What an interesting premise! What if you could only have one child…but you got pregnant again? What if you were pregnant with more than one child? In this future UK, you have every right to be paranoid, because they actually do know everything about you, and rest assured they will be coming to get you if you step out of line even just a little bit.

This explores themes of family, government control, climate change, abortion, surveillance, immigration and more. It’s a must-read—some of these issues sound eerily familiar…

I will definitely be checking out more of Eve Smith’s work, and you should, too. Her speculative fiction will make you think.

My thanks to NetGalley and Orenda Books for the eARC. All opinions are mine alone.

This was such an interesting dystopian thriller I really enjoyed it it’s a different kind of book and pretty unique.
It was fast paced and gripping.
The characters were were well written and full of secret and lies.
I loved the twists they were brilliant
I completely recommend

Solid 3.8 star
powerful, prescient speculative thriller: a woman's job of enforcing climate-emergency Britain's one-child policy is compromised when she discovers a personal link to an illegal sibling on the Ministry hit-list, leading to a shocking discovery that changes everything... One law. One child. Seven million crimes. A catastrophic climate emergency has spawned a one-child policy in the UK, ruthlessly enforced by a totalitarian regime.

This book reminded me so much of the movie equilibrium with Christian bale. The book really hit as it covers the topic of how easy it is to manipulate the masses and get them to conform using fear. If you like scifi and the movie equilibrium you’ll like this.

The One Party are in government. Their popularity is growing throughout the world, and their practices and policies are being followed widely. Ministry Representative Kai Houghton works for the Ministry of Population and Family Planning. Her role is to ensure that the government’s party line on one child families is strictly enforced. When a case appears on her schedule that shocks Kai, her instinct is that there has been a major error. When subsequent conversations prove that the information is correct, Kai enters into a world of intimidation, intrigue and danger.

With firm principles regarding population, immigration, climate change, etc., the One Party have ideas that the militant Free organisation question and oppose.

Set in the future, this dystopian tale broaches the subjects that are real to us now, and how a ruthless politician deals with them.

This is a book that stays with you after finishing. Quite a considered read, but fast paced and well plotted. The arc I received did it no favours, so I look forward to rereading when published.

A cautionary tale!

Thank you NetGalley and Orenda Books.

I read this fast-paced thriller in one sitting. It has the pacing and setting of the YA dystopian thrillers from a few years ago that were so popular. This book tackles many serious themes around climate change, infertility, government overreach, motherhood, and more. Sadly, many of the themes explored are not very far from today's reality.

with gratitude to Independent Publishers Group, Orenda Books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review