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When She Woke

Hillary Jordan

Start date: July 2, 2013

Finish date: July 31, 2013

Discussion: Books of the Month

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What Members Thought

Aug 18, 2014 Sarenna rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, dystopia, 2014-wheel-a-thon

I enjoyed this modern take on The Scarlet Letter. In this telling, though, the scarlet color isn’t necessarily for adultery (although that does take place), but the red hue denotes murder (in this case, murder of an unborn – an abortion).

I gave this book a four star rating, although I have to say, it’s more of a solid three and a half. What kept me from rating it higher than that were the last 50 to 75 pages. I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't read it, so I'm hiding my issues wi I enjoyed this modern take on The Scarlet Letter. In this telling, though, the scarlet color isn’t necessarily for adultery (although that does take place), but the red hue denotes murder (in this case, murder of an unborn – an abortion).

I gave this book a four star rating, although I have to say, it’s more of a solid three and a half. What kept me from rating it higher than that were the last 50 to 75 pages. I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't read it, so I'm hiding my issues with the book....

(view spoiler)[1. The good reverend: Maybe it’s just my cynicism, but I have a hard time believing that a political climber would throw everything away to be with a girl he had an affair with. I just don’t buy it. The guy got away with it. He’s now one of the most powerful religious people in the US. He’s going to give that up to go into hiding with Hannah? Um, right. I didn’t like him, I didn’t find him the least bit believable, and I didn’t think his “redemption” in the end was remotely touching. Everything about him rang fake. I think his character would have been more powerful if he hadn’t shown up in the ending.

2. Hannah’s short fling (?) with Simone: I didn’t mind this being in the story. My issue with it was that it didn’t seem to have any reason to be there. It wasn’t like Hannah found love again, or that Hannah realized that she didn’t love Simone. It was some random act that was stuck in the story. It meant nothing. I would have liked to have seen SOMETHING come out of that scene. Either a relationship, or a personal realization, or something. It was almost like some weird gratuitous sex scene that had no place in the book.

3. The kidnapping: That came out of left field. All of a sudden you find out that there is some underground ring that kidnaps female chromes for some sex slave trade. And that’s it. It’s like one or two pages, and we’re done. I’m not saying that I need graphic details, but after 250+ pages of really good build up, this was a “what the…?” moment for me.

4. The last paragraph: I think I would have preferred that the story end with her entering Canada with endless possibilities. Her waking up a nice pink color that will turn tan in the summer time was just odd to me. I think leaving it where she was rescued and entering Canada would have been fine. I think your average reader probably could have guessed that things would have turned out okay, she would have been reunited with Kayla, or Simone, or gone on to do something with her life. I didn’t need to be spoon-fed that she was going to be returned to normal.

5. Fragmenting: This was glossed over. This was kind of a big deal for me, since seemed like it was kind of a big deal in the story. But it only got lip service. The Chromes were afraid of fragmenting. Kayla thought she was starting to fragment. They kidnappers didn’t think Kayla was worth that much because she was going to fragment soon. But it was never really explained. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed the bulk of this book. The first 250+ pages were amazing. Unfortunately, the very end seemed rushed and disjointed. If it wasn’t for the ending, this book would have been a solid four, or four and a half stars.
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Oct 27, 2011 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: united-states, fiction, audiobook, dystopia

A word of caution: It would be almost impossible for me to discuss this book without giving some things away, but I will bury them further down and I'll give fair warning.

There were many things I liked about this book and a few things I didn't. Yes, it is a modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter with a hefty dose the The Handmaid's Tale thrown in for good measure. But then there are very few new plots. Jordan certainly embraces it has her premise, naming her main characters Hannah Payne and Rev ...more

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Jun 27, 2013 Rebekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: rating-4, genre-science-fiction, genre-book-club, genre-adult, genre-adult-fiction, genre-science-fiction-dystopia, nbrc-bom-br

This book is a timely and gripping novel that initially filled me with cold dread. I always have trouble with dystopian novels, because I find them hard to believe and difficult to put myself in the place of the characters. But honestly, the initial premise of this story struck me as more realistic than any other dystopian novel I have read. The world that Jordan creates seems eerily realistic and plausible. Honestly, growing up in an evangelical conservative church, many of the arguments and ch This book is a timely and gripping novel that initially filled me with cold dread. I always have trouble with dystopian novels, because I find them hard to believe and difficult to put myself in the place of the characters. But honestly, the initial premise of this story struck me as more realistic than any other dystopian novel I have read. The world that Jordan creates seems eerily realistic and plausible. Honestly, growing up in an evangelical conservative church, many of the arguments and characters were horrifyingly familiar to me. I have read and am fans of both The Scarlet Letter and The Handmaid's Tale and definitely see the nods to these two great novels, but feel like this is a quite honest critique of many aspects of modern American society and a current and important addition.

However, this book does not get five stars, because it does have some major flaws. Occasionally the author throws in obscure vocabulary words for no good reason. I don't know if she is trying to sound smarter than she is, or what, but it was annoying to have to look up words in the dictionary and didn't match the rest of her writing style. Also, the book REALLY loses steam and focus at the end and becomes increasingly implausible. There is a lesbian sex scene that is so laughable, out of character, and juvenile, that I couldn't decide whether to laugh or be insulted. Because the one lesbian character in the novel MUST be sexually attracted to our main character! Also, towards the end, the focus changes from philosophical debate to more like a cheap unrealistic thriller. Some major characters are put in dangerous situations and it is as if suddenly the main character does not care about them anymore. It is bizarre. It is almost as if the author was on a deadline and just wanted to wrap up the book, without giving it much thought. Our heroine scrapes by and everything is great and she's changed, all in a very adolescent and I believe, unrealistic, fashion. How sad for a book that started off so grand, ending so poorly? If the author had kept it up, I don't doubt this could have become an American classic.

That being said, I still highly recommend that everyone read this book, if just to have a discussion about the disintegration of women's rights in this country and what the implications are for our future girls. ...more

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Oct 01, 2016 Morgan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, audiobook, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic-dystopic-utopia, religion

3.5 - 4 stars

There was a good deal of this book where I was listening and thinking to myself it might be a five star read. An updated and futuristic take on The Scarlet Letter. In this case Hannah doesn't wear a scarlet letter on her chest -- her skin is actually turned a bright red.

Red is for murder, and in the state of Texas where she lives, the fact that she'd had an abortion (and refuses to name the high-profile father) earns her a one way trip to a guilty verdict.

Watching and reading about ...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Phyllis | Mocha Drop rated it really liked it

Very timely religious, socio-political topics.

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Oct 14, 2011 Tfalcone rated it liked it

Modern take on The Scarlet letter, fast read.

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Feb 17, 2019 Tien marked it as just-nope

Shelves: dystopia

I've decided to stop at about 11% just before (view spoiler).
I don't know how much detail, this bit may have, but I don't think I could continue with the read nonetheless. ...more

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