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Reviewed by David Jaggart for Readers' Favorite
Hemlock Reefs by Darice Fetcher opens in a future where the Earth’s surface has been destroyed by war, climate collapse, and human ambition. Humanity now lives far below the ocean, protected by vast living walls known as the Hemlock Reefs. These reefs permit only approved citizens to pass through and destroy anything else that drifts too close. The story centers on Juan, a young man raised to value order and progress above everything else. Life inside the colony is tightly controlled: jobs are chosen by lottery, privacy barely exists, and knowledge is overseen by a group called the Party of Peers. As Juan uncovers pieces of the colony’s past and hears open debates about banned books and censored accounts, he begins to wonder whether a system built for survival is also keeping people from knowing the truth about their real history.
Hemlock Reefs is a fascinating dystopian sci-fi tale that uses a deep-sea setting to examine power and control in a regulated society. Darice Fetcher’s writing is deliberate, reflecting the strict and highly managed world, and making the world-building easy to follow. Juan is deeply influenced by the tension between what he has been taught and what he begins to question. His internal struggle carries much of the story and gives it direction. The novel also examines censorship and the belief that survival can excuse nearly any form of control. It reveals how damaging it is when people are treated as functions rather than individuals with value. Readers who have read 1984 or Brave New World may recognize similar ideas and find this book worth getting into. Overall, it's a good choice for readers who enjoy speculative fiction and engaging stories that unfold at a measured pace.
