Wow. Just wow. This book was awesome! Hey bookworms, I have another review to share with you. This one is called Foe by Iain Red. and was sent to me by NetGalley for review.
Synopsis: In Iain Reid’s second haunting, philosophical puzzle of a novel, set in the near-future, Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable, solitary life on their farm, far from the city lights, but in close quarters with each other. One day, a stranger from the city arrives with alarming news: Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm…very far away. The most unusual part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won’t have a chance to miss him, because she won’t be left alone—not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company.
It would be classified as a sci-fi psychological thriller? It’s Iain Reid. His books for lack of a better word f**k with your head but in a good way that keeps you drawn into the story and wanting more.
I figured out the twist pretty quickly but read the entire story to get the satisfaction that I was right. It was like unpeeling an onion layer by layer and unveiling each new part to the story that gave you just a little bit more.
The character development was wonderful. The main characters become so engrossed in their lives together yet are so far apart from each other at the same time. They get set in routine but don’t actually realize what the other is feeling.
If you don’t want to know any more, go buy this book! But below I will reveal a spoiler so don’t read it if you don’t want to know the end.
SPOILER BEGINNING
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So I knew right from the beginning that Junior wasn’t human due to the fact that when he spoke, there were no parentheses around his words. None the less, I was still engrossed in his character development and loved learning about the Installation and where the real Junior has been all along.
I also love that Henrietta actually left the real Junior at the end to make a life for herself that was her own and where she wasn’t expected to be at Junior’s beck and call. The fact that Junior couldn’t tell the difference between real Hen and a fake shows a lot about his personality and his connection or lack thereof with the real Hen.
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SPOILER END
This book is a must-read recommendation from me! I want to talk about it with others and hear their opinions. If you have read the book, leave a comment below about what you thought.
Book Rating: 5/5
You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to us in ebook format from NetGalley to read and give an honest review.
Ooh this one sounds pretty interesting
It’s a good one! I strongly recommend it 🙂
What was the significance of the beetles? Loved the book by the way!! Read I am Thinking of Ending Things and loved that, too. After reading so many reviews of Foe – I am not sure if many readers realized that Hen was a replica at the end. I only picked up on that with my second read – I just assumed the first time around that the twist was that Jr. was a replica the whole time but then it is the last paragraph or so that I realized she had replaced herself. So damn good. It’s just those nasty beetles that I am sure they have symbolic significance but can’t figure it out. Any ideas??
Oh, I knew Hen was because her whole demeanor changed! I thought it was genius. And it was exactly what I was hoping she would do. I think the significance of the beetles was to show him something else that was living that he didn’t quite understand because he was created and not natural if that makes sense? Like he is a fabrication made by a company and the little critter that is just there living among them minding its own business is kind of what he feels like. Just being there in the house and interacting but not fully being there because he isn’t fully human. I hope that makes sense. I could be completely off with that too :P.