#gemma malley

[ms-cornucopia]

He said that we belonged together because he was born with a flower and I was born with a butterfly and that flowers and butterflies need each other for survival.

Gemma Malley, The Declaration

#my pictures

[quotelr]

She knew that each emotion came and went, knew that she could cope with whatever life threw at her.

Gemma Malley, The Legacy

[c-m-li]

Old school YA dystopia books that deserve some love:

Ever since the well-deserved success of The Hunger Games books that was skyrocketed by the movies, we have been inundated by so-called YA Dystopian books. Unfortunately, it seems that a disproportionate amount of them are hollow copy and pasted versions that get paler and paler with each incarnation.

This post is brought to you by my love of dystopia from books published before or around such books as the Divergent series.

(no hate to those who enjoy the ya dystopian books that have been coming out in droves in the past decade) (if you love the book then you love it, that’s the point of literature)

I bring these to you in the hopes that I can entice those who are sick of the YA dystopian genre into seeing how they should be written. YA dystopia is what revolutionized teenagers into thinking that they could change the world, they could go head-to-head against corrupt governments. Now that we’ve grown up, it’s time to inspire the next generation.

disclaimer that this is by no means meant to be a comprehensive list, just what i have read over the years

Dystopia at its finest:

The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry

The Bar Code by Suzanne Weyn

The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Truancy by Isamu Fukui

The Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

The Slated Trilogy by Teri Terry

The Blackcoat Rebellion Trilogy by Aimee Carter

The Declaration Trilogy by Gemma Malley

The Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie

Dystopia where the characters have special powers:

The Reboot Duology by Amy Tintera

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Pledge Trilogy by Kimberly Derting

Dystopia where the characters are more interested in the YA romance than toppling the government:

The Selection Trilogy by Kiera Cass

The Awaken Trilogy by Katie Kacvinsky

Dystopia with a dash of the apocalypse:

The Birthmarked Trilogy by Caragh M. O’Brien

The Razorland Series by Ann Aguirre

The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano

Dystopia that is way old school and probably isn’t YA but they are must reads of the genre:

1984 by George Orwell

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This is my love note to YA Dystopia literature and I wish you happy reading.

[steviehamlington]

💜BOOK REVIEW💜

The Declaration By Gemma Malley

Finished Reading October 2023

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favourite Quote: page 58 ‘make it think you love it before abusing its trust so completely that it could never trust another human being again’

Anna is a surplus, an illegal child in a dystopian future in which living forever is made possible with medication and surgery. She lives in Grange Hall, a prison/training camp where illegal children are held and trained to be slaves for the wealthy legals who have been living on decades past what they should have.

Anna is trying her best to become a ‘valuable asset’, someone worthy of a life outside the walls of the surplus halls, someone who can pay back the debt her parents made her owe to mother nature.

When a new surplus arrives, a child the same age as Anna, he comes telling stories of Anna’s parents and of life outside the grey walls she had known all her life. Peter, the new surplus, is doing everything in his power to try help Anna realise she has a chance in the real world, with her parents, a chance where she can get out from under the evil claws of Mrs Pincent, the house matron.

Review: Gemma Malley is a brilliant writer who has created a powerful young adult science fiction novel that can be enjoyed by teenagers and adults alike. This was one of the first books I read that I loved, back when I was around eleven years of age, and returning to it as an adult not only reminded me of how truly gripping the storyline is and the world that has been created, but also how well written this story is. I will return to it again and I cannot wait to read the other two stories in this series. I can’t wait to see what is next in store for Anna and Peter.

I can definitely say that to anyone who loves YA Dystopian novels, this is one for you.

~

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#bookreview #book #review #thedeclaration #gemmamalley #gemmamalleybook #5star #5starbook #5starbookreview #reading #reader #bookworm #booklover #bookstagram #nostalgia #firstreview #declaration #annacovey #honest #opinion #bookrecommendations #bookrecommendation

[semper-legens]

29. The Declaration, by Gemma Malley

Owned?: Yes Page count: 301 My summary: Anna is going to be a Valuable Asset. That’s what they tell her. She was born a Surplus, an illegal child in a society where ageing has been halted by Longevity drugs. Ahead of her is a life of work - if she’s lucky. If not, she could be taken away for hard labour, or worse. But her world is turned upside down when Surplus Peter arrives, claiming that he knows her; and worse, he knows her parents. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

The Declaration! You know, I have no idea where and when I picked this one up. This is something I read a few times as a kid/teen, and I remember enjoying it very much, then picking up the sequel and hating it profusely, for some reason. I do love a bit of dystopian fiction, though, so let’s crack this one open and see what makes it tick!

So the dystopia here is a common one in the ‘kids-against-adults’ genre of kid/YA dystopia fiction. In a world where we cured ageing, kids are uncommon or illegal, and our protagonist is a kid. In this world, Surpluses provide domestic labour for Legal citizens, all of them trained from a very young age into believing that this is the only way they can pay back their debts to Mother Nature. Kids can be born legally, but only if their parents opt out of taking the anti-ageing drugs. There’s also this weird thing where the Longevity drugs are made from stem cells, and the evil leader of the Surplus Hall is selling kids so they can be killed and harvested for their stem cells? This world is incredibly dark. ‘Good’ Surplus kids get beaten, starved, abused, belittled, and brainwashed, and Anna, our protagonist, thinks this is all good and correct and okay!

Actually, let’s talk about Anna. Anna is an interesting protagonist because she 100% buys into the bullshit that she’s been taught. She’s not the already-kinda-rebellious Teen Dystopian protagonist that’s common to the genre. She spends the first half of the book hating Peter for caring about her rights and wanting to reunite her with her parents - it’s only when she hears the Matron turn on her that she begins to turn to the light. It’s an engaging little character arc, especially because we get to learn or intuit about how fucked up this world is because of her narration. Her only rebellion at the start is that she keeps a diary - which, you know, barely counts. She upholds the shitty system that she’s trapped in, and her only dreams and goals are within this system. It’s incredibly satisfying when she gets some autonomy, and begins to discover her worth as a human being outside of her domestic skills.

Peter is less of an interesting character, because he gets a lot less focus - he is that Rebellious Teen. I wanna point to another character I found interesting, though, Sheila. Sheila was born legally, but was kidnapped and forced to be a Surplus. Usually, this kind of character would be the hero’s friend, who the hero would protect. Instead, Anna is dismissive to Sheila, which forces her into another narrative role - the traitor, who eventually gives up Anna to the authorities. I thought that was a pretty cool subversion of expectations.

This book also gives a justification for the narrow focus this sort of narrative often has - in this world, most people are just living out their regular lives, but everything seems to revolve around Longevity and Surpluses. But that’s justified - most of the characters are Surplus, work with Surpluses, or are directly affected by Surpluses. It’s not a big point, but it’s an interesting note for me.

I was mentally comparing this with another YA teen dystopia I’ve read the whole way through. Here we have a world where nobody ages and kids are vilified, but in that (The Hunted by Alex Shearer) we have a world where nobody ages and kids are sanctified. I wanna read that again, do a more indepth comparison.

Anyway, I think that’s all I got for this one. Join me tomorrow for a far less satisfying teen kinda-dystopian novel!

[nondualreality]

Because no one needs to live forever. I think that sometimes you can outstay your welcome.

Gemma Malley, The Declaration

[justbeingnamaste]

He said that we belonged together because he was born with a flower and I was born with a butterfly and that flowers and butterflies need each other for survival.

[oyevalen]

FICHA TÉCNICA:

Título: La declaración  Nº de págs: 256

ISBN: 9788498381801 Autor: Gemma Malley

Editorial: Salamandra  Saga: The declaration #1

Sinapsis

«Me llamo Anna y no debería estar aquí. No debería existir. Pero existo.» 

Año 2140, Inglaterra. La creación de un fármaco contra el envejecimiento ha permitido vencer la enfermedad y la muerte. Con el fin de evitar la superpoblación del planeta, se promulga la Declaración, ley fundamental que prohíbe a las parejas tener hijos. Las personas que nacen a pesar de esta ley se denominan Excedentes y no tienen derecho a vivir en el mundo de los Legales, pero, adiestrados correctamente, pueden ser muy valiosos como mano de obra esclavizada y desechable. Anna tiene quince años y es una Excedente. Despojada de su apellido, de su pasado y recluida en un centro de internamiento, su vida se reduce a trabajar duro para convertirse en Empleada Valiosa. Sin embargo, la llegada de un misterioso joven llamado Peter dará un giro radical a su vida, hasta el punto de hacer tambalear el siniestro orden social que la arrogancia y la codicia del hombre han creado.

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