I picked this book up thinking it would be a good read, but then the world seemed to decide that the world of The Auction is actually an ideal. So I found myself unable to finish the book at this time - its too real, which I think is a compliment.

I will return to this book when the topic of forced birth is not so prevalent, to allow me to escape for a bit. Kudos to the author, I'm about 35% of the way in and hope I'll finish soon.

The character and premise of the book are interesting but the world building doesn't support the story. Although this story is about women and children it's not a feminism story. Men are the heros here. .

Wow. If you’re looking for a book that hits a little too close to home, but still with an element of “what if,” this is the one I’ll be recommending from here on out. With elements of the Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, The Auction is a deeply thought-provoking novel with dark themes and difficult stories. PLEASE check your content warnings before reading this book, as some themes may be triggering to readers.

Set approximately 150 years into the future of the United States, the government has lost control of its finances, and in a frantic attempt to regain monetary power, it introduces the Auction. This system makes birth control illegal, abortion impossible, and punishments severe. Women become the ultimate baby incubators. Pregnant women are forced to marry the father of their child, regardless of how old they are or in cases of rape. This is the situation of 15-year-old Wendy, one of the main protagonists.

> “He raped me.”
Ralph leaned forward and gazed into her eyes. “Then you should be arrested. Rape is an antique concept that multiple research studies debunked seventy-three years ago. Nonconsensual sex does not exist. The law recognizes that in all cases of sexual intercourse, the woman bears the responsibility of initiating the act by enticing a man to engage in the activity, either through words, actions, dress, demeanor, behavior, or proximity. Female behavior that pushes a man beyond his capacity to control himself makes him the victim, not a criminal.” (65)
>

> When I was in school, I believed what the teachers taught us. ‘It’s the woman’s fault in all cases.’ Until it happened to me. I did nothing to lure this guy. I didn’t entice anyone. If he stole my purse, it would have been a crime. But raping me was my fault. (200)
>

Women are blamed for all sexual encounters, and are forced to pay the ultimate price for everything. Sometimes, the women *wanted* a child, as is the case of Millie, another one of the main protagonists. Millie and her husband have wanted a baby for 13 years, but she still ends up in the “pregnancy prisons” when her husband is in a severe car accident. Why? The government believes that disabled women (Millie is blind) have no capabilities to care for themselves, and even so, perpetuates the idea that women, even able-bodied women, are far inferior to men.

When babies are born, they’re torn from their mothers and put into the Auction, where couples are forced to bid at a minimum of $5,000 for a newborn baby. After becoming pregnant, women are forced to stop working until their last child turns 18, creating a circular system in which women are imprisoned. Even now, in cases of pregnancy, women in lower socioeconomic brackets and members of minority groups face a severe disadvantage to receiving healthcare, funding, and support. But the Auction takes this to an extreme.

I will say that at times, the writing style felt a bit off. There were certain chapters where the author’s voice didn’t feel as realistic as the rest of the book, but it didn’t distract enough from the overall story to be frustrating to read. This was a five-star read, through and through. But saying this was a good book? It’s difficult. This book is *dark*. It is hard. The material is rough. But it’s important. And important things are so very rarely easy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Elci North for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was looking forward to starting this book, as the premise sounded like an interesting scenario, appealing to readers of The Handmaid's Tale in the focus of the novel. It's very relevant to current issues surrounding women's rights, and certainly brings to light one of many terrifying scenarios that could unfold in the future.

However, I felt that the writing let the premise down. The dialogue didn't seem to propel the story as much as it could have, and many of the ideas could have been developed better than they are in the present edition.

The way to hell is paved with good intentions, they say. Where does the way paved with bad intentions and totalitarian control lead? Dystopia, for sure.

Jane, a student of software engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, gets drunk and sleeps with her classmate Dave Stowe and gets pregnant. Now in her second trimester, they are married, but Jane does not love him. Angelica dares gay Eric to do it with a woman and gets pregnant. Visually impaired Millie and her husband, Jason, are pregnant after 13 years of marriage and a number of miscarriages. Wendy, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, is pregnant after being raped by a psycho who breaks into her room while she is asleep and rapes her while holding a knife to her throat. She is constantly raped and tortured by her husband.

According to the law, women must marry the biological father of the child they are carrying. But Angelica doesn’t want to marry Eric. She wants to marry Angus, a rich lawyer who she loves.

The law also says that a mother may not study or work until her child turns 18. Also, couples must give up the child they bear to the government and must bid for and buy a child from the government-run auction. These laws, enforced by the Office of Reproductive Oversight, have been passed by President Boyce, who wants to bring back the Second Halcyon Days, similar to the 1950s and early 1960s.

Jane works on a secret project for her husband’s department. Angelica, who routinely uses drugs, pays Jane to buy her clean urine. When Jason meets with an accident, Millie is deemed unfit to live alone. Wendy’s husband is arrested for breaking the rules of his parole, and she has nowhere to go.

All four of them are sent to McKee Place, a jail for pregnant women who have broken the law or have no family member to care for them. But what the government doesn’t know is that the women may be bringing about a revolution.



The book is set in America in the future. The exact year isn’t clear, but it is after 2166. Each chapter in the book consists of first person past tense PoVs of Jane, Angelica, Millie and Wendy, in that order. The portions that are in the PoV of Wendy and those that relate to Jocelyn, another young girl, who is pregnant, in particular, make for disturbing reading.

The main narrative is interspersed with Flash Newsbriefs relating to political policies and the consequences they lead to. These are at first interesting, as the consequences of women withdrawing from the labour force mean labour shortages. But then the effect peters out, when there is more of the same.

The prison doesn’t feel like a prison at all. The women call it a “spa by the river” in a mocking tone, but the way they behave, it does appear as if they are on vacation. The menace exuded by the Office of Reproductive Oversight is not really felt. President Boyce who calls the shots doesn’t have an active role, beyond the Flash News Briefs, giving him an insubstantial air.

For a novel set in dystopia, we never get the impression of the characters being in danger ever. Even the Office of Reproductive Oversight is a silly little thing, getting flummoxed when two women tell them their appeal committee is invalid.

There were a lot of spelling errors in the copy. For instance, one of the characters talks about feeling ‘self-conscience’, rather than ‘self-conscious.’

There is altogether too much dialogue about banal, ordinary things. There is a lot of repetition with characters repeating their stories to different people in different words.

Towards the end, the book becomes increasingly more unconvincing as if the author just wanted to get the book done. The entire plan to take down the auction is propped on such a flimsy base as to be almost laughable. If the author had put some details about how Jane intended to hack the system etc, it would have helped. But all we get is that there are a lot of hackers in Russia, and Jane can’t explain things because her friends won’t understand. The hacking sounds like a ridiculously easy solution.

Also, the shipping of contraband books about the real history of the US happens easily, facing no objection from the authorities. The parts which Jane reads and explains are tedious.

The constant references to Angus’ sexiness and his perfection lose their novelty soon enough, but the characters don’t stop talking about it.

Millie’s heightened, almost superhuman, sense of smell should have been integrated into the plot, rather than being just an attribute of hers, used to tell the others about when meat is rancid. For a while, I hoped she might solve the mystery about whoever died in the room. But that didn’t happen either.

The arc of many of the characters is left incomplete. We learn nothing about the babies that the women give birth to. For all their grief about Wendy, they don’t seem to care as much about her child.

For a story that claims to be about women’s empowerment, the women get rescued by the men for the most part. It is Angus’ money that seems to buy a lot of concessions for them even in the prison.

The only reason Wendy has to die is because there is no loving male in her life. Otherwise, her depression isn’t very convincing.



There is no explanation for why Dave and Angus don’t believe the government’s propaganda, considering that the government has been spreading it for nearly a century. Also, why Angelica’s father and Angus are willing to spend their own money to bring down the government without any political motivation? Angus claims to want to bring down a system that denigrates women and yet he too hopes that his baby is a boy.

At one point, Wendy goes into a high-security floor of the prison where prisoners, deemed to be flight risks, are incarcerated in solitary confinement. Yet she escapes from there, and the author doesn’t tell us how.

The book is set more than 100 years into the future, but there is no mention of newer technology. Granted that communication technologies are deliberately kept low-key by the government, even the surveillance technology is exactly as we know it is in the present time. Even medical technology seems to be at today’s level. Dave returns from Russia, and says, they have made amazing advances with virtual reality. Bah! Virtual reality is already making waves today. Over 150 years later, you have nothing to add about the technology. The author has set the book in the future, but not created any setting in terms of time and socio-economic conditions prevalent.

Many of the readers compared this book to The Handmaid, but for me, this book was far from impactful. That was partly to do with the less-than-forceful plot resolution, and also with the fact that we in India are descending into a dystopia that is far worse than anything found in these pages. Being forced to marry somebody we don’t love is already a reality for many women around the world.

This was definitely a good read, but also a tough one based on the topic and themes it discussed. It was eerily similar to the world around us and really made me feel for the characters. I will have to say I didn’t love the author’s writing style, it felt a little chaotic and confusing at times. I think the story really touched on important emotions and how unfair the would can be to females and pregnant people. I definitely recommend this!

Babies as a source of income..... Interesting concept.... Women being stripped of basic rights to get that income up. This book seemed surreal to me at the time that I was reading it. Very interesting read. Author real paints the picture of what life could be like.

Much like The Handmaid's Tale, this is clearly inspired by recent events in the USA about erasing the rights of women to abortion. It tells of a dystopian society where women are forced to give up their babies at birth, due to the poor decisions of the men in power. It follows several couples who decide to fight back against the government. An enjoyable read, made all the more prescient by the USA's recent decision on Roe vs Wade.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

This book was definitely worth the read. As a woman's right activist, this book has many important themes that should be discussed and addressed especially during these times. I absolutely love the dystopian style and how real these issues were portrayed.

If you liked the handmaid's tale you'll love this. The representation and depth of the characters in this book is amazing

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this absolutely gripping book. The writing was fantastic and the plot was so addictive - I read this book in less than a day. The characters were very lovable and the diversity was also very well done. Millie, one of the protagonists, is blind and the book doesn’t focus on how it limits her but instead says how it helps her and how she isn’t held back by it. As a massive fan of A Handmaid’s Tale, this book was perfect.

This book was so well written that it made me the reader feel such anger and disgust. Funnily (and scarily) enough this has actually become incredibly relevant with Roe V Wade being overturned in the US and the government taking away women’s right to choose. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to dystopian lovers, feminists and anyone else. However, something I will say is read the trigger warnings for this book as it does mention rape a lot, ableism, sexual assault, violence, blood, pregnancy, misogyny & sexism, suicide, substance use and many others.

TW:// https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6ff69a09-9129-4a4c-ad07-59847a9f4955/content_warnings

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an eARC for my honest review.

If you love dystopian books that leave you wondering what if… this is it! It is a long, heavy read especially considering the current world events. The writing is great and the characters are relatable.

The Auction has an intriguing premise and a varied cast of characters. There are some moments of humour throughout the narrative that are effective, and the main female characters work well when they come together as a team when imprisoned. The ending is positive and uplifting.

Ultimately, the characterisation is a little thin due to a lack of interiority at times. The setting of the prison lacks punch - it seems unlikely that such a society would have a prison that seems to offer a good deal of freedom to the inmates. The male characters are one-note and the partners of the pregnant women (other than the one abusive one) seem a bit too good to be true in a society that would have taught them they’re inherently superior to women.

The exposition is clunky at times and veers repeatedly into “As you know …” territory. However, at times the narrative is quite effective - such as when we follow the blind character Millie. Moments when impact is created by characters describing things to her are well done.

Loved loved loved loved! I was in desperate need for a really great dystopian and The Auction did not disappoint! In case you can't tell from my first sentence, I loved everything about this book. The characters were so relatable and I got behind each one of them right from the beginning. It was a little daunting to realise there were 4 different women all telling a different story but they were actually really easy to identify and keep separate. This is a book that makes my face light up when I rave about it to people, even though my heart did break at one point and the ending wasn't what I was desperately hoping for (can't say more as it would be a spoiler). I can't recommend this book enough, especially to those who loved The Handmaid's Tale

Wow! This was an incredibly prescient page turner. I couldn't have picked this up at a better time, given the current state of politics. At over 500 pages, this is a fairly long book for me, but I sped through it because the story was so captivating!

The only reason I have it four stars instead of five is that the ending felt too abrupt to me. There was so much build up to what was going to happen, and then in the lass few pages it happened and then the book was over. It left me craving some more explanation as to how everything happened, and what the fallout was like afterward. Even though the book is long, I think it could have been even longer for this reason.

I really did love the story and just wanted to keep reading! I definitely recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC!

My stomach is aching and churning. 🤢
Days after Roe Vs. wade is overturned, I am struggling through this book that makes for a scary world of the lack civil rights for both genders.

In a world where Halcyon Days of the 50s are admired, the laws of government take EVERYthing away from women. Getting pregnant is no longer a part of life, for women it bears a punishment and comes at a cost. Even if you have a baby, you don’t even get to keep your own without the right amount of money. I clenched my teeth through the whole book. My stomach revolted as I know it’s fiction, but man how scary a world like this would be.

Books like The Auction or A School For Good Mothers are once again a display of Conversations about women that are happening without women being equally present and valued at the table.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook of The Auction by Elci North

Would you consider this a dystopian novel if we are actually living some of the content of this story in the great land of the United States?

The world that the author created and the characters were very real and I do feel like this is the 'Merica that we the people have created.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Elci North, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles. This book released on February 4, 2022.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
There are some books that when read, stay with you for a long time, and this is one of them for me, especially because of today’s current climate in women’s rights. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, the storyline and plot are beautiful, yes, I do think that it could be improved with better dialogue and the characters sometimes fall a little flat, but I still would put this book on my best reads of 2022.

The story was unique and delightful. If you love the handmaid's tale, then I will recommend this to you. I love the feeling of like reading a season of a series. The characters' backstories are well-written. The story is more character-driven which I liked. The characters are so natural and relatable. Their blossomed friendship made it more compelling to read. The theme of women's empowerment makes this worthwhile your time.

Although some plots are impossible to happen realistically, it's enjoyable and entertaining.

I'm thankful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is an interesting book to read after what has transpired this past week. Hitting a little close to real life. This story is scary to think about and will give the reader thought provoking topics to become aware of. The story brings together four different women, with four different stories and a glimpse of their lives while in a pregnancy prison. Each of these women are unable to decide their own fate, desires or outcomes they aspire to. The most basic rights have been stripped away from their lives. The reader could feel all their emotions, pain, angst and frustration that each of the characters are experiencing. What happens when four determined women are put together in a prison? I read as fast as I could to the ending because I had to see the outcome of this story. This is a story worth reading.