This is a true Dystopian fiction, and was thought-provoking, exciting, and unique. I found the feminist society intriguing and the characters very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review. I appreciate it!

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it was such a struggle to get through. The premise was interesting - a matriarchal society that has developed in response to the ineptitude of men - but the writing was so disjointed, the dialogue was clunky and the characters were a mess. There was so much exposition and it was ALL so clumsy. Added to that, I’m not sure what the author’s motivation is to write the story - am I supposed to feel bad for men? Is this supposed to make men understand who women feel with their rights constantly being endangered or stripped in the real world? Do men really need things explained to them like this book does? Explains a lot.

Dani is a 29 year old reporter, daughter of a prominent scientist/power player in the administration and completely dissatisfied with the lack of equal rights in society. Unfortunately, she sometimes has the maturity of a preteen and she seems to know nothing about the society she lives in. The amount of “tell me” world building is astounding. There’s no way someone who was raised in this culture would need the basic caste system explained to them but also have deep contacts in resistance organizations.

I’m so sorry to say this wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

This story is basically a reverse Handmaid’s Tale, but very poorly done. I found the premise interesting, but honestly had to stop deeply reading pretty early & skim the rest. I wanted to DNF it but felt bad giving a 1 star rating without giving the book my full consideration.

The writing was distractingly bad. The characters were one dimensional and the dialogue was stilted and expository. There was so much showing and so little telling.

In terms of world-building, am I really supposed to believe that the main character (Dani) is a 29 year old reporter & daughter of a high-ranking government official who happens to need the male caste system narrated to her at a gala in the opening pages? Like, the late 20s professional researcher needs that basic societal knowledge told to her at a party? At times a flip switched and Dani seemed to be playing “hard-hitting journalist”, and at others she was an empty receptacle for being spoken to about basic societal knowledge. I got the idea that the story was meant to feel futuristic but there wasn’t anything in the text that achieved it. A real low point for me was the phrase “watching skizzer ball on the aqua screen.”

And the men are supposed to be mentally impaired (as the reason for their subjugation), and yet most characters Dani encountered and who had any speaking roles or agency are male, and not a single one seemed impaired to me.

As for the plot of men losing their rights, it felt tone deaf against the backdrop of today’s political climate in the US where women’s rights are actually being restricted. I honestly looked up the author to see if they were a men’s rights propaganda-spouting whack job. There is a picture of a woman on social media, but no real personal content, so who knows?

Anyways, the whole thing read like the author had a decent-ish idea but didn’t fully flesh it out or ask critical questions and didn’t edit it after the first draft.

Thanks to Netgalley and Koehler Books for providing me with a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this was a dystopian nightmare of a book. The initial response I had was a swell of feminist pride, but that quickly devolved into a growing sense of wrongness. I found myself feeling for Robbie and I was rooting for them to find Haven. Haven was its own brand of nightmare. This had action and it had suspense. Yet, it had the core of a love story. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Dominion.

While this story was interesting in theory and I liked the dystopian world building, it had so much potential that all really fell flat. The dialogue was clunky and forced in many spots. I think even just one edit run through might have bumped this story up another star.

It was not a story that I will think about again.

June 20, 2025
Dominion Ascension by D. A. Murray is a riveting dystopian, post apocalyptic novel set in the fictional country of Dominion. After the four-year great war ended in 2030, and destroyed the United States, 26 unified Republics were formed. The story is told by investigative journalist, Dani Matthews, who is reporting on the enslavement and emasculation of men through chemical weapons rendering them infertile and cognitively impaired as a result of the great war. Men are limited to domestic servitude and pleasure giving.
Women control everything. They emerge as captains of industry, lead the government, and create policy. They decide that boys from aged 12 will become Breeders and, propagate Dominion offsprings. In their quest to create a utopian society, women suppress expressions of dissent, particularly by the Breeders. Dani’s investigation into what happens to the Breeders after they reach 30 leads her to reconnect with Robbie, a childhood friend. Now in his mid-20’s he expressed to Dani his desire to leave Dominion and be free. Dani and Robbie embark on a long and arduous journey to the remote region of Haven in their fight for freedom. Their struggle to survive kept me frantically turning the pages and, I can’t wait to read what comes next.
Author D. A. Murray draws inspiration from Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, and slave narratives of resistance, as well as the present political climate.

I thought this book was a good dystopian sci-fi read that reminded me a lot of Octavia Butler. As a guy I found it to be a good exercise in empathy with the gender role-reversal and appreciate that it was not anti-man, unlike some of the fiction that is popular these days. In particular, I liked how the main character is complex and likable and shows several sides of the Dominion world as we follow her story. I did think there was quite a lot of scene setting narration, but I attribute that to it being a sci-fi novel and needing to build up the world. Overall I would say this is an excellent debut for a first-time published author!

Whether you are a man or a woman; humans are humans. This book asks what it means to be a human. Following the journey with the protagonist through this sensual dystopian novel takes you away with the author's descriptive and detailed writing. You will be transported to this new world while asking so many questions we all face today about relationships, equality, and basic human rights. I highly recommend this book. From the epic dangers to the spicey love scenes, it is pure entertainment!!!