Book: Dominion: Ascension
Author: D.A. Murray
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Koehler Books, for sending me an ARC. This is sadly a case where I could not get into the book. It does have a lot going for it. After all, this is a gender reversed Handmaid’s Tale. I have such a hard time getting into it.

This one is set in a post-apocalyptic world where women lead every major institution in society. Following a devastating war, chemical weapons left most men infertile and mentally impaired. As a result, women became the dominant force in politics, industry, religion, and culture, while also retaining their roles as caregivers and life-bringers. Men are relegated to limited roles such as manual labour, domestic service, or providing physical pleasure. At age twelve, boys are tested through a cognitive exam known as the Illegis, which determines their caste. The most valued among them are Breeders, a select few who live in The Colony, where the future of reproduction and scientific advancement is managed under strict oversight. Dani Matthews, a driven investigative journalist and daughter of a high-ranking leader, begins to question the true nature of Dominion. During Ascension, a national festival, she reconnects with her childhood friend Robbie, now a Breeder. As they journey together in search of Haven, a rumoured sanctuary for Breeders who’ve escaped, they face harsh trials and uncover difficult truths. Along the way, they discover a deep emotional connection but must endure The Becoming, a deadly rite of passage that could cost them everything.

The idea behind this one pulled me in. A world where women are in charge and men have limited roles sounds interesting and different. That’s why I agreed to read and review it. At first, I was excited, but as I kept reading, I started to feel like something was missing.
The biggest issue for me was how the story was told. A lot of things were just explained instead of being shown. It felt like I was being given a list of facts instead of being pulled into the world. There was a lot of inner monologue right from the start. I usually enjoy that in books, but here it felt like too much, too soon. We didn’t get to see the world through Dani’s eyes before being dropped into her thoughts. It made it hard to connect with her or understand the world she lives in.
The book tells us that men are treated as second-class citizens, but we don’t see that in action. It’s explained to us early on, without showing real examples. I wanted to watch how people treated Robbie and others like him. I wanted to figure things out for myself and feel how unfair the world was. The same goes for the women in power. I was told how things worked, but I didn’t get to experience it through scenes or real interactions. It didn’t feel like a dangerous or broken world, even though I think it was meant to.
Dani is supposed to be uncovering dark secrets, and Robbie is one of the rare Breeders, but it didn’t feel like the story gave enough time to let their world come to life. Everything moved quickly, and I didn’t feel the tension or danger that should have been there.
I think this story has a great setup. The world, the characters, and the journey could have been really powerful. It just didn’t land the way I hoped. I wish the book had shown more and trusted readers to figure things out on their own. This could have been an amazing story if we were given more time to really see and feel what Dani and Robbie were up against.

Overall, this was a miss for me. The bones of a great story are here. I think with a little cleanup, this could be a huge hit of a book.

This book comes out on July 29, 2025.

This was an interesting premise - kind of a dystopian future where men have become cognitively impaired and infertile (for the most part), and women rule society. It was kind of like the Barbie movie if things were still pretty terrible and they tried to actively oppress the Kens instead of just ignoring them. Dani, our protagonist, rails against this for reasons that are never made entirely clear, despite easily falling into two relationships, one with her former neighbor and one with a Breeder who has clearly drunk the Kool-Aid but cannot marry her. In the midst of Dani's turmoil, she also discovers a mad scientist who caused this whole debacle and the mythical Haven that she has to go through a gauntlet of challenges to enter. The story struggled to figure out what it was - is it a dystopia? Adventure story? Romance? I didn't feel that the characters were fully fleshed out, and it was kind of hard to understand most of their motives. That being said, the story wasn't bad, the writing was fine albeit a bit prosaic, and the premise is pretty neat.

Dominion: Ascension is a bold and thought-provoking dystopian debut that subverts traditional power structures and delivers a gripping tale of rebellion, identity, and survival.

The story follows Dani Matthews, an investigative journalist and daughter of a high-ranking official, who begins to question the foundations of Dominion’s society. When she reunites with her childhood friend Robbie, now a Breeder, the two embark on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth and find Haven, a rumored sanctuary for escaped Breeders. Their path is fraught with peril, secrets, and a growing bond that challenges everything they’ve been taught.

D. A. Murray crafts a richly imagined world with sharp social commentary, emotional depth, and a slow-burn romance that adds heart to the high-stakes plot, which is both unsettling and empowering.

I could not get into this book. I felt like the writing was all over the place and there wasn’t something solid to follow.
There was little world building for me and the characters were unrelatable.

This one wasn't for me, but it was written well and people will enjoy it if the content is more for them.

I DNF'd this one. The premise and dystopia of it really intrigues me and maybe I'll give it another go during the full release, but currently the book is riddled with overly simple sentences and random breaks in paragraphs. Dialogue is mushed together between two characters making it very hard to follow and the neither of the characters so far seem even remotely likable.

This is a story about what would happen if women ran society. The premise really hooked me. I am a sucker for a good gender-roles flip! The concept of the book is great and the plot points themselves really could hook me. I was invested in her relationship with the guy flirting with her at the event where her mother was getting a reward and with the breeder who escaped. The seedy dark side of what happens when one of the few fertile men in the world retires kept me wanting to know more. I also really enjoyed how her job as a reporter helped give the reader necessary information without it feeling like forced narrative.

The issue? There was an over-reliance on telling me what was happening rather than showing me. For example, Dani (fmc) mentioned how man are mistreated but it wasn't shown very much (minus some allusions during a few scenes). Otherwise, we're just told basically "well this happens". It would have been more powerful if I had been shown later these things happening or the evidence of those things happening. That made it feel like the book dragged on and was slower than it probably was. I can see the potential there for amazing storytelling. The style for this one just made it harder for me to get through. I don't like feeling I'm being fed the narrative with no subtly. It was easy to read and follow but I was hoping for more complex prose. I am going to give more books by the author a chance. I think the more they write the stronger their writing will be. But this one wasn't it for me. I would give it 2.5 stars but most make me round up or down so I'm round up to 3.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the author for this ARC read.

This book was outside of my normal so I thought I would give it a try. When I began to read it though, I don't think I was in the right headspace. Some of the conversations were hard for me, as they seemed a little common sense lacking, I really like the concept and will try to read it again when life isn't pulling me in several directions and I can give the story the attention is deserves.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review!

This was a really interesting concept. That is what led me to this book. However, I feel that the overall storytelling fell a little flat and didn't necessarily live up to the premise. The dialogue felt a little clunky most of the time. The characters were a little disjointed. The story relied a lot on one character telling another character things that should have been obvious given the world that they lived in. Especially in the beginning. It isn't the best way to accomplish compelling storytelling. I don't think this was necessarily for me based on some of my feedback. But I didn't enjoy the idea behind the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

─•~❉ DNF ❉~•─

Fascinating concept ruined by too much telling, not enough showing.

.☘︎ ݁˖ From the synopsis, I could tell this was going to be something akin to The Handmaid’s Tale—only gender-swapped. A matriarchal society where men are the oppressed class. Our FMC, Dani, stands against this system. She believes in equality. Valid. I was genuinely looking forward to loving this book.

If only the execution hadn’t failed so utterly.

.☘︎ ݁˖ The writing is jarringly blunt. While easy to consume, it lacks nuance. The author leans heavily into telling instead of showing. Subtlety? None. Everything is spoon-fed, hammered in, then repeated just in case you missed it the first three times.

Right from the beginning, instead of immersing me in the story or letting the world speak for itself, Dani delivers a five-paragraph monologue about how everything is terrible and how her mother is wrong and how men matter. Not that I disagree, but could I at least see it before being lectured about it? Let me breathe. Let me observe and draw conclusions. I’d agree more if I experienced the injustice through the narrative—not through Dani’s endless narration.

.☘︎ ݁˖ Dani herself? She came across as immature and surprisingly ignorant for someone raised by a high-ranking officer. Did she grow up in a sewer? She seems completely unfamiliar with the world she supposedly grew up in.

Also... the MMC’s name is Robbie? Really?

.☘︎ ݁˖ Beyond all this, I’m left confused about the author’s intent. Am I supposed to feel bad for the men? I could, if their suffering was actually shown instead of filtered entirely through Dani’s rambling for the first 50 pages. But as it stands, I’m just told again and again that men are mistreated without being given the narrative depth to actually feel that mistreatment.

In conclusion: this book is essentially Dani telling me—repeatedly—everything that’s wrong with her life. And honestly? I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I DNFed after about 4 chapters - the pacing was off, the sentences and dialogue were very choppy and felt juvenile, and the world building/setup were very dry and didn't hold my interest. There was a ton of telling instead of showing, and I also wasn't really picking up on the main driver/catalyst for the story-was the author trying to make men feel included in the everyday struggles some women face? Like was this book written for men so they could "feel women's pain"? And maybe this is explained later in the story but why were the men mentally impaired? Overall the part I read was far too disjointed and clunky for me to continue.

This book sounded like it would be up my alley but unfortunately ended up being really tough to get through. While it had an interesting premise, I was constantly distracted by how choppy and disjointed the writing felt. The dialogue felt stiff and robotic, and a lot of it served only as exposition in a way that didn't make sense (e.g., the main character's mother explaining the basic concepts of the society to her, when I would expect her to know those details having lived within this society for 20 years and being an investigative journalist). Tone is regularly slapped onto the end of dialogue in a way that doesn't come across as natural.

This book does a lot of telling and barely any showing, especially when it comes to the personality traits and relationships of the main character.
- The main character states things about herself as if she's writing a LinkedIn bio ("I am known for being unrelenting, thorough, and--most importantly--a risk taker. I don't let fear conquer my pursuit of the truth."), instead of letting the reader discover her personality and core traits through her actions over the course of the book
- The main character meets a man early on in the book, and we're later told that they have a strong romantic connection. The only interactions the reader has seen at that point are them discussing the events currently happening, with seemingly no chemistry or tension between them, until all of a sudden they're kissing.

Overall this one really missed the mark for me.

Dominion: Ascension is a breakneck exploration of gender roles and the societal norms placed on women. The heroine and narrator of the story, Danielle, is a relatable example of a daughter wanting her mother’s approval but loathing her mother’s attitude. I couldn't decide whose side I was on until the end of the book. That tension really intrigued me.

The transformation from naive and eager to love to relentless made Dani the type of main character that invited me to question my own reality. The world depicted in Dominion: Ascension made me wonder if there is a haven in the way men and women relate to each other.

Dominion: Ascension explores the consequences of imbalance in gender, governance, and truth. I was impressed by the way the themes were addressed in unorthodox way. The caste system had me in a chokehold.

The adventures made the book irresistible for me. I'm not a huge romance fan but the steam in the book was perfect. It was just spicy enough to make sense given the tension but not overbearing. I was completely engulfed in the world-building. I couldn't put the book down from Chapter 35 forward. I was up all night reading. I loved the dynamics of characters.

This is just the beginning. I'm extremely excited to see more of characters like Gideon and Caris in the series. I'm also excited to read a novel like this from a woman of color.

This story is basically a reverse Handmaid’s Tale, but very poorly done. I found the premise interesting, but honestly had to stop deeply reading pretty early & skim the rest. I wanted to DNF it but felt bad giving a 1 star rating without giving the book my full consideration.

The writing was distractingly bad. The characters were one dimensional and the dialogue was stilted and expository. There was so much showing and so little telling.

In terms of world-building, am I really supposed to believe that the main character (Dani) is a 29 year old reporter & daughter of a high-ranking government official who happens to need the male caste system narrated to her at a gala in the opening pages? Like, the late 20s professional researcher needs that basic societal knowledge told to her at a party? At times a flip switched and Dani seemed to be playing “hard-hitting journalist”, and at others she was an empty receptacle for being spoken to about basic societal knowledge. I got the idea that the story was meant to feel futuristic but there wasn’t anything in the text that achieved it. A real low point for me was the phrase “watching skizzer ball on the aqua screen.”

And the men are supposed to be mentally impaired (as the reason for their subjugation), and yet most characters Dani encountered and who had any speaking roles or agency are male, and not a single one seemed impaired to me.

As for the plot of men losing their rights, it felt tone deaf against the backdrop of today’s political climate in the US where women’s rights are actually being restricted. I honestly looked up the author to see if they were a men’s rights propaganda-spouting whack job. There is a picture of a woman on social media, but no real personal content, so who knows?

Anyways, the whole thing read like the author had a decent-ish idea but didn’t fully flesh it out or ask critical questions and didn’t edit it after the first draft.

Thanks to Netgalley and Koehler Books for providing me with a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I think the description of Dominion is obviously a very unjust society and the more that is revealed the more deplorable it is. I admire Dani for fighting against a society that in all reality grants her great privilege and I enjoyed how she asked the tough questions
However, Some things didn’t add up for me, Dani had a hard time touring the transformation center, was sweating and out of breath, then later on the road to Haven she’s supposedly an experienced rock climber and expected to climb 2,000 ft, the fact she use to rock climb for sport at Onyx national part seems awfully convenient and seems to be pulled out of thin air.
I also wish there was more character relationship building. Dani seems to instantly fall for Collin, then run away in love with Robbie. Not even two chapters later Josie is making heart eyes with Robbie. I think the author missed the mark on describing these relationships and differentiating between teenage crushes, lust and true love.
I find it strange that Dani is an investigative reporter, but never seems to be taking notes for her story …
The book ends with a lot lose ends and unanswered questions, leaving room for these to be answered in a second book

This book takes place in a post-apocalyptic "Dominion" where most men infertile and women are in charge. To me, this sounds like an exciting new take on the traditional patriarchal society type books and while it is that, this one missed the mark a bit for me. Some parts of the plot moved slowly, and the characters didn’t feel as fleshed out as they could have been. There were interesting concepts and moments of suspense that kept me turning the pages and overall it was entertaining. This book ended on a cliffhanger but I don't know if I'm interested enough to continue this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Köehler Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true Dystopian fiction, and was thought-provoking, exciting, and unique. I found the feminist society intriguing and the characters very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review. I appreciate it!

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it was such a struggle to get through. The premise was interesting - a matriarchal society that has developed in response to the ineptitude of men - but the writing was so disjointed, the dialogue was clunky and the characters were a mess. There was so much exposition and it was ALL so clumsy. Added to that, I’m not sure what the author’s motivation is to write the story - am I supposed to feel bad for men? Is this supposed to make men understand who women feel with their rights constantly being endangered or stripped in the real world? Do men really need things explained to them like this book does? Explains a lot.

Dani is a 29 year old reporter, daughter of a prominent scientist/power player in the administration and completely dissatisfied with the lack of equal rights in society. Unfortunately, she sometimes has the maturity of a preteen and she seems to know nothing about the society she lives in. The amount of “tell me” world building is astounding. There’s no way someone who was raised in this culture would need the basic caste system explained to them but also have deep contacts in resistance organizations.

I’m so sorry to say this wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Wow this was a dystopian nightmare of a book. The initial response I had was a swell of feminist pride, but that quickly devolved into a growing sense of wrongness. I found myself feeling for Robbie and I was rooting for them to find Haven. Haven was its own brand of nightmare. This had action and it had suspense. Yet, it had the core of a love story. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Dominion.

While this story was interesting in theory and I liked the dystopian world building, it had so much potential that all really fell flat. The dialogue was clunky and forced in many spots. I think even just one edit run through might have bumped this story up another star.

It was not a story that I will think about again.