As always, Joe Hart has made reading pleasurable. This trilogy has been well written and very enjoyable.

I loved Zoey's story from beginning to finish. This book was a good and strong conclusion to the trilogy. Love Joe Hart's writing

Excellent conclusion to this trilogy! I was almost literally on the edge of my seat, following the twisted strands of this novel and the captivating, intelligent narrative. I will be adding this author to my 'always-read-his-books' list!

Joe Hart has a way with words! I didn't read the first two novels in this series, but it was easy to pick up the pieces with this one. He creates a world that isn't too removed from today's. His characters are strong, yet flawed, and that brings more depth to the plot.

Loved the trilogy. Zoey is a good character, brings to mind Swan in Mccammon's Swan Song.

A strong conclusion to a creative, original trilogy - I loved following Zoey's story from start to finish. I look forward to reading other books by Joe Hart in the future.

NB: If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, please be aware this review will contain spoilers for those books.

In The First City, the third and final book in The Dominion Series, we come to the end of Zoey’s story. Her fight has become even more crucial when she watches a video message informing her she has an unborn daughter back at the ARC… and is told she might hold the key to the survival of mankind. Unwilling to risk the lives of her friends, she sets off alone, traveling to Seattle in search of answers. What she finds is danger from both old and new threats, unexpected reunions, and—finally—the long-sought answer to who she is.

This is a fantastically satisfying wrap-up to the trilogy, and I enjoyed it immensely. There were no loose ends left dangling, and the resolution of each character’s journey always seemed fitting.

I’ve read several books in this genre, and this trilogy ranks highly as one of the best of them. I thought the basis of the trilogy—female births almost nonexistent, and the resulting consequences of that—to be a unique take on a dystopian society; an approach that (as far as I know) had not been done before. It created an even more frantic sense of impending doom, with the very real possibility that the human race could eventually die out. The way people reacted to this catastrophe—bringing out the worst, rather than the best in them—also felt like something that could easily happen in such a world.

If you’re a fan of this genre, you should give this trilogy a read. I think you’ll enjoy it, as a whole, as much as I did.

The First City is the third and final installment in author Joe Hart' The Dominion Trilogy. The story begins pretty much right where The Final Trade left off. Zoey has been on one emotional rollercoaster ride after the other since escaping from from a government (NOA) run camp for women. None as emotional as what happened at the end of the last book. Now, Zoey must once again put herself on the road to discovering whether or not that information is real, or just another way for Vivian to grab Zoey and keep her under her thumb.

One of the more curious scenes in the book, actually takes place as the story opens. It is a scene that goes back to when 3 month old Zoey was first brought to the NOA, where she is placed under Cleric Simon's care. But, what's most intriguing is that Lee, the boy that Zoey fell in love with, has been there from the start. This curiosity makes you wonder if Vivian was actually telling the truth about Zoey, and also about Lee for that matter. Can Zoey really be the KEY? Sorry to be vague, but keeping spoilers out of this book is pretty important.

Zoey's journey brings her to Seattle. Seattle is where the story is picked up by Lee, oh yes, Lee is still alive, and finding that keeping his actual identity a secret, is becoming even more important when the city is attacked by a character named Hiraku Hashimoto. Hiraku truly gave me the creeps because of the story that he tells Lee and the way he focuses on Zoey. On one hand, there are some good things about him, and then there's the part where he wants to destroy NOA for his own personal goals, and keep Zoey for himself because of a twisted encounter with fate.

His determination to collect any and all surviving women in the states, including Zoey, is rather creepy, and ends up with Lee and Zoey reuniting with Merrill and his group. At this point we understand that Zoey may be the most important person in the world, which is why Vivian is so insistent on getting her back. Zoey, who left her friends & allies behind after Merrill told her not to in order to discover truths on her own. Zoey, who eventually unravels truths about her parents, and whether or not they actually survived or not.

Author Hart puts a hurt on this story in a huge way. I can't tell you how emotionally drained this book made me before the final scene was revealed. There is plenty of action, plenty of cruel twists and turns, and a shocking revelation that I never thought I'd be right about.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an impartial review.

The First City serves as a satisfying conclusion to Hart's Dominion Trilogy. The basic premise in this dystopian series is that female children are no longer being born, thus placing the future of mankind at risk. The result is worldwide chaos, scientific experimentation, and brutal cruelty interspersed with incredible bravery and kindness.

Zoey, the heroine of the first two books, returns as the morally troubled young woman who is perceived as the "keystone" of future procreation. Along with her band of friends accumulated through sometimes deadly experiences, Zoey risks her life numerous times to confront the horrors of the past and build a future for all.

There were not as many violent encounters as there were in the second book of this trilogy. Despite this, there was still plenty of action where Zoey experienced self-doubt and self-criticism. Her questioning of her own goals and motives made Zoey an interesting and well-rounded character. The First City, the entire Dominion Trilogy, is a new take on the apocalyptic genre.

This was my first Joe Hart book and it will not be my last. Very impressed with the style of writing and the plot

This is the final book of the Domain trilogy and it concludes in a satisfying way without being to schmaltzy and the author giving every one a happy ending which I find works well, the pace isn't as fast as the second book, but the plot flows well and keeps you reading. There were still a few outstanding threads that could've been tied up, but maybe Joe Hart will do a series of prequel books to tie it all together as each character had a back story that we were only given a glimpse of. All in all a good set of books.

The First City is the final installment of The Dominion Trilogy, a dystopian trilogy featuring a strong female lead, Zoe. I recommend that those interested in reading this book read the other two before picking this one up. This entire trilogy revolves around a girl named Zoe who readers come to understand plays a vital role in saving a dying world where the birth of baby girls are practically non existent. The second book gives a hint of just how special Zoe is when she finds out she is the mother of a baby girl, presenting readers a glimpse of hope. This third book fills in the gaps of Zoe's story, both in the past and present. She winds up taking the story full circle, ending up back at the facility where the series began at one point. This provided good opportunity to reintroduce some prior characters, some of which are responsible for some interesting plot twists. I felt like the end was a little rushed and there were a few plot holes. Overall, the author did a very good job of bringing this trilogy to a nice conclusion.

To me, this was a little bit of a back step from the second book of the trilogy. Yes, this does conclude the story well, tying up most of the loose ends while leaving just enough threads dangling to retain a sense of credibility. Yes, the pacing is good and the plot is intricate without being confusing. However, I just found it all a little bit relentlessly depressing. There was a real feeling when I read of disaster fatigue and I became increasingly frustrated with Zoey, our protagonist, and her ineffable ability to make startlingly selfish decisions time and time again. I have always struggled with Zoey and I realised by the end of this book that unfortunately, I just don't like her and I don't understand what the other characters see in her and why they make willing sacrifices to keep her safe, mostly from herself! With all that being said, this is a good trilogy of books and I think that anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction will get something out of them, but I don't think I'll remember them in a few months.

,An exciting end to a fabulous series. There were twists and turns which captured the imagination in this dystopian novel. I can't wait for the next Joe Hart novel always a satisfying read.

With thanks for my review copy from Netgalley and the publisher.

"The First City" by Joe Hart is the final book in the Dominion Trilogy where we find Zoey finding out that she is the key to the salvation of the human race. She sets out to go to Seattle the last American city not sure what or who she will find. This book is the best book of the entire series as it did not remind me of any other story. This one felt more like to me that it come directly from the author's own imagination without other stories bled in. It was the best written of the books and made me want to read even more books written by this author. The story moved in a very good pace and it answered so many questions that the other two books did not answer and even answered questions I didn't even think of. It wrapped everything up in a neat little package. I would even like to see another series off of what happens in the end, I so wish I could explain that more but if I did it would give away the story. I highly recommend this whole series of books it is a well written trilogy.

As the end of Zoey's story, this trilogy has a good conclusion. We have more adventures with Zoey and her amazing escapes. You have to look away a little at how easily supplies are found (food, clothing, gas for cars, etc) in this post-apocalypse, but still the story is exciting. Zoey discovers more secrets, including who her parents are. Once her mother was revealed, I realized of course I should have seen it. Then I knew exactly who her father was, considering Zoey's toughness and fighting ability.
The ending is good -- we have a strong idea of what the future holds for the rest of society, but personally for Zoey, it's going to be a rough road.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Jacki – ☆☆☆☆☆
I couldn't wait for this book to come out and I was not disappointed! Zoey's story continues and we finally get the answers we seek!

Just when I thought things couldn't get more bizarre, they do! I don't like to give away much of the plot in my reviews, but I definitely enjoyed this book. It was full of twist after twist and definitely had my emotions running high.

Joe Hart's mind has definitely impressed me with this one! I felt that it was not only exciting, entertaining, and thought provoking, but also well thought out and included many relatable and conceivable human reactions that greatly affected the plot. I didn't feel like I was being told the story, but felt that I was right alongside experiencing it. That is a great gift for a reader.

I am somewhat sad now that it is over, but I am not left disappointed and I would greatly recommend this series to dystopian fans or anyone looking for something new and out of the box.

The First City is the third and final installment of The Dominion Trilogy I started reading some time last year. I remember not being completely convinced by the first book, especially because of the not-so-original dystopian plot and annoying main character, but I enjoyed the second book a lot better. This improvement was probably the main reason I decided to request a copy of the third book, although I don't like leaving series unfinished either. Unfortunately, I don't think The First City continued the same line of improvement seen in book two. In fact, I had a really hard time finishing this third book... Like I said before, I never liked the main character Zoey, but in The First City she is becoming amost impossible to tolerate. I have even seriously considered DNFing it at various points... Her self-centered, annoying and whiney dialogues and actions made this read into a true struggle. An example? Her thoughts are basically all about how she is only putting others in danger and that she should do everything alone; sacrificing herself for the greater good; just put that on repeat indefinitely and you get the idea. Luckily the other POVs were slightly better and that's probably why I decided to see it through. The plot yet again isn't all that original and I'm not sure if everything is completely credible, but the ending was satisfying enough even though a bit cheesy. All in all the best of this series definitely came a bit early.

Set in a not-too-distant future, Hart somehow manages to write with a range of possibilities, reinforcing the idea that this future is something that could easily happen because of everything humans are capable of...good and bad, and all in between.

The first 25% of this book was a little rough. Something didn't quite gel and it felt a little forced. Perhaps Hart knew where he wanted the second act to begin, but couldn't quite create a smooth transition from book two to that point in this book. However, once the dust settled from that portion, Zoey's and Lee's stories really took off with only a couple of snags.

The keystone. I think I'd rather not have her be such a savior and epic heroine type that would require such a moniker. Being the first one in a while to birth a baby girl is one thing, but let's chalk it up to science and study or chance and nature...let's not do the chosen one stuff. It just doesn't seem to suit either Zoey or the original feel from book one. However, this isn't something that turns into a mantra, and it is honestly barely said after that initial scene.

Something in this reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale, or an alternate version that could've come out of that trigger to Handmaid's dystopia. Hart has an excellent handle on addressing any anti-feminist ideas, whether intentional or not, and his creation of Zoey is fantastic and multi-faceted. Because, what is feminism if it's not about equality and respect?

I really enjoyed the full story arc as well as each individual book. The society seems appropriately harsh, and looking to the future makes it appear hopeless and unendurable, but the more Hart delves into this story, beginning with the first book, and the longer Zoey becomes familiar with life beyond the facility, the more hopeful and conquerable everything seems. This is a dystopian novel that is neither too bleak nor too far-fetched. Complete with fully-fleshed out characters and a science-fiction based plot excellently based on believable ground, the entire series ends in such a satisfying way that is neither too sugary sweet, wrapped in a bow, nor too desperate or tragic.

An excellent well written series. Highly recommended. I don't want to go into it, but you definitely need to read this. You should start with book 1 and enjoy the ride.