"No touching today for a healthy tomorrow."

This is the motto the citizens of Kristen Cast's newest novel, The Key to Fear, live by. In this YA dystopian novel, based 50 years post pandemic the citizens of New America are governed by a corporation called The Key.

The Key controls everything. From selecting your perfect career and your ideal match, to policing human contact and creating babies in a lab. Most people live the majority of their life in VR and doing anything out in the real world is considered out of the ordinary.

Elodie is a stickler for the rules. She takes her job at the Long Term Care Unity seriously and being the sole nurse overseeing a few comatose patients is quite and suites her perfectly. Everything changes when one little girl wakes up, before later dissapearing completely.

With the help from Aiden, the strange boy working at The End Of Life Unit, Elodie will not stop until she has answers. She soon learns that everything she has always known is not as it seems and her whole world unravels around her.

The character development in this novel was amazing and I loved watching Elodie's character mature in such a short period of time. I also enjoyed the world building though I can't help but to feel like there is so much more for us to explore and I can't wait to see where this series goes in future novels.

While I did really enjoy the storyline in this book I found it to be quite slow for the first 75% and struggled to get through the pages. This is why I am only giving this book 3.5/5.

If you are looking for a new dystopian to help you get through our current pandemic this is the book for you!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus publishing for giving me an eARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐
Well this one hits close to home! This book is set 50 years after a pandemic has wiped out half the population and now people aren't allowed to touch in anyway at all, everything is sanitised regularly by bots and social distancing is a must!

I struggled with this at first, I think if I read this pre real life pandemic then I would of enjoyed it a lot more at the beginning but, as it gives us a view of the future that could actually become reality, it got a bit scary!

That said I really enjoyed the second half of the book as it got more into the action rather than just telling us about the world.

The main character Elodie is one of the believers in The Key, the government type body that runs Westfall. It has laws to keep everyone safe and away from another pandemic. Elodie has never know any different and believes that The Key are there to protect everyone and that they would never lie. Until something happens that changes her mind. I feel she had a good progression in the story, but maybe a bit rushed.

The other characters where also good to bring the story to life as it provided some alternative thinking on The Key and the rebel group Eos.

Overall a good start to what I'm sure is to be a fantastic series.

I am forever in search of quality dystopian fiction so I was thrilled to discover 'The Key to Fear'. It not only has a highly intriguing central concept but is chillingly relevant to the state of the pandemic stricken world. The character development and world building in this first book in Cast's new series 'The Key' is immersive and satisfying from start to finish.

Elodie lives in a post-pandemic world governed by The Key, a mysterious presence which controls every citizen in the city of Westfall. She is rule-abiding, toeing the line in this technology driven society, experiencing life in VR, accepting a perfectly 'matched' fiancé and diligently assisting bots in caring for patients as a nurse in the Medicenter's long term care unit. This is until she meets mysterious stranger Aiden who has a surprisingly cavalier approach to life in the city, something Elodie is not used and finds intriguing, emotionally and physically (difficult in a society where touching is illegal!). He begins to open her eyes to the reality of life and force her to realise perhaps there is a hidden sinister edge to this apparently perfect city.

I love the character of Elodie (a perfectionist people pleaser who's only slight infraction is reading banned salacious novels - I can relate to that!) and her development across the novel is skilfully plotted. I also enjoyed her chemistry with Aiden - their 'rebellious' actions felt believable and left me rooting for their success (as well as villain Blair's downfall of course). Additionally, Cast has included a couple of twists which made me pause and just gape at my Kindle.

I already cannot wait to find out what events follow this first outing for Elodie and Aiden. The premise has been well established and the ending leaves the reader desperate for the sequels!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Through no fault of the book, I had to DNF this one. I didn't realise when I started it that it concerns a viral pandemic where touching if forbidden...! I know some people enjoy reading dystopian books about pandemics during pandemics, but it was a little too close to home for me. I'd like to try reading this when we're no longer in a pandemic, as the premise does sound super interesting.

The Key to Fear by Kristin Cast

I have been in search for a new YA dystopian novel, as it’s a genre I do love reading. I am so glad that I read this amazing novel by Kristin Cast. It’s compared to novels like The Handmaids Tale and Vox, both equally amazing dystopias.

The Key governs the world, they tell their citizens that they must not touch. Intimacy between people is absolutely forbidden. This is due to a pandemic that wiped out Billions of people, and The Key blames humans for this and seek to control all in a bid to stop another deadly pandemic. They don’t stop at making touching illegal, they have banned books and expect people to live their lives through VR, hardly meeting with actual people in real life.

Elodie the main character takes The Keys rules seriously and trusts their advice. However, in walks Aiden, a boy that makes Elodie think and ask questions, he makes her wonder if life can be lived another way, and whether the all-knowing The Key are actually the protector, or the captor playing with their lives, playing at being God.

I would recommend to anyone who loves YA dystopia. Rating it 4.5 stars, rounding it up to 5.

First off, I'm a huge fan of the House of Night series (who isn't, am I right?) so I was thrilled to see a new book in a new world coming from Kristin Cast!

This book was one that shook me a bit, as with the current pandemic happening around the world, it was very easy to believe that we could one day live in a world where touch is forbidden. That being said, Cast blends clever world-building while exploring themes of resistance and perseverance. I can't wait to find out what happens next... that ending just about killed me, but knowing Cast, the next book won't disappoint!

Fifty years ago, a pandemic swept the world and in order to survive, a ‘no touching today for a safe tomorrow’ motto became law. Living in the advanced technological world that developed to fulfill this need - with VR being the preferred way to meet other people and an algorithm appraising peoples aptitude’s for the correct career path - Elodie works hard at her medical career, while living with her overbearing mother, waiting for her wedding to her ‘matched’ fiancé. When she meets Aiden, a strange boy working in the morgue, she has no idea just how much her life, and everything she’s ever believed, is about to change. 

The Key to Fear took a while to get going, although I appreciated the world building required a fair bit of explanation, but once I got in to the story, it moved along at a nice pace. I’m not sure if the author was trying to make a real life connection between current world events and this story (I’m never sure how long books took to write and whether the idea came before the coincidence of the real life events!), but since the theme here was ‘is the governing body responsible for advising us on the pandemic telling the truth or are we all being duped?’ I’d like to hope not. There’s enough crazies around with those sorts of ideas already 😅

Elodie’s fiancé was a real piece of work, and it felt like he was maybe a bit too stereotypical as the chauvinistic, condescending boyfriend. I found myself hoping for at least some redeeming qualities that would make me feel something for his character, but nope. Elodie herself was a somewhat likeable character, but she seemed to flit between being naive to the point of brainwashed, then make a gigantic leap to ditch her entire world belief, without a whole heap of provocation. Aiden was by far the realest character and the highlight of the book. I can’t wait to see more from him in book two!

Reading this in 2020 feels a little close to home! People aren't allowed to touch one another or be too close to anyone. Sounds familiar...

I have read and loved books by Kristin Cast before and found her writing style as good as ever. The world-building, charactersation, and plot were all well constructed and enjoyable throughout. It's a great dystopian that makes our current situation feel a little bit better.

The only thing I didn't like was the multiple points of view that the book switched between. However, this did make sense at the end of the book and allowed us to see character growth from different perspectives so it changed my mind as it went along.

Elodie was definitely my favourite character and I initially disliked her! Her character development was phenomenal and we discover she does have heart and strong will of her own.

This has definitely been set up for a sequel and there are plenty of unanswered questions. I will definitely be picking up the next in the series if there is a book 2!

If you're looking for a blend of science-fiction, romance and dystopian then this has them all bundled together! A highly enjoyable YA dystopian!

Set in a future ruled by The Key and where human contact is illegal, The Key To Fear is a dystopian sci-fi book that I found fairly okay, but a little underwhelming.

The characters were well written, although there were a lot of points of view to switch between, and I did like how their stories connected in the end. The world it was set in was also very well created and thought out.

It seemed a little bit slow in pace at the beginning, and one of the story lines which appeared important (the testing on children in the hospital) was abandoned halfway through- we never found out what happened with that I don’t think?

In contrast the ending came across as very rushed, it seemed to happen all at once and that’s what left me feeling so underwhelmed.

I'm not sure when The Key to Fear was written, but 2020 is definitely the year to read it! Set in a dystopian future where a disease has wiped out most of humanity, those that remain stay safe by never touching or getting too close to one another.

The world building in this book was really well done, and characters that seemed unconnected to begin with were woven together as the plot went on. There were some parts that lagged, where the plot didn't seem to be moving anywhere, and some parts that felt quite out of place becuase they didn't seem to lead to anything.

I managed to finish the book, but it was a bit of a struggle, unfortunately!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning: death, diseases, blood.

This book was a well rounded, enjoyable dystopian that was a great beginning to a new series. While I did have some issues with it, such as it being a bit slow at the beginning, the characters were interesting and enjoyable to read about.

Cast has a lovely writing style, with the description of the dystopian world being believable and interesting. However, I did feel as if the plot was rushed towards the end, making the ending feel rushed and underwhelming.

Ultimately, this is a fine dystopian novel to read should you be in the mood for one!

This was a decent YA dystopian novel. It was a bit of a slow read but the plot was interesting. I found the pacing a bit off, however it was an entertaining book.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley

3.5 stars!

I’ve been craving a dystopian read recently and this seemed to fit the bill. It was a mix between dystopian, romance and a bit of sci-fi and I enjoyed it.

- Well developed characters. Initially I didn’t like how we got multiple perspectives but this grew on me as the story developed. I think the best part of this was Elodie’s character development. She genuinely grew so much and I really liked her in the end.
- I really thought the plot was decent. I think there were some plot holes in some places and I had to double back a lot. I think more background info needed to be given for the reader to truly understand the world that’s created.
- The ending definitely led up well for a second book and I definitely would pick book two up.

Overall, a decent YA dystopian book with an interesting plot line and well developed characters.
<I>I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</I>

I enjoyed this dystopian novel. This book should be pitched towards the younger end of reader interested in YA fiction. It’s clearly a first in the series and I had issue with pacing in the book. I liked the characters and the world building.