The Chaperon by M Hendrix had me captivated from the start to the very end! Set in a post-apocalyptic world, New America, where females have no power and are basically alive just to become pregnant, Stella is one of the good girls. She has a chaperone she loves, Sister Helen, and abides by all the rules set before her. But when Sister Helen dies? is murdered? Stella's world turns upside down and Stella starts to learn of what might exist beyond New America. Given a chance to escape, Stella takes it and must be deprogrammed. She's horrified to discover what she was blind to. She wants to help others. She wants to create change. Stella's next journey will be even more dangerous than getting out - getting back in.

A super strong debut novel from M Hendrix!! 4.5 stars. I didn't love the ending...maybe a sequel is in order?

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for an advance copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

If you liked The Handmaid's Tale, both book and series, then you are going to love this one. In the Handmaid's Tale we read about the young women who are forced to be surrogates for the high ranking officials and in The Chaperone we see a different women's perspective in the same type of society. This time we are introduced to the young women who are assigned a chaperone, once they enter puberty, to guide and train them to be pure and submissive. The Chaperones are by their sides constantly, even living in the family house, leaving the girls without any privacy. The girls are led to believe that they have some control over their futures which is far from the truth. Stella must decide if she will follow the rules or fight against them in order to shape her own future.

This book is sure to be loved by readers of Dystopian fiction, Woman's Right advocates and anyone just looking for a good book to settle in with.

Review: Oh my gosh! I really hope there is a book 2!!! This one was so good!! I always lost track of time while I was reading it! M Hendrix is a new author for me, but she has definitely piqued my interest! I don’t typically like governmental/political reads, but this one was more of a thriller in the sense that you didn’t know what was going to happen next! The chapters were really short, which is something I love. The book really captured me and made me want to continue reading! It is just in the POV of Stella, and I would love to learn what happens next in her journey. Just OMG! Thank you @sourcefirebooks and @netgalley for this ARC!! This has been my best read this month by far!!!

This was such an unsettling but thought provoking story. It’s so relevant to what is happening in today’s society. To think that things like this could actually happen is terrifying.

All girls in New America must have a chaperone until they get married. They are taught to be obedient, quiet and afraid. They say it is for their safety and Stella believes that…until Sister Laura comes around. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stella’s journey. It was thrilling to see her realize that things weren’t as they seem and then feeling the need to do something about it. She was brave and selfless.

I wish this book would have been a little longer. To me, the world building wasn’t completely fleshed out. It seemed like we just skimmed the surface. I wanted to dive deeper into New America. Instead of being told things about the country, I wanted them to be shown. Especially when it came to the history, Minutemen and resistance.

Overall, I did have a good time reading this and I will pick up more from this author.

This was SO deeply stupid. Handmaid's Tale for babies, general dystopia for babies. It was perfect, no world building JUST vibes

Me encantó. Me gustó muchísimo cómo inició, porque de esta manera desde el comienzo te atrapa y te hace querer leer más. Después de eso se me hizo un poco lento, pero a la vez muy interesante por lo que lo leí bastante rápido. Lo que si es que tiene poco más de 100 capítulos, a pesar de que están cortos, esto me generó bastante estrés la verdad jaja.
La verdad el libro no era lo que esperaba, en un buen sentido. Esto porque al ver la portada y leer la sinopsis no me imaginé el tema que tendría. No sabía qué esperar, pero entre más leía, quedaba más interesada en la historia. También como no sabía en lo que me estaba metiendo, no tuve aviso sobre los TW por lo que si lo leen, por favor revísenlos antes y estén conscientes de lo que les espera.
Me encantó como los personajes van teniendo un cambió muy profundo que la autora supo plasmar en las hojas. Llegué a ver un cambio en la personalidad de la protagonista a lo largo de la historia que hizo que me encariñara con ella.
Y ni qué decir de los plot twists. Habían unos que no me esperaba, pero creo que lo mejor de todo el libro, es una escena de acción. Esa escena la leí en horas, no podía dejar a un lado el libro y me estaba sintiendo súper nerviosa y ansiosa de ver cómo se iba a desarrollar el libro.
El final ya estuvo bastante más tranquilo, pero aun así me gustó bastante.

Muchísimas gracias a NetGalley, a la editorial y a la autora por permitirme leer este libro antes de su fecha de publicación :)
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I loved it. I really liked the way it started, because from the beginning it hooks you and makes you want to read more. After that it became a little slow, but at the same time very interesting so I read it pretty fast. The thing is that it has a little more than 100 chapters; even though they are short, this generated me quite a lot of stress haha.
The truth is that the book was not what I expected, but in a good way. This is because when I saw the cover and read the synopsis I didn't imagine the topic it was about. I didn't know what to expect, but the more I read, the more interested I became in the story. Also since I didn't know what I was getting into, I had no warning about the TW's so if you read it, please check them out first and be aware of what to expect.
I loved how the characters have a very profound change that the author was able to capture on the pages. I got to see a change in the personality of the main character throughout the story that made me get attached to her.
And not to mention the plot twists. There were some that I didn't expect, but I think the best of the whole book is an action scene. I read that scene in hours, I couldn't put the book aside and I was feeling super nervous and anxious to see how the book was going to develop.
The ending was calm compared to the rest of the book, but I still liked it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book before its publication date :)

An eerie, futuristic view of America. Comparable to "The Handmaids Tale".
Thank you SourceBooksFire for the eArc!

Wow. I’m still shivering even as I sit here writing this review. The Chaperone is basically the young adult version of The Handmaid’s Tale and it eerily touches on way too many current issues that could lead to the events in this book. It’s a dystopian nightmare and a fantastic read. I devoured it in one sitting and will recommend it to literally everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Chaperone by M. Hendrix is a thrilling, dystopian standalone YA novel. It reminded me of the Handmaid’s Tale meets a spy novel.

The Chaperone follows soon-to-graduate Stella Graham whose beloved chaperone has recently passed away. Chaperones are women who fortunate growing girls in New America are followed and monitored by. Obedience is key in this dystopia world. Stella gets assigned a new chaperone and she finds her life rapidly changing by Sister Laura. What all will her new chaperone change? How will Stella change in the process?

The novel was fast-paced and exciting. It featured short chapters which was a nice change from what I typically read. The character Stella was interesting and I enjoyed how she changed throughout the novel. There is some romance but it not the main theme of the story by any stretch.

I give this novel 4/5 stars and recommend to YA lovers out there looking for a dystopic world novel. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this arc.

The premise to this book sounded very promising and I was very interested to read it! Unfortunately, once I started I immediately felt myself not as interested. The world building was very limited and it just did not keep my attention. This book really just skimmed the surface or the dystopia complex and it was hard to remain interested in how it ended. This ended up being difficult to finish because I just didn't care about the character motivations.

Stella lives in New America where the priority is to protect women, supposedly from harm, but it seems more likely to protect them from living. Until marriage, Stella has a chaperone, her personal guardian. Women do not go to college, they do not have a career, they get married and have children. If they do not marry they can train to become a chaperone. Stella’s chaperone dies and the new chaperone changes everything for Stella. She is expected to marry a man she finds repulsive and longs for freedom. Amazing story!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Chaperone is a dark feminist tale strongly reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid Tale. It has a strong teen lead, who leaves a sheltered life in a New America where girls marry at 18 (through arranged marriages) and produce babies while boys go to college. The Chaperone is the story of her political awakening thanks to two Chaperones assigned to her, who open her eyes to different realities.
Some of the events during her escape stretch the imagination, but the surprise ending gives a satisfying twist to the plot.

I picked up a copy at NCTE and my students ripped it from my hands before I could read it. I couldn't keep this on the shelf with 3 students reading the entire book in a day. So, I had to get a copy for me to see what it was all about. I get it. I get why they are enthralled with it. It's a little bit like The Handmaid's Tale.

Students love the struggle for power and control in society and the action of the story.

Wow. This book was a dystopian novel for a new generation, and resonated with my own anxieties and fears as well. M. Hendrix set a great pace with the story, and I was absolutely riveted. A non stop read of 2023 for me, I devoured it in 2 sittings!

New America. Stella Graham has never known anything different. She has been told her whole life how dangerous it is to be a girl, and believes that to be the biggest truth of her gender. Girls and their families can be shunned for impropriety, and they must be protected at all costs. That's why, when a girl becomes a young woman (menstruates for the first time), they are sent to a government school to keep them away from tempting men. Or, if their family can afford it, they are assigned a Chaperone-a woman who is there as their constant companion, and guardian to help guide them into the world and ultimately, towards motherhood.

But things are not as they seem on the surface in New America, and Stella is beginning to see through the cracks. Maybe it isn't girls who are in need of protection after all...

The Chaperone is a book that is great at the beginning, fantastic in the middle but stumbles at the end. This dystopian tale of New America is interesting and the idea of chaperones for young girls makes you wonder what this world would be like but overall I say M Hendrix wants this book to be The Handmaid’s Tale for young girls but this feels more in the vein of The Giver. I enjoyed the characters and the way that Hendrix crafts New America but the ending stops this book from going higher than 4 out of 5. I would recommend this to teens who love dystopia but also girls and students I have who are politically minded or stalwart believers in equality or women’s rights.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for my honest opinions.

OKAY, WOW! This was my first five star read of the year. I often stray away from dystopia books as I feel they all have the same trope but this one was surprisingly different! The author did a phenomenal job of taking serious issues and stigmas that females still deal with to this day and put them into a sci-fi mystery. I loved the relationship dynamics throughout the book that switched as the reader was able to gather more information. The book ended in a way that I would love to see a sequel to this, because I am not ready to be done yet. Fingers crossed!

The Chaperone follows Stella, a female teenager who like everyone else in New America is required to have a Chaperone. When hers turns up dead, she’s provided a new one. Her new Chaperone starts allowing her to have experiences she previously thought were forbidden and leads her to question is any of this real?

This book definitely feels similar to The Handmaid's Tale, but I think one of its major strengths is that its stands on it own outside of those similarities, and takes its plot and themes in some unique directions. I also felt like it adapted some of the ideas in Handmaid's Tale very well to a high school audience, and the problems a current high school audience is facing.
It's very fast-paced and engaging, and I think the short chapter length really works in its favor.
My one criticism is that I feel like it would have benefited from being slightly longer, and having more time to focus on Stella's character growth- especially in the third part, there were places where the audience was told things I feel the story would have been much stronger if we'd been shown.

The Chaperone is a modern take on The Handmaid's Tale that exists in an eerie, not-so-distant future. Though this book wasn't my favorite, it was propulsive and easy to read and getting wrapped up in. I could totally imagine my high school self being unable to tear myself away, but as an adult, it didn't do a ton for me.

With premise similar to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" with a unique spin, "The Chaperone" focuses on a teen girl who knew nothing about what life was like before restrictions were put on her community. Given a "chaperone" to accompany her outside of the house, she is never to be alone. It was an interesting take on a hypothetical future, and I found it entertaining. However, I feel the second half of the plot is very rushed as if the author tried to finish the novel off in a hurry.

I am not really sure what I just read but I found it intriguing. This book had major Handmaids Tale vibes. I do not usually read Dystopian books but if you do this will be right up your ally. I am so happy I gave this book a read. I mean this book had me hooked from the first page.