A scary look at the future when a person can be "re-educated" based on their supposed facial disposition to display a lack of loyalty to the society in charge. People are trained to read faces, they hold the power of a person's life literally in their hands. When these loyalists become aware that all is not as it seems, the story takes a wild turn and becomes a race for one man to expose the crimes.

This was very interesting. I liked the Christian take on science fiction. The plot flowed very well, and there was always something new catching my attention. I would love to read more by this author.

I am sorry to say that this book was not "my cup of tea." I read through most of it, but just couldn't get interested enough in it to finish it. I am sure that the author took much time to research the future possibilities. However, this book just did not grab me. I am sure there are other readers who would enjoy it, however.

This was a really great book, I ended up finishing this in just one sitting! It was a really interesting and engaging story, that I could not put down! I would definitely recommend this book in the coming winter months, it would be a perfect addition to a cosy winters night in, you won't regret it!

I have to be honest, I didn’t finish this one. It was a bit predictable and preachy in the beginning. The premise is cool: how do Christians live in a dystopian universe with big brother always watching? The execution of the story did not catch my interest, however. I will say that one of the characters has a deeper back story that was interesting! But sorry, not my jam.

I was provided a free copy of this ebook by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was heavy!!!! But the author did a fantastic job with the writing and keeping this interesting. I think personally I would have enjoyed this more in the audio format (only because it felt a little heavy) so I'll keep an eye out for it on audible and give it another go

Printed is a Christian speculative fiction work done by Cameron Fitzgerald concerning Jasper, a State Facial Confirmation officer who reads facial and body language to keep the government entity safe from those who would commit subversive actions; i.e.,worship anything other than said government. He aids in the printing of those he deems harmful. A machine removes one’s fingerprints from their right hand and installs news ones. They are then send for religious rehabilitation to regain State benefits. Chilling and Orwellian. All this is done for the greater good of the masses, of course. Curfews are in place and Bibles are outlawed. During an interrogation of a Christian named Emmett Walsh, Col. Bernard Stockton, enraged by Walsh’s possession of a Bible, has Walsh printed without following protocol. Jasper, watching Walsh, becomes intrigued by his courage and helps him escape rehab. As they travel north Jasper becomes a Christian through Walsh’s witness. When they reach a large dam on the Columbia river they are contacted by Stockton who claims that Jasper is part of a terrorist cell, then a missile strike blows up the dam, destroying the town below. Jasper and Walsh have to defend their innocence and their faith as they continue to run from Stockton. There are places of insight, humor and tension in the book, which make it a balanced read, and I enjoyed the experience.

This book is a dystopian look at a post-democratic America where Christian beliefs have been deemed terroristic. Believers are interrogated and, if found guilty, “Printed”. Their fingerprints are painfully removed, and they are sent to rehabilitation centers.

The book follows the lives of Emmet, a believer who is “printed” and Jasper, partially responsible for determining the innocence or guilt of those undergoing interrogation. Emmett is “printed”, but Jasper is transformed as well as he spends time with Emmett. The first third of the book follow Emmett and Jasper as they attempt to escape the current regime; the middle third focuses on Jasper’s transformation as he better understand and accepts Emmett’s faith as his own; the final third focus on the efforts Emmett and Jasper spend on building a place of respite where believers do not need to fear the government’s repressive behavior toward Christians. The climax comes as the pair begin to rescue believers from the rehab centers to which they have been sent.

The author does a decent job of integrating elements of faith throughout the story - but to this reader it seemed a bit much. I never quite got gripped by the story - this reader felt this dystopian sci-fi was less than satisfying. I give the book 3-½ stars.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

The near future could bring indeed persecution as described in this novel. It's an engaging story with an end that leaves room for a sequel.
Sometimes it's becoming a little preachy out of context.
I had some problems with the age of the characters. Emmett recalls things of the past (1980's) but later we learn that he's younger than Louis who's in his 40's. When Emmett and Louise meet it seems as though it was decades ago that they were in love.

I have mixed feelings about this book. And that’s too bad, because I really tried to like it.

In fact, I loved the first chapter. I’m not exactly fan of the dystopian genre, but this one reminded me of George Orwell’s 1984 and The Twilight Zone’s The Obsolete Man, both of which I enjoyed.

However, with every chapter, my interest waned. Before long, the only reason why I kept reading was that I wanted to know how it ends. Sadly, I don’t think that’s a very good reason to continue a book.

I said this before in one of my updates and I’ll say it again: this is a book that doesn’t know what it wants to be.

I understand that the book wants to feature Christianity. As a Catholic myself, I have no issue with that. Actually, I find the idea of a dystopian society that’s trying to destroy the concept of religion very interesting. I would’ve loved it if this book stuck to that.

But nope. It couldn’t stick to just one main theme, no. It’s not just thriller, it also wants to be a slice-of-life, a rom-com, a drama… etc etc. it doesn’t know what it wants to be, and that’s so, so obvious.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Some parts felt very unbelievable. Like, come on, why are you guys having so much fun? There are people who are supposedly trying to find and kill you, and yet you seem to be more interested in… I don’t know, establishing or rekindling romantic relationships? Proposing and getting married? Where’s the sense of danger and urgency people?

If I had to guess, this book is probably like 70% love and friendship and 30% actual action. They’re really more focused on those than the people trying to kill them.

Speaking of which, the main characters themselves always seem to be trying to kill each other every few chapters or so. And yet they go back to being best friends like right after. Um, are you guys okay?

The humor also felt forced a lot of times. Other times, it was downright cringe. It’s like all the characters want to be funny, but they’re just… not doing a good job at it. Especially you, Emmett.

And that’s another thing that irked me. There were times that the characters were written so similarly that I couldn’t even tell who was talking. At one point, I thought middle-aged Emmett was speaking, but it turned out to be teenage Lake. Why do they sometimes speak the exact same way?!

If they’re not being literally the exact same character, they’re basically just stereotypes. Of course we have Jasper, the weak but actually brave main guy. Lake, the supposedly delicate but actually strong main girl. Cale, the quiet little brother who hates everyone else but his beloved sis. Emmett, the protective and wise older brother. Sophia… I don’t know. She always seemed to be near-tears or teary-eyed.

The other characters are that believable either. The author really made an effort to give them all backstories though, so I appreciate that.

Chapter 19 was perhaps the most exciting chapter after a dozen mundane ones. But Chapter 20 came around and… wait, that’s it? They just get married and live in a sanctuary forever and ever? What happened to the initial plans? What was even their endgame? We just get like two paragraphs to explain the events that happened after and that’s it?

[END SPOILERS]

I’m giving this 2 stars because I can feel the effort and emotions put into writing it, but only because of that. It pains me to say this but a large part of the book felt like filler. There was no real payoff to it. And the whole “they want to kill us because we believe in God” narrative felt nothing but a background to a terribly cliche love story.

All in all, I’m very frustrated with this book and how it ended. I would probably give it a 1 if I wasn’t Catholic myself.

I do think Fitzgerald does a good job of painting a dystopian world though. I hope he stuck to that instead of trying to cram every genre into one book. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy.

Thank you netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved all the characters especially Emmett and Sophia. The synopsis really intrigued me as I could easily picture a future world where government arrests or outcasts people of faith. I was really excited to see how this story would play out.

I loved how all the characters stories fit together and enjoyed the relationships they had with one another. I do think however the book was very heavy on the religious aspects and I often found myself skimming over those parts. I've this book three stars just because the religious sections were not my cup of tea.

What do you think a "Facial Confirmation Officer's " job is? It requires reading a persons emotions, even when they try to hide them. Jasper went to school to become a FCO officer, and he worked for the government to identify people who posed a threat to the government and others.
He watches a man go through questioning who wants to cheat the state by leaving before he has paid back his student loans, but then he sees a man who is calm and is accused of believing the Bible and he is also printed, and Jaspers mind is affected by this - he is confused and he enters the accused man's room.

Emmett asks Jasper what his job is, an analyst or a technician, Jasper answers, and then fragments, sentences and letters dance around in his head, he is dizzy until he feels a hand on his shoulder and he hears Emmett murmuring some words and his mind is clear! Jasper asks Emmett what just happened, Emmett did not know, then Emmett tells Jasper that they needed to leave, and Jasper puts his hand on a scanner and they leave the building.
On the way Emmett tells Jasper that he can either stay and be in trouble for consorting with him or leave and be safe.

Join them on their adventure to flee the government where they discover new friends, escape a flood and find the meaning of life.

This unfortunately didn't end up being my cup of tea. The writing style felt overly descriptive (more telling, less showing; I usually go for more showing and less telling), and I couldn't get into the story.

Always nice to have more voices in the Christian dystopian genre, though!

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Author: Cameron Fitzgerald
Publisher: The Noble Initiative
On-Sale Now
Synopsis: In this near-future dystopia, Christians are among the most-wanted enemies of The State. Facial analyst Jasper Wood, a government employee who identifies emotion via facial expression, embarks on a journey with Emmett, a newly-apprehended criminal whose expressions bely his sentence.
Promising first novel with room for improvement. I like what I see and am praying for the author.
I received a complimentary copy of the book through NetGalley and the publisher.
Overall Impression

This is Fitzgerald’s first novel and I’m enthusiastic about its themes. The novel explores identity in Christ, relationship with the Father, nobility, sexual purity, belief, forgiveness, and God’s plan.

In this season, the Lord is impressing on me the need for truth in the books that I read, and this book certainly packs a lot of truth!

With that said, there were a few passages where I felt the messages could have been conveyed with a bit more originality. Certain passages read more like an apologetics sermon, with language (big words/ “Christianese”) that I think would be more palatable in a nonfiction text.

Additionally, I feel the need to mention that there were a number of typos, which made the book feel a bit less polished than I would have preferred.

Highlights

As mentioned, there was a lot of really great content ☺️ and that made me really happy! I also think that the premise of the novel worked well with the content. Given the premise, the thematic content fit and did not feel “crammed in,” although there was a lot of it.

Some of my favorite things:

I really like that God is consistently referred to as the Father and that the Father relationship is the foundation of the character’s walk with Him.
I appreciated that God’s plan is foremost and prioritized.
Discussion of identity in Christ was beautiful and truthful!
My favorite parts were ones in which concepts were explained with fresh language, in everyday speech and with illustrations that make sense to the reader.
The dystopian element was a lot of fun. I liked learning about Jasper’s job and would have liked a better glimpse into Jasper’s world.
Content Critique

There were a few points I disagreed with including:

Description of Satan as the “enemy” of God
Reference to America once being a light to the world; this is a popular idea, but, given our nation’s oppressive roots, not one that I endorse
There’s one plot element, also, but I won’t mention it because I don’t want to spoil anything
Scripture Connection

There are a lot of possible connections…

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

Reminiscent of books like 1984, The Printed reads as a dystopian novel that could certainly come true. This book didn't hold my interest, although the premise was captivating. I found grammatical and syntax errors that were distracting to the book. Some of the writing felt a little like, "this happened and then this happened." I would have liked to see the beginning develop with more description on the time and place. As a Christian, Fitzgerald's Gospel message is bold and well-written. With that being said, I look forward to seeing Cameron Fitzgerald develop as an author. I hope he keeps writing dystopian fiction.

The Printed by Cameron Fitzgerald is a Young Adult, Christian novel with hints of science fiction, romance and mystery. Jasper's a young man who's been groomed to be an analyst for the government and believes that he is helping to protect the country from terrorists. His can analyze people's faces for signs of hate or distrust towards the State. He's one of the best analysts in his field but one day a strange man, Emmett, enters the interrogation room and changes everything Jasper thinks he knows. He soon makes a decision that could destroy his life as he knows it and sends him on the run from the state. With a lot of help from the strange man and some new friends, he finds more adventure than he ever wanted. I liked the main characters, especially the girl, Lake. I loved Emmett's calm & loving spirit, though he was a bit self righteous. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book but overall it was an interesting read.

Great read! I felt like I was looking into the future with the on going government interference in Christianity.