. Fear, anger, love and circumstances are powerful motivators and just a tiny fraction of the motivators behind such a decision. The absolute revulsion with which these woman are treated appalls me. The self-righteousness of those in authority is disgusting. The half-way house that Hannah goes to after her imprisonment makes me cringe not only because of the horrible people running it, but because people like that do exist in reality and unfortunately, though there are many wonderful people in the Christian faith that are honestly kind and are there to help others, the ones that get noticed are the ones who have no concept of a faith other than how it can improve their own power. I can only hope that myself and others of my faith are not judged as being the same as these persons but that others can recognize that EVERY group has its outliers.

The treatment of the adultery in this book makes me sad, because instead of looking at how it tears apart not one but two families, all we are told is of this supposedly irrepressible love between two people that somehow just could not help themselves. You have a man in a position of power who, while he does not force this young woman into a relationship, he is the older, more experienced one who is also in what she considers a position of authority. He knows she had a sheltered upbringing and HE is the married one, yet not only does he not do his best to avoid the temptation, he goes out of his way to set up the initial liaison! Hannah is not innocent; she's knows he's a married man and all she knows is she has a physical reaction to him. She does not avoid being in his presence and does not stay away from him but dresses to please him and does her best to encourage his advances. How many affairs have begun this way? And let's not forget the portrayal of Alyssa as the evil, overbearing wife. Do we hear her side of the story? Of course not, we only see her from the "other woman's" point of view. Having been in Alyssa's position myself, seeing the danger lurking and doing everything possible to prevent it, I understand how one can come across as vindictive or overprotective when you can see something coming but the one you love will not listen to your warnings. Aidan allows Hannah to take the fall for him and like The Scarlett Letter, of which this book is an adaptation, he lets the sin fester underneath, though not to the same guilt level of Rev. Dimmsdale. His selfishness even before his marriage is what has caused the difficulties in his marriage to begin with, yet he feels justified in his actions because he is "in love." Hannah, too, though initially feeling guilty, is eventually able to convince herself that this is right and she should pursue it. I have no respect and certainly no sympathy for either of these characters.

I will say, When She Woke does a good job of taking a story that deals with abortion, but not making it a story ABOUT abortion. You can read this book whether pro-life or pro-choice and be able to get a lot out of it, because it is so much more about life circumstances, how your life can be different with just one choice or series of choices, and how each individual deserves to be treated, whether they have committed a crime or not. I think one of the most important characters is Cole. He's a despicable person, yet because he is not charged with a crime, he gets to be the high-and-mighty holier-than-thou type.

Anyway, it is certainly a book to spark conversation and thought. I liked going through Hannah's thoughts as she is growing in understanding, of both good and bad things, and watching her mature as a person. It's clear she has a long way to go, but the journey is the important part. I thought the ending was rather trite and silly, but I like the idea that she is young and has plenty of time to grow and develop into whatever woman she is ultimately going to become. A little on the chic-lit side, but not a bad read. ...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Joanne rated it liked it

Enjoyed the read. I felt that the author skimped on the ending.
I felt let down after the journey, to have the end finish in just a few pages.
Otherwise it was a good read.

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