Review: XVI by Julia Karr

 

Nina Oberon’s life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she’ll receive a Governing Council–ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world–even the most predatory of men–that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a “sex-teen” is Nina’s worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina’s mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past–one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother’s killer.

 

I was genuinely horrified by the world Nina lived in.  While  it could’ve been written with graphic disturbing scenes, it wasn’t, horrible things take place in this fictional world.

Nina is a very strong female character in a world where women aren’t viewed as strong, at all.  They are sexual objects.  She is trying to find out who killed her mother while being thrown into a group of rebels called The Resistance.

The overall theme is a bit more adult than the average YA book. If language bothers you, you might want to tred lightly.

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