The Book of Seila stands among other stories such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, but it wraps the story up in one book. However, there is a lot of room for future books, if the author decides to do so.

Seila and her sister, Ruby (better known as Jim, due to something from her childhood), live in a frightening time that I could actually see happening. And because of this, I felt quite uncomfortable reading certain parts.

Basically, sometime in the future, the U.S. is ravaged by war. 22 states have seceded and set up a horrible reality where everyone must have the same religious beliefs, or else they could be executed on live TV.

Women are secondary citizens who must serve god and their husband. Once a girl turns 14, she’s ready to be selected for marriage. Her husband will be at least 20 years older, and she must bear as many children as possible to become future soldiers. As a sign of subjugation, women must wear dresses only. When a woman acts out (at least according to her husband), they’re taken to a horribly abusive prison where they’ll be tortured and brainwashed.

Seila is picked up and put in jail for a crime she didn’t commit. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything to her jailers who are, in fact, dedicated to getting her to believe she’s guilty. At the same time, her sister —who is wanted by the law — tries to find a way to free them both.

This book was compulsively readable. The ending was also a surprise, yet felt rushed. This was one of those dystopian tales that felt like it should have been an epic, so I never wanted it to end. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

I can definitely say I was not anticipating this book when I picked it up, especially from a debut author. It's rare to see a first book taking on such heavy topics and especially with such astuteness.

The Book of Seila could easily be a modern day extension of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984, although at times I did find the themes to be somewhat too heavily pulled from The Handmaid's Tale. I think if the reverberations of, "Washed clean: In blood" were omitted it would have been a less obvious borrowing from the well known, "Praise be", "Blessed be the fruit", and "Under his eye" from The Handmaid's Tale.

Despite those things, the premise was good, although frightening in today's political climate. While the most infamous dystopian sci-fi was chilling because of how prophetic it was many years ago, this book is chilling because it speaks to a world that's seemingly already half way there. The author did a great job of taking many things from recent events in the US and blending them into what feels like a not too distant future. Rejection of science, medicine, freedom of religion, bodily autonomy for women and feminism is already rampant, so it was easy to slide into the world created in The Book of Seila and find parallels.

The main antagonist, Dr. Speers, felt to me like a cross between Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and 1984's O'Brien. Despicable, calculating, chilling and downright frightening. He was easy to hate and even easier to fear.

Dr. Speers truly paved the way for me to love Seila. Her resilience, belief in herself and ability to hold on to her faith while seeing it used in such perversion against her were admirable. Admittedly at the start of the book I didn't much care for Jim, but as the book went on I liked her more and more. I felt that every main character was fleshed out and realistic, although I had some difficulties with the secondary and tertiary characters, particularly the group's infighting and who was maligned with whom.

I would be interested in seeing what else this author does and seeing if she can branch out farther from well known classics and pick up her own tone and themes.

Thank you Netgalley for this review copy and thank you to Wilda Hughes for the opportunity to read your debut novel in exchange for my honest opinions.

3/5 stars
Read on NetGalley

This book had such a solid premise! Sisters navigating a religious police state? Great! Well, not great, but you get me. I love speculative fiction, especially when it toes the line between “this is a dystopia” and “this could actually happen by next Wednesday.” The Handmaid’s Tale comparisons are inevitable. As a woman watching current events spiral, I went into this hoping to feel rattled.

And yet… I mostly felt like I was watching something intense happen from the other side of a window.

Plot – 3/5, the premise = gold, the pacing = fast. That speed sometimes worked against the plot; it felt like the world and the emotional arcs were whizzing by me at 100mph. I wanted more time to stew in the horror. Make a bone broth of me!

Characters – 2.5/5, they’re interesting on paper, but I didn’t feel them. I wanted to scream “same, girl” at least once, but we just never got there. I kept waiting for the emotional gut punch that never came.

World-Building – 3/5, creepy and scarily plausible, but glimpsed more than grounded. The setting felt like it could have haunted me...if only I’d gotten to really live in it for a few beats longer.

Tone/Vibes – 3.5/5, bleak, tense, and heavy on the "uh oh, America" energy. Perfect if you're into fast-burn dread. Just wish it had cut a little deeper (think slow-burn dread).

Impact – 2.5/5, should have left me emotionally damaged. Instead, I walked away mostly unscathed with an extra dose of thoughtfulness.

Enjoyability – 3/5, a good read! Just not haunting. I wanted to love it. I ended up liking it with one raised eyebrow.

Would I read another book by Wilda Hughes? Yeah, I think so. The premise work is strong and the ideas are there. I just hope the next one digs deeper under the skin and stays there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

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