Freedom is the Ultimate Crime

The Registry by Shannon Stoker
Published: June 11, 2013 by William Morrow
If I had read this a few years ago I would have thought it was such a unique premise. Except now, with the number of dystopians that have gotten big, its themes are awfully familiar in so many others. In The Resistry, Mia is living in a world where at 18 all girls are listed on a database, called the registry, to be sold as a wife to the man whose willing to pay her price.

But even though the world may not have been that unique, I still loved the world building. Each chapter started with a line of two from The Registry Guide for Girls which helps shape girls into the wife they're meant to be, and I thought was an excellent window into the ways the society functions. (Again, not that unique since I've seen similar devices used in Delirium, but still very much appreciated.) Also what I thought was interesting was how the creation of society was handled. All throughout Mia is looking for an answer, but each time the question is asked no one is quite sure what happened and their interpretation of the events that led to its creation is a little different. While it may not be a concrete answer you'd like to have as a reader, the idea that no one really knows and everyone has their owns ideas is probably closer to what would actually happen 100 years afterwards.

While this is a dysptopian, it isn't published as YA. Instead it's being marketed as New Adult, which means it has what's becoming my biggest pet peeve in NA books; that of the innocent, naive girl who had no idea what's going on in the world around her. Thankfully Mia does grow throughout, and I think even she would look down on the girl she was at the start of this story with a little disgust.

The book had so much potential, but while there were aspects I really enjoyed, it didn't quite work. And I can't even really articulate why. The dialogue does feel a little forced and awkward. And there's a pretty big travesty towards the end, except none of the characters seemed to really show emotion on the right scale. There is a sequel, and while I don't see myself running out to buy it, I still think I'd read it, even if it's mainly out of curiosity to see what else happens to this world.

3.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through TLC Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.