4 April 2014

Riot ARC Review



Riot by Sarah Mussi



What they say: It is 2018. England has been struggling under a recession that has shown no sign of abating. Years of cuts has devastated Britain: banks are going under, businesses closing, prices soaring, unemployment rising, prisons overflowing. The authorities cannot cope. And the population has maxed out.


The police are snowed under. Something has to give. Drastic measures need taking.


The solution: forced sterilisation of all school leavers without secure further education plans or guaranteed employment.

The country is aghast. Families are distraught, teenagers are in revolt, but the politicians are unshakeable: The population explosion must be curbed. No more free housing for single parents, no more child benefit, no more free school meals, no more children in need. Less means more.

But it is all so blatantly unfair - the Teen Haves will procreate, the Teen Havenots won't.

It's time for the young to take to the streets. It's time for them to RIOT:

OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE, OUR BODIES, OUR FUTURE.


  • Expected publication: May 1st 2014 by Hodder Children's - ISBN: 9781444910100

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!



What I say (review): Riot is fast paced, chaotic and kinda angst-ridden. A lot happens but Sarah Mussi does a great job conveying some particularly traumatic topics and keeping her readers engaged (if not horrified).

The book is set in an overpopulated near-future Britain, where sterilisation is mandatory. Imagine mass forced vasectomies (actually don't because the images in the book are pretty horrifying). Dystopian Britain is facing uproar and war. Certain parts reminded me of the rebellions in The Hunger Games, in that, the rebels and government are both not opposed to extreme violence and it's the population who seem to get caught in the crossfire. It's worth noting that Riot is definitely not THG though! Tia's/EVE's response to Cobain is a key example of the terror surrounding acts of shocking violence. Mussi poses the question of how far is it acceptable to go in the fight for freedom (in this case freedom over our bodies and the right to choose)?! 

It was slightly strange to get my head around the idea of a dystopia being set 2018, but the worrying thing is, some of the ideas don't seem that far from the realms of possibility.

I'm still not sure what to think about Tia (I thought long and hard about this). The same goes for Cobain, I really couldn't make up my mind about him. He uses violence to further a cause, which is in theory, good. At times Tia reminded me of Jenna from Emma Pass's Acid. In fact the story is set in a similar dystopian Britain, with the leads on the run, and in Jenna and Tia's case unwillingly part of a violent rally group. 

All in all I'm not sure what to make of Riot but I think it's the type of book where you're supposed to doubt everyone and everything. It's definitely memorable, yet at times really upsetting!



4 Stars in my Sky!

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