Book Review: When She Woke - Hillary Jordan

When She Woke - Hillary Jordan

Hannah Payne's life has been devoted to church and family.  But after she's convicted of murder, she awakens to a nightmarish new life.  She finds herself lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes--criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime--is a sinister form of entertainment.  Hannah is a Red for a crime of murder.  The victim, says the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she shared a fierce and forbidden love.

A powerful re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter, When She Woke is a timely fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of the not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated, and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can.  In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith and love.

2/5 stars (It was ok)

I had higher hopes for this book.  But Hannah was not too likable.  She refuses to name the father of her unborn baby to protect him because of his position in the church and his marital status. He had an affair with her for two years and blatantly said he would NEVER leaver his wife for Hannah.  She also never told him that she was pregnant.  She also refuses to name the man who gave her the abortion because he was kind to her.  Therefore not giving those two names added 6 more years to her 10 year sentence as a Chrome.  She goes from her 30 days in prison to a religious halfway house where the people running it are horrible.  The only interesting thing that happens there is she meets another Red named Kayla.  I would have much rather have this book be about Kayla.  She is more likable and interesting.  From that point on the book just goes down hill.