The Choice: The most gripping and thought-provoking story you'll read this year!

‘The Choice‘ is a fascinating, easy read with a message that resonates in our times. My main criticism is that it follows too closely the concepts of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ where a woman’s lot is decided by men, where, too, every woman has to constantly look over her shoulder, and where fear is the ruling emotion.In this novel the original motivation for government control of diet, exercise and lifestyle seemed a good one - to ensure the health of everyone - but, as too often happens, this soon creates a ‘Big Brother’ world where neighbor spies on neighbor and fear controls every action, fear of the ‘Shame Box’ and even fear of having your children ripped away from you.The most original idea here is to have the protagonist be a former baking star for whom the loss of her career is particularly demoralizing and motivates her to overcome her natural self consciousness and act against the oppressive regime. The novel is full of tantalizing flavors, scents and colors as Olivia remembers baking her favorite cakes. This sweetness remains with the reader but perhaps makes this novel of primary interest to female readers.

This is a good, easy book for a lazy weekend. The characters and plot are all pretty predictable, so no surprises to make you put much thought into. This reminded me vaguely of "V for Vendetta" but with chocolate speakeasies and no kidnapping needed to radicalize a sympathizer. Make sure you have snacks handy when you read this to combat the sympathy hunger pangs of reading about a caloric dictatorship. I'm going to go eat a pie!

Government controls diet and exercise, includes weigh-ins and “shame boxes”. Brought to mind 1980s presidential fitness standards (Which I could never attain). I enjoyed the book.

This story and storytelling is so compelling... it's chilling, and illuminating on many sociological and fronts. Claire Wade has woven an amazing and cautionary tale for us all about living in truth and integrity, and listening to our instincts. it's a story about love and honor, and how to restore it within yourself in the direst of circumstances. The development of various concepts, especially the Shame Box, is just brilliant. It's original and seems otherworldly in a way (that couldn't happen here!) and yet we can all relate without a doubt. Congratulations, Claire Wade - this is magnificent.

A profound tale that will make you wonder about the future. Reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale.The author pulls me into Olivia's fears and frustrations adeptly.Great story!

This one's a thinker! It cleverly approaches questions of personal, public, and communal responsibility and parenting versus personal and public freedom when it comes to what modernity has come to call "health and happiness." PLUS stellar women characters, truly good prose, and a very plausible near-future scenario that delights the imagination. Yes, there is a likeness to draw between The Choice and Handmaid's Tale, but the nuances here quickly set it apart. This is a smart book that is worth your time.

For those who are fans of The Handmaid’s Tale, this dystopian thriller needs to be the next book on your to be read pile! It was absolutely chilling, the thought of having anyone control the way I choose to live my life by way of food, exercise, the high and hard to reach expectations that are placed on every single person and family unit under Mother Mason’s jurisdiction. Olivia can remember a time before all of the strict guidelines, when she owned a bakery and could bake desserts to her heart’s content. In this new world, bakeries are banned, and sugar is the devil.In this world, people are pitted against each other, encouraged to spot out any potential illegal wrongdoing, and often this ends in the Shame Box. Yet there are many other ways to dole out punishment, and much of what I read had been nothing short of scary. Children taken from their homes, adults sent to macabre prisons, the type that focus on the very things the Mother Mason establishment warns against. Olivia feels there is no winning, no matter what she chooses to do, and it makes for a very trying and difficult life.The Choice goes so much deeper than what the storyline entails. In our society, we hear so much about the dangers of eating unhealthily, of not exercising, in not making healthy choices. Olivia’s experiences takes all of that and asks, “At what cost?” How far do we go in order to create a “better” world? And, in doing so, is it really any better? Should we take away someone’s personal choice in how they want to live their lives, even if it means they might not live in a manner of wellness, or should everyone have that say? In this story, it’s so far one way or the other, there is no balance, so similar in representing how hard it is for those of us in the “real world” to find that balance.I felt intrigued and hooked from the very first chapter, wanting to know what would happen next for Olivia, her family, her friends. At times challenging, and at others inspiring, it was hard not to put myself in her shoes and wonder how I would react or deal with a similar situation, if I could suck it up if it meant keeping my family safe, or if I would go against the grain in order to change up the status quo. It made me appreciate the bowl of ice cream I had last night, all the more. A well deserved, five-star read from me!

This book had me gripped until the very end. I like to think of myself as a healthy eater, and so a world without sugar seemed like a world I'd be just fine with. But Claire Wade created a world where even modest eaters wouldn't stand a chance. And she had me turning the pages at a rapid rate to find out what would happen to Olivia next. Take this ride, read this book, and see if you'd be able to live in Mother Mason's world.

One of the most unique and cleverly plotted books I have ever read. I'm a huge foodie, baker & cake connoisseur so the idea of a sugar ban petrified me, and yet despite the warped twists and turns enforced by Mother Mason and her government, it was impossible to put down this story for long. I just had to know what would happen next! What takes this book to the next level though, is the way in which both the modern and historical worlds can take this story as a metaphor for so many current and past events. It's truly scary how little it takes to brainwash a nation. The author has captured the essence of that, as if it were, indeed, a bottle of vanilla. No mean feat. This is an absolute must-read. I'll be recommending it to all my booky friends! Excited to see how this incredible debut is followed up...

What a great novel. Thought provoking & so much deeper than I first thought. The dangers of individuals or governments being swept into power on populist agendas that whip up the masses. Leading to the kind of blind, evangelical hysteria that excuses increasingly terrible acts.It’s fiction - I just hope it’s not prophetic.

Since I first read 1984 many many years ago I have regularly enjoyed dystopian novels as I find they scarily relate to real life. This book did not disappoint. The characters were relatable & it was difficult to put down once you were five pages in! No spoilers but a brilliant read with a complete ending. Definitely life lessons that should be learnt!!

A superb debut novel, totally gripping it’s a long time since I read something so un-putdownable. It pulled me in and made me wonder what life would be like in this alternative life, this book will stay with me for a long time.

To start by saying something positive....it was different! After that it went downhill. I couldn’t engage with any of the characters. I didn’t care what happened to them as they felt unreal. The descriptions of cakes were, for me, slightly sickening. The almost total absence of men felt odd. The premiss behind the plot was very plausible because we are increasingly becoming a “nanny” state with fewer people willing to take responsibility for either their own or their families safety, welfare and well being but the book lacked the depth and length to tackle that properly.