Click for Source Image by Ellie Bowker
Your worth in society depends on your health, age and contributions to society. At least, according to The System. You are given a score which is tattooed on your arm and changes every Assessment Day. Those with a high score can live happily and peacefully in the city whilst those with low scores barely scrape by, living off the bare minimum and experiencing the prejudice from the High Scores. Those with a score below 50 are ‘zeroed’. In other words, you are thrown outside the gates of Meritropolis to die, no exceptions. Sounds tough, right? Author Joel Ohman has cleverly created such a dark world filled with animal hybrids, corrupt government systems and the fear of our own ignorance.
Your worth in society depends on your health, age and contributions to society. At least, according to The System. You are given a score which is tattooed on your arm and changes every Assessment Day. Those with a high score can live happily and peacefully in the city whilst those with low scores barely scrape by, living off the bare minimum and experiencing the prejudice from the High Scores. Those with a score below 50 are ‘zeroed’. In other words, you are thrown outside the gates of Meritropolis to die, no exceptions. Sounds tough, right? Author Joel Ohman has cleverly created such a dark world filled with animal hybrids, corrupt government systems and the fear of our own ignorance.
Click for Source Image The story follows Charley, a young high scoring teenage boy who has recently graduated schooling and is thrown in to the bleak reality that is Meritropolis. Meritropolis is a society formed three years after “The Event” and although it is unclear what exactly the formidable Event was, we know that it was caused by man and so the foundations of The System were created to protect the 50,000 remaining human survivors. The gates surrounding the city protect the people from the animal combinations that now hunt and roam the Earth.
Interestingly, Ohman tackles the issue of disability discrimination and reflects that well in his story. When Charley was younger, Charley’s brother, Alec, was zeroed for having a score below 50. How did Alec manage to get a score below 50? Alec had Down’s Syndrome. For a writer, it can be risky to incorporate a sensitive topic such as disability discrimination within a novel, especially a novel that has an on-going concept that health determines your worth. However, Charley’s righteousness throughout the book is fuelled by the thirst for revenge for his brother. Not too far in to the book does Charley save a young girl paralysed from the waist down from being zeroed. It is obvious that to some degree Charley feels as though he is to blame for Alec’s banishment as he stood by and did nothing, which makes you empathise with Charley as he attempts to bring down The System.
The story was short but packed with action, suspense and moral undertones. Charley’s heart wrenching internal struggles made this book one that was hard to put down. Despite the fact that Charley is a physically strong and courageous character, he is not without his flaws. He makes brash decisions without thinking things through and his rage ignites a violence that is scary but also reckless. All the characters were written in a way that could draw a reader in. Sandy, our high scoring kickass female character, was really interesting, with a tragic back story, but I felt like there wasn’t enough of her in the narrative and at some points, it felt like she was there purely to add a romantic subplot. However, there were parts during the action where Charley would look over at Sandy to see if she needed help whilst she was fighting off (and basically kicking the butts off) two or three hefty guards on her own, and Charley would just be like “Nah, I think she’s got this,” which is a refreshing change to female characters needing help or rescuing.
The writing was enjoyable and didn’t try to overcomplicate things, which I think would’ve ruined the story if Ohman tried to make things bigger than they are. The concept is unique and enough to create an interesting story. The ending leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions that will hopefully be resolved in the next book because, Joel Ohman, you cannot just leave us on that cliff hanger! Or cliff hangers, should I say? Because a) what happened to Sven in The Tower? b) What happened to Abigail? And c) What happens next?!
As a big fan of dystopian fiction, I was really excited to read Meritropolis and I was not disappointed. For fans of dystopian, this has everything that you can hope to find. The open ending leaves me hopeful for a sequel and I highly anticipate it. I was really impressed by this book and would definitely recommend it. Watch out, because I can see Joel Ohman’s book becoming the next big thing.
Interestingly, Ohman tackles the issue of disability discrimination and reflects that well in his story. When Charley was younger, Charley’s brother, Alec, was zeroed for having a score below 50. How did Alec manage to get a score below 50? Alec had Down’s Syndrome. For a writer, it can be risky to incorporate a sensitive topic such as disability discrimination within a novel, especially a novel that has an on-going concept that health determines your worth. However, Charley’s righteousness throughout the book is fuelled by the thirst for revenge for his brother. Not too far in to the book does Charley save a young girl paralysed from the waist down from being zeroed. It is obvious that to some degree Charley feels as though he is to blame for Alec’s banishment as he stood by and did nothing, which makes you empathise with Charley as he attempts to bring down The System.
The story was short but packed with action, suspense and moral undertones. Charley’s heart wrenching internal struggles made this book one that was hard to put down. Despite the fact that Charley is a physically strong and courageous character, he is not without his flaws. He makes brash decisions without thinking things through and his rage ignites a violence that is scary but also reckless. All the characters were written in a way that could draw a reader in. Sandy, our high scoring kickass female character, was really interesting, with a tragic back story, but I felt like there wasn’t enough of her in the narrative and at some points, it felt like she was there purely to add a romantic subplot. However, there were parts during the action where Charley would look over at Sandy to see if she needed help whilst she was fighting off (and basically kicking the butts off) two or three hefty guards on her own, and Charley would just be like “Nah, I think she’s got this,” which is a refreshing change to female characters needing help or rescuing.
The writing was enjoyable and didn’t try to overcomplicate things, which I think would’ve ruined the story if Ohman tried to make things bigger than they are. The concept is unique and enough to create an interesting story. The ending leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions that will hopefully be resolved in the next book because, Joel Ohman, you cannot just leave us on that cliff hanger! Or cliff hangers, should I say? Because a) what happened to Sven in The Tower? b) What happened to Abigail? And c) What happens next?!
As a big fan of dystopian fiction, I was really excited to read Meritropolis and I was not disappointed. For fans of dystopian, this has everything that you can hope to find. The open ending leaves me hopeful for a sequel and I highly anticipate it. I was really impressed by this book and would definitely recommend it. Watch out, because I can see Joel Ohman’s book becoming the next big thing.
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