2.8 "excellent vision, average execution, fair to good reading experience" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Inkshares books. This novel was released November 2022. I am providing an honest review.

This might have been an amazing trilogy. As a standalone novel it was way too long with uneven pacing. The prose is sometimes good but just as often mediocre. The overall story arc is exciting and original with futuristic dystopian flavors and themes of (in)fertility and warring societal factions. The psychologies are superficial but solid. The biggest issues I had was the pseudo philosophizing of the last third that simply rang Hollywood and rather false.

Had this been workshopped and reworked several times we could have had a more cohesive single novel or perhaps a thought provoking trilogy. Instead we have a novel that I have no regrets reading but ....well I won't repeat myself.

I am putting this on my 3 star shelf but the real rating is 2.8 ...the midway point between a fair and good reading experience.

There were some really interesting concepts and themes discussed in this book. I wouldn't say it was groundbreaking but it did make me think.

This author is an amazing storyteller, she made me feel like I was right there in this story and that alone was terrifying and brilliant. Even when she was weaving through memories, I never felt lost in the story. I was definitely getting Handmaid Tale vibes but make it zombies.

Overall, this was such an enjoyable, atmospheric read and I will definitely be checking out more of this author's work.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

a unique setting and blend of dystopia / fertility / viruses etc. took a while for me to get fully invested in the narrative and characters. Godwin writes beautifully and with nice flowing sections. all the characters (their growth and arcs) felt true to them.

in the crowded field of fertility themed dystorian novels Eudaimonia sets its self apart in a great way!

Eudaimonia is a strange name for this near-future sci-fi dystopia. It takes place early in the 22nd century, fifty years after there has been a sudden population collapse due to women's fertility dropping off. This has created a situation that echoes The Handmaid's Tale in places where women are regularly tested and encouraged to have multiple sexual partners, to try and get pregnant. And if they turn out to be fertile, they get sent to a birthing home, where they live in luxury, a sharp contrast to how most of the society grubs by in the polluted, water-starved outside world. So perhaps the Eudaimonia (it's Greek for good cheer and Aristotle's view of the ultimate virtue in life) is within the birthing homes. Except as we travel through this world with our lead character, we discover it is nothing but.

Our heroine Bette is near thirty and hitherto infertile. The first quarter of the book we spend with her in the outside world, seeing how horrid it all is. And then she gets attacked after her regular fertility meeting and suddenly is taken away by the Department Of Propagation to a birthing home and discovers that she is pregnant. And the book moved from a society-wide dystopia to a locked institution dystopia. Because as you might guess, the birthing home may have great food and water and all mod-cons, but there is something weird going on and only Bette can sort it out.

Eudaimonia is a solid little sci-fi adventure which dodges its main premise in favour of a latter swing to escaping authoritarian control and - er - zombies. There is a grand conspiracy set up that the book doesn't need, the organs of control are already monsterous enough without adding monsters. The novel ends up trailing a sequel, but the world-building didn't really convince me, and the twists were disappointing. I wanted more about the fertility issue, which perhaps might come up in a sequel but I'm not minded to go there.

This one took a bit for me to get into, but about quarter of the way through my intrigue started to grow. Definite Handmaid’s Tail vibes mixed with some zombie dystopia 😅

Godwin is a great writer. Very atmospheric, creepy and perhaps triggering for some with the fertility references + suicide. This teeters between fantasy and horror. Assuming there is another book as it left off pretty open ended.

I’m a huge fan of a good dystopian tale so when I started reading Eudaimonia, the world building started blowing my mind right away. I ended up finishing the same day, as I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I put it down.

The very first page started out with this paragraph:
“These were the days of the National Fertility Agenda. These were the days of the Department of Propagation, the DOP. These were the days of the Mandate. Days of fertility monitoring and sex compliance. Days of crushing expectations and obligation. Days of struggle, duty, and sacrifice. These were the days they all hoped would not be called ‘the end days.’”

Most women were infertile. If there was even a slight chance you could conceive, you were “mandated” to couple with different partners at least 3 to 5 times a week. Staying with the same person was against the law.

Bette eeks out an existence, as most did, just barely able to survive, doing her best to become pregnant for the DOP as her status was INCONCLUSIVE. The girls that were FERTILE were whisked off to a center to live in luxury.

This story had very disturbing The Handmaid’s Tale vibes and I couldn’t get enough. I did find out that the author is currently working on the second book in this series and I can’t wait!!

*Thank you so much to Inkshares and NetGalley for the advance eGalley!*

First, I’d love to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for granting me permission to access this arc.
Second, let me tell you how greatly I enjoyed this piece of literature and how every dystopian geek needs to read it too. We find ourselves in a dystopian society where fertile individuals get separated from “inconclusive” ones in the hopes of repopulating the Earth and preserving the human species. If I had to sum it up, I’d tell you it was an improved and upgraded version of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
The pacing was done very well and all the necessary information was revealed just at the right time. The characters were interesting and had very specific characteristics and quirks to themselves (I personally loved Roya and Sol). As is expected of every good dystopian novel, this book was full of unexpected twists and turns that were a delight to read.
Overall, this book was above and beyond my expectations and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a dystopian book that takes place in the near distant future. There are themes of fertility, selection, and horrific medicinal practices. If you liked the grace year or the hand maids tale, then this is the book for you!

🔹Book Review🔹
Eudaimonia by Meghan Godwin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5)

Blurb:
The year is 2112. To combat the infertility epidemic plaguing the world, the United States government has established the Department of Propagation--the last defense against the extinction of the human race. The agency oversees, facilitates, and monitors all activities related to procreation.

Like many women in the twenty-second century, Bette Donovan is infertile and just scraping by. After a seemingly freak accident sends her to the hospital, Bette suddenly finds herself under the scrutiny of the Department of Propagation, triggering a series of changes that turn her life inside out. Soon, she is inside the shiny, clinical walls of the Department's birthing center. But the birthing center holds dark secrets. Confronted with the fallout of what a desperate society will do to survive, Bette's only hope is to escape. In any way possible

🔹CALLING ALL DYSTOPIAN LOVERS🔹

I have always loved dystopian novels, and this one deserves to be at the top of the list of must reads in the genre. Not only does Meghan Godwin deliver a disturbing and suspenseful novel of epic proportions, but it is written with such a beautiful poise and flow that I could not help but continually be impressed by.

This story has it all- Apocalyptic atmosphere, government control, civil divide, amazing and relatable characters, and a creatively unique storyline. Her way with words was incredible to me.

I was immediately sucked in to this one. It is disturbing and direct, but in a way that is necessary and for this story to be told. I was so attached to the characters, and the emotion that I felt going through this one was so authentic.

Dystopian novels are my favorite because of how they make you think, and Meghan Godwin does an amazing job of stringing together the multiple links in this story that truly make you believe this is all completely possible in our future.

I am officially going to label this one of my top reads of the year. I love when I get to read an authors debut novel and it turns out this incredible, because now I can’t wait to read what comes next.

I actually got mixed feelings about this book in the start, I mean the mandates of the govern were too much, people had to have 3 to 5 times sexual intercourse with other person and it’s not like they want people to connect to others, since relationships are frown upon, in that matter this was very much as brave new world or 1984 with a touch of the handmaid, people belong to other people, and that for a woman is kind of a touchy felling…

But the story starts to grow and transforms itself, even Bette she changes, starts to realize how wrong everything around her is broken, the truth behind the mandate, but not all, when we arrive at the end of the book, there’s still space to learn more and understand what really is behind, I really believe this will be a great trilogy. It will be a touchy subject for many people, the mandate is no more than legalize and force people into have sex with others, if interest is shown by one of the parts… so even if one doesn’t really care the other can’t really turn the other down (Bette mentions that while she is procuring the males that are compatible with her), some of the subs are really jerks about that… canners are like zombies with some sort of reasoning, but their impulses are quite strong.

Without spoilers I think that the tittle give a bit away of this dystopia,

“The Greek term eudaimonia has no one-word translation in English. Hursthouse describes it as a combination of well-being, happiness and flourishing [11]. It is the ultimate goal of a human being, a part of her function. The virtues are therefore human needs that benefit their possessor. “ taken from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/eudaimonia

but that question that remains, is it?

Thank you NetGalley and InkShares for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. As a fertility nurse, I found a lot of the fertility aspects fascinating. Definitely felt like a more sci fi version of Handmaids Tale, and I love that series! The plot line was engaging and definitely kept surprising me. It wasn’t predictable which I enjoy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC.

3 stars!

I really liked the premise of this and also the world building within the book. Really liked the spin this took an a dystopia future where fertility is extremely fragile and difficult.

Sadly I lost so much interest while reading it. It had so many good points but then some pages seemed to drag on or lack the spark the first part of the book had and I just lost interest in the story and the characters.

I love the idea of a political dystopia, and this book does what I was hoping for in the description. The characters worked in the plot and were interesting people. I was glad I was able to read this as I was invested in what was happening. I look forward to reading more from Meghan Godwin, she had a great writing style.

"Her back lit up the moment the longer-haired man touched it, pain incinerating up and down the entire length of her body. They tugged her from the bed and her feet hit the floor. The abrupt contact with the cold hard floor caused a jarring shock to every bone in her lower half."