If you like: Margaret Atwood, Ernest Cline
If you're in the mood for: dystopian, young adult, sci fi, mystery

This original audiobook had me hooked from the beginning.

In a world where there are no men due to a virus, Athena must make a choice.

The story slowly unfolds in a suspenseful, gripping way that keeps you hooked.

I'm giving it 4 stars because it had a unique premise with an interesting execution.

My Personal Rating: 8/10 Great!

What would the world look like 50 years in the future after a virus wiped out all of the men on earth? Pretty darn awesome. This was such an enjoyable and super fun read - I loved every minute of this book. I do think it would be better reading than listening but I was fully engaged and had no issues stretching my imagination to fit in this dystopian world that Athena lives in. I would love to continue books in this world and learn more about the how the past 50 years developed and what happens next as time goes on. Lots of great imagination in this one and a suprise that a world full of women was written so well by a man.

I will look forward to reading more from Adam Boostrom - Please do so soon Adam!

***3 Stars***

Athena Vosh lives in the year 2099, a year where no men exist. An experimental virus killed all the men on earth decades ago. However, a project is in the works to bring men back. Athena is chosen by the police to help investigate who sabotaged the project.
Honestly I thought the premise of this book was really cool and I was so excited about it. However once it started, I realized this is a young adult book which changed the premise for me a lot and was kind of disappointing.
I experienced this in audiobook form and must say the narration was great.
Unfortunately just not for me.

Special Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting premise starts this book - all men and trans men have been killed off by a virus. First intended time kill only violent terrorists, the virus evolved and was a death sentence for all men.

I enjoyed the start of the novel, some of the futuristic ideas - the virtual assistant - the clothing recycler that makes new outfits out of old (how Cher from Clueless would have loved this!) - all nice touches. The author has clearly thought really carefully about what the future could look like.

However, things soon get more complicated for our heroine, Athena. She is recruited by the mysterious ‘Core’ to get to the bottom of a mystery that will affect all of woman kind. Beset by mysterious dreams, can she piece together the puzzle in time to save her friends?

To be honest, I began to lose interest towards the end of the novel. Athena seems to struggle to make any kind of meaningful decision. Instead of become more attuned to the character, I cared less and less for her. And as useful as it is to the narrative, I didn’t really like her conversation with the omniscient ‘Core’ as the main explanation for the story.

Negative thoughts aside though, this is an interesting premise for a novel, and it’s reasonably well executed. It will probably appeal to fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent and the like.

On a side note about the audio presentation of the novel, the narrator was perfectly suited to the virtual personal assistant - there wasn’t always the depth of emotion for the ‘love’ characters though. Also, the constant pronunciation of the name Athena as Athener did get on my nerves slightly - this may well be an accent issue though and me being picky!

Athena's Choice is an interesting story about a world after a Y-fever pandemic. Approximately fifty years ago, Y-fever spread through the world and caused the death of all men, transmen, and a small percentage of women. So there are only women now inhabiting the Earth.

The story and the whole idea of this book are very attractive, and I liked it. I listened to the first third with anticipation of what will happen next. But somewhere halfway, I was beginning to lose interest. The whole story was interesting, but some other things bothered me. One was that I couldn't quite connect with the characters. Second, I missed some info on how does the world look like without men. I felt like a million questions here were left unanswered.

The cover is beautiful. It was one of the reasons why I requested this audiobook. 3,5 stars (rounded to 4) from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

Wow! This was not like anything I have read before. I'm normally not a sci-fi fan but this futuristic mystery/crime thriller kept me intrigued throughout. The detail and character depth was great, the story line had good flow and even though the world was like nothing we know now the author did a great job of painting the picture of what the future could hold. The narrator was great and also kept pace with the flow of the book and characters.

This was a primarily YA/scifi book. I enjoyed the book even though I did not necessarily agree with some of the directions taken and opinions expressed.
The book is set in a far future in which a viral infection wiped out all of the men on Earth, along with a few women. It follows Athena Vosh, a teenager who longs to make her mark on the world through her art. She starts having dreams of an ancient library and is tapped to find a missing formula which could potentially restore the male genome to the world.
It posits a world in which artificial intelligence has become a reality and the advances of this world do seem possible. Much of the information concerning this world are dispensed through news clips, articles and Wikipedia entries. There is much generalization on the differences between male and female and that was for me a tad over simplistic.
Overall a good read if you like science/speculative fiction.

Thanks for Netgalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 2099 and the world is post-pandemic that has wiped out all of the men. They have been blamed for all the evil in the world - wars, crime, the suppression of women, yet... are they missed? It is left to Athena to decide whether bringing men back into society would be beneficial, necessary or its downfall.
Well narrated and a great and unusual story,

Unfortunately, I was not able to download this book (as the same as other NetGalley audiobooks) so I am unable to provide any form of review

“Athena’s Choice” left me disappointed. The premise of this book seemed intriguing and a break from the same story - the gender of men is diseased, have died out and this leaves women in power of everything coupled with the fact that most women have never even seen a man - I was hoping for more. The most disappointing part of this book is the narrator (I listened to the audiobook), the narrator seems very flat for most of the book and does not pull the reader in at all, I may have actually enjoyed this story if I read the words.

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

In reality, I probably wouldn’t have finished this if it wasn’t an audiobook. Sci-fi isn’t normally something I’m into reading, but I liked the description. I think the story was overall interesting. I liked the characters. The writing seemed okay, a little juvenile in spots. The style was sort of all over. I think that someone that likes this genre might like it better. But I did want to find out what happened so I kept listening.

Athena's Choice takes place 79 years in the future when a mutated virus spirals out of control killing all men, trans men and some women. The Lazarus gene, however, is a preserved specimen of male replication, and is stolen. Athena is requested by the AI who looks over womankind at present to help solve the crime whilst asking questions such as: should the gene be found? Does it benefit humans to have men in a thriving world?

I honestly didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. In recent years, there's been many books questioning women's reproductive rights, men's roles in society, gene alterations etc. what I didn't realise was what all these were missing: an invigorating world with lovable and developed characters that aren't so developed there is only personal philosophy, and developed enough that I hoped for each character. Athena wasn't trying to be different or the same, she was just Athena, and she was struggling like the rest of us did at her age. I also appreciate that it was written by a man and didn't end with men being superior or essential, but wanted and useful. I enjoyed the representation of relationships throughout the book and that trans men were included, but I'll admit I did cringe little at every sexual injection. I understand, it's a book about sex, reproduction, genetics, life and whilst it does give a subtle nod to women taking hold of their own pleasure and orgasms, I felt some of it was unnecessary in such a serious plot.

Over all, Athena's Choice is a thought provoking read with an almost utopia feel with juicy secrets encrypted in every page. The pace was perfect, each character felt necessary even if just to make a short point later and I truly enjoyed the interactions and dialogue which I feel sometimes ruins a good piece of literature.

I got the Audiobook, Athena’s Choice by Adam Boostrom Narrated by Alex Ford from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Athena Vosh lives just like any other teenager from the year 2099. She watches reality shows with her friends, eats well, and occasionally wonders to herself: what would life be like if men were still alive?
It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth. However, a controversial project is currently underway to bring men back. There's just one catch. The project has been sabotaged.
So begins Athena's Choice. When the police of 2099 are tasked with finding the saboteur, they receive a mysterious command to investigate the otherwise innocuous Athena Vosh. After it becomes clear that the young girl might know more than she lets on, Athena is brought in to participate in the official investigation. Simultaneously, the girl begins to experience a series of cryptic dreams featuring a ruined library and an old book containing the saboteur’s true identity. As the police close in on their prize, Athena finds herself on a journey of her own. Her clue-filled dreams and incorruptible spirit bring her face-to-face with a pair of forgotten truths about happiness and gender. The world waits to see if men will return as Athena fights a separate battle, culminating in the choice that will define her and others' lives forever.

I Decided to get Athena’s Choice as the premise of the story sounded really interesting, as to what the world would be like without men. I must say this is one of those plots that sound good to read and the author actually pulls the story into a good read, which is not always the case.
One of the ways that the book gave some background into the world was the use of having Wikipedia pages in the book, which allows the author to put information out in a way that the reader may already get their information from normally.
The only weakness which some readers may feel is that the ending does not tie up all the loose ends when the book. For me I felt that it worked and took the story to a higher level. However if you like books that close everything up just be warned, although the book is still worth reading.
Narrator Review
I read this book using an audiobook which was read by Alex Ford, and most of the time I listened, at 1.5 speed and the voice at that speed was still clear.
As an English reader sometimes I find that American accents can lower the enjoyment of the book, however, Alex Ford’s voice allowed me just to concentrate on the story, which is all I want from the Narrators of my audio books.

Recommendation
This was a really fascinating story to read, as it did what all good Sci-Fi novels do, so if you are into books that give you the reader something to think about. Or if you just want a good story to read, Adam Boostrom’s book is one you should read.
In addition the quality of the Narrator makes reading this book, as an audio book, a strong option, however whatever format you use to read your books, you should read Athena’s Choice.

📖 Book Review 📖
Athena’s choice by Adam Boostrom
Published date - 19th March 2019 (I hadn’t looked at the date when I requested 😂)

So, I am not one for dystopian fiction, I have given up on The Handmaidens tale and 1984 twice, and it took me ages to read VOX as I kept putting it aside.

I LOVED this, and I will now try others in this genre.

I almost wish I had brought the book so I could have got through it quicker, loved the back story and how this ‘new’ world became. I enjoyed following the characters and could really visualise their setting.

This has become my favourite ‘listened too’ of the year.
#adambookstrom #athenaschoice #netgalley #dystopianfiction #bookreview #netgalleyreview #bookcommunity

Thank you to @netgalley and @IBPA for allowing me to review.

I don't understand the amazing ratings for this book. I found it to be super campy and slow moving. All the men have been killed off by a virus and women are still able to sustain life on the planet. There is a divide as to whether men should be "brought back to life" or left extinct. I read 75% of the book before giving up. The science fiction in the book is just lame, for example food is printed using edible plastic and one person is murdered by consuming food from her printer that was tainted.

It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth.

I listened to the audiobook of Athena's Choice and very much enjoyed it. I am an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi and often that means that some books feel very very similar to others but this wasn't the case for Athena's Choice.

The book grabbed me as soon as I read what it was about and I found it very interesting. If you like dystopian sci-fi this book is for you.

I loved the narrator and she was a pleasure to listen to. I listened at various speeds and the audio sounded nice on all of them (sometimes when you speed up it can sound annoying).

I enjoyed this one a bit more than I thought I would as I don't usually go for this type of story. I wasn't disappointed, the story was great and I would read more from this author and narrator.

Very well told dystopian novel that was easy to read and entertaining at the same time. Highly recommend this book for anyone who feels like the idea is appealing. You won't be disappointed.

I was so intrigued by the manner in which Boostrom shared the history of the Union through Wikipedia entries. It was a very clever way to convey the timeline of the story. I also loved the many innovations he developed in the book. Those who love fashion will want to have the ability to choose the clothing for the next day and it will be designed specifically for them and ready to wear the next day. It can also be recycled so new outfits can be worn every day. Foodies will enjoy the food printer allowing you to select and print the food you want to eat. Although in order to have higher in foods, you must purchase a more expensive model.

I am usually not a fan of dystopian novels, but this one caught my attention and I simply could not wait to find out the ending. The coming of age part of this novel is about Athena and the choices she makes throughout the book which shows her growth from a free-spirited teenager to a young woman who must put her life on the line.

I listened to the audiobook version. This setting of the book is the year 2099 and it's centered around a civilization where men are now extinct. Athena is the main heroine in the dystopian science fiction story. She begins to dream of places she has never been to. She is lonely, sad and feeling incomplete. She wishes for men to return. I really enjoyed this edge of your seat mystery/sci-fi/dystopian story. It is witty and thought provoking. I recommend this book to lovers of a great plot, sci-fi and a story to get lost in.