A dystopian read that imagines a futuristic feminist society where men have been "gentled" and women work together in a collaborative under the rule of Matriarchy. But things are not as they seem.

Reina has lived her whole life knowing that she was different, daring to question the way things are, and dreaming of being an Alexia. Over the course of the book I came to admire her for her strength, strong resolve, and willingness to sacrifice.

A dystopian new world that imagines feminism and masculinity taken to extremes, as Reina finds her eyes opened while fighting for the honor of Matriarch. I liked getting to know the other girls, as well as about the world around them as well as the differences between the provinces, though at times it felt heavy on the information dumping, and took a while to ramp up.

Overall, this was an intriguing read, though slow to start, I found that I had grown to care about the characters over the course of the book. While a work of speculative dystopian fiction it felt at times that the seams of the world were a bit rough. I loved Calisto, as well as Reina's brave gentle friends, I am interested to see where this will go.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.