Review: Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover

Author: Lorie Ann Grover
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian
Publisher: Blink Books
Expected Publication: January 28, 2014

Tiadone has been forced to live her entire life as a female accepted as male in her community in order to survive as a firstborn child. But when she needs to pass the rites of manhood, she finds the Creator may have use for her feminine traits after all.

Review Tiadone lives in a world ruled by Men. In her society every first born girl is disposed of like garbage unless the family declares her male. These girls will be raised as males, treated as males and forced to live their entire lives in solitude as males. When Tiadone comes of age she realizes that she doesn't want to be male any longer but what's a girl to do in a world where custom dictate she have no choice in the matter? While Firstborn is certainly an interesting concept and has all the makings of a very good book I just struggled to connect with the story at all. First, While I liked Tiadone as a character I also found her tiresome after awhile. I get it your situation sucks but why not take your own advice and flee if it is so awful? Surely death would be better than the bs you have to put up with as a declared male. Secondly, I had a hard time deciding what time period Tiadone lived in. It's not that the world is badly written it just seems to have ADD deciding on a concept. At first I thought maybe we were dealing with a paleolithic society but then at other times the story has a heavy Steampunk feel to it and then it switches yet again and I think we've been thrust into an Aztec society. It was confusing and I spent more time trying to figure it out instead of enjoying the story. Lastly, I hated the ending. It went from feeling satisfying to feeling frustrated in the span of a heartbeat. I can see where the Author was going and it was trying to be hopeful but it could've used a page or two more to pull it off better. I'm going to assume this won't be a standalone and a larger story is planned. That's the only way that ending would make sense. Final Thoughts While I finished Firstborn relatively quickly I think it was more out of my desire not to DNF than it was because of actual enjoyment. Like I said above interesting concept but the execution was lacking. Would I recommend it? Maybe. I'm sure in the right readers hands this could be interesting. It just wasn't for me and I have to be honest about that. With that being said, I will be rating Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover ★★★.  *Copy reviewed provided by Netgalley. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way  for providing them.

Want to learn more about this book or the Author? Click the links below!
Lorie Ann Grover:
Goodreads Page
Website