Title: Freedom Doesn’t Grieve

Author: Uri Resnick

Genre: Science Fiction

In Freedom Doesn’t Grieve, it’s the year 2350. Physical interaction has become a rarity, and virtual imagery via immersion technology has taken over. Everyone is beautiful. Everything is perfect, and it’s all because of the Emergence.

A mysterious sentient source herds telepathic envoys to create utopia. Ina becomes involved in her own revolution that could overthrow the people behind the technology that has helped her understand her innate strengths and destiny. She doesn’t know everything about the technology that rules their lives. What is Em hiding?

In a world of expository and forgettable prologues, Freedom Doesn’t Grieve’s defies the boring prologue trap with colorful language, intriguing symbolism, and memorable action.

Resnick’s writing style is full of vivid and concrete descriptive language. The writing is the strongest when describing the setting, as we get a combination of tangible and abstract descriptions that capture the full scope of the landscape.  The world-building is also supported by the wide range of settings throughout the book. The different people, places, and technology that the characters interact with help the reader piece together this complex new world.

We’re immediately pulled into our protagonist, Ina’s, internal conflict. Alone and separated from her father, Ina desperately misses her loved ones. Ina’s backstory is revealed concisely, but we get all the information we need to recognize what is at stake for her.

The first quarter of the book lays a solid foundation to understand the world. After that, we are thrust into the technology, ideology, and community that make up this society. When we dive into this futuristic world, we’re immediately acquainted with intriguing technology, a mysterious system “breach,” and characters we can empathize with. The pacing is swift and embodies the whirlwind journey that Ina experiences.

At times, the book reads like a compilation of scenes rather than a linear story. Although this style keeps the pace fast, it lessens the cohesiveness between chapters. This also distances our relationship with the characters because we observe the characters’ transformations and growth rather than experience it with them. We connect with them for one moment at a time rather than for the full journey.

Ina isn’t a protagonist without faults. In the book’s middle third, Ina’s character voice becomes inconsistent. Sometimes she’s knowledgeable and seemingly wise beyond her years, other times she will relentlessly ask questions, and on the occasion, she’ll fluctuate between being prudish and exaggeratedly risqué, which may not jive with readers of all ages.

The climax and final scenes of the book are exhilarating. Intense and captivating, they are some of the most immersive moments of the book. Readers will feel frozen in time as they watch the dramatic ending unfold.

Freedom Doesn’t Grieve is a futuristic SciFi novel that is creative, vibrant, and cool. In Freedom Doesn’t Grieve, familiar lands are reimagined in a futuristic world dominated by mind-bending, yet alluring, technology and an omniscient source that fuels it all. Readers will be mesmerized by the breadth and depth of this standalone SciFi.

This Editorial Review was written by the Book Review Directory staff. To receive a similarly honest, professional review for one of your own books, click here.