When Mins husband Ben disappears whilst mining for gold for The Department in Indonesia, Min is left with many questions and even more forms to fill in.
This dystopian novel set in Australasia describes the political situation without being too heavy but gives the characters a background to rally against.
The tension mounts, although hampered by a few dodgy plot twists, until a gripping finale is reached.
Recommended

This is a very difficult novel to give feedback without spoilers.

A dystopian novel set in an Australia that could be not very far in the future. Mim’s husband Ben is missing and Mim finds herself on the run with her children trying to find him.

Whilst we never really fully find out why Ben disappeared, why the authorities were so concerned and why they desperately wanted to find Mim this is a fairly decent on the road novel. With a lot of room for a sequel to bring in some of the other stories: How Australian society went the way it did, her brother who challenged the authorities and the journalist.

And for me Why Mim decided she had to go on the run, as she suddenly decides that she needs to up and leave. I was like was this discussed with Ben, are you paranoid or what.

It’s a four star read and I really would like to find out happened and the background story of what their motives were.

A spirited woman a missing husband. What would you give up to find him?
Reads a little like a modern day survivalist story. Especially like the part about travelling on a small boat and how dangerous boats of any size can be..
A throughly spellbinding tale,a ltlle different I enjoyed reading it very much!

I find this really hard to give feedback on. The writing is 5 star, brilliant and atmospheric. The characters draw you in and and the story keeps you hooked, anxiously turning pages to see what happens.

The bit that makes it less than 5 star is the fact the context of the story is missing. It has a great dystopian feel to the book, but we never learn why things have gone the way they have. The sub plot of Mim’s brother give us some insight but not a lot. I was waiting for more explanation when we found Ben, or found out what happened to him, but again this part of the story did not give any resolution.

I love the characters, love the atmosphere and the writing but feel something is missing…part of me feels the book ends ok, just open ended, but without understanding the reason for the situation I feel we needed more resolution.

There is no resolution for Ben and we don’t fully know his motives. Finding him became too easy and I feel the end was rushed.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book. I loved the premise of this book but unfortunately it fell very flat for me, the world building left me very confused and i was left with so many questions. The writing was good and i wanted to see how mim's story pans out but once i put it down for the day i really struggled to pick it back up

An interesting idea, but for me, the dystopian world and its rules never really quite made sense and I found the characters lacked a spark to keep my attention. I found the boat quite tedious but the ending a bit rushed.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

The premise for this book was clever and not at all outside the realms of imagination despite being set in the future. The characters developed as the book progressed and became more likeable. However at times I was put off by the unnecessary profanity and scenes which lent nothing to the story line. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

There are two different covers for this book and if I am being totally honest the cover I absolutely adore, is the UK Harpercollins cover that has orange tones on it. (The one I have used in this review) I would definitely pick this book up from a book store shelf to learn more about it with this cover! As for genre, the ones listed are mystery, thriller which I certainly agree with, but would also add speculative fiction, dystopian, suspense and futuristic to that list. It’s dystopian with a different twist.

I love the silhouette of Mim, her children and their car on the cover. Then there’s the byline of To Keep Her Children Safe, She Must Put Their Lives In Danger which fits the rather drastic actions that Mim has to take when she receives the veiled threat of her children being taken away from her.

The world created in this book is ruled by “The Department” everyone has a chip fitted so there whereabouts can always be tracked. Those with addictions are taken into rehab units, and have their lives managed, being told when to eat, exercise and control contact with the resident’s families and friends. If children are taken into care they are put into the “Best Life” system where they are given the “perfect diet, exercise regime and schooling. Once in either of these systems it is both difficult and rare to leave them. The Department also controls the small amount of news that people can have as well as making it mandatory for everyone to know a minimum amount of news everyone is expected to know.

I felt almost immediately hooked into this book. It had me questioning if there was so much advanced technology why couldn’t Ben be tracked easily? But things are much more complicated in this advanced, futuristic world. The world building is really clever and interesting, and it keeps you reading on and on into the night!

Ben works for an important company called GeoTech and has basically disappeared and despite all the available technology cannot be tracked. Mim is naturally upset and confused as to where her husband could be. Things become even more serious when she is literally interrogated and has to hand over her own passport and her childrens too. When Mim shows signs of stress those in power offer to take her children into the care system called “Best Life.” Mim panics and goes to the one place she knows can help her go “off grid,” her best friend Heidi. Heidi helps her friend in the best way she can making them as untraceable as possible, removing their chips and advising Mim to use only cash etc. The only place/person Mim can go to for cash is her mum, who lives on the same property as her brother. When she arrives it quickly becomes apparent her brother is not pleased to see her and is happy when she leaves upon discovering her friend Heidi has had an accident in a fire. . . .was it purely an accident or something much more sinister. When on an impulse Mim ends up driving to a place she went on holiday as a child, meeting up with a guy she had a crush/fling with when she was much younger, it turns out he can help her get over the ocean to search for her missing husband. Within the close quarter of the boat old feeling rise to the surface and they once again find themselves drawn to each other.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book were that it was an action packed read that at times, had you on the edge of your seat wondering where Mim & her children were going to end up.

Summing up I felt there wasn’t a “final end” to the book, so I am wondering if that means there could be a bk2….or is that just how it all ends. The ending of the book sort of left me wanting more of the loose ends tying off. Having said all that I did really enjoy reading the book and would certainly check out other books by this author.

This is a really good and thought provoking read. There are sentences in here which although quite unassuming are really quite stark and thought provoking making you think about the times we live in. There are little hints that make you think what could our future be like if we don’t take notice now? This is a novel with a dystopian future that isn’t so different from ours but it is also about so much more. It is about families, relationships but especially motherhood. It is a very intense novel which uses language perfectly to create an atmosphere of fear and desperation.

There's a lot of potential, the plot is interesting but I think that the world building was lacking and I felt confused.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Mim is left with her two children when her husband Ben disappears in this futuristic dystopian novel. Not normally my genre of novel but I persisted as I was intrigued to find out what had happened to Ben. Mim is contacted by the Department, who advise her not to leave and to hand in the families passports which results in her taking drastic action to ensure that she and her children cannot be found. Getting help from an ex boyfriend, she and the children leave with him on his boat to track down Ben, the result not being what she anticipated. A fast moving thriller which left a trail.of devastation with what I felt was a disappointing ending, leaving me wondering why she bothered searching for Ben at all.

Mim's husband, Ben, is missing. The Department is desperate to find him, but he can't be tracked, even though he is supposed to be chipped like the rest of the population.
Suddenly, Mim finds herself forced to hand over her and her children's passports, her every move is monitored, she is not allowed to leave her house, and is threatened with having her children placed in the care of BestLife.
Mim decides to find her husband, but will she succeed with the government on her trail?

I'm a sucker for a good dystopian fiction story, so I was excited to be approved for this ARC.
I liked the concept of this book, but I found that some aspects of the new government weren't sufficiently explained, while some made no sense to me. The plot was interesting and promising, and I was looking forward to finding out how Mim's journey ends. However, I found the story dragged too much, both because of the flowery, heavy on details writing and Mim's flashbacks, and as a result, I struggled to get into it and skim-read the whole book. For me, the story lacked the drama and suspense that I was expecting from a government vs oppressed individual chase.

I can see quite a lot of 5 star reviews but this was just ok for me .

Set in a dystopian world where everyone is chipped by "The Department" and those that do not conform get moved to special housing - not recommended .
Mim's husband Ben disappears whilst working away . The story she is given is that there has been an explosion and they cannot locate him (is he not chipped ??)
Things start to look bad for Mim and her children -the Department are ready to pounce and she decides to risk everything by having their chips removed to avoid being tracked and getting an old boyfriend to help them find her husband .

Parts were quite exciting -then other parts were too unbelievable .

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

Ben has disappeared. His wife, Mim and their two children know that they are in danger.
They live in a world controlled by government officials but not everyone is happy to go with their rules and regulations.
Mim sets off to find Ben but officials are trying to find her and the children and Mim is determined to find Ben.
But at what cost?

Wow, what a novel! This book is incredibly intense, gripping, claustrophobic, heartbreaking, endearing and intoxicating. I literally could not put it down. The best book I've read all year!

Dystopian vision of a near future Australia the book follows the story of Mim and her two children. I quickly got into this story and raced through. I found it an enjoyable read, until the end which felt a little rushed and unsatisfying. If the ending had been given a little more fullness it would have scored more highly so giving this ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Highly unique and entertaining novel, not your average thriller. I enjoyed this immensely and highly recommend to all readers.

This novel, at least in the first third was a bit too dystopian for me, not really my thing. However I persevered and was very pleased with the latter two thirds, especially the section dealing with the journey by sea. It was beautifully described. The children's naivety about the dangers of behaving foolishly on a small boat had me waiting nervously for a 'Man overboard' shout. Fortunately it never came. The incident with the ball stirred my memory of a similar event where despite being encouraged, I didn't swim after it. The Indonesia landing and subsequent exploration was good too, the tsunami warning a great device to separate the children from their mother. I'm not too sure that the idea of burying nuclear waste was a bad one especially if it could be guaranteed that it would eventually be subducted. Certainly it would be in one of the best regions for tectonic activity, The Pacific Ring of Fire.
I would like to point out a few problesm with the first third of the book. We all know pets can be chipped but its a stretch to think that an implant in a human could effectively be a way of them being tracked. GPS is mentioned but that's a technology where a receiver gets its positional data from a number of satellites. Receiver is the clue. There is no transmission back to the satellite. Yes, you can output the data from a GPS receiver to either a GSM device or Sat phone but this is bulky equipment. The human body absorbs radio signals too, both incoming or potentially, outgoing. The power needed to transmit your position from within your body would cause massive internal burning. So it's a non-starter.
As the technology is dodgy but one of the pillars on which this novel rests, I will have to deduct a couple of stars. The three remaining stars are for the writing style and boat/Indonesia sections.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the blurb, but I’ve enjoyed a run of novels set in Australia and found them all very different and interesting. We become used to American or European settings, so a change of location adds a different dimension to to the tale. I wasn’t prepared for the the dystopian, race against time and Government forces aspect, but that said, it’s absolutely brilliant. I was swept along by a very pacy narrative which had me gripped.

I think the story raises a real sense of unease in the reader. Given worldwide restrictions and laws introduced as a result of the pandemic, it’s easy to see that many societies are only a small step away from even greater controls. Children are currently being removed from British families as a result of safeguarding concerns, often without justification and it’s distressing for all concerned. In the story, protecting the children is paramount to the mother and she sets off to ensure their safety. It’s really well to,d, with characters you can warm to and situations which are not that far beyond possibility. A well plotted story, filled with the unexpected and an author I want to read more from

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Unsure how this i found this book but i read it if that helps. Not sure if this is down to the main character who i did not like at all. Probably wouldnt recommend to a friend but in all fairness this is not down to the author its just not my cup of tea.