Book Review: The Age of the Child by Kristen Tsetsi

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The Age of the Child by Kristen J. Tsetsi, Kristen Tsetsi
Narrator: Nila Brereton Hagood
Published by Self-published on 07-16-18
Genres: Dystopian, Science-Fiction
Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
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Overal Rating:

When a genuinely altruistic government decides it's time to "think of the children," what could possibly go wrong?

It's the worst time in the nation's history of reproductive legislation for someone like Katherine, who doesn't want a child, to learn she's pregnant. The ratification of the pro-creation Citizen Amendment has not only criminalized the birth control that would have prevented Katherine's accidental pregnancy, but abortion and most miscarriages are illegal, too.
In this environment, not having a child will be a challenge.
Katherine isn't afraid of a challenge.
29 years later...
It's probably the worst possible time in the nation's history of reproductive legislation for Millie – well, for someone like Millie – to decide rather suddenly that she wants to be pregnant.
Since the recent implementation of parent licensing, getting pregnant requires government approval, and even attempting to cheat the system carries a sentence of imprisonment in a mysterious facility known as Exile.
In this environment, a pregnancy for someone like Millie is all but impossible.
Millie doesn't believe in "impossible."

This is a dystopia where childbearing is taken so seriously that abortions and even miscarriages are investigated and legally punished. The main characters of the first part are two female friends who conceive around the same time but only one the children is wanted. The book follows the story of these two children, two girls, who remained friends from the beginning, but whose very different upbringings marked them for life. In the second part, Millie, the unwanted child, desperately wants to get pregnant, but society is trying to fix the mistakes previously made, and child licenses are given to only few.

This is a very interesting topic, and one not often covered in science fiction. A recommended read for any pro-life advocate. Streets full of abandoned children, and unwanted but kept children who grow up just to be dysfunctional human beings. I’m terribly biased regarding this topic, as I believe is Kristen Tsetsi.

The pace of the book is a bit slow at times, but I feel it’s necessary to illustrate all that is happening. I missed a bit of world building. This was also one of my complaints about The Handmaid’s Tale. The story is so centered around the main topic that there is little information extra about the world they live in.

I listened to the audio version of this book and I struggled… a lot. I was about to abandon the book several times but I kept on because the subject was interesting. There were issues at several levels: Nila Brereton Hagood’s reading was clunky and there were weird pauses in the middle of sentences and sometimes the wrong intonation. The character’s voices sounded all the same, and the interpretations were stiff and with no inflections. It was quite difficult to follow dialogs. Millie’s friend had sometimes a Southern accent that was appearing and disappearing at random. Regarding audio production, there were multiple very noticeable audio edits, volume changes, and sounds of breathing in.

It was such a pity because the book is quite good, but I would not recommend the audio version.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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