When She Woke

By: Hillary Jordan

Narrated by: Heather Corrigan

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Hannah Payne awakens to a nightmare. She is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home. She is now a convicted criminal, and her skin color has been genetically altered. Her crime, according to the State of Texas: the murder of her unborn child, whose father she refuses to name. Her color: red. The color of newly shed blood.

In Hannah's America, sometime in the future, faith, love, and sexuality have fallen prey to politics. Convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated, but "chromed", forced to appear in a new and sinister form of reality TV, and released back into the population. Stigmatized in a hostile world, they must survive the best they can.

Until her arrest, Hannah had devoted her life to church and family. In seeking a path to safety, she is forced to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes the personal.

©2011 Original material ©2011 Hillary Jordan. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Excerpt from Sharon Morris's "Not Just an Image" from False Spring, © 2007 Sharon Morris, Enitharmon Press, London, UK. Excerpted by permission of the author. (P)2011 (p) 2011 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Jordan blends hot-button issues such as the separation of church and state, abortion, and criminal justice with an utterly engrossing story, driven by a heroine as layered and magnetic as Hester Prynne herself." ( Booklist [HC starred review])

An Amazing and Terrifying Story

I was intrigued when I read the synopsis. I was instantly caught up in the story. I found it as amazing as The Handmaid's Tale. It is not a light read because it makes you think and wonder if this future could be in store for us if we are not careful. I found myself sitting in the car listening, trying to find a place I could pause the heartache and anxiety I felt for the protagonist. Once I finished the book it was only a few days before I had to listen to it again.

Hauntingly Amazing

This book was amazing and the concept in the story is so plausible that it gives me goose bumps. I enjoyed the narrator and felt she did a great job with the many characters and the emotions in their voices. I am not a religious person and wondered with the heavy religious material if I would enjoy this book, and I did. This was one of those books that when it was over I was a little sad. I would not only recommend this book, but I would also most likely listen to it again.

I Would Appreciate a Sequel!

What did you love best about When She Woke?

It really makes you think about they way some want politics and laws to change and how they would really effect society.

What was one of the most memorable moments of When She Woke?

When Hanna was made to recount her ordeal in the parlor.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

She could speak up during internal dialogue. I had to keep changing the volume. This is an audio book for goodness sakes.

If you could take any character from When She Woke out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Simone, she is fascinating.

Any additional comments?

There is definitely room for a sequel here, a way for Hanna to make things right, working with the Novemberists. Aiden could also be a part of that, since he is against chroming.

We Watched the Tragedy Unfold, We did as We Were Told, We Bought and Sold!

I really liked this author and she captivated me with this awful world she created in the near future. However the middle turned into a young adult romance adventure complete with obligatory lesbian sex, which was nice, however the end was way too saccharine sweet for this old sailor. I prefer my dystopia to either be the truth which is WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE or at least more realistic where the Christians all die and the lesbians take over and bring peace and harmony to our poisoned prison planet.

Interesting Sci Fi experience

Any additional comments?

This was a very interesting book and thought provoking in many ways. The political possibilities of the future under a government rules by religious majority. Although, I couldnt put this one down I have to say I would have like an ending that was more telling and felt left hanging on to what really happened to the character. More of a mystery as to the true finale.

When She Woke- SciFi Version of The Scarlet Letter

Hillary Jordan takes us to a time where abortion is again, illegal. This is the very near distant future. This could be our future. Instead of filling up prisons with people, people are made to be outcasts and second class citizens by dyeing their skin.

Hannah wakes up to find that her skin is now red. She looks horrific and she is embarrassed and confused. She was impregnated by a very popular preacher, but the tragic part is he was married. She is deeply in love with the preacher and does not want to give his name. Because she refused to name him, she received the punishment. She was under questions because Hannah decided to get an abortion which are, in Jordan's futuristic book, entirely illegal. She is forced to serve a brief prison sentence and go into a half-way home for women of different colours. The colours are indicative of their crime. Red people killed- and murder includes the murder of an unborn child. Yellow people have stolen something. The list goes on.

An underground group of people who save those who have been unjustly accused of these crimes and left to live as outcasts eventually saves Hannah, but she must cut all times with the people she's cared about for her entire life.

Throughout her journey, Hannah makes some serious self discoveries which she probably would not have if this hadn't happened. She realizes that the situation she was in was not a good one for her psyche. She sees things from a different perspective. She is shunned by her family and even her sister's husband, who makes it a habit to kill the coloured criminals. She finds that her lifestyle when 'normal' wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and she discovers herself and revels in how strong she is. Her skin and her circumstances empower her.

The book can be compared to the Scarlet Letter because the heroine's colour eventually defines her as a stronger person, just as the scarlet letter also eventually defined Esther not as an outcast, but as a badge of honour. Also comparable to The Scarlet Letter, the baby by the clergyman is another similarity. I thought the book was done well and I found it very interesting. I had a hard time putting it down, as it made me think of so many current political problems and hot topics that are going on in the world right now.

The narration was extremely well done. I enjoyed listening to the reader at the speed of 1.5 throughout the book. I loved the fade in music for each chapter.

It's an easy read, sort of like a Young Adult book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, thought provoking read. 4 Stars


***This review is mine and is also published on www.audible.com

Dystopian future

This book is set in a not-too-distant dystopian future, similar in theme to The Handmaid's Tale. I found much of the plot (character behavior and decisions -- not the science fiction aspects) to be contrived, illogical, and unlikely, but overall enjoyed listening. As with The Handmaid's Tale, the chilling political and social environments are all too believable. The narrator is pretty good; accents and male voices are a bit weak, but not too distracting.

A World Without Choice

When She Woke is a dystopian novel that takes place after the "scourge", a virus that causes the majority of women to become infertile. In response, fundamentalist religious groups get Roe v. Wade overturned and abortions are now illegal. It's a frightening vision of a future where to be “other” is bad and where the right to control your body is taken away. Many readers will see similarities to The Scarlet Letter and The Handmaids Tale, but it is its own novel and tells the familiar story in a new way.

I rather enjoyed the narrator, Heather Corrigan; I thought she did a great job with the diversity of voices and accents. I highly recommend this book and it’s definitely credit worthy.

3 Stars for concept and performance

1. Fantastic concept – the idea of chroming is genius. 5 stars for the concept and what it had to offer.
2. A bridge connecting 2-4 book universes – This book’s themes connected the following universes for me:
a. The Scarlet Letter – I never read it. But did see the movie.
b. The Handmaids Tale – the merging of church and state. How scary that is.
c. The Book of the Unnamed Midwife – read it to understand why. But in essence, the scourge in this book is similar to the epidemic that created hives back in the midwife book. It is almost as though When She woke picks up after the Midwife’s book series end, once the cure was found
d. Ready Player one – or any other tech advanced book that comes to mind.
3. Hannah – as a character, she was interesting. I enjoyed her sewing clothes for herself. It was something that made her really human, and unable to give up something so simple to her existence. I loved her towards the end of the book. She was strong from the beginning for sure.
a. I did not like how they made her a lesbian for five minutes. It added something cheap to her story, as though she had gotten a near death experience and all of a sudden she had an urging for women. Even if brief, it seemed out of sorts. I understand the purpose of this was for the sake of making her character grow, but there was a way to make it better than just a one and done, and so abrupt into her development.
b. Her relationship with Kayla – was cool. They trusted each other. I loved that this relationship grew so quickly because it was circumstantial.
4. Aiden – he was a punk. I didn’t expect too much from him as a character. I knew it was bound to happen. The ending solidified his being a punk. A minor heart attack because he felt so guilted to let everyone know, embarrass himself and his wife, and make it so that pretty much anyone could figure out who he had the affair with. Smart man this one.
5. The Finality of never saying goodbye to her family – it hurt me to read this. And while just a book, it really drove home that she had accepted that nothing would be the same if she had stayed, nor would the constant reminder of her past to allow her to better herself. I do feel bad for her dad though.

3 stars. A great concept, with the potential to create a universe to continue the story. Not great follow through on some character development, with pretty predictable tropes that cheapened the struggle of Hannah.

Wow!

Could not put it down! Kept hitting the sleep button to keep listening till 2 am. The narrator does a great job conveying the characters vulnerability. I wish there were more! Such a great book!