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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Joanne Woodley's Destiny, Oklahoma roofer Jacy Deere is ordered into a government relocation program. The world has undergone a complete environmental collapse, and global war has reshaped daily life. People are at the mercy of those in power who have restricted access to food and housing. Jacy is sent to a secure commune in Michigan, where officials operate a system that transfers human cognition into engineered beings called Terrans, designed to replace human labor. Like many others, Jacy is pushed through the procedure and confined in a controlled environment. Behavior is wholly regulated through intensive monitoring, medication, and horrific punishment. Amelia Alvarez, a traveler he meets before entering the commune, uncovers the real purpose of the program and joins a resistance group working to dismantle it. As Amelia attempts to reach Jacy from the outside, a system is actively rewriting his identity and eliminating all resistance.
Joanne Woodley's Destiny is a spectacular dystopian story. It subverts the rights of everyday people into programmable assets, extending surveillance into the human mind. Jacy was a difficult character for me initially, and while I empathized with him, he frustrated me sometimes. My heart did a complete 180 when he quietly gave David, a Terran boy, extra food. The character development is great and extends beyond the main leads. Danielle is extraordinary as another Terran child with a unique trait that alarms those in control. General Balthasar is a brilliantly diabolical antagonist who does the unthinkable, like punishment by electrical weaponry. One of the most important factors in dystopian reads is immersive landscaping, and the author nails this with settings, from a ruined roadside settlement of abandoned homes to the commune's Victory Building and its freezing concrete cells, where the breath of inmates is visible in the air. This is the perfect book for readers who adore the best of the best in dystopian speculative fiction. Very highly recommended.
