****
Each month, teenage midwife Gaia Stone is required to separate three newborns from their mothers and advance them to the Enclave, a privileged society inside of a wall. Gaia believes that she is giving the infants a better life, even if it causes grief to the families they leave behind. She doesn't question her duty to the Enclave until her parents are arrested after years of service, leaving behind a long ribbon with a secret code written on it. Despite the risks, Gaia is determined to get into the Enclave to rescue her parents. She quickly discovers that life in the Enclave isn't as good as it appeared from the outside, and the problems they face make her own knowledge essential to their survival.
Birthmarked was a really good, fast-paced read. The main characters were developed well - Gaia, for instance, was not a perfect person, but she had a really good heart and was easy to care about. Both Gaia and Leon (an officer for the Enclave) had strong identities rooted in their childhoods, and you could see how that shaped the way they saw their society. The concept of an inbred society was interesting as well . . . kind of made me think of AP Modern Euro, though. It was cool/freaky to see how the Enclave tried to deal with this issue, and also how outsiders like Gaia reacted to it. More importantly, Birthmarked totally sucked me in. It was exciting enough to give me the chills and make me want to stay up all night reading. Anyone who likes dystopian future should read this book.
Rating: 4/5
Completed: July 5, 2012
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