The Declaration , by Gemma Malley

Paperback, 301 pages

Published May 5th 2008 by Bloomsbury (first published January 1st 2007)

ISBN

0747587744 (ISBN13: 9780747587743)

edition language

English

original title

The Declaration

series

The Declaration Series #1

 

In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young.
Children are all but extinct.
The world is a better place.
Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status.
Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.  

 

 

My Review

The concept and idea behind this book was very carefully planned and thought out in a way that was clearly meant to be engaging when it came to the readers and drawing in their attention. I liked the fact that the book itself seemed to have this very thought provoking essence to it, this concept that seemed wrong and yet at the same time seemed like it could actually happen and be possible as well. The novel is set in the future. A time where drugs have been created to ensure that you do not die, nor age that much. However, with people living forever and still having children the world becomes overrun and something therefore has to be done. Their answer to solving this problem.... stop allowing babies to be born. It seems to be an idea that many peoplen get along with but at the same time there are still those couples who want and dream of having children, and so they do. The problem then is getting caught. If your caught then the baby is taken away and they become surpluses, which basically is another word for slave. These children are brought up to believe they are not worth anything, that they are foul, disgusting and unwanted. They are told mother nature is ashamed of them, and that they have no rights in this world. And they are brainwashed to believe this. To me this seems like a very harsh part of life because no child should be made to feel that way. I know when I was growing up I was made to feel like a special princess who was loved and wanted, and that I was.

 

What I liked about this novel though was the fact that the concept and idea of it just drew you in. You found yourself living in the moment as if you too were a surplus having their world turned upside down by another that knew the truth, knew what was truly right and wrong. The book is thought provoking because it challenges you to look at the angle of the book from all sides, to see where each belief has come from and what it means to others. It makes you wonder what would and could happen in the future if this were all to play out, and would we ever be able to treat a child in such a way. I suppose a part of me did get annoyed with Anna though, and how stubborn she was acting, but I also understood the reason for why she was acting that way when she had been brought up to believe she was wrong, and not wanted. The perspective of the book is therefore reached from all angles, points of views and characters. You really seem to get a feel for what it is that their world involves and how it is different for each and every person.

 

The ending seemed somewhat rushed, mainly because everything seemed to happen just like that, but at the same time it was an ok ending that just put other things into perspective, but in fact leaves you wondering, yeah, it can't really be all that easy now can it. I know there are two more books after this series adn I look forward to reading them merely to see what occurs afterwards, for I would like to see Anna and Peter trying to make a difference out of the world, perhaps breaking this pattern of needing to live forever and letting the children suffer. This was a highly captivating read, easy going but thought provoking.  

 

My rating