Book 17: Archetypes

Title and Author: Archetypes, by M.D. Waters

Illustrator: none
Publisher: Plume, published by The Penguin Group
Published: 2014
Genre: Fiction
Target Audience/Age Group: Adult
Part of a Series? Yes
Will the Reviewer Keep It In His/Her Library? No
First line: My mind wakes, but the words essential to describe the stirring of my consciousness escapes me.

This is the first volume of a two-book series. The back cover has the following description of the story, "In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men–one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which…Emma wakes with her memory wiped clean. Her husband, Declan–a powerful and seductive man–narrates the story of her past, but Emma's dreams contradict him. They show her war, a camp where girls are trained to be wives, and love for another man. Something inside warns her not to speak of these things, but the line between dreams and reality is about to shatter forever."

Sounds like variations on The Handmaid's Tale, The Stepford Wives and other anti-feminist dystopian fantasies. Among the reasons given for passing this book up were, "I don't do dystopia." and "I don't like the cover art. It's creepy." With so many other books to read, we all gave this one a pass.