"The Way Out - Forbidden Minds | Book One" is a fast-paced and action-packed novel that combines elements of science fiction and dystopian fiction. The story follows the character of Ezekiel, a young man who lives in a society where people's thoughts are monitored and controlled by a powerful corporation.

The premise of the novel is intriguing, and I found myself quickly drawn into the world that the author created. The action scenes are well-written and kept me on the edge of my seat, and the descriptions of the technology and futuristic setting are vivid and imaginative.

However, I did have some issues with the book. The pacing felt uneven at times, with some parts of the story feeling rushed and others feeling slow and dragging. Additionally, some of the characters felt underdeveloped, and I had a hard time connecting with them on an emotional level.

Overall, "The Way Out - Forbidden Minds | Book One" is an entertaining and engaging read that is sure to appeal to fans of dystopian fiction. While it has its flaws, it's a solid start to what promises to be an interesting series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes the story next.

Natural pregnancy is now a big risk, forbidden by law and children who are born illegal are hunted down by government, their parents arrested or killed. There are reproduction centers, everything is shaped by government. Parents can "order" the cloned child with genes they want.

Illegally born children have special powers and some people are searching for the truth and their rights.

Great sci-fi thriller, I've enjoyed it very much

A little delayed on reading this title, but what a time to read this one!
The author started the book back in 2017 not knowing how timely it would be upon it's release. For those of you who love sci-fi with a bit of "too close to real life" this is a book you'll want to grab. The current climate of the US and this book are just so in sync. It is fast paced so be ready to just sit and read in one sitting. Seems like there will be more in the series based on the ending.

I wasn't impressed with this book. Nothing peaked and kept my interest. throughout the book. I kept waiting for something to grab me but nothing did.

Written from multiple character perspectives, The Way Out is the first installment in a new series by Armond Boudreaux.

Following the spread of the spread of the deadly Samford virus, which has claimed the lives of many babies and left many more being born with severe abnormalities, the Susan Wade act provides reproductive freedom. The artificial womb ensures every baby is born in perfect health, natural pregnancy now being an unnecessary risk is a criminal offence.
Now 70 years later, all girls over 12 are required by law to to have an implant preventing pregnancy, the government having complete control over women's sexual health and only the wealthy being able to afford to have a clone baby made from their DNA.

Retired US marine Val and her husband Dr Kim Hara, have spent the past 11 years living in fear, after removing Val's implant and giving birth to an illegal child. Val and Kim stan by their decision to have a child naturally, however their son isn't like other children and what will happen if the authorities find out?

Reporter Jessica is no stranger to enemies, covering controversial stories from both sides of the fight for reproductive freedom. During an interview at a reproduction clinic, Jessica is taken to a baby which changes everything she knows to be true. Now in possession of sensitive information, which could change everything, Jessica is branded a terrorist, she and Val must fight for their freedom and everything they hold dear.

I highly recommend this book, it's fast paced and keeps the reader engaged. I have given The Way Out 5+ stars and can't wait for the next installment.

The Way Out is a fairly standard sci-fi – it’s one of those books you’d swear you’ve read before. There’s a virus wiping out natural births and the government brings in their dark and sinister birth plans with artificial wombs so that they can control the population. The story is told through a few different perspectives – Jessica, a journalist who uncovers the truth, Dr Bowen, a scientist working for the government and Val who has a secret in her natural born, telepathic son.

There’s nothing here that makes you gasp or tries to define the genre but it’s an interesting enough tale. I did think that there were a few bits that felt like they were missing though. For example, it’s never explained why natural birth children have developed telepathy which is a fairly large hole! There’s also a section at the beginning on ‘clone paedophilia’ but I didn’t really understand how that came in. The pace ramps up though and there are some great and gory action sequences towards the end.

My problem came with the Dr Bowen point of view chapters, particularly towards the first half of the book. There is a lot of graphical content that made me roll my eyes and there is no doubt here that the book is written by a man. Although I understand that Armond Boudreaux is trying to make the reader detest the character more, it seemed very unnecessary, particularly considering his job – there is no way we are going to sympathise with him anyway. The objectification of women and the obsession with sex just seemed too over the top and ruined the story.

Be warned that the book ends on a cliff hanger to the next book in the series, however I wasn’t that gripped by the book and could easily live without reading the next instalment.

Overall, The Way Out is a fairly standard sci-fi but had a few plot holes and a reliance on sexual content and objectification of women that made this female reader uncomfortable. Thank you to NetGalley & Uproar Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It has a strong plot and intrigue, plus a fast pace, and relatable characters. It nicely blends political thriller with science-fiction and action. All told, I had a good time reading it.

this was a great start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the environment that was going on in the story. I look forward to more in this series.

Unfortunately for personal reasons, circumstances I was unable to read this book that was granted for me. I was really looking forward to read this and experience the magic of it.

The Way Out is a thrilling, entertaining book about family, love, bravery. The book has strong, well-developed characters and a story line that kept my attention all the way.

I will read the next book too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel

not a good thing to read in a pandemic but oh my word its grabs hold of you and keeps you reading right to the end

think pandemic
think how natural childbirth is taken away and done in incubators to rid the world of diseases and birth defects, a new way of life...

but was this engineered, was something released to cause all this so that governments could control the masses without them realising...

clones taking the place of natural born children with designer looks...

but a few people risked giving birth naturally but they were found to be different and were hunted down...

oh this is gripping stuff and couldnt put the book down...

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works...cant wait for the next one in this series..totally hooked

Thank you to NetGalley and Uproar Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Brass tax, I just plain enjoyed this book and if you like dystopian fiction you will too. It was a quick read for me as it pulled me in and kept my attention the entire way through. Sometimes a sci-fi book can be too far-fetched, but this one was disturbingly plausible. The government taking control over and meddling with human reproduction? I can buy a dystopian future where that occurred. The characters are interesting, and the three different threads all complemented each other and blended together perfectly. And after flying through it, I’m interested in seeing where it goes next.

I received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a ride! The Way Out is an excellent, new, dystopic/scifi novel that is action filled from the beginning. This story is set in the future, where babies are born using artificial wombs in labs. It is actually the law, and it is to prevent certain birth defects from occurring. But some people don't like that law and want to do more.

This story follows three different stories/people that all converge at the end. We follow a doctor studying the effects of natural birth, a journalist, and a mother trying to protect her naturally born son. Soon the government gets involved in all their lives and things get crazy!

There is a lot of action in this story, and never a dull moment. The world building is excellent, and by the half way mark it is pretty easy to understand what is going on. The characters are interesting, although not as fleshed out as one might like. In general, the focus is more on plot than character development. My one complaint, is the strange obsession with sex, especially in the first half. It is talked about a lot in this book, but doesn't really add anything to the story. It's just always there and not in any good, romantic, smutty way.

All in all, a very fun read! I am eager to see what happens next in the sequel!

Id give this a 3.5. This was a fairly good book, interesting storyline but felt like there was a lot going on. The writing style is more YA but there's a lot of weird sexual content so confusing as to what audience this book is aimed at.

I found The Way Out to be a highly interesting and enjoyable book with some off putting scenes of violence in the last few chapters. The premise of government controlled reproduction is very interesting with the story highlighting some of the philosophical, and moral issues that people might argue if this were reality.

While some chapters can drag a little, each chapter is generally short enough that you will often move to a more interesting section of the book quite quickly. Some of the violence in the later chapters was off putting, however for the majority of the book there is nothing on the same level,

I would happily recommend this book to any sci-fi or dystopian literature fans. However, I would say it isn't suitable for anyone who doesn't enjoy highly violent, or sexual content in their books.

This book was a really intense thriller and It had me hooked in at the first page it showed the character developing and the fact that she was in a dangerous situation the main character was the only unbiased reporter in the country and people did not like that at all so the tried to stop her with threats and other violent stuff but she brought to light what the government is doing with babies which is artificially producing them to have genetic mutations. I loved this book so much and would recommend it to anyone.

Natural pregnancy is now a big risk, forbidden by law and children who are born illegal are hunted down by government, their parents arrested or killed. There are reproduction centers, everything is shaped by government. Parents can "order" the cloned child with genes they want.

Illegally born children have special powers and some people are searching for the truth and their rights.

Great sci-fi thriller, I've enjoyed it very much.

Packs a punch, leaves an impact....don't let it frighten you on the Way Out....

Val and Kim seems like a normal family. She works on the land with their young son Braden and he works as a surgeon. However, the world in which they live in is different to our own in more ways than one.

Braden was born naturally and in this world, that is illegal, due to the SRP (Safe Reproduction Practices) which are laws forbidding natural birth. Babies are instead born in artificial uteri in special reproductions laboratories,

It turns out that natural births also comes with the 'perks' or 'curse' of potentially being an Anomaly, humans with powers who are hunted down by the Government and kept it in a special facility in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, journalist Jessica Brantley is potentially onto the story of the century regarding the origins of the SRP laws. But when she receives a death threat via hologram and then wounds up wrapped up in a conspiracy concerning the Anomalies, Jessica's life is rapidly turned upside down as she too is hunted by the Government for the secrets she is handed.....

To give much more way would do a discredit to the author, whose first book in the Forbidden Minds series is a tantalising and fascinating look into a world so familiar yet so strange. The initial draw to this book was the topic of artificial creation of humans and the moral and ethical dilemmas around this. And whilst this book does explore these terms at times, the main focus is on the stories of Val and Jessica, as their respective worlds falls apart around them and they hurry against time to save themselves and in Val's case, the ones she loves.

The book is fast paced, not lingering too long on each scene but long enough so that the pacing doesn't feel too rushed. The characters are believable, all with their different senses of morality and their various different struggles. They are also flawed, making decisions which aren't always for the best or morally correct. Enough information is given on each character to allow the reader to get a feel for them and this bodes well for them going into the next book.

This book is recommended to anyone looking for their next suspenseful Sci-fi read with that 'could this happen to us' feel and is a series to keep an eye on.

Please note the content warnings below however, as there are many scenes within this book some may find disturbing or triggering.

Content warnings: mentions of: miscarriage, paedophilia, rape, abortion, pandemics, war. Contains graphic death scenes, scenes of sexual assault and rape, violence (including violence against women),.

[This review is also available on Goodreads at:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/116195675-kaizenkhaos]

A medical miracle is reshaping the world. The artificial womb ensures the perfect health and flawless development of every unborn child. Natural pregnancy is now unnecessary risk—and quickly criminalized as a danger to both mother and fetus. Fast-paced and thought-provoking, THE WAY OUT is a sci-fi thriller that explores what happens when governments try to shape the genetic future of our world.
This book is an interesting take on a dystopian future. Nothing was surprising but overall it was a decent read