Review: The Forever Contract (A Dystopian YA Novella) by Avery Sawyer

The Forever Contract by Avery Sawyer

ebook, 46 pages

Published: August 1st 2012 by Planet Explorers Publishing 

Review Copy: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon

 

Goodreads Description:

In the very near future, the country is plunged into drought and unrest. Scare resources and constant heat are making life completely miserable. Casey doesn't think she can stand slugging back another gel pack or working one more shift at the wells. Fortunately, there's a solution: anyone over the age of seventeen can sign the Forever Contract and enter a utopian paradise. While people's minds take a permanent vacation, their bodies get warehoused and hooked up to a complex array of sensors and feeding tubes. As Casey's brother says, "You upload your consciousness to the system and you're free to live as long as you want, however you want. No more pain, no more heat, no more awful dust, no more work. Just pure thought. It's what our species has always been meant for. Suffering is for philosophers. Not for me."

Casey's ready to sign--a permanent vacation is just what she needs. There's only one problem: her boyfriend James doesn't trust it.

Told from his and her perspectives, The Forever Contract is a 17,000 word (60 page) novella suitable for readers in grade 8 and above.

Would you sign the contract?

My Review:
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I purchased The Forever Contract awhile ago, but only now got around to reading it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. It was intriguing, and left me eager to see what would happen next. Even though it was only 46 pages, I believe that Sawyer managed to craft a very emotional story that readers can easily lose themselves in.

It's a set in the future, when resources are scarce and people are desperate to escape the pain that has become their daily lives. Upon their seventeenth birthday, people are able to sign the Forever Contract, a contract that will bring them happiness. But the contract isn't as it seems.

The happiness they are promised comes with a price, and it'll take two teens, Casey and James, to uncover the truth.

My only problem with The Forever Contract is that I wanted more when I finished the story. This isn't a bad thing. Actually, I'd love to see Sawyer turn this into a full novel, or even a novella series.

If you're looking for quick read, The Forever Contract is definitely worth checking out.

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