TITLE: The Colony
AUTHOR: Jillian Weise
PUBLISHER: Soft Skull Press
GENRE: Literary Fiction
PAGES: 334
THE RUNDOWN
The Colony follows Anne Hatley, a one-legged English teacher who volunteers to live at an institution called the Colony for three months. There, she is told that her genetics will be studied and her leg will be regenerated. The premise is intriguing: a group of people with varying genetic defects are stuck together for three months while scientists perform tests on them and the media prods them. Jillian’s writing is at times beautiful, quirky and funny. The Colony was touted as a dystopian novel, a look into the morality of genetic research. And yet, with so much promise, the book managed to completely miss its mark.
To begin with, Anne Hatley is one of the most self-centered, needy people I’ve ever read about. She cheats on her boyfriend and is disgusted with him for not saying anything when he finds out. She hates the world for noticing her leg, but doesn’t want to grow it back. I kept reading, entertained, for the same reason I continue to watch Sex and the City: What will this self-absorbed nymphomaniac do next?
Then Darwin appears (yes, the Charles Darwin) and it’s never explained if he’s a ghost or if he’s a figment of her imagination. Then flowers start sneezing and people start floating in mid-air. It’s not that I’m against fantasy, but when I’m reading about the morality of genetic research in a modern-day setting, I’m a little surprised when a girl who has the ‘obesity gene’ starts floating because of the side-effects of her treatment. The fantastic elements of the story were well beyond explanation. The scientific elements were grossly lacking.
I hoped for redemption at the end of the book, but found none. Neither the main character nor the plot took a surprising turn. I was left with a book that started out trying to be smart, and ended up sounding pretentious and uneducated.
THE RECOMMENDATION:
I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for dystopian fiction or deep, conceptual plots. If you’re looking for a humorous voice and a sexy romance novel, you might give it a shot. But I still wouldn’t suggest putting it at the top of your summer reading list.
STILL WANT TO BUY IT?
Visit Jillian Weise’s website
Buy it on Amazon
AUTHOR: Jillian Weise
PUBLISHER: Soft Skull Press
GENRE: Literary Fiction
PAGES: 334
THE RUNDOWN
The Colony follows Anne Hatley, a one-legged English teacher who volunteers to live at an institution called the Colony for three months. There, she is told that her genetics will be studied and her leg will be regenerated. The premise is intriguing: a group of people with varying genetic defects are stuck together for three months while scientists perform tests on them and the media prods them. Jillian’s writing is at times beautiful, quirky and funny. The Colony was touted as a dystopian novel, a look into the morality of genetic research. And yet, with so much promise, the book managed to completely miss its mark.
To begin with, Anne Hatley is one of the most self-centered, needy people I’ve ever read about. She cheats on her boyfriend and is disgusted with him for not saying anything when he finds out. She hates the world for noticing her leg, but doesn’t want to grow it back. I kept reading, entertained, for the same reason I continue to watch Sex and the City: What will this self-absorbed nymphomaniac do next?
Then Darwin appears (yes, the Charles Darwin) and it’s never explained if he’s a ghost or if he’s a figment of her imagination. Then flowers start sneezing and people start floating in mid-air. It’s not that I’m against fantasy, but when I’m reading about the morality of genetic research in a modern-day setting, I’m a little surprised when a girl who has the ‘obesity gene’ starts floating because of the side-effects of her treatment. The fantastic elements of the story were well beyond explanation. The scientific elements were grossly lacking.
I hoped for redemption at the end of the book, but found none. Neither the main character nor the plot took a surprising turn. I was left with a book that started out trying to be smart, and ended up sounding pretentious and uneducated.
THE RECOMMENDATION:
I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for dystopian fiction or deep, conceptual plots. If you’re looking for a humorous voice and a sexy romance novel, you might give it a shot. But I still wouldn’t suggest putting it at the top of your summer reading list.
STILL WANT TO BUY IT?
Visit Jillian Weise’s website
Buy it on Amazon
