The Gardener

I always love reading books by Oregon authors, and even more so when they are set in my state as well. Pairing that with an intriguing premise and I had a lot to look forward to with S.A. Bodeen's The Gardener. Living in this time of technology, there is frequent talk about ethics and science. I know that there is a lot of technological advances beyond what I can fathom, so it was fascinating to watch the mysteries that Mason was trying to uncover through his eyes.

A series of events leads Mason to meet the girl of his dreams only to realize that there is some aspects that are very different about her. He knows that his mom would be able to provide many answers, but the girl is running from something that Mason cannot even comprehend. He finds himself helping her out even though he realizes that people are following them and he has no idea how much trouble he is going to get himself into.

The more Mason uncovers, the more horrified and enraged he gets. While I was able to predict some aspects of the book, there were plenty of twist that I did not figure out until certain layers were revealed. The book would be great to match up with other dystopian novels, as well as for prompting discussions about ethical decisions and how to respond with the situations we discover that lead to ethical dilemmas.

I look forward to someday reading Bodeen's other novel, The Compound.