How much control is too much?

The world has ended, but humanity remains. After a solar flare decimated the earth, the survivors gather under the strict regime of The Community so they can cling onto life while they rebuild. Every aspect of life is controlled - from food rations, to fertility, even your social standing is decided through a structured and detailed set of levels.

Nora is level 4, but soon she's going to climb the ladder - she's so close to achieving as perfect a life as possible in a dystopian hellscape. She has a great job in The Community, she's engaged and her wedding is going to be the event that opens up so many doors for her. But now, she's pregnant. And she is most definitely not allowed to be pregnant right now.

Nora knows it's wrong, she knows The Community will never allow this - but she will never be able to escape their shadow until she finds out what's truly hiding the dark.

For fans of the Handmaids Tale, The Hunger Games and The 100, this dystopian nightmare is one that will definitely haunt your mind for a long time after the last page is turned. The world building is rich and hauntingly vivid, making such a different and broken world feel unsettling familiar.

Nora was one of those characters that wouldn't be out of place in an action movie - she's strong and isn't afraid to fight for those she loves, no matter how scared or unsure she is.

If you missed the glaring clue on the cover, this book has a deeply uncomfortable focus on womanhood and femininity - and the terrifying lack of female autonomy and control women experience even today. It finds the most sinister parts of real life, and humanity, and shows us a terrifying turn of events that might just be possible should the wrong things happen at the wrong time. As well as speculating on the truths of classism and environmental issues.

When I saw the cover and description, I had to read it. It was touch and go in the beginning but I managed to get through the why am I reading this part. From there it flowed better and left me hoping for another book to continue Nora's journey.

Yes, women played a strong part in this novel but it did take The Community to realize the bigger picture and to look outside the original Community. It would be interesting to see where it goes next.

Thanks to NetGallery, the publisher and the author for the copy in return for my review.

I always enjoy a dystopian novel, so I was excited to read this one! The beginning was a bit of a struggle to get through, but as I settled into the story, it was quite enjoyable! I liked Nora, and I felt like she was a great main character!

This was a slow burner to start with but as the tension in the plot increased so did the pacing of the book. It was well written with a good, if not somewhat confusing at times, plot and well developed characters. Since the recent pandemic I have started to read more dystopian fiction and this was a good read.

A very intense read. I will read this again and again.
Would love to read its sequel. Captures the reader, great plot twists, tragic end but beautiful.

The Community was a rigidly controlled society, but not one filled with devastation and rubble, with chaos everywhere. A bit of a slow beginning but the story quickly became a page turner as the curiosity of the characters' motives. Well written with engaging characters and a unique premise.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Talk about starting off right in the middle of the action! There were no slow chapters in this book. The Community tells the story of, you guessed it, a community in the dystopian future after climate change killed off most of the world's population. Nora, our main character, finds herself pregnant in a time where it is illegal to do so. Feeling connected to her unborn child because all of her family was taken from her by climate change disasters, Nora decides to go against the Community's rules and remain pregnant rather than having her pregnancy forcefully terminated. On the quest to save her child Nora learns that the Community is not everything it seems and that it is not as perfect as the senator, Nora's future father-in-law, leads everyone to believe. A great take on climate change, government control, and the rights of the people. If you are a fan of Falling and Uprising by Natalie Cammaratta or The Giver by Lois Lowry then you will most definitely love The Community by Heidi Visser.

I really felt for Nora and her predicament in this story. She is a well written character and her story is easy to identify with. Set in a grim dystopian world where your right to reproduce is no longer your choice, Nora has an illegal pregnancy and the story follows her fight to protect her unborn baby. Worth a read.

The Community, by Heidi Visser, is a dystopian tale of a community dealing with the late stages of global warming, forced sterilization, and all it entails.
I enjoyed this book, and thought the main character, Nora, was very relatable if you let yourself suspend disbelief given the circumstances. The subject matter was both fascinating, and frightening, given the state of the world we currently live in and the news we ourselves hear constantly regarding global warming and the disastrous effects it will cause if not averted.
I would recommend this book to anyone old enough to deal with the subject matter, and anyone interested in dystopian fiction.
4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.