Athena's Choice is an easy to read sci-fi story where men no long exist. Some of the women are clearly happy and other miss the other part of their species. When the genome that celebrity scientist Antares creates a way t bring men back, the genome is quickly stolen. Which said stole it The ones who don't want men back or the women who do? Athena could care less so is surprised when the AI that has become the human's highest authority decides that Athena can solve the mystery. How can a young woman who is a mediocre painter solves such a case?
Adam Boomstrom creates a unique word that I would have liked to learn more of. I enjoyed the character even if many of them weren't very deep. The over all idea is fascinating and this is handled more simply than other books might because of its audience. But I can say I didn't see the tist coming and that is impressive.
I liked that the author include other information to supplement the story. For example "Wikipedia" entries about topics that are being introduced. News and legislation pieces as well as some fun adds that round the story. It helped me really get into the world.
I know what the author mean to do with the ending. But I personally never liked this endings. They have ticked me off since grade school and reading "The Lady and The Tiger." I always feel cheated.
Overall, I would recommend this to the YA age as a stepping stone to more intense science fiction. Athena's Choice is great starter material.

Athena's Choice is a dystopia, in which a lab-engineered virus has somehow killed off all men. Almost 50 years later, there is a genome being readied to bring back men, immune to the still present virus. That genome, however, is mysteriously stolen from the lab and Athena, a young 19-year-old artist finds herself involved, first as a suspect, then as an assistant to the captain leading the case. Along the way, the two women make some discoveries about the world they live in and themselves.

I don't think I've ever decided faster that I wanted to read a book. I read the little plot summary and was hooked. After forgetting about it for quite some time, I rediscovered it and read it within 24 hours, which is pretty easy to do as it is a short book. I wasn't quite as happy with it though, as I hoped. There were several things that bothered me and although, I'm sure Boostrom is a lovely person, it sadly became quickly apparent that it was a book about women written by a man.
Firstly, and I won't get too caught up in the layout as this was a free ARC and thus doesn't represent the actual finished product. But I feel like every single possible font was somehow used within it's 200+ pages. The little reports and files were very helpful in understanding the world, the author was building, but they were also very distracting and not always relevant to the current chapter.
Secondly, and while Boostrom's writing is really good and he manages to accurately depict his new world in an immersive way, I just had some issues with some of the ideas of this new world. I mean, first of all: this is a world post climate change and while the characters eat lab-created beef, they continue to eat other meats and fish (as if these events would not affect them) and worst of all, wear fur? So, I'm supposed to believe that after the current trend of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and avoidance of furs and leather, we'll just regress in the future and go back to doing things we've stopped doing despite there being literal food and clothing printers? Make it make sense! Secondly, and I truly believe this bothered me the most: I'm supposed to believe that in a world where no men have existed for half a century, women are still genetically designed to appear attractive according to societal standards (which is thin, but curvy, small with big eyes and luscious locks of hair) and the one woman in this who doesn't adhere to these norms is judged by the main characters for being 'North of the average body mass index' ... I ... Is this for real?? Said main character also seems to only bother about clothing, painting and gossip until she finds her real mission. What a cliché!
The portrayal of men in this was also pretty horrible. I mean yes, there are horrible men, but to say all men were likely to be cruel, violent criminals and rapists? I mean, wow. And also! How convenient that the main character is one 'of the few lonely hearts' who craves a man's touch. Phew, I guess, we can be glad that, despite there being NO MEN, our main character is still straight.
As for emotional scenes, well, they fell pretty flat, which is ironic what with all the talk in the book of how men have trouble expressing their emotional sides. A particular scene with Athena's mum, is so ridiculous I actually had to stop. Said mum says something and Athena responds with 'Stop, I'll start crying' and I just couldn't see why that would be how she reacted. Also other scenes in which Athena should have been sad if not bereft were just basically glossed over. 'Oh yeah that happened and I'm sad, but on with the mission'. Write 10-15 more pages and give a girl a chance to actually feel the moments.
No matter how well-written the prose, I just couldn't get past these things. It was such a fantastic premise but I felt like maybe it would have been helpful to have a few critical women help during the process. I also feel like this is definitely a YA book and not 'Women's fiction'. I love YA so it's not a criticism, but I feel like books read differently in these two genres and it would have helped to look at this as YA, though it wouldn't have solved its main problems.
Nonetheless, I could enjoy who Athena became and I would have liked to find more interactions with the Third Core. What a fascinating concept that seems very probable for our future. I absolutely love Captain Bell and Mirza as well. These characters should have been even bigger characters.
In the end, this wasn't for me. I know it has high reviews and I'm glad so many people could connect with it. I could not.
Thanks nonetheless to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 2099, and all men have been eradicated from the earth, victims to a "Y-Virus" that was engineered to halt the violence and warfare that was spiralling out of control. The earth is now utopia, ruled and populated solely by women. No poverty, no homelessness, no disease, every whim catered to by AI. Bliss. Or is it? After the popular vote to resurrect Man, using the Lazarus Genome, unlikely heroine Athena Vosh becomes enmeshed in the darker side of this new world.

This is a thought-provoking book, forcing the reader to consider the "what-ifs" and question whether the problems in this world are truly gendered or have other root causes. Vividly written, the author paints clear pictures of the surrounds and I especially liked the juxtapositon between the chapters and the reports/wiki pages/dream sequences that give the reader background information without bogging down the narrative.

Very intriguing.

~Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed reading Athena's Choice. I loved that the book really makes you think about the direction humanity is going and I really enjoyed the open-ended way the book ended.

This was not for me. The formatting/layout of articles and letters were a unique thought, but it was very distracting. Perhaps it's just something I'm not used to, but it left a weird first impression and distracted from the story. The writing was okay. The concept was cool.

I really thought the future depicted was going to be more detailed. It could have been a lot longer. At some point I thought there would be a sequel. There was a lot of squandered potential.

This book was extremely interesting--a story about a dystopian society in the 2090's where men have been completely exterminate from the planet and it is inhabited and run by women only. Athena, the main character, is having dreams about an old library that she enters and pulls a book out of on original sin. In the meantime, a lab that has developed a genome to recreate men, has been robbed of this very genome and for some reason Athena is a suspect in the robbery even though she lives miles away. Athena is an artist, a free spirit who lives with her girlfriend and dreams of having paintings in a gallery someday. She doesn't understand the dream or why is is called upon to help investigate this robbery of the male genome, which she is actually fascinated by. The future society in this book is much more advanced than we are today, obviously, and all the gadgets, computers, transportation, even the food and clothes, and the lives of these future women are just so engrossing to me. I found the entire concept intriguing and what Athena ends up being involved in as far as the future of men fascinating. Loved this book! Definitely worth your time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I loved it. The book was categorised as a Sci-Fi & Fantasy book.
I read the book in one go, I just could not put it down. I was so hooked!
The story was great, the characters were awesome and lovely. I loved every aspect of the book.

Recommend it !

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review

3 stars ⭐️ - I loved the overall concept of this book ( of a dystopian feature where all men are dead due to a virus ) and the storyline was pretty good. The writing however, could have been a bit better . I found the many flashbacks, newspaper articles, etc to be a little too much .although at times they worked, most of the time, I felt like they “interrupted” the story and I wish the author had weaved those pieces into the overall story.

Overall, definitely an interesting book and a gorgeous cover !

This one had a very interesting premise but overall I think this book was just not for me. I really wanted to love it but I think there was just something missing.

Great book; Not usually the kind of book I would choose but thank you Netgalley for accepting my request and allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.
I would give this book 4 stars, nothing that I particularly disliked, it was entertaining and kept my attention throughout.

A very unique picture of the world if a virus had killed all the men. Your first response is HMMMMM. The next response is...I need to read this one. I read THE WHITE PLAGUE many years ago and expected this book to flow along similar lines. It does not. Adam Boostrom gives a unique...there's that word again...look at what the world could be, but is it really as wonderful as it seems or is someone manipulating the information. After 50 years with no men, what does the future look like? As science works to reverse the effects of the virus, what will the future look like? A great, very interesting book with a different view of the future.

Athena's Choice is a really fun YA dystopian story that I loved getting into - and really was in the mood for as well. The writing style is nice enough to get lost in the book but also was really original by adding mixed mediums like reports, messages, ads etc., which greatly added to the atmosphere. But the plot, characters and world building fell a bit full of clichés and stereotypes. I can forgive that, if it is done well, but here, it annoyed me a little.
Overall this was a quick and really fun read that benefited from me being in the right mood for it.

Right away, this book captured my imagination. It's a compelling concept; a future with no men.

The female relationships and archetypes shown in this book made it seem like a place I'd like to live, but the undertones of the plot did their job. It left me so very conflicted and thoughtful and I loved that push and pull.

Without giving away too much, I'll say that I could see the merits and pitfalls of this glossy future. I enjoyed the writing and the use of articles and news stories as glimpses of the past. A great and thought provoking read!

A world without Violence? War? These are some of the things you give up when there are no men. A killer virus eradicated men from existence and created 50 years of harmony. Is this a good thing? A provocative, thoughtful, engaging, dystopian take of feminism. Thoroughly enjoyable.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

I could not put down this book. It was so interesting and the writing was great. I will definitely be recommending this to customers at my work!

I was hooked from the beginning. A world with out men . The main character athena was Captivating. And every twist and turn kept me glued in to the book

Athena’s Choice is science fiction that takes place in a futuristic society (2099) where all the men have died out from a virus. One young woman, Athena Vosh, is tasked with helping Public Safety to solve the mysterious disappearance of the male DNA Genome that was being developed under Project Lazarus, research to reintroduce men to society. There are those who favor this project (the “Lonely Hearts”) and those vehemently opposed to the notion (“Women First”).

It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did it was a fast read. The story is thought-provoking: Is the world better off without all the negative traits inherent in the male psyche? (Consider: Me Too, war, rape, violence.) Athena’s Choice is a curious tale that presents both the pros and cons regarding the merits of bringing back men, more or less leaving you, the reader, to decide. (See the Author’s Epilogue.)

Not a great science fiction fan but really liked this book. I give it a solid four out of five stars.

This book is set in a future where all men have died due to a disease called the Y-virus and where women have seemingly built a utopia.

This was fast paced and had a good, central plot point based on who stole the genome to bring men back. The world building was good, the technological advancements described are believable and are easy to visualise becoming a reality.

I was particularly impressed of the added extras between the chapters, it really gave a depth to the story that would be lacking without them.

I am thoroughly impressed with how well the characters are written. It is too often you see male authors attempt to write female characters that turn out one dimensional with only attractiveness as their personality.. the author did a great job at writing a full female cast.

This is perfect if you’re looking for a quick dose of fast paced dystopian YA.