📖 Book Review 📖
Athena’s choice by Adam Boostrom
Published date - 19th March 2019 (I hadn’t looked at the date when I requested 😂)

So, I am not one for dystopian fiction, I have given up on The Handmaidens tale and 1984 twice, and it took me ages to read VOX as I kept putting it aside.

I LOVED this, and I will now try others in this genre.

I almost wish I had brought the book so I could have got through it quicker, loved the back story and how this ‘new’ world became. I enjoyed following the characters and could really visualise their setting.

This has become my favourite ‘listened too’ of the year.
#adambookstrom #athenaschoice #netgalley #dystopianfiction #bookreview #netgalleyreview #bookcommunity

Thank you to @netgalley and @IBPA for allowing me to review.

I don't understand the amazing ratings for this book. I found it to be super campy and slow moving. All the men have been killed off by a virus and women are still able to sustain life on the planet. There is a divide as to whether men should be "brought back to life" or left extinct. I read 75% of the book before giving up. The science fiction in the book is just lame, for example food is printed using edible plastic and one person is murdered by consuming food from her printer that was tainted.

It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth.

I listened to the audiobook of Athena's Choice and very much enjoyed it. I am an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi and often that means that some books feel very very similar to others but this wasn't the case for Athena's Choice.

The book grabbed me as soon as I read what it was about and I found it very interesting. If you like dystopian sci-fi this book is for you.

I loved the narrator and she was a pleasure to listen to. I listened at various speeds and the audio sounded nice on all of them (sometimes when you speed up it can sound annoying).

I enjoyed this one a bit more than I thought I would as I don't usually go for this type of story. I wasn't disappointed, the story was great and I would read more from this author and narrator.

Very well told dystopian novel that was easy to read and entertaining at the same time. Highly recommend this book for anyone who feels like the idea is appealing. You won't be disappointed.

I was so intrigued by the manner in which Boostrom shared the history of the Union through Wikipedia entries. It was a very clever way to convey the timeline of the story. I also loved the many innovations he developed in the book. Those who love fashion will want to have the ability to choose the clothing for the next day and it will be designed specifically for them and ready to wear the next day. It can also be recycled so new outfits can be worn every day. Foodies will enjoy the food printer allowing you to select and print the food you want to eat. Although in order to have higher in foods, you must purchase a more expensive model.

I am usually not a fan of dystopian novels, but this one caught my attention and I simply could not wait to find out the ending. The coming of age part of this novel is about Athena and the choices she makes throughout the book which shows her growth from a free-spirited teenager to a young woman who must put her life on the line.

This was an ok book. I didn't hate it, but that fact that the author couldn't even properly end his book put me off. Also this was kind of a chauvinistic view of a world run by women. The main character spends most of her time fantasizing about how strong and masculine men were. Its a fine book just not for me.

I listened to the audiobook version. This setting of the book is the year 2099 and it's centered around a civilization where men are now extinct. Athena is the main heroine in the dystopian science fiction story. She begins to dream of places she has never been to. She is lonely, sad and feeling incomplete. She wishes for men to return. I really enjoyed this edge of your seat mystery/sci-fi/dystopian story. It is witty and thought provoking. I recommend this book to lovers of a great plot, sci-fi and a story to get lost in.

I received the audiobook via netgalley! Thank you to netgalley and the author!

I did enjoy this book but there were spots where it was very slow! The synopsis of this book intrigued me but i did find myself pushing through some of it.

The year is 2099 and it is a world where men are now extinct. and women are controlling the world. I enjoyed to concept of this book and our main character finds herself missing men but something was still missing for me. However, the were some moves the author made in the book that shook me.

I do recommend reading this book just make sure you push through the slower areas and you will enjoy the end.

Menfolk went extinct about 50 years ago and since then the all woman world has cured hunger, made peace, experienced unprecedented economic growth etc. Kittens stay cute forever and makeup never smears…

Yeah I’m sure womankind could do that but if all men really up and died, one of the first thing they’d invent would be a whole fleet of Magic Mike Bots, just enough AI for pillow talk, Channing Tatum’s body with *ahem* that one appendage replaced with one of those magic rabbit wands - I say this as a gal who’s only interested in other boobies but I know damn well what my fellow ladies would be prioritizing. Now maybe these AI gigalos exist in Athena’s world but I doubt it since she’s has to sketch out her own thirst traps.

Good narration, not a perfectly linear timeline but the narration handles it smoothly.

Wanted to like it more than I could. Some of the world building felt a bit hollow if not optimistically sexist but that could just be because I’m a female reader watching a world of exclusively women as written by a man.

All the characters felt a bit flat except for the actual robot, probably because less personality is expected from AI.

Captain Bell is too sarcastic and flippant for a well awarded professional.

Honestly if any woman really thought the elimination of males would turn the universe into some kind of lesbian utopia we would have already witnessed the attempt at the first female instigated genocide.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought that it was such an interesting concept for a book. A world without men... utopia or dystopia, you decide. 🤣 I love to see how futuristic stories will create our world and I enjoyed this one, though I feel like it was a bit unrealistic for less than 70yrs in the future. I thought that Athena’s character was interesting; she was young but smart, with a longing that she could not quite explain.

I found thenarrator's voice to be very clear and easy to understand. She also did a good job of giving the characters different voices/accents. With that said, I found myself a bit lost during the story. Not only is this told in a non-linear way, but they also have random “Wiki” posts sprinkled throughout the book (some of which I wasn’t sure of the importance). I also found the ending to be very rushed, which is always a bit disappointing.

I received this audio book for review.

This book takes place on the year 2099 and is centered around a civilization where men are no longer apart of civilization, they are now extinct. Athena is the main heroine in the dystopian sci-fi story. She begins having dreams of places she has never been. She is lonely and feeling incomplete. She yearns for men to return. I thoroughly enjoyed this witty, edge of your seat mystery/sci-fi/ dystopian story. I would recommend this story to anyone looking for a great plot, and a story to get lost in.

While this book sounded interested in the blurb I truly struggled to get through it. I almost gave up on it but I forced myself to finish it. I liked the idea of having all female characters but it wound up being really really confused by all the similar characters. I also found the narrator to be kind of monotonous and boring. I couldn't focus so I finished in the ebook version.

A future where men have been wiped out.....what an interesting premise, and one which made me intrigued in the story. Sci-fi is not my go to in the book world, unless there is some horror involved, so I was a bit hesitant. Well, I am very proud of allowing myself something different as I truly did enjoy this story. There were a few moments where the vocabulary and dialogue was a bit much for me, but I figured this was done to bring their way of interacting with one another to life. I especially enjoyed the use of news articles as well as wikipedia articles to bring background information into the story. I did this as an audiobook, and it a totally worked brilliantly. I was not expecting the loss of some characters, and was surprised that I was affected by it. I would definitely encourage those with an interest in scifi to check this one out!

3.5 stars.

Athena's Choice is the 2nd book that I've read this week about what life might be like in the late part of our current century. In this book, a bio-engineered virus killed off all of the men on Earth during the 2050's. Life goes on for the women and they continue advancing technology and science. By the 2090's there are women who have never seen men. Some of them want to bring men back using a genome. Athena is a young women who gets wrapped up in a plot to steal the genome and in the course of things she learns more about not just her own past but society's past.

I like the first part of this book better than the latter third. I enjoyed the world-building and hearing about all of the tech that this near-future society had. Athena was a likable character and I was curious to see how her story played out. Although the book is written by a man, there is a definite feminist bent to this story. Many women in the future dystopian society feel that men were the root of all evil and that they are better off without them. The story was an entertaining quick read, but in the end something missed the mark with me in how everything wrapped up.

Who runs the world? Girls.
IN ATHENA’S CHOICE, WOMEN HOLD ALL THE POWER -- AND FIND THEMSELVES QUESTIONING THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
--
Part of growing up is realizing that adults make mistakes. As adults, we learn that there are some mistakes that we can choose not to repeat.

The titular heroine of Athena’s Choice learns this lesson in the hardest way possible, when through great personal loss the 19-year-old discovers that she may be the only person on earth who can right a terrible wrong committed long ago.

The story takes place in 2099, fifty years after a virus has killed all the men on the planet. Women have rebuilt the world with feminine values -- there is no war, poverty, or hunger. Artificial intelligences and other technologies have eliminated all manual labor. The most important currency in this near-utopia is cooperation, as women work together to make the world a better place.

Though the technology exists to engineer babies of both sexes, the scientists of 2099 have long ago learned that any male babies, once born, would die of the virus. So for fifty years, doctors have only made female babies that are raised by female parents.

The plot of Athena’s Choice mirrors the story of creation in the Christian Bible, and author Adam Boostrom uses apples -- sometimes, quite heavy-handedly -- to symbolize forbidden knowledge, like the Biblical “tree of knowledge” from which Adam and Eve ate apples, causing them to be cast out of paradise.

At the start of the book, the women of Athena’s world are having a debate. Assuming they could engineer males who are immune to the virus, should they? Would the return of men fill a missing piece of women’s hearts and psyches? Or would men bring an end to world peace and a return to violence and greed? Should women remain forever as a lone sex in this paradise they’ve built without men?

These are difficult questions for anyone to consider, and Boostrom does a great job of communicating the teenage Athena’s confusion and disbelief as immense decisions are thrust upon her. Before her story ends, she must answer an age-old question for all of humanity -- what should we do with the knowledge that we have?

This was not a genre that I typically read - but the synopsis was intruiging.

I enjoyed this foray into life in the future - especially the details of the day to day life, with all of its digitally printed clothes and high tech conveniences. Interesting to see the way a world filled with women in the high ranking positions was run.

The world is 50 years on from a virus that killed off all of the men, accientally. While the means of propagating the species has been found, men are still missed by many of the population, and a project to reintroduce men is underway, However, this project has been sabotaged.

Teenager Athena finds herself embroiled in the investiagtion of the sabotage, and ends up, eventually with a very distinct choice to make.

I foud the chracter of Athena was well done, and enjoyed the plot of the investigation. However I found the ending lacking. While it didg make me think, which was the whole idea of course, I would rather have had a definitive ending to the story,

This book has an interesting plot that gets the reader curious to read the book. A world devoid of men. Why? How? Then you remind yourself that the author is a man and the storytelling is limited by his brain creating women characters and plots. This book has potential and could probably make for a great B Sci-fi movie with hot Heroines. It is limited and distracting with the choice of storytelling. The characters are never quite developed enough to attach to. The book is ambitious and pretentious in the fact that is seems to want to be meaningful. Honestly it just leaves the reader with a bad aftertaste. Almost like word mansplaining. I almost wanted to throw the book away when the AI started explaining what feminism should be. Overall this book is unmemorable at best.

》The question is not whether men are a risk to every element of the stabilized society. They were, they are. They always will be. The question is whether the pleasures they bring are worth the risks."

The year is 2099 and the population is a 100% women. 50 years ago, an experimental influenza virus accidentally killed all men on Earth but currently there is a controversial scientific project called The Lazarus Project going around which its main goal is to bring men back. But there has been a problem, the men genome has been stolen. And the main suspect of that crime is Athena Vosh, a regular 19 year old teenager who occasionally wonders to herself what would life be like if men were still alive.

The premise sounded waay too good for not to read this book! Lately I’ve been so drawn to dystopian books where the world is populated just by women and this book wasn’t the exception.
Even though it reads as a light YA scifi, the society created by the author is way more complicated than I was expecting, but in a good way; It was so well explained and well executed, and so easy to get engaged in the story.

I love it when science fiction books have segments from different mixed media (real or fiction). In this case, in this book, we can appreciate scientific articles, reports, school presentations from different characters, adds for different technological products, AIs moral laws, and so on. I think this give the reader a better idea of the world building in such a unique way!

I also really liked the self-discovery journey that Athena goes through the entire book and the cryptic dreams. And that final plot twist was everything!!

I understand the story takes part in the post man-world, but I was expecting getting in the lives of other women missing their men relatives, grieving for them, and stuff like that. Like I said, maybe we, as readers, didn’t get that because this story happens 50 years after men extinct but still, I was expecting to see a little bit more of that.

Talking about the lgbt+ aspect of this book… I have mixed feelings. At first, I was a little bit confused about Athena and Naomi’s relationship, which is fine, we don’t need a label for everything If the characters don’t need them. Then it was more explicit, I was grateful, because I started to understand their dynamics. But my only issue is that I was expecting more queerness? Being in a women-only society, I would have expected that many more women would show their queerness. But that’s just an observation. I think this book is way more than that. It’s about women, it’s about feminism.

But it also talks about religion and its place in the life of scientists. It also talks about gender and the difference between women and men; I really, really loved that chapter where the characters (I can’t recall know who) talk about statistics about crime and compare both genders. It’s pretty terrifying (and true) that the majority of crimes are committed by men and that we, women, are constantly living in fear.

Like I said at the beginning, dystopias with a female world are right up my alley, but I don’t think this is reads as a dystopia, at least not a 100%. I think this can be consider a dystopia as well as utopia. It’s a thought-provoking light scifi read with its main focus on feminism which I highly recommend. Like the author says in the epilogue, this book is about a society where the human genome has been altered in a way that the ego gen has been suppress, whether that can end up being good or bad, I think is up to debate, if the only way to do so is to eliminate men from the Earth…

The audiobook is pretty simple but it’s perfect that way. I would also highly recommend it since the author’s style is easy to follow and the narrator does a great job acting the voices of each character.

Overall, an easy and entertaining scifi read with an important message that I would recommend to anyone who likes to read scifi and specially to those who enjoy reads with a feminism focus.

I would like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for providing the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this sci-fi, futuristic story about a time when men had been wiped out by a virus (fitting time to be reading it too during COVID).
I liked the little snippets from articles and how the mystery weaved together. I did find it a bit slow going in parts and had to work to piece all the players together, but it all came together in the end and and for the last few chapters I was really engaged. But the ending was weird.

I listened on audio.