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When She Woke cover art

When She Woke

Written by: Hillary Jordan
Narrated by: Heather Corrigan
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Publisher's Summary

Hannah Payne awakens to a nightmare. She is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home. She is now a convicted criminal, and her skin color has been genetically altered. Her crime, according to the State of Texas: the murder of her unborn child, whose father she refuses to name. Her color: red. The color of newly shed blood.

In Hannah's America, sometime in the future, faith, love, and sexuality have fallen prey to politics. Convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated, but "chromed", forced to appear in a new and sinister form of reality TV, and released back into the population. Stigmatized in a hostile world, they must survive the best they can.

Until her arrest, Hannah had devoted her life to church and family. In seeking a path to safety, she is forced to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes the personal.

©2011 Original material ©2011 Hillary Jordan. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Excerpt from Sharon Morris's "Not Just an Image" from False Spring, © 2007 Sharon Morris, Enitharmon Press, London, UK. Excerpted by permission of the author. (P)2011 (p) 2011 HighBridge Company

What the critics say

"Jordan blends hot-button issues such as the separation of church and state, abortion, and criminal justice with an utterly engrossing story, driven by a heroine as layered and magnetic as Hester Prynne herself." ( Booklist [HC starred review])

What listeners say about When She Woke

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Could have been really good

The premise sounds good, but the author keeps dwelling in a bland, unnecessary love affair. It was tagged as a feminist book, but it feels shallow and condescending.

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Average read with a disappointing ending

I downloaded this book hopeful for a binge-read worthy moment and found it average. The writing itself is smooth and describes events and moments with a flutter of words I did enjoy.

The story itself however is kind of average, with a very disappointing ending. I would have liked to have a chapter more to know how it enfolds, it kinda makes me feel like the book was cut short.

An OKAY-ISH read.

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Wasn't what I expected

but I was pleasantly surprised. a wonderful story to enjoy. it was a conscious departure from my usual sci fi and I'm glad I took it. you will be as well.

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