What a gritty and raw book. It really makes you think about what could happen if women's reproductive rights get put in the wrong hands. I really enjoy a good dystopian and this one was very enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this novel. I look forward to reading more from this author when they put out more.

I had high hopes for this book. Although some of the themes presented here have been explored before in other reads such as The Handmaid's Tale, I thought the author was doing a good job at first differentiating this story from other dystopian tales that center on women and childbirth.

Unfortunately, this one ended up feeling repetitive to me and I found myself dreading finishing it.

This one ended up not being for me, but if you are fans of dystopian tales you might give it a try and see what you think.

I loved the world building, but I felt a little lost by the end of the book, This book covers a lot of topics surrounding women’s rights and I live for that. I found Angus to be too perfect in a sense. I’m not really able to put my finger on it but something about him just threw me off. While this wasn’t my favorite read it was definitely a good, solid read. I look forward to more work by Eli North in the future.

Thank you for the ARC! Well first of all, the blurb deeply intrigued me. I’m a sucker for dystopian literature and how society relates to those situations. Honestly, it reminded me a bit of The Handmaid’s Tale which is why I wanted to read it. I actually really enjoyed the book and it’s worth the read!

DNF at 60%. I tried this, I did, but I could not get into it. I can't tell if it wants to be a conservative Ra Ra capitalism book or a feminist manifesto, but it falls flat.. The problems in the US are directly caused because, at one point, the government decides to provide free healthcare to all people. That led to a decline in birth and women being treated like cattle. And for a feminist book, it seemed like the women did very little, and the "good men" are the ones who did the fixing. It may improve, but I doubt it, and I have no genuine desire to finish this book.

The Auction is a story of four women, all pregnant from various situations, all living in a society where children are a property of the Government and women no longer have rights over their bodies. Its chilling and a story that could easily become true in this age and place! When all their lives collide, ideas emerge to bring down this nightmare!

Some lags in the middle, but otherwise this is a great story that includes different circumstances in a women’s life, especially when she is in a reproductive phase! If the cover with pregnant woman behind bars isn’t compelling enough pick this book, I don’t know how else to convince you. Oh I know—The Auction heavily reminds of The Handmaid’s Tale and oppressed reproductive rights of women and freedom of children.

Thank you publisher for the arc!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Hmm well this is an interesting story. I don't really think it was a good pick for me. There are numerous stories of different people throughout the book. The author I think was inspired by The Handmaid's Tale. If you are interested in that sort of type novel you might want to give it a try. It just wasn't really my cup of tea, which j was sad about because I thought it was going to be different.

A story taking place in the future that could easily be told today. What a story!! The Auction should be read by everyone!

As a fan of The Handmaid's Tale, I was very excited to read The Auction. This is a dystopian novel about governmental control of women's reproductive rights. Children are property of the government. This is a disturbing tale that is hitting eerily close to home right now.
This was a difficult book to read, and it feels strange to say I enjoyed it, but I am very glad that I read it and would recommend it others who are fans of dystopian stories.

Fantastic concept, which genuinely chilled me to the bone. Based upon a dystopian premise, in a future where pregnant women are effectively farmed in order to generate government income, magnifying the gaps between the rich and poor - or the many and the few.

Women's rights are far and few once pregnant or/and a mother (and before, given birth control is illegal and rape does not 'exist').

It switches betwen 4 perspectives of women diminished by the authoritarian government controls. The characters weren't particularly developed, and their inane chat (and reliance upon the men in their lives) did frustrate me, with the wrap up being a bit too good to be true. It could easily have been a 5 star read but reckon it sits at around a 3 based upon the premise (a 5) minus a 2+ for the undeveloped characters. I really enjoyed the setting, but the characters did let it down somewhat.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title.

The premise of the plot sounded very interesting to me as I’ve read a couple of books with similar premises before. At 502 pages it’s a lengthy read and it does drag from the second third onwards.

The ending felt rushed and like it had been very quickly cobbled together to tie up all of the miserable events in these women’s lives.

The characters lacked any real depth and the majority of the book was just them sat around in prison waiting for the male characters to fix it all.

Overall, I was disappointed after finishing the book and I wish the plot had been focused less on the detailed descriptions of what was going on every day and more on developing the characters to a point where they didn’t just feel like predictable cliches.

Every new rule I learned about the dystopian world Elci North created made me cringe! This book is set in an America where women are encouraged to have babies in order to supplement the government’s income. To make it even worse the government controls every aspect of it’s citizens lives, especially the women’s (they even created things like pregnancy prison and a monthly baby auction 😧). The women whose lives you follow in this book are heroines who have wonderful spirits and great voices. I really enjoyed reading this book even with the cringe-worthy rules, but I hope it NEVER becomes reality!

An amazing dystopian storytelling fiction. Reminds me of the 'What Happened to Monday' film on Netflix but a milder version.
Need to warn the reader there are some parts containing TW scenes that might trigger some people because I see a lot of people drop this book because of it. But I think it was okay there were just a few parts here and there triggering.
The American made a system where the newborn babies were auctioned and stripped out the women rights from all of the women in America. Why were they auctioned in the first place? That will be uncovered throughout the story. The truth will leave you raging and wanting to punch the president in the face.
The story revolves on four characters which they will meet later in the story. Each one of them has unique characteristics that will make you attach to them more. Especially Wendy's. I like how Angelina is a ruthless drama queen but a softy for Wendy. All of them have the same soft spot for Wendy. And there is no exception with the reader too.
I almost cried. I was mad and dumbfounded. I jump in joy. This story let out a lot of emotion inside of me. And I'm sure that everyone will feel the same as I feel for this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

This book pissed me off.

The first thing is Millie's stupid, stupid, ridiculous super sense of smell. Are you kidding me? Give me an explanation or it's literally impossible. This was so frustrating. She could smell emotions??? And whether meat was frozen?? It was so unrealistic, it took me out of everything. So stupid.

The next was Angus. This book may as well have been about him. He magically knew everything and pretty much solved every single problem with his huge brain and his huge wallet. In a book about women having no rights, the man is the one to save everything? HE EVEN STARTS THEIR "WOMEN-OWNED" BUSINESS FOR THEM. All the women just followed everything he said and it all worked out. Because I guess they really did need a man to save them. How empowering.

Also, I can't figure out what agenda this book is trying to push? They're taught that God isn't real which is terrible so all the women learn how to pray and the reason all of this started is because the evil government gave everyone free housing, food, school, and healthcare!! Also Russia is the ideal country? All the men are like "ooh in Russia women have rights and the government is good!", like read the room, North, I think now is not the time to praise Russia's government as a lover of freedom. It's like anti-authoritarian and anti-liberal?

The book also proves that rich people could have fixed everything all along but didn't until it affected them? Which is obvious but also not condemned at all? The rebellion feels cheap because every problem is soloved by a man with money. It's just elites flashing money around to help themselves which as a byproduct helps others. There is no societal change propelled by the masses. In fact, at the end, when the country riots, all the main characters stay inside and avoid it!! Like the rich assholes they are.

And the thing is, the book wants to tell you that the Auction exists because of corporate taxes, which is stupid, but also makes misogyny a symptom when it's really the cause. If you're going to these extremes with misogyny, you have to accept that some men think they're better than women. not as a scheme because of money. Because of prejudice. Because of historical hatred for women, not because of lack of money. And North totally ignroes any racial aspects because, let's be honest, this situation would definitely be worse for WOC than white women, yet there's no examination of that at all. The characters even state this isn't about "just women, but... everyone", and like sure, BUT WHAT''S THE BIG ISSUE HERE??

This All Lives Matter bullshit pisses me off. And their happy ending is joining the stock market. Yay capitalism.

This is conservative propoganda with male saviors and although women are supposed to be the leads, they are essentially unimportant.

I would give this no stars if I could.

The timeliness of this book's concept drew me in, but the book quickly became a chore to read and I only got about a quarter of the way in before skipping to the end to see if anything happened.

The four viewpoint characters, each finding themselves pregnant in troubled circumstances, had a lot of potential. Each woman's life situation highlights a different element of the dystopian society, which acts as a commentary on traditionalist, natalist trends in modern American culture. Jane, a gifted programmer, had to beg for government permission to study her unsuitable-for-women subject in school, only to be barred from working at all upon becoming pregnant. Millie, a blind woman who had been trying to conceive with her husband for over a decade, finds herself legally stripped of her independence when her husband is injured in an accident. Wendy, a fifteen year old rape victim, is forced to marry her rapist and injures herself over and over because the hospital provides her temporary sanctuary from his sadistic abuse. In contrast to these downtrodden characters, Angelica, a privileged party girl, shows the reader what a rich woman has to gain and lose in this society; housebound and bored after being forced to quit her beloved job, she snorts coke and chugs French wine, knowing that a less affluent couple will be raising the child she carries, while she'll be able to purchase a flawless "designer" baby at the titular auction.

Two things made the book difficult to stick with. The first is the brevity of the chapters and frequency of the viewpoint switches. The second was the prose style. The book is written in an exposition and dialogue-heavy style that's light on description. Characters don't have distinctive voices, and are differentiated mostly by how much they swear. (Millie does stand somewhat apart from the others because of her more tender attitude toward her future baby.) I wasn't able to get attached to the characters as people, or to feel for them as much as I hoped. The characters (especially Wendy) are treated with such cruelty and injustice, I know I should be feeling furious, afraid, or sad for them, but it wasn't happening.

Misogynistic Dystopian Future Where Babies Generate Government Revenue

“The Auction” is Elci North’s spin on ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’-esque future USA, where a woman must marry any man that impregnates her—regardless of the circumstances—and have the baby—even if she is attacked and assaulted as a child by a sibling or a psycho. Adding insult to injury, the woman’s baby is auctioned to the highest bidder to raise money for government taxes after it is born.

“The Auction’s” misanthropic society is filled with extensive female abuses, as well as historical misinformation that delegates roles for women to those represented in unrealistic 1950s and ‘60s sitcoms like “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best.”

The novel is character-driven and told from four points of view—by a computer programmer, Jane; party girl, Angelica; blind, Millie; and tortured teenager, Wendy. North is brilliant in character development, and all the pregnant women featured are compelling, especially Millie, the blind perfume maker whose sense of smell is flawless.

Prayerfully, 100+ years into the future, the leaders of the USA’s bankrupt economy will not legislate to enact North’s terrifying vision of this unconscionable method of controlling women and their reproductive health as a means of extortive taxation. “The Auction” is a timely and daunting reflection on our current 21st-century challenges regarding a woman’s right even to choose to have an abortion.
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My sincere thanks and appreciation goes to NetGalley, Author and Publisher Elci North for this Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) for review.

“The Auction”
Author: Elci North
Sci-Fi & Fantasy | General Fiction (Adult) | Women's Fiction |
Publication Date: 03 February 2022
Publisher: Elci North
The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️

4 WOMEN BREAKING OUT OF PREGNANT WOMEN PRISON?? I'm all for it!

Honestly this book has such an amazing premise I was hooked. The Auction revolves around 4 women from completely different backgrounds but were forced to come together when they got thrown into pregnant women prison. They discover the flaws (spoiler alert: flaws is an understatement) in their government system, and band together to bring it down.

This book touched on heavy themes. Trigger warning: discussions of rape, violence towards women and death. I liked how it discusses male-dominated society, governments' control on their people, capitalism etc.

The speculative aspect, however, felt slightly random. Although sci fiction books are expected to have very imaginative futuristic elements, this one hovered between believable and outrightly absurd..? Because the world here is not very different from our current world, except with some tweaks to involve an authoritative (despotic even) governance with a huge grudge against pregnant women and women in general, it crosses the believable threshold (if that makes sense).

I do applaud Elci North's awesome character building. Everyone has personality and their interactions were very cute. The relationships they forge is also beautiful and it made me happy to read about their bonds. Even the side-ish characters were fairly developed. However, what irked me was the stereotypical depictions of certain people, such as one of the 4 women, Millie, who is blind. Her character is obsessed with her husband and while that can be endearing, the fact that Millie cries out every few pages about Jason was kinda annoying. Angelica (another of the 4 mains) was just wayy too dramatic for her own good, it went overboard sometimes.

Overall, I felt that while this book gave a very unique take on dystopia, the fact that (SPOILER PLS AVERT EYES IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW) a 30 year tyrant president's leadership can be torn down just in a single book, was just cringe (in the sense that it was just so EXPECTED). Personally, I didn't really think a happy ending (with happy resolution for everyone) suits such a dark premise. Hence, I think this book will read better as a women's fiction genre instead, and readers should read it with an open mind.

P.s. this book was also waayyyyy too long. The chapters were SUPER repetitive (as in, each character does similar things in most chapters) it assumes readers are goldfish (sorry not sorry). I think it can really be cut short to make the plot more fast paced otherwise it's easy to lose motivation.

This book sounded like it had a lot of really good potential to be a thought provoking and scary dystopian novel, given the direction the world is going. I unfortunately had to stop reading this book early on as there is some quite brutal descriptions of self harm and domestic abuse - which is important as it is part of one of the characters lives', and explains their arc within the story, but it is not something I was in a position to read now, especially as there was no trigger warning to prepare me.

Having said this, the part of the book I did read was fantastic. There are good strong characters and developments, there is a believable world with good world-building, and a story that has me gripped from page 1. The writing style was quick and easy to fly through, even if the subject matter was a lot more hard hitting (yet handled well in a mature and respectful manner). love the range of characters and storylines - meaning there will be someone everyone will find an interest in, and I like how with all these different characters and different lives and stories, the same thing brings them all together.

I was really invested in the story and when I'm in a better headspace, I can't wait to dive back in and see where the story goes!

DNF

A truly scary story, The Auction follows pregnant women in a state where their rights are stripped away from them. I think people should read this but always, look up content warnings. The DNF wasn't due to the book but I got uncomfortable after a certain point, hence I couldn't finish the book.

Wow! This book was quite the ride. I absolutely loved the world building and found the ideas surrounding the Auction amazing yet chilling at the same time. Sometimes art imitates life a little too closely! While I felt like the writing was lacking at times, the plot more than made up for it. Read this, read The Change and then let's band together to take down the patriarchy!