Customer Reviews

The Declaration

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set, once wrote that there are three ways of writing for children. The first is to cater to what children want (but people seldom know what they want and this usually ends badly), the second develops from a story told to a specific child (Lewis Carrol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics), for instance), and the third is that it is simply the best art form to convey the story.

Gemma Malley's debut young adult novel, THE DECLARATION, is of the last category.

I am making this point because while THE DECLARATION involves two teenagers, fourteen-year-old Anna and fifteen-year-old Peter, it never feels aimed towards the teen audience Therefore it is categorized as a young adult novel by the age of its narrators rather than its content and this, I believe, will give it an enduring quality. C. S. Lewis wrote, "Where the children's story is simply the right form for what the author has to say, then of course readers who want to hear that will read the story or reread it at any age."

THE DECLARATION opens in the year 2140, and people have conquered death in the form of Longevity drugs. With limited food and fuel resources, waste has become a serious crime and the worst crime of all is having a child. Anna is one of these children. She is housed at Grange Hall where she and other Surpluses are taught that the most they can ever hope for is a harsh life of servitude to make amends for their existence.

Anna is well on her way to becoming a Valuable Asset when Peter arrives at Grange Hall. He challenges everything she has learned by arguing that people who take Longevity are the real criminals and perversions of nature, not the young. He also claims that he knows her parents and that they want her back. Peter is strange and new, but is he enough to make her risk everything to escape with him?

Unlike some novels that use characters, plot, and setting as a vehicle to drive home a message, Gemma Malley never lets the moral and ethical questions she raises detract from the actual story. The characters are well drawn and identifiable, and the language is simple and unpretentious. THE DECLARATION is not without flaws, especially the failure to explain or integrate Mrs. Pincent's involvement with the black market product Longevity+ into a major plotline, but this lends mystery and excitement for a sequel.

Even though it contains a handful of science fiction and young adult hallmarks, such as a utopia/dystopia setting, wonder drugs, and finding and defining oneself, it cannot be dismissed as merely a youthful 1984 knockoff. It is mostly a book about people, fear, and loss. Themes that are, if not always, exquisitely accessible in this age.

Five Stars and a Gold Award.

Reviewed by: Natalie Tsang

What if there was a drug that allowed you to be immortal? Would you take it, even if it meant you would not be allowed to have children? Would you opt out, even if that put you in the tiny minority? How would society deal? How would they treat those children who are still born to parents that are immortal? How would a society of adults over the age of 40 react to youngsters? How would they justify living forever?

Surplus Anna lives in the Surplus Hall, the "home" for those that Mother Nature doesn't want. Those children who are born outside of The Declaration. Created by selfish Legal parents, who are now in prison for their crimes. But Anna is a Valuable Asset and therefore might make something of herself someday, as a good servant in a good household.

That is, until Peter enters her life and challenges everything that she has known to be true. He tells her that her parents really did love her and wanted her. That they sent him to find her. That she's not unwanted and that they aren't the surplus population, that instead it is the adults who have outlived their welcome on the planet.

The Declaration was a stunning book that I just couldn't put down. I was never quite sure how it was going to end, yet when I got to the ending, it was exactly how it should have been. I enjoy societal challenges and questions, so I found this book to be a great exercise in what ifs. How would a society truly react to immortality? It would be tough, there would have to be population control and energy control, and I thought Malley did a great job of bringing up and answering these questions.

I was left with some questions by the end of the book. I wasn't quite sure how long people had been able to be immortal for and why they had to make the decision at the age of 16. Part of the problem, of course, is that the narrating character isn't privy to this knowledge and it didn't really bother me as I read. Malley did address why they didn't just put in birth control drugs with the longevity drug, but I also wondered why they didn't sterilize people who signed The Declaration. My personal theory is that, while they may call these children Surpluses, they also need them for the slave labor they provide. When people live forever, doing menial tasks becomes even less appealing.

Overall, this book is a great discussion starter, the kind of book that you might be forced to read for school, but actually enjoy. If I had kids I would probably put this on their required reading list, just because it challenges you to think about life in a new way. The question of immortality is a hard question. I really want to have kids one day, I love working with kids and enjoy the challenge of shaping young minds. Still, the idea of death terrifies me, and I think if I could still have one child, this would be an easy decision. But to never have a child and instead live forever? That's not a question I can come up with an easy answer to. And in the book, it's a question that people are asked at the age of 16 - that's when they have to decide if they are in or out. Which doesn't exactly make sense though, since the history in the book seems to say that society realized very quickly that even one child was too many. Maybe it refers to the people who were children when the drug first entered mainstream usage.

A great aspect of the immortality drug was that people may stay alive, but they don't stay young exactly - their skin still sags and plastic surgery is still a necessity. Instead, the organs seem to stay young, but the outer shell is aging. Also, Malley addressed nicely how afraid of death immortality has made people. One character helps out Anna with her eventual escape, but immediately flips when the Catchers (people who bring in the Surplus children) threaten her with death. The idea of death becomes even scarier when you no longer think that it will happen one day.

Back to the story, though. Anna is an interesting character and you see the world through her changing eyes. She starts out basically a brainwashed slave. Through Peter's interactions, though, she makes her first friend, falls in love for the first time, and experiences other firsts, some as simple as having her mother hug her for the first time (well, that she remembers). Anna is a good character to see this world through and is a great medium for Malley to tell the story.

I do wonder if the story is really over though, and I hope Malley will revisit this world. It felt like Anna's tale could be considered over, but there is obviously a lot of change that will be coming to this world in the near future. There were other story threads left unfinished and I'm curious to know will happen in the near future, as the world seems to be on the edge of revolution.

This one started out great for me. Interesting premise and a character I wanted to get to know. But I felt like I couldn't really get into this one as much as I would have liked. Many of the characters seemed sort of flat, and I felt like the romance that developed between the two main characters wasn't realistic. It's still a decent read, but not as engrossing as I expected. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series or not.

I've been on a kick recently of reading post-apocalyptic novels, and when this popped up in my "recommended for you" queue from amazon, it sounded intriguing. I got halfway through the book before noticing how...odd the storyline was becoming. How stem cells suddenly featured prominently, put up against "Nature" (always capitalized in this book). However, I think my main issue with this book, and the series as a whole, is how off-kilter the main character is. Her personality changes from chapter to chapter, and book to book. In this book, it appears the author is trying to shape her as a "wounded dove" trying to find herself. Unfortunately for readers - the female protagonist is unable to do anything for herself without the help of a man. It's a rather sexist look at "female empowerment", made even more jarring in that Anna's self-worth is wholly wrapped up in her possession of a womb. Throughout this book, and the next two, the narrator reinforces the concept that Anna only wants to be a mother, and that caring for her children and the future generation is what she is meant to do.

If you're of the opinion that Nature is always better than Science, and that women are nothing more than a womb and caregivers (while men are fathers and fighters), then this is the book for you! If you're more of the Katniss/Hunger Games post-apocalyptic story reader, then stay far away from this.

Also, to be nit-picky - the character's emotions are described in one of two or three ways. Anger is either: flashing eyes, or a pulsing vein. Happiness: a smile or...that's about it. None of the characters seem to have any other emotions, other than occasional feelings of inadequacy, described in the same way for each character, each of whom feels it at least once.

I had high hopes for this book, but was very disappointed. Instead of a gripping story with an underlying message, it was one looooong blatant political lecture. Very didactic and preachy. Liberals are the compassionate good guys, anti-immigration, greedy, resource-sucking conservatives are the evil bad guys yada yada yada. Very unimaginative.

This triology, set in England, looks at how the world could react to a drug that allows 'legals' to live forever if they agree not to have any children (in order to preserve the current way of life/balance of mother nature in terms of using the resources available. There's only so much electricity, oil, etc., to go around).

While this story clips along at a decent pace, the characters are rather flat and while the world is interesting, there's some huge flaws that kept me from enjoying this book.

The story is set in 2140. That's about 130 years from now and somehow the creation of longevity drugs has completely erased the world's moral code. Surplus children (those who's parents decided to have children despite saying they wouldn't) are rounded up and taken from their parents (even children who were born to parents who 'opted out' of the agreement and aren't taking longevity drugs can be snatched with no penalty to the catchers) and deposited in 'halls' where they are brainwashed, beaten, downtrodden, starved, used for stem cells and sometimes killed. And this is OK to most members of the public (frequently, 'legal' people say surpluses should be put down, like animals). This is all done because Surpluses 'don't deserve to live/have good food/hot water/electricty/see the sky' because mother nature doesn't want them. Eventually, those Surpluses who are trained and downtrodden enough are given to legal people to be servents.

History has shown us that humans are very capable of doing terrible, evil things to other humans...but I guess I had hoped that society would have progressed enough that most people would be outraged at anyone being treated like this (especially children).

But the main issue with this book is that characters and events change on a dime. Surplus Anna has never known a kind word or touch in her life yet she is perfectly willing to curl up with Peter the first chance she gets. Likewise (SPOILER) Peter declares his love for Anna despite only having a few conversations with her/spending very little time together. While I could accept the way Anna's feelings progressed toward Peter, Peter's were too sudden to be realistic.

Also SPOILER: Anna has been brainwashed into believing her parents are evil because they broke the declaration and had her. She says, many times, that she hates them in the beginning of the book. Yet the first time she sees them, she falls into her mother's arms and sobs in happiness. I'm not an expert in brainwashing, but somehow this reaction seemed a little far-fetched.

Mrs. Sharp is told that she will be tortured/eventually killed and her husband will suffer if she doesn't tell the catchers everything she knows. She tells them and they just walk away and leave her be. She suffers NO reprocussions for what she has done (despite the fact that she has apparently broken many laws). It makes no sense.

I was also at a loss to understand society's reaction (SPOILER) to the escape of two surpluses...it seemed very overblown, but because this is a triology, I expect this issue will be dealt with further in other books.

All in all, it's not a terrible story. The world is interesting and the head of the hall has a very interesting (but a little too neatly ended) story that actually surprised me (not by what happened but by how it happened). But the writing didn't challenge me much and the plot problems convinced me that I don't want to continue with this series.

There are many better dystopian books out there...this one just missed the mark for me.

In the year 2140, it is 60 years after the Declaration which required everyone taking Longevity, a drug that stopped aging, illness and death, to stop having children. Only those rare few who "opt out" of the drug could have children, so for the most part, the world is empty of children. Children born illegally to those on the drug are "Surplus", captured, sent to brainwashing centers where they are raised to be useful servants. This story of Surplus Anna begins when she is 14 living in a center, soon to be sent out to work. She has been fully trained to be compliant, believing her parents are criminals, that she should not use any of the worlds resources and doesn't have a right to be alive. A new surplus arrives and everything she believes is challenged and her acceptance of her status and security that provides is suddenly threatened.

The Declaration challenges its readers to consider the effect of biotechnology advances and whether a disease free world is worth the consequences. Longevity was created as a cure for cancer and AIDS and ended up making people live too long for the earth's resources. The themes of population control, free will, value of life and death are all themes reminiscent of other young adult fiction: Margaret Peterson Haddix' Shadow Children series and Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

My favorite quote from the book is: "I think flowers can be just as important as food, sometimes. I think it depends what you're hungry for".

This book surprised me in a good way. I had expected to give it 3 stars, but in the end I had to give it an extra star for the huge twist that I never saw coming.
This book has the political view points of Unwind and the government pull of Hunger Games. During the story you find out what happens to the word when a drug company finds a way for people to stop the aging process and what has to be done in order to preserve resources. People are made to sign a declaration in which they promise to stop having kids in order to take this new longevity drug and live virtually forever. But, as you guessed some people decide that having kids is worth more and go against this order. The story goes on to tell how a Surplus (a child born after the declaration was put into effect) has to lie and what they are taught about their life.
This book is sad and I felt strong emotions for Anna. No child should ever have to go through what she and several others were made to endure. If you liked Hunger Games and Unwind I would say give this one a try. It is the first in the series and it is milder compared to the two mentioned but I think it is a worthwhile read.

You've probably heard the sayings "all good things must come to an end" and "life is good," right? Well, obviously life must come to an end. You don't need sayings to know that. But in this futuristic tale by Gemma Malley, the good life never has to end. Every legal 16-year-old gets to choose. So, what's the choice? Eternal life or a child. Just sign the Declaration and you're in - forever.

The problem for 15-year-old Anna is that she's not legal. She doesn't get that choice or any other choices because she's Surplus. All the children who weren't supposed to be born are Surplus. For Anna that means Grange Hall, a training facility, where she's being programmed to serve the `immortals' until her short miserable life is over. She's been beaten, starved and brainwashed to believe that her parents were selfish to have her and that it would take her whole life to atone for their sins.

Then 16-year-old Peter gets dropped off at Grange Hall by the Catchers. But Peter's no ordinary Surplus. He's got confidence and spirit and all his attention is focused on Anna. He tells her he knows her parents and that they love her. He says he got caught on purpose so he can help her escape. He's definitely getting into Anna's head. Anna's life depends on her ability to continue her training without distraction but it's getting harder and harder for her to maintain her focus. What if Peter's telling the truth? How long can she suppress her hidden hopes and dreams for a real life outside of Grange Hall? Is this a trick? Is it a test to see if she's ready to advance in her training? Or could everything she believes in be one huge pack of lies?

The Declaration is a thought-provoking read and the way things are going now it may not be too far off from tomorrow's truth.

I really enjoyed this book- it is reminiscent of Dickens and 1984. The author gives you a true feel of the horror Anna- a surplus- is forced to endure as a child unlawfully born in a world of non-aging adults. Having a child is considered a drain on resources and considered illegal unless the parents are willing to give up the pills that provide immortality. Even giving up the pills does not always guarantee the bureaucracy of the government is not going to take children unlawfully. The children are sent to Grange Hall, a sort of prison/orphanage, run by a ruthless matron. The plot is a the usual dystopian plot- the main character must escape the wretched life forced upon them. Some of the book is predictable, but I have to say the ending has some nice twists I did not see coming. My biggest complaint was the lack of closure for some of the characters. Once I was done reading I had a sort of "hmm." moment. The author failed to explain what happened to the characters and sort of left the horror of the Declaration intact, with no overall change to the oppressive regime.

***UPDATE My biggest complaint was the lack of closure, but then I found out a second book was coming out so that should take care of closure issue.