Book Review: 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

So this book earned five stars because it had a lot of things that I truly enjoyed about it. This review may contain minor spoilers.

 

Likes:

 

One thing that stood out to be was the complexity and the “realness”- I think that’s a word?- of the government. It is made pretty evident in the beginning of the book that this government is a matriarchy style with one President of sorts and a counsel of other women to help her make decisions. Just the details of it, everything from laws to the marriage game of sorts that is the main plot of this book, is well thought out. The history of how this government came to be was believable since it drew a lot on real-world events. Of course, it isn’t without its faults but the development of it was really well planned out and explained, especially for a book written in verse.

 

Speaking of verse, that is something else that I enjoyed about the book. The language in it was really beautiful and the fact that it was written in verse made it a very quick read. The author really chose a unique style given the topic of the book, but in the end, it ended up being the best way to describe the city.

 

 Another thing that I liked was Kiran’s character as a whole. He’s got such a deep complexity to him that is slowly made more evident throughout the text. When I was reading I found that connected with this character more so than the other ones. Readers learned a little bit more about him each time we read his piece, whereas with Sudasa I didn’t really get to know her outside of her reluctance to be in her situation.

 

The lack of the romance in the piece was something that I both loved and hated. While the romance is implied in the text it is something that is completely ignored given the situation that the characters are in. This book, ultimately, is not a romance novel, is a book about two people trying to escape a society that has become more and more oppressive. It has lost touch with its roots and the reasoning for its creation in the first place. There is no time for romance when escaping this city is the biggest priority. So yeah, even though I really wanted it, I couldn’t have any romance and it made me respect the piece more because of it. 

 

Dislikes:

 

One of the biggest things that I disliked about the book was the ending. It hinted at something more, but the author never delivered. The plot was left open and ambiguous and it really made me think that there would be a sequel. Sadly, there currently is no second book which means that the ending left me unsatisfied. It felt clipped and rushed. 

 

Another thing that I disliked was the lack of romance. I liked it, but I didn’t as well. Given the context of the situation, a romance would have spoiled the overall tone of the text. So, I can understand why the author preferred to leave it out. At the same time, I’m a sucker for a good romance.

 

While this book was one that I thoroughly enjoyed, there were things that left me unsettled and unsatisfied. I do think that I would read this book again, just to see if there are any clues in it about the future or the ending that I might have missed.