As one of the first ARCs I ever requested, I went into this book having no knowledge about it at all - I'd never even heard of it! However, its intriguing plot and exciting world-building soon had me hooked and proved that you shouldn't judge a book just by its lack of hype. </p>
Synopsis

The year is 2099. All men* were wiped out from the planet by a virus 50 years ago, leaving women to run the world. Most would agree that things have been much more peaceful since the men disappeared; however, a controversial experiment is being carried out to bring men back. The problem? This research has been sabotaged.

Athena Vosh is living an ordinary life with her girlfriend, Nomi, when the police arrive, having been tipped off that Athena knows more than she is letting on about this crime. However, Athena doesn't appear to know anything - the only thing unusual about her is the strange, vivid dreams she keeps having about a forgotten library containing a book that may solve the case. With this information alone, she is brought in to participate in the investigation, helping the police to work out what happened to the virus' cure. Along the way, she discovers more about her world than she could ever have imagined, leading her on a journey to making a decision that will change the future forever.
Review
Having had no expectations going into reading this, I was pleasantly surprised by 'Athena's Choice'. I really loved the plot, as it put an original spin on the idea of a world run entirely by women. It was complex enough to keep me interested, with Boostrom's easy to read style making it easy to follow the action, and incredibly well-researched, with all of the technology it features being easily imaginable. I also really loved the use of mixed media to add to the world-building - having newspaper clippings and website pages included between the chapters added a lot of depth to the world Boostrom created, without detracting from the plot. It also accounts for anyone who falls outside of the gender binary (*spoiler below) which, whilst described in a slightly clunky way, I thought was great as so many books about gender aren't inclusive like this.

However, I really wanted to be more invested in Athena and Nomi's relationship. Whilst I enjoyed the development of the other characters and love that there was queer rep, Nomi often seemed to be included as an afterthought, and I would have loved to have seen more from her. I also really struggled to work out who this book was aimed at - whilst it is marketed as adult science fiction and covers some mature topics, the simplistic writing style feels much better suited to a younger readership. This sadly detracted from the overall reading experience and is something that could have been rectified by the book going through a few more edits.

Overall though, I would recommend this book to adults who are looking for an easy science fiction read that packs a punch. Despite its flaws, it is a very enjoyable read that is full of potential and interesting ideas - it just falls short a little in its execution.

Rating: 3/5

*A Note on Inclusivity (spoiler warning): When all men are wiped off of the face of the earth, Boostrom explicitly includes trans men in this. The virus targets traits traditionally perceived to be masculine, rather than those who are biologically male, so this book is inclusive of all genders.

Note: This review will be available on my blog from 2 pm (BST), 1st October 2020

Thank you to NetGalley and Adam Boostrom for the copy of Athena's Choice. This is a voluntary review.

First, can we talk about this cover? Gorgeous! When I first read the premise for Athena's Choice, I was immediately intrigued. All men are dead, worldwide virus, 2099. To say the least, this sounded like the recipe for a great Sci-Fi adventure.

There are many things in this book I enjoyed, but a few I did not. The writing style Boostrom used kept the story fast-paced, but in some areas lacked the detail needed to explain atmosphere, setting, and various futuristic objects. Contextually we can assume what is happening, but at times I would have liked more detail to really picture the author's vision of 2099. As well, much of the story is told through journal articles, newspaper clippings, and various other medias like Athena's schoolwork, to describe the history up to 2099 and the current missing Lazarus Genome. While I enjoyed the clippings for the history of the world, I often found them as extras that distracted from the plot. Athena's schoolwork pieces did not add any substance to her.

There were some fantastic futuristic ideas that were explored a bit or implied, such as the massage nodes or the clothing magnets implanted in the body. I actually stopped and pictured those Polly Pockets from the early 2000's where you could snap on the clothes. What a time saver! The idea of the world moving inwards to land because of flooding was quite realistic as climate change continues to become a priority issue across continents. The automated cars, programmable plastic.. I loved these ideas.

Athena herself was an interesting character. I didn't really care about her until the end to be honest. Despite manning the helm of this story I preferred listening to and picturing Captain Bell. Athena did not really have substance to her and I did not feel a connection with her; she was just someone following the story, not driving it. Her relationship with Nomi was so complicated I couldn't really understand how she actually felt. I think Athena was bisexual, but because she hadn't met a man, was it the mystery that consumed her, or something deeper? Or was she with Nomi because that was the only option in a female-only world? I am unsure. I also did not enjoy the dreams she had. I expected a sort of Fantasy, weirder Sci-Fi twist to them instead of the Core sending her these 'visions'. They seemed out of place with the writing.

Lastly, the ending. I actually loved the ending. Sometimes ambiguity can be frustrating, but in this case I think it served the story well, and I could really picture Athena's internal debate. The scientific conclusions Grace came to were morally grey and written well. Grace herself was a fantastic grey villain, and I enjoyed her parts in the book. The choice she left to Athena was truly an issue of humanity and preservation, and I still am not sure what I would do if I were in Athena's position.

Overall, this was a fun read with some deep moral questions and consequences. If you're a fan of Sci-Fi I would recommend picking this up.

Wow, this is was a trip for sure, I have really read anything that was set in the future before and it was crazy to read about technologies that aren’t so far off. Athena’s choice doesn’t end how I thought it would but I liked that. I liked that I had no idea what was coming next. This world run by women but it makes you think that to have harmony what is it worth? What sacrifices would need to be made to get there?

Athena’s Choice is set in 2099, after an experimental virus eradicates all men and a handful of women. Athena Vosh is a young woman and an artist hoping to become successful in the art world. The story takes place as she is unexpectedly tagged to help solve the most important crime in recent history - the theft of the male genome. While this book was classified as Sci-Fi and Women’s Fiction on some platforms, I think Young Adult may have been more appropriate.

As for my opinions, this book has excellent world-building. Boostrom describes his futuristic technology in such a way that I feel like I could walk right into my kitchen and print out a burger. The world’s laws surrounding AI and privacy were also a great addition. The writing really does transport you to 2099. I also enjoyed the snippets of Wikipedia articles and protagonist’s schoolwork. I won’t be descriptive as to avoid spoilers, but there was a point at which the book could have taken an extremely predictable turn in Dr. Antares’ lab, and did not do this in the slightest, which I really appreciated. I was also ok with the ending the author chose.

I do wish some things were different about the book. As some of the other reviews have noted, the relationship between Nomi and Athena seemed odd. Nomi strayed slightly into ‘Nice Guy’ territory at times, and I think it would have been effective to either remove their awkward relationship completely, or double down on it and explore some of the negative social aspects still left even after all men are gone. I also thought some of the plot points could have been fleshed out a little more. Athena seemed like too random a pick for help solving the crime, and was kind of a passive character overall.

Overall, I think this is a pretty strong YA book. Disclaimer: I received a free ebook copy of Athena’s Choice from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting premise but it ended in just good expectations... I'm a bit disapointed about it. It was entertaining but I was expecting so much that ended very fast in a simple adn weird way. Yeah, the word is disapointing... and not believable

What if men suddenly go extinct?
--
Enter the year 2099, men were completely wiped out from the earth due to the pandemic Y-fever virus. Trans men and the least population of women were also killed in this unprecedented catastrophe. Thus, leaving the major that have managed to live throughout this pandemic is women. For 50 years and still counting, women no longer depends on men as AI robots finally regain their own life, providing a luxurious service to them.
Written from the omniscient view, this book screams women empowerment (kudos to the author), a very high-class word-building enamored with advanced technology and a utopian world set in the USA.

Nonetheless, it can’t be denied that some women still grieve over the loss of men – be it their husbands, brothers, guy best friends, etc. That’s why the scientists trying to work on a project called Lazarus Project in which its aim to “produce” men genome. But someone has stolen the genome and news about it spread through like a wildfire. Then here comes one of the new generations who’d lived in an era where men had already perished, Athena Vosh, a normal citizen. Yet she tends to dream about men whom she never meets. Sometimes she finds herself unconsciously scribbling those masculine figures on sketchpads and when she does, she finds them comforting. Paradoxically, those comforting feelings gone when she’s accused as the thief. The story continues with her journey in trying to clean her name by investigating who’s the real culprit.

Well, honestly, I’m not into sci-fi fiction and it’s been ages I haven’t read them. But what propelled me to pick out this book is that it’s not only revolving around the high-tech world-building in which the world is under the autonomy of A. I automatons but also it lays out a ‘what-if’ prediction and depiction of what does it look like if world is presided by women only. So yeah, my curiosity also kept yelling at me to pick this up.

Besides, I was awed by the author’s initiative in trying to allude some pieces of the story to our current world issues such as the history of harassment being done to women, global poverty, world hunger, etc. However, these controversial topics were the only interesting things that kept me going. I feel like there is a lack of development in characters because I don’t feel any sort of attachment to them. Hence, it’s a story-driven and it was an okay read. For that, this story I rated it about 3.5 stars, rounded off to 4 stars on Goodreads.

Thanks, NetGalley for providing the e-arc in return for an honest review.

DNF @ 50%.

When I read the synopsis of this book I thought it would be right up my alley. Future dystopian world where the male race is wiped out by a fever pandemic, um yes please! BUT.

I kept wanting to enjoy it but just couldn’t get into it. This book seemed so scattered. There were too many timelines for me and I found myself confused about which part I was in. There was also news articles scattered in from additional years. And it was just too much. At 50% I still had no idea where the story was going and I hate to DNF a book but I couldn’t put in anymore time with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher of this book for letting me read it.
This book paints the picture of a futuristic utopia, the only catch is- there are no men. This is the journey of a girl discovering why the men died, and if she chooses to bring them back. In many ways, this feminist society reminded me of the book The Power.
However, the book starts slowly and is boring for the first half. When the action begins, I feel like there are so many loose threads. The ending was amazing, and I was racing through the chapters, but the ending was very disappointing for me. An open ending! I dislike them, feel like this one was lacking something. I rated this book only 3 stars because of the slow start and the ending. Everything else was wonderful.

Great read with an interesting premise. This book joins the best of speculative fiction with the page-turning suspense of a classic detective novel. The characters are credible and engaging.

Taking place in 2099 this novel is is full of other worldly things. Like printers for food and clothes, as well as “lenses” in your eyes that can allow you to receive text messages and make phone calls all with a few clicks of your fingers. Even a personal robot assistant that can manage your health in minutes. It sounds like the a dream world. The catch is all men are now gone. Where most of the population is happy with life this way there is a part of the population that wants to bring men back. That is until the scientist at the Helix announce that the genome needed to make this happen has been stolen! Anthea is then brought in because only her connection to the case can help find the missing genome.

Overall Rating is 5 out of 5 stars

I love the creativity in the writing for this novel. There are different fonts and outlines showing different articles and advertisements that Athena is looking at. This allows for the reader to feel even more present in the scenes of the book. The writing flows effortlessly allowing for an easy read.

Note: I originally listened to the audiobook version, but another GoodReads reviewer mentioned that the ebook format would be more enjoyable because of the visuals on news, wikipedia entries, ads, etc. So I decided to check out the ebook as well. Verdict: the multimedia representation was definitely better, but the overall experience was probably equal to the audiobook (again, because of the awesome voice actress). The book was greatly produced, regardless of format.

== My overall review of the book ==

This book had a very engaging storyline. The idea that a human-developed virus could wipe out the entire Y-chromosom population (yep, that's the entire male population) had me hooked immediately. It was also an interesting story direction to build a world without world hunger and war once all males had been eradicated (feminist idea to the extreme?), especially given it was written by a male Author.

Awesome world building, realistic AI design, and great moral conflict idea. It was a page turner with good story pacing, I really wanted to know what would happen next. The mystery element was also captivating, especially at the start. As the story unfolded, the plot twist got more and more predictable to me (because I read too many Mystery & Thrillers books), but it didn't really put me off the story overall.

Writing style-wise, the Author's choice to use a character's first name and title interchangeably within the same paragraph threw me a bit (e.g. "Captain Bell did X" and "Valerie then spoke" - took a few seconds for me to realise they were the same person), but it wasn't too annoying once I got used to it.

It read like an original Netflix movie - I could picture the scenes playing in my head clearly. I'd say it would make a good introduction to sci-fi for YA readers (even though the book wasn't labelled as YA), with the more scientific aspects relatively easy to understand.

== The audiobook review ==

Specific to the audiobook version, this was a great production. The voice actress did an awesome job, distinguishing between the more ethereal voice for the AI and Core, whinge-y tone for the 19-year-old Athena, and the more mature voice for Captain Bell. One scene where this was very obvious to me was the conversation between Athena and Core #3 - I had no problem at all following who spoke the line, as they had two very distinguished voices.

I was intrigued by the summary of this book and wanted to see how the author dealt with the issues around the big what if question of women running the world.
I found myself hooked from quite early on because of the role of the AI character along with the mysterious dreams that the main character keeps having.
I thought that there was a good attempt to balance both sides of the argument in favour of repopulating the Earth with men and not trying to do so - it's an interesting premise - is the world better off without men?
The book is devoted to answering this question in a mystery setting and I wasn't expecting the ending.
For some, the ending may have been too uncertain and loose, for a book that tackles such a big question, I think it was fitting.
I struggled with the jumping back and forth between the main narrative and different historical sources or memories between chapters.
It was hard to keep track of what was happening - I understand the purpose of this was to support the world-building for the book but it felt too ambitious at times.
I also felt a little disappointed by the explanation for the main character's involvement in the big mystery - the big reveal fell a little flat and I was hoping for something more imaginative.
Overall, an interesting and diverting read which was provocative and entertaining by turns.

I would personally classify Athena's Choice as more of a SciFi mystery for young adults versus part Women's Fiction (but I know this is not always necessarily controlled by the author). I found the overall concept fresh and creatively approached - a world where men no longer exist, as they had succumbed to a virus 50 years prior. The issues brought up were definitely thought provoking, especially in today's real life current state of affairs. I felt that the story was well outlined, but the execution was lacking much of the depth I would hope for in science fiction. I couldn't connect with any of the characters at all - some scenes and moments I knew were meant to be emotionally wrenching, but I couldn't find it in myself to care much about what happened to them. The ending also wasn't my favorite and there were many plot points and questions that were left open/unaddressed, ones that brought to mind - what was the point of that action or decision?

Athena's Choice is a sci-fiction book. I love this book a lot . it's magical and full mysteries. It describes how a virus kills all men. Only women will live.
The author did a good job of world-building, and explaining things that are not obvious to the reader. Some of these things are not even that far in the future...
I was very attached to the story. I will not give any spoilers but yeah please do read once in your life.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book.

Athena's Choice is a sci-fi/YA book set about 100 years in the future.
A "Y-virus" has killed all men, trans-men, and even some women.
This is a future that is 100% female, although scientists have found a way to reproduce, (which was a bit unclear to me.)

I liked this book more than I expected given the premise.
The author does a good job of world-building, and explaining things that are not obvious to the reader. Some of these things are not even that far in the future...
The book really caught me in, and I zipped through the story.
Someone has stolen the "Lazarus Genome" which will be used to resurrect the male sex,
and Athena is key to the investigation.

The ending was also a bit different from what we've come to expect, and it really made you think.
Both sides put forth compelling arguments, and it certainly makes you think.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this e-book, my opinions are my own.

This is not my typical read for a lot of reasons -- I don't read a lot of science fiction or independently published titles. The premise of this story was intriguing and it was getting attention from indie science fiction awards, so I decided to give it a shot.

At first, I was skeptical that a man could write about a world run by women. This world is filled with women with so many varied personalities and political views that they are convincing as a society. Their opinions on men are what you would expect of a society where the older women remember men, and the younger women have never seen one -- some of the women miss men and feel lost without someone to love, some are lesbians, others are closet heterosexuals.

Adam Boostrom creates a world with out-there technology that seems like it's possible. From AI to iPhone-type contact lenses, the tech seems like a possibility in 50 years. My personal favorite is the clothes printer that creates outfits every day (usually worn once and fed back into the machine to create more outfits) that snap on to magnetic implants in the body to make sure they fit and stay where they're supposed to.

There's an element of mystery in this sci-fi novel. The genome that is the key to returning men to the planet is stolen, and Athena teams up with the office of public safety to investigate the crime. Because people have the privacy option to not have their every move video recorded, the suspects have no proof that they were or were not involved in the crime. The situation escalates, and a murder happens in an almost crimeless society.

The unexpected ending makes you think, even if it is unsatisfying.

Recommended for all science fiction fans. Dystopian fiction lovers and mystery readers looking for something different will also enjoy.

“Your bodies fail because there is no reason for them to continue after your minds fail. After your creativity and brilliance fade. No matter how many organs you replace, no matter how many diseases you cure, the end awaits you, as it awaits me. All intelligent life is born to die.”

I really want to thank the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review.

A futuristic world where every human is helped by AI to simply his life and help him taking decisions that will bring the greatest amount of happiness, according to his character, moment of life and past experiences. This can look like paradise: diseases are almost extinguished, criminality is at his lowest level ever... just one thing is missing: MEN. They have been killed by a peculiar virus and now only women remain. They have proved to be able to construct a solid and peaceful society, but some of them still long for the strong touch of a man and feel like there is a hole in their chest without them. So the government has decided to study a way to bring men back but the genome able to do this has been stolen and Athena is the only one who can retrieve it. She will find a terrible truth about humans that will change completely they way she sees the world and she will be obliged to take a crucial decision.

The truth is that the decision Athena will have to take at the end of the book is a decision that we all need to face. In particular we need to decide how to use technology and how to manage the discoveries we make with it. For instance, is it correct to alter genetic in order to have exactly the child we want? Is it correct that a computer tells us what’s the best thing to do? Or what makes us happy? Does it really know us better than we do? Probably the technology invented in this book is still far away from actual reality, but AI and virtual reality are having more and more relevance in our lives and we cannot ignore the threats they are posing to our freedom and our ability to choose for ourselves. This is a book whose intent is to make the reader think and doesn’t give straight answers. Honestly there is not a right and a wrong way and these are not decisions that can be taken lightheartedly.

The story is so involving and in certain cases even heartbreaking. Athena is girl a who wants to be a painter but who is struggling to find a way to express her creativity. Even if she has all the technology she needs, she still misses something.. even if she has an instrument to measure her happiness, she can’t be completely happy. Every girl who is struggling to find the right job, to construct a future, can relate with her.

I just want to point out that the editing is great. The usual narration is interrupted by pages taken from a fake Wikipedia or advertisements that help the reader understand better the world in which the story takes place.

I absolutely recommend this book, it’s full of deep thoughts. And once that these thoughts are in your mind, you just can’t simply ignore them.. you need to face them.

I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this one.

It reminded me of Uglies, but female-dominated and debating on the return of man. I’d recommend to those who enjoy sci-fi and alternative future books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thinker Books for this copy of Athena’s Choice by Adam Boostrom in exchange for an honest review. It published May 10, 2019.
The premise of this book had me hooked! I loved the question of it all the men were gone, should they be brought back? I was surprised to find compelling arguments both sides of the debate.
I also was fully immersed in this world. It was so smart how all the technology was described in detail, but in understandable ways. I loved the threading of news articles and Wikipedia entries to enrich the story and lend context.

I enjoyed this book. I wasn't thrilled with the ending (no spoilers), but it was a fun fast read. I thought the premise of a world without men was very interesting, and the technology imagined was also really cool. I would recommend this book. I received a copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.