Today's world is becoming ever more complex even to the point of being incomprehensible to most of us who inhabit it. This book is something of a reflective look at certain contemporary economic, social and biological issues that confront us. It attempts to distill and simplify several issues into a form that can be understood by young adults, primarily. The narrative does have a social and political agenda but the message is idealistic in a positive and life affirming way.

Walter and Julia are siblings who are growing up in a society where monetary prosperity is the measure of success but which is also concerned that each child be content with their place. It is a meritocracy built on genetic determinism. The means by which they intend to achieve these goals is through genetics. DNA is regarded as of paramount importance in guiding individual development. In fact, each child is profiled to highlight their talents and strengths. Then they are guided into fields and areas where they should shine.

In the course of the story Walter and Julia find themselves rebelling against their native genetic profiles. The motivating force for these rebellions has less to do with their DNA and more to do with their emotional and psychological drives.

The story isn't as compelling or subtle as I would have liked it was interesting and dealt with some real contemporary issues.

Interesting look into a future where some of the world's current ideologies are now the law of the land. At times, I was reminded of "Brave New World" but this was something very different.

Throughout the book, I kept changing my mind about social issues and how far they should go, just as Walter and Julia did at different times in their life. As the expression goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" and sometimes the government and corporations go to far. When a good idea is misunderstood and misinterpreted, things can go horribly wrong.

The science, technical and political/social aspects are easy to understand. Great book for a book club.

A very good book and unexpectedly so. I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the privilege of reading Dominant Trait: A Story of Social and Genetic Inequality by Michael Abramson. The book is now available as both Kindle and paperback editions.

At first I was a bit pessimistic about this book. It seemed like it was mainly about teenagers and sports but it was apparent it was in a society different from ours and seemed like it might be going off in a direction I would find boring. Then it got into a bit of politics discussing Republican and Social Democratic views and I was afraid it was tuning into the type of story where the political message dominants the story.

I was wrong and this turned out to be a wonderful book. It was long enough to develop the characters and their ideas while telling a good story. But not too long as to allow you to lose interest. As a geneticist I was particular interested in the portions on genetics,

In retrospect it seems that by introducing the main characters and the society as he did, the author creates a fictional and non-threatening space to expand on their political views and create a good story that made me (and probably other readers) examine the ideas behind this story.

I highly recommend Dominant Trait: A Story of Social and Genetic Inequality by Michael Abramson.