The Breeder

by Lynne Silver

[llamareads]

This was a quick, sexy read! With such a short novella (85 pages), I wasn’t expecting much in the way of world building, but Ms. Silver did an amazing job of setting up a backstory for the world as well as Jane and Ethan’s relationship.

The premise is that, hundreds of years in the future, most women no longer go through puberty, though men are unchanged. Women who do mature are called “breeders” and are extremely rare. They’re groomed from puberty to simultaneously be the perfect sex symbols and mothers of the next generation. Men vie for the privilege of access to them by competing in a nationally televised smackdown, and the winner then gets to consummate the act…. on TV. Afterwards, the winner gets one month to impregnate the breeder, and if he fails, he’s shuffled off and the second-place contestant gets his chance. I know I beat the consent drum all the time, but I was especially pleased that before they had sex for the first time, even though they both knew it was expected of them, Ethan checked with Jane to make sure she was OK with it. Since the concept itself is pretty squicky (the woman gets no choice in who she has to have sex with, and the previous year’s breeder mentions that she dislikes the guy who ended up getting her pregnant), it was a relief to see that their relationship was wanted.

Overall, this is a fun and quick read!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.