Sponsored by HarperCollins Children's Books.
From Ellen Oh, co-founder of We Need Diverse Books, comes a gripping story inspired by her mother’s real-life experiences during the Korean War. Junie Kim just wants to fit in, but when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, she must decide between staying silent or speaking out. Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. As racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what’s right.
Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend one book for your TBR that I think you’re going to love! Genre fiction is my wheelhouse, and about 90% of my personal TBR, so if you’re looking for recommendations in horror, fantasy, or romance, I’ve got you covered!
I’m going to need a minute to collect myself, folks, because this week’s recommendation is A Lot. It’s one of those books that you know you have to have the minute you read the synopsis, and even before you start reading you know it’s going to be amazing. And it was. But this week’s book also takes the prize as one of the most upsetting, emotionally violent books that I’ve read in years.
Dark Lullaby by Polly Ho-Yen
Dark Lullaby is a bleak portrait of a future in which the world’s population has contracted. Sharply. Entire villages stand empty, abandoned, as the remaining population squeezes into city centers. Infertility has reached a staggering 99.8%, and natural conception is nearly unheard of. Children can only be conceived by Induction, a dangerous and difficult process of conception that kills women nearly as frequently as it succeeds in impregnating them.
And the trials don’t end there. Children have become the world’s most precious resource, and their rearing the primary business of the ominous Office of Standards in Parenting (OSIP). Fail to meet their exacting standards of perfect parenthood and your child will be extracted… for its own good, of course. In a society in which the majority of parents have their children taken from them, Kit knew the risks when she chose to have a child. But that doesn’t mean that she’s going to allow anyone to take her daughter from her without putting up a fight.
This book was such an upsetting read for me because you could clearly see how a future like the one Polly Ho-Yen depicts could be possible. Every description, every terrible reality that for these people was simply the “norm”, every bit of propaganda – it was so anxiety-inducing because I could see where Ho-Yen had found her inspiration. The world of Dark Lullaby is our world, just with all the dials turned up to ten. And being able to see that reflection of ourselves in the terrible mirror that Ho-Yen holds up was so unsettling that there were times when I felt physically ill.
Dark Lullaby is definitely a must read for horror or dark sci-fi fans. But be forewarned: this is not an easy read. It will enthrall you from page one, and haunt you long after it’s done.
Happy Reading!
Jessica