I was so thrilled to get my hands on the ARC of Prized, the second book in Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked Trilogy. I loved Birthmarked and have been recommending it to anyone and everyone, especially folks who are looking for YA books with strong female lead characters. Gaia is definitely strong! She has rebelled against cruel societies, escaped imprisonment and close calls with early death. This sixteen year old midwife from the shores of Unlake Superior doesn't give up. In Prized, Gaia faces moral dilemmas, time in the stocks and the wooing of three very different young men. Gaia has taken her infant sister, Mya and gone off in search of the place her grandmother went years before. The story begins with both Mya and Gaia near death, found just in time by a young man on horseback from nearby Sylum. Sylum seems like a nice place….at first….but then as Gaia learns the rules of this matriarchal society, she finds that it might not be the best place for her, her sister, or Leon, who has followed her from the Enclave. Indeed, the Big Momma Boss of Sylum takes Mya away from Gaia right away and gives her to another woman to raise. Some women might dream of a world run by women, but Prized really shows us that a society dominated by any group that oppresses others, is a bad society.
I loved, loved, loved this book and can’t wait for the third! It raises some big questions, everything from reproductive rights to environmental protection and it does so in a completely non-preaching way. This is a must-purchase for the library, and the series is a must-read!
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