Review: Beauty within Cruelty
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2013
Clissa is a young woman at the brink of adulthood.  This is the time that she should be excited and preparing to spend her life with her betrothed partner, Helaine. Except nothing goes to plan once Clissa falls in love with her best friend, Destral, who is a heterosexual. The characters in this book live in a harsh and unforgiving world where love is reserved for their deity, Basti, and marital unions are only between same sex couples.After their taboo relationship is discovered Clissa is re-assigned to a new home and undergoes "re-education" to become right with Basti.  All homes in Bastia are run by two parents: the Dis (Disciplinarian) and the Nur (Nurturer).  It is the job of both parents to make sure their adopted child learns all of the practices and rituals of the Bastain law and religion. Will Clissa earn her adult name-Clissine after her re-education?  And what happened to Destral?This is a hard review to write because there were many aspects I liked and disliked about this book.  First, the synopsis captured my attention right away because I LOVE feminist dystopian novels and have read The Handmaid's Tale and The Gate to Women's Country. I also liked the concept of a matriarchal society where homosexuality is the norm and heterosexuality is taboo and improper. But, this novel was nothing like I expected and the author succeeded in writing such a vivid, original, and unique universe instead of just a story.Unfortunately this one almost became a DNF to me because I struggled with the age play content.  This is the first time I have encountered age play in a novel and it personally makes me uncomfortable.  However, reading is an experience and now from experience  I know that this type of content is now a hard limit for me.  Regardless, I enjoyed the core of the story and will pick up the next in the series.While I was reading it was near impossible for me to envision what was going to happen and how the story would end.  There is no cliffhanger but there is also no happy ending either.  Finally, I would recommend this to those who are looking for a thought-provoking and edgy story inside a colorful but cruel world.