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How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
Bronze winner in the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in Science Fiction
First place in The 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards (Science Fiction/Fantasy eBook)
Silver medalist in the 2021 Wishing Shelf Book Awards (Books for Adults: Fiction)
Imagine being put to death for the crime of your child's unhappiness.
This is the tale of Icasia Bloom: how she is caught up in a story not initially her own, and how it changes her world. In a Globe controlled by a trusted yet elusive leader who has granted immortality to those who live by The Book, misfit Icasia Bloom is doomed to die young for the crime of her child's unhappiness.
Like all 'tatters' she gets food by bartering, and when she brings customers to the new local bakery, she meets another borderline outcast, Selma Beyett, whose plight touches her. Selma’s husband Jerome must die in six months if his quest for perpetual happiness is not successful. What starts as a desperate attempt to save Jerome takes the two women on a profoundly enlightening search for happiness. Icasia questions the Globe's judgement on its people and on the nature of happiness itself.
Heart-warming, yet strangely unsettling, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness, questions everything we take for granted, and takes a long, hard look into our souls.
First place in The 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards (Science Fiction/Fantasy eBook)
Silver medalist in the 2021 Wishing Shelf Book Awards (Books for Adults: Fiction)
Imagine being put to death for the crime of your child's unhappiness.
This is the tale of Icasia Bloom: how she is caught up in a story not initially her own, and how it changes her world. In a Globe controlled by a trusted yet elusive leader who has granted immortality to those who live by The Book, misfit Icasia Bloom is doomed to die young for the crime of her child's unhappiness.
Like all 'tatters' she gets food by bartering, and when she brings customers to the new local bakery, she meets another borderline outcast, Selma Beyett, whose plight touches her. Selma’s husband Jerome must die in six months if his quest for perpetual happiness is not successful. What starts as a desperate attempt to save Jerome takes the two women on a profoundly enlightening search for happiness. Icasia questions the Globe's judgement on its people and on the nature of happiness itself.
Heart-warming, yet strangely unsettling, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness, questions everything we take for granted, and takes a long, hard look into our souls.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2021
About the author
Jessica Bell
68 books481 followersJessica Bell is a multi-award-winning author/poet and singer-songwriter who was born in Melbourne, Australia.
In addition to having published a memoir, five novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series, she has been featured in a variety of publications and radio shows such as Writer’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, The Guardian, Life Matters, and Poetica.
She is also the Publisher of Vine Leaves Press, and a highly sought-after book cover designer. She currently resides in Athens, Greece, with her partner and son, and a pile of dishes that still don’t know how to wash themselves despite her consistently teaching by example.
For more information visit: iamjessicabell.com
In addition to having published a memoir, five novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series, she has been featured in a variety of publications and radio shows such as Writer’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, The Guardian, Life Matters, and Poetica.
She is also the Publisher of Vine Leaves Press, and a highly sought-after book cover designer. She currently resides in Athens, Greece, with her partner and son, and a pile of dishes that still don’t know how to wash themselves despite her consistently teaching by example.
For more information visit: iamjessicabell.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
September 21, 2021
Greetings from my unhappy little corner of Outlier Land.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a speculative fiction novel where your worldly existence and subsequent afterlife hinge on the happiness of your child. Society is now one big Globe community with a universal leader who makes everyone live by “The Book.” Girls are inseminated at the age of 15 with donor sperm and are only allowed to have that one baby. If you haven’t achieved happiness by 40, you’re put to death. And then your dead parents who are in some sort of transitional limbo can’t move on to their second/afterlife. I think???
Sadly there just wasn’t much about this novel that worked for me. It felt like the point was to illuminate that the key to happiness is defining it for yourself rather than living by someone else’s definition. Um, no duh. That “aha” moment is pretty ahbvious.
The story is also told in second person, where the narrator (Icasia Bloom) is talking to a character named Eve. My issue here is that she tells the story as if she’s omniscient, knowing specific details, conversations, and thoughts related to events she didn’t witness in person. I couldn’t shake the nagging “How would she know that?” question with each turn of the page.
Maybe I’m a happiness hater or something, because other people have loved this book. But I’ll apply the moral of the story to my reading experience with it. If I define happiness for myself… this isn’t it.
I received an advance copy for review courtesy of Vine Leaves Press via NetGalley. How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is now available.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a speculative fiction novel where your worldly existence and subsequent afterlife hinge on the happiness of your child. Society is now one big Globe community with a universal leader who makes everyone live by “The Book.” Girls are inseminated at the age of 15 with donor sperm and are only allowed to have that one baby. If you haven’t achieved happiness by 40, you’re put to death. And then your dead parents who are in some sort of transitional limbo can’t move on to their second/afterlife. I think???
Sadly there just wasn’t much about this novel that worked for me. It felt like the point was to illuminate that the key to happiness is defining it for yourself rather than living by someone else’s definition. Um, no duh. That “aha” moment is pretty ahbvious.
The story is also told in second person, where the narrator (Icasia Bloom) is talking to a character named Eve. My issue here is that she tells the story as if she’s omniscient, knowing specific details, conversations, and thoughts related to events she didn’t witness in person. I couldn’t shake the nagging “How would she know that?” question with each turn of the page.
Maybe I’m a happiness hater or something, because other people have loved this book. But I’ll apply the moral of the story to my reading experience with it. If I define happiness for myself… this isn’t it.
I received an advance copy for review courtesy of Vine Leaves Press via NetGalley. How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is now available.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
September 21, 2021
"How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness" by Jessica Bell is Dystopian, Metaphysical & Speculative Science Fiction.
The world is now referred to as the 'Globe' and is controlled by one individual who is neither seen, nor heard, only mentioned but requires all to 'Live by the Book'. This is one crazy place!
To 'Live by the Book' means you must achieve your Life Goal by age 40, then your soul goes to a Transition Grave where it remains until your child achieves his/her Life Goal. At which point, you will begin your Second Life Phase. Got that?
Your Life goal is to achieve happiness. Your happiness is measured somewhere else, by someone else and when you hit the mark, you're given 'The Letter' congratulating you on achieving your Life Goal. You're finally happy!
However, if happiness is not achieved by age 39.5, you're required to participate in DeathCare Therapy for 6 months. If 'The Letter' never arrives you are 'annihilated' on your 40th birthday! Poof! You're gone!
I won't continue with more 'Live by the Book' items from this story. What I will say is how bizarre it feels that the author plunks the reader in the middle of this nightmare 'Globe' and let's them try to figure out how this new world happened. I would like to know the backstory of how the 'Globe' evolved but those pieces are sadly missing.
The characters are not fully developed and without the opportunity to get to know them, how can you 'feel' for them?
The premise of this story is strong, but the structure is vague and as a result the story didn't carry me with it. Trying to figure out 'Eve' was distracting and although the end provided an answer, it also generated more questions.
It's obvious I'm challenged with fully embracing this book. It's just as clear that this author has a loyal following as I've seen many positive reviews & ratings for this one, so please read through them. I believe this to be a case of a book not being the right choice for me.
2.5 stars rounded up for the creative premise.
Thank you to NetGalley, BookSirens, Vine Leaf Press and Jessica Bell for a free ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
The world is now referred to as the 'Globe' and is controlled by one individual who is neither seen, nor heard, only mentioned but requires all to 'Live by the Book'. This is one crazy place!
To 'Live by the Book' means you must achieve your Life Goal by age 40, then your soul goes to a Transition Grave where it remains until your child achieves his/her Life Goal. At which point, you will begin your Second Life Phase. Got that?
Your Life goal is to achieve happiness. Your happiness is measured somewhere else, by someone else and when you hit the mark, you're given 'The Letter' congratulating you on achieving your Life Goal. You're finally happy!
However, if happiness is not achieved by age 39.5, you're required to participate in DeathCare Therapy for 6 months. If 'The Letter' never arrives you are 'annihilated' on your 40th birthday! Poof! You're gone!
I won't continue with more 'Live by the Book' items from this story. What I will say is how bizarre it feels that the author plunks the reader in the middle of this nightmare 'Globe' and let's them try to figure out how this new world happened. I would like to know the backstory of how the 'Globe' evolved but those pieces are sadly missing.
The characters are not fully developed and without the opportunity to get to know them, how can you 'feel' for them?
The premise of this story is strong, but the structure is vague and as a result the story didn't carry me with it. Trying to figure out 'Eve' was distracting and although the end provided an answer, it also generated more questions.
It's obvious I'm challenged with fully embracing this book. It's just as clear that this author has a loyal following as I've seen many positive reviews & ratings for this one, so please read through them. I believe this to be a case of a book not being the right choice for me.
2.5 stars rounded up for the creative premise.
Thank you to NetGalley, BookSirens, Vine Leaf Press and Jessica Bell for a free ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
September 11, 2021
I’m not too sure what box to pop this one in - it’s a bit futuristic sci-fi, a bit dystopian (as you can’t help the Big Brother comparisons) and a bit speculative fiction. So all in all probably not the best fit for me, which was borne out by my lukewarm reaction to it. It’s not a bad book by any means and I think the author did a great job. It just wasn’t quite what I expected or needed.
Set in the 22nd century, there are no more countries and ‘the globe’ is governed by Governor Jacobson. It’s all a bit 1984 but a bit less sinister. People must ‘find happiness’ to enable their souls to go into what are termed ‘transition graves’ until they can enter their Second Life Phase which they can only do when their children find happiness. There is no attempted explanation for the ‘science’ behind this, which I thought was a good thing. I mean how would you explain that. Anyway, finding happiness is usually achieved through satisfaction in one’s career. The people we follow in this story are not on that trajectory so are facing a more permanent death.
Icasia Bloom does not live life ‘by the book’ and doesn’t have a career. She exists by ‘tatting’ - tit-for-tat exchanging services for food and other goods for herself and her son Abel. When a new bakery opens in town she is drawn by the enticing smells and makes a pitch to the owner, Selma Beyett whom she likes immediately, asking for baked goodies in exchange for bringing in new customers. Selma is not concerned about customers or sales she just loves to bake. But then she does ask for Icasia’s help on behalf of her husband, Jerome, who has been informed that, having reached the age of 39.5 years, unless he can find happiness in the next 6 months he will ‘terminated’ when he reaches 40.
Selma and Icasia gang up on Jerome and try everything they can think of to ensure he gets his Letter of Happiness in time to avoid certain (permanent) death. While I agree that the book was well written and explored some interesting aspects of life, death, souls, spirituality, love and what makes us happy it wasn’t really my sort of book and I did not particularly enjoy it. Most people rated it very highly so I urge you to make up your own mind. All I’m saying is that it wasn’t a great fit for me. Thanks to BookSirens for the much appreciated ARC which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
Set in the 22nd century, there are no more countries and ‘the globe’ is governed by Governor Jacobson. It’s all a bit 1984 but a bit less sinister. People must ‘find happiness’ to enable their souls to go into what are termed ‘transition graves’ until they can enter their Second Life Phase which they can only do when their children find happiness. There is no attempted explanation for the ‘science’ behind this, which I thought was a good thing. I mean how would you explain that. Anyway, finding happiness is usually achieved through satisfaction in one’s career. The people we follow in this story are not on that trajectory so are facing a more permanent death.
Icasia Bloom does not live life ‘by the book’ and doesn’t have a career. She exists by ‘tatting’ - tit-for-tat exchanging services for food and other goods for herself and her son Abel. When a new bakery opens in town she is drawn by the enticing smells and makes a pitch to the owner, Selma Beyett whom she likes immediately, asking for baked goodies in exchange for bringing in new customers. Selma is not concerned about customers or sales she just loves to bake. But then she does ask for Icasia’s help on behalf of her husband, Jerome, who has been informed that, having reached the age of 39.5 years, unless he can find happiness in the next 6 months he will ‘terminated’ when he reaches 40.
Selma and Icasia gang up on Jerome and try everything they can think of to ensure he gets his Letter of Happiness in time to avoid certain (permanent) death. While I agree that the book was well written and explored some interesting aspects of life, death, souls, spirituality, love and what makes us happy it wasn’t really my sort of book and I did not particularly enjoy it. Most people rated it very highly so I urge you to make up your own mind. All I’m saying is that it wasn’t a great fit for me. Thanks to BookSirens for the much appreciated ARC which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
April 21, 2021
What a fascinating tale. Some people would describe this as alternative reality or dystopian fiction.
It is true that there are parallels with “Soylent Green”, “Logan’s Run” and “The Handmaid’s Tale”. But that doesn’t tell you the truth about this book. Yes, it is about state control of reproduction and the afterlife; but it is so much more.
The setting is very much the present day, or perhaps a few years hence and references contemporary matters. PDAs are referenced as i****, in the manner of i-pad or i-phone. Reference is made to the bankrupting of Greece by German and American bankers. The subsequent levels of international state intervention and control over the world’s population justify the alternative reality label.
But that isn’t the truth behind this tale. Put simply it is a story of ordinary people and their struggles to understand each other whilst managing to live an acceptable life.
This is a contemporary tale about the strength of the human spirit and the redeeming power of love.
This is not about great dynasties, it is about ordinary people living out their ordinary lives in an extraordinary world and society. This is a metaphor for our times, lives and society and shows what we should strive to achieve.
It is true that there are parallels with “Soylent Green”, “Logan’s Run” and “The Handmaid’s Tale”. But that doesn’t tell you the truth about this book. Yes, it is about state control of reproduction and the afterlife; but it is so much more.
The setting is very much the present day, or perhaps a few years hence and references contemporary matters. PDAs are referenced as i****, in the manner of i-pad or i-phone. Reference is made to the bankrupting of Greece by German and American bankers. The subsequent levels of international state intervention and control over the world’s population justify the alternative reality label.
But that isn’t the truth behind this tale. Put simply it is a story of ordinary people and their struggles to understand each other whilst managing to live an acceptable life.
This is a contemporary tale about the strength of the human spirit and the redeeming power of love.
This is not about great dynasties, it is about ordinary people living out their ordinary lives in an extraordinary world and society. This is a metaphor for our times, lives and society and shows what we should strive to achieve.
September 17, 2021
I was firstly drawn to this book by the beautiful cover and the original title.
Secondly by the blurb because I love dystopian/futuristic stories. Not only the book didn't disappoint, but it even exceeded my expectations!
I know when a book is a good one for me, when I keep thinking about it for days after finishing it, and that's what is happening with How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness: looks like I can't keep it off my mind.
I loved the fact that the world of Icasia is something in between a utopian and a dystopian world (we could name it "a kind dystopian reality") and I particularly enjoyed how the author dealt with a theme like overpopulation inserting references to contemporary history.
Especially interesting is the idea of gaining access to a second eternal life through your children's happiness and by finding happiness yourself. This also opens a debate about what happiness really is, and how it is different for everyone.
An interesting, strange, compelling read: if you like dystopian/futuristic worlds a must read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Secondly by the blurb because I love dystopian/futuristic stories. Not only the book didn't disappoint, but it even exceeded my expectations!
I know when a book is a good one for me, when I keep thinking about it for days after finishing it, and that's what is happening with How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness: looks like I can't keep it off my mind.
I loved the fact that the world of Icasia is something in between a utopian and a dystopian world (we could name it "a kind dystopian reality") and I particularly enjoyed how the author dealt with a theme like overpopulation inserting references to contemporary history.
Especially interesting is the idea of gaining access to a second eternal life through your children's happiness and by finding happiness yourself. This also opens a debate about what happiness really is, and how it is different for everyone.
An interesting, strange, compelling read: if you like dystopian/futuristic worlds a must read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 16, 2022
An interesting speculative tale which reminded me a lot of Never Let Me Go and the Handmaid's Tale. Bell forewarns of a dystonic society in which gender and birth are staunchly controlled. It's a worthwhile read for anyone who likes to think about the direction society is going in, and in which ways we could devolve.
June 17, 2022
Bronze Winner in the 2021 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Science Fiction
Silver medal in the 2021 Wishing Shelf Book Awards for Adult Fiction
1st place in the 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy
What makes you happy? Have you found true happiness? Do you think you have found the key to genuine contentment, or do you find yourself pretending sometimes? I believe happiness is different for everybody, and can be found in the most unlikely (or misunderstood) places. Finding happiness, and what it means to each individual, is the driving force of my latest novel, How Icasis Bloom Touched Happiness.
Some other themes and questions I explore are:
1) Have you ever had to obtain something intangible to save someone's life, such as an emotional state? I bet you're thinking you haven't, but perhaps you have without knowing it. Perhaps your positive mental state of mind has helped another person through hardship. Perhaps your emotional support has even stopped someone from committing suicide.
2) What would you do if the chances of your and your parents' survival depended on you finding true happiness? How would you explore the possibility of obtaining it, when all the typical means had been exhausted and weren't working? This novel explores these questions through the journey my protagonist is caught up in. She discovers things about herself that she'd never imagined. Perhaps you could too.
3) Have you ever felt so stifled and overwhelmed by the state of the world, that you have had to find alternative means to live happily within it? Have those alternative means been successful, or have you had to try out lots of different things to stay happy and sane? Have you ever driven yourself insane by constantly trying to obtain a healthy state of mind, that the mere frustration of it has tempted you to just give everything up?
4) Are you ever strangely comforted by your own fear? Sometimes I think we all are and we don't even know it.
5) Ever feel like your life is as fleeting as its four letter word? Like you could be replaced with an inanimate object and noone would notice? Most days you feel like you could just accept that, take life as it comes, trying to enjoy the simple pleasures, and others you feel like you should fight to your death to make the most of it and come out the other side being recognized for all you've achieved.
6) We all feel a pang of guilt when we aren't able to take care of our parents when they are in need, don't we? Life is complicated and things get in the way of us showing our love and our appreciation for all those years they spent bringing us up. The guilt is even worse, if they get sick, and worse still if they end up in an old person's home and we can't visit. Similar emotional themes are explored in this novel, except the cost for neglecting your duties, isn't just guilt. It's death. But you can avoid that fate ... you just have to find true happiness. Easy ... right?
7) Have you ever been asked to describe somebody, and despite being good with words, been unable to explain just how important that person is to you? Have you ever felt that a connection with somebody is better expressed and interpreted via the silent emotion you feel when you are with them? When you embrace them? When you listen to them? Sometimes feelings cannot truly be expressed, even if you're a writer. Those feelings are spiritual and beyond our true understanding.
8) Have you ever been made to feel fearful of something you do not truly understand? Have you ever felt, that despite not truly understanding it, and feeling in your gut that something wasn't quite right, you had better do what you are told, otherwise the risk of experienccing negative consequences was too high?
9) We go through life thinking we know it all. Yet, every year, every week, every day, we learn something new about the world, our friends and family, and ourselves. Sometimes the clarity of new knowledge is so deafening, that you wonder how you've gotten through life being so naive and closed-minded. Ever had one of those moments?
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Silver medal in the 2021 Wishing Shelf Book Awards for Adult Fiction
1st place in the 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy
What makes you happy? Have you found true happiness? Do you think you have found the key to genuine contentment, or do you find yourself pretending sometimes? I believe happiness is different for everybody, and can be found in the most unlikely (or misunderstood) places. Finding happiness, and what it means to each individual, is the driving force of my latest novel, How Icasis Bloom Touched Happiness.
Some other themes and questions I explore are:
1) Have you ever had to obtain something intangible to save someone's life, such as an emotional state? I bet you're thinking you haven't, but perhaps you have without knowing it. Perhaps your positive mental state of mind has helped another person through hardship. Perhaps your emotional support has even stopped someone from committing suicide.
2) What would you do if the chances of your and your parents' survival depended on you finding true happiness? How would you explore the possibility of obtaining it, when all the typical means had been exhausted and weren't working? This novel explores these questions through the journey my protagonist is caught up in. She discovers things about herself that she'd never imagined. Perhaps you could too.
3) Have you ever felt so stifled and overwhelmed by the state of the world, that you have had to find alternative means to live happily within it? Have those alternative means been successful, or have you had to try out lots of different things to stay happy and sane? Have you ever driven yourself insane by constantly trying to obtain a healthy state of mind, that the mere frustration of it has tempted you to just give everything up?
4) Are you ever strangely comforted by your own fear? Sometimes I think we all are and we don't even know it.
5) Ever feel like your life is as fleeting as its four letter word? Like you could be replaced with an inanimate object and noone would notice? Most days you feel like you could just accept that, take life as it comes, trying to enjoy the simple pleasures, and others you feel like you should fight to your death to make the most of it and come out the other side being recognized for all you've achieved.
6) We all feel a pang of guilt when we aren't able to take care of our parents when they are in need, don't we? Life is complicated and things get in the way of us showing our love and our appreciation for all those years they spent bringing us up. The guilt is even worse, if they get sick, and worse still if they end up in an old person's home and we can't visit. Similar emotional themes are explored in this novel, except the cost for neglecting your duties, isn't just guilt. It's death. But you can avoid that fate ... you just have to find true happiness. Easy ... right?
7) Have you ever been asked to describe somebody, and despite being good with words, been unable to explain just how important that person is to you? Have you ever felt that a connection with somebody is better expressed and interpreted via the silent emotion you feel when you are with them? When you embrace them? When you listen to them? Sometimes feelings cannot truly be expressed, even if you're a writer. Those feelings are spiritual and beyond our true understanding.
8) Have you ever been made to feel fearful of something you do not truly understand? Have you ever felt, that despite not truly understanding it, and feeling in your gut that something wasn't quite right, you had better do what you are told, otherwise the risk of experienccing negative consequences was too high?
9) We go through life thinking we know it all. Yet, every year, every week, every day, we learn something new about the world, our friends and family, and ourselves. Sometimes the clarity of new knowledge is so deafening, that you wonder how you've gotten through life being so naive and closed-minded. Ever had one of those moments?
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
June 28, 2021
I’ve read pretty much all of Jessica Bell's published fiction and there's not a dud there; it's all perfectly readable stuff: five 4-stars, two 3-stars. Which is what every author wants to hear, isn’t it, that their stuff’s perfectly readable? It doesn't help that I snuck a “perfect” in there, five star reviews don't help even those by complete strangers as opposed to well-meaning friends, no, none of that matters. What an author wants to hear is that their work was unputdownable, that it made people think, that it changed how people think. That it's a masterpiece would be the icing on the cake but there aren't nearly as many of them out there as publicists would have us believe.
(There’re now going to be a lot of words I need to write and it wouldn’t hurt you to read but if you want to jump to the last paragraph and come back we’ll wait.)
In an article in New Statesman Andrew Harrison defines sci-fi as “the genre in which the human condition is tested under altered circumstances.” It’s as good a definition as any but often it seems like the only aspect of that condition that gets most writers’ attention is the indomitable human spirit which invariably triumphs against aliens, monsters, corrupt societies and global disasters and that can be highly entertaining but it’s not exactly relatable. It’s fine to root for the hero or even the underdog but I’ve never read any character in a sci-fi novel and thought, That could be me apart from, maybe, Arthur Dent. There are no heroes on a quest in this book, simply a few ordinary folk who, at a difficult time in their lives, wonder if the “truths” they’ve grown up with are worth it.
In a letter to Faber in 1963 Philip Larkin wrote, “I feel it is a great shame if ordinary sane novels about ordinary sane people doing ordinary sane things can’t find a publisher these days. This is in the tradition of Jane Austen and Trollope, and I refuse to believe that no one wants its successors today.” Characteristically he then proceeds to pan those books that were being published including spy novels and science fiction. Still, he has a point. It all depends what you expect from a book. And that’s the first thing that struck me about Jessica’s book; her characters are run-of-the-mill people trying to get by in a world they have very little control of. They have the right to vote as we do which makes us feel like we have a say but getting to cast a vote every few years isn’t real power and we know it besides we have our own shit to worry about. Selma has her bakery—a proper old-fashioned bakery—she has a husband, the love of her life, Jerome, and a teenage daughter, Lelia, although Jerome’s not the father. Jerome has a good job at a local university and life’s comfortable. No one’s dying as they say. That doesn’t make life perfect because none of them are happy but then who is for long? Most of us settle for, as Huxley put it, “overcompensating for misery;” distraction works wonders. Trouble is the Beyetts live in a society that places a great deal of importance on its citizens’ happiness especially when it comes to career choice. That’s where Icasia Bloom, who wanders into Selma’s shop one looking to do a bit of business, is different. She also has a kid, a young son, Abel, but is single and lives hand to mouth as a tatter (derived from tit-for-tat) and, of course, there are people like that nowadays eking a living however they can. In some futures a non-conformer like her would be dragged out her squat and reconditioned but not here apparently; she’s still a part of society, albeit on the fringe. Needless to say she’s not deliriously happy either. For her a good day’s when her kid’s not hungry.
For the longest time what publishers of sci-fi were on the lookout for was the next Dune which I once heard described as an “epic braingasm series”—size, it seems, is everything—but imagine a composer who only wrote symphonies and nothing else. After a while wouldn't you pine for a nice string trio or piano quintet? Sure, Janáček's Intimate Letters isn't as flashy as Holst's The Planets but does that make it less masterpiecey? Jessica’s short novel is chamber sci-fi. The action revolves primarily around the aforementioned quartet and although the book has a narrator she’s far from being the soloist in fact, if anything, her story gets subsumed by the others and she finds herself more in the role of observer.
If I can return to Harrison here’s the full quote from his article:
Sci-fi novels tend to bloat up because pages and pages need to be devoted to exposition. It’s hard to keep that interesting but if you treat readers like adults a balance can be struck. A rookie to be the reader’s proxy is a popular choice and this is what Jessica opts for only with a twist which earns her extra points. The story is being told by Icasia to someone called Eve who’s kept at arm’s length until the very end when her identity and place in the scheme of things are revealed.
The greatest challenge any sci-fi writer faces though is novelty; Jules Verne had it so easy. A central theme in Jessica’s book, for example, is the age cap which made me think of the film Logan’s Run. Based on a 1967 novel, it depicts a society where everyone is young and healthy, no one need work and those who obey the rules faithfully can look forward to the chance for “renewal” (presumably some sort of rebirth or reincarnation) by undergoing the rite of “Carrousel” at the age of thirty. Again, Logan’s Run wasn’t the first to do this. In Asimov’s 1950 novel Pebble in the Sky compulsory euthanasia at the age of sixty had also become the norm. Voluntary euthanasia, such as seen in Soylent Green, was proposed even earlier by Robert Chambers in his 1895 short story ‘The Repairer of Reputations.’ There’s little truly original in science fiction any more but you can make it feel as if it is.
In Jessica’s book you don’t “die” per se, you move into Second Life Phase. Then one day the following news report appears on the inTel (futurespeak for TV):
How do you know you’re living in a dystopia anyway? If you look at the history in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four the UK drifted into the state it’s in when we meet Winston Smith. And it’s the same in Jessica’s future. There was no coup or real or imagined disaster. No, in most cases, change comes in easily digestible bites. One day a security camera gets installed at a London train station and the next thing you know there’s a camera for every fourteen people.
So what kind of future has Jessica built? On the whole it’s quite pleasant. There’re no black shirts or brown shirts. Jacobson representatives turn up in sky-blue suits and are generally very civil. It’s not any kind of dystopia you’d recognise but then neither is it a faux utopia. The term I’d probably opt for is one I first heard used in relation to David Karp’s novel One: benevolent dystopia. The government rules with an iron fist in a kid glove. It controls everything to the level it feels things need controlling. There are guidelines but you don’t end up an unperson if you choose your own path, merely penalised. During an understandable outburst at his father’s inducement (senicide ceremony) Jerome blurts out, “I know you’re just doing your job. I blame Jacobson.”
So who then is this Jacobson? He’s not exactly Big Brother but then neither is he an evil overlord lurking in an intimidating fortress planning his next nefarious deed. When you’ve achieved world domination what else is there? He’s viewed more like Chairman Mao than anything else, a kindly father figure. The Jacobson Movement even has a Book although I don’t know if it’s red. Four generations have now passed since a woman called Helga Smith Jacobson formed the movement and facts, myths, misinformation and propaganda have started to blur. The current Jacobson may simply be a figurehead; hard to say. How though, when every other religious, political and philosophical movement has only ever claimed a fraction of the planet’s potential believers, has this Jacobson Movement achieved global success? I’ll tell you.
Persuading a couple to only have one child is one thing but asking a healthy (and let’s say happy) person to lay down their life for the greater good is quite another. How would you manage that especially in the parts of the world where religion is no longer the force it once was? This was addressed in the recent film The Discovery where scientists offer definitive proof of an afterlife. People’s response to the news? They start committing suicide in droves. At a time when overpopulation had become a serious issue Jacobson provided the answer (SLP) and the means (happiness). In Jessica’s book people universally accept humans have a soul—they’re blue-coloured in case you wondered—and there is an afterlife. Assuming it’s not an elaborate con.
There have been so many books written about the future in recent years their effect has been sorely diminished. If Zamyatin was seeking a publisher for We today I do believe he’d struggle. As established writers Orwell and Huxley might fare better. And that’s the problem Jessica has. She’s not a name people recognise and if they do they probably think of her as a singer or get her confused with the other Jessica (Ruth) Bell who’s also a singer. Which is a crying shame because this is a book that should be taught in schools. I am not, as anyone who’s ever sent me a book looking for a review knows, a soft touch and I’m certainly not a gusher. Books like Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid’s Tale are gamer changers and will deservedly be around forever. Sadly I expect Jessica’s quite wonderful and thought-provoking book will never get the attention and readership it deserves. Are we living in a literary dystopia? Of that I’ve no doubt.
(There’re now going to be a lot of words I need to write and it wouldn’t hurt you to read but if you want to jump to the last paragraph and come back we’ll wait.)
In an article in New Statesman Andrew Harrison defines sci-fi as “the genre in which the human condition is tested under altered circumstances.” It’s as good a definition as any but often it seems like the only aspect of that condition that gets most writers’ attention is the indomitable human spirit which invariably triumphs against aliens, monsters, corrupt societies and global disasters and that can be highly entertaining but it’s not exactly relatable. It’s fine to root for the hero or even the underdog but I’ve never read any character in a sci-fi novel and thought, That could be me apart from, maybe, Arthur Dent. There are no heroes on a quest in this book, simply a few ordinary folk who, at a difficult time in their lives, wonder if the “truths” they’ve grown up with are worth it.
In a letter to Faber in 1963 Philip Larkin wrote, “I feel it is a great shame if ordinary sane novels about ordinary sane people doing ordinary sane things can’t find a publisher these days. This is in the tradition of Jane Austen and Trollope, and I refuse to believe that no one wants its successors today.” Characteristically he then proceeds to pan those books that were being published including spy novels and science fiction. Still, he has a point. It all depends what you expect from a book. And that’s the first thing that struck me about Jessica’s book; her characters are run-of-the-mill people trying to get by in a world they have very little control of. They have the right to vote as we do which makes us feel like we have a say but getting to cast a vote every few years isn’t real power and we know it besides we have our own shit to worry about. Selma has her bakery—a proper old-fashioned bakery—she has a husband, the love of her life, Jerome, and a teenage daughter, Lelia, although Jerome’s not the father. Jerome has a good job at a local university and life’s comfortable. No one’s dying as they say. That doesn’t make life perfect because none of them are happy but then who is for long? Most of us settle for, as Huxley put it, “overcompensating for misery;” distraction works wonders. Trouble is the Beyetts live in a society that places a great deal of importance on its citizens’ happiness especially when it comes to career choice. That’s where Icasia Bloom, who wanders into Selma’s shop one looking to do a bit of business, is different. She also has a kid, a young son, Abel, but is single and lives hand to mouth as a tatter (derived from tit-for-tat) and, of course, there are people like that nowadays eking a living however they can. In some futures a non-conformer like her would be dragged out her squat and reconditioned but not here apparently; she’s still a part of society, albeit on the fringe. Needless to say she’s not deliriously happy either. For her a good day’s when her kid’s not hungry.
For the longest time what publishers of sci-fi were on the lookout for was the next Dune which I once heard described as an “epic braingasm series”—size, it seems, is everything—but imagine a composer who only wrote symphonies and nothing else. After a while wouldn't you pine for a nice string trio or piano quintet? Sure, Janáček's Intimate Letters isn't as flashy as Holst's The Planets but does that make it less masterpiecey? Jessica’s short novel is chamber sci-fi. The action revolves primarily around the aforementioned quartet and although the book has a narrator she’s far from being the soloist in fact, if anything, her story gets subsumed by the others and she finds herself more in the role of observer.
If I can return to Harrison here’s the full quote from his article:
Why is science fiction—the genre in which the human condition is tested under altered circumstances—historically so shy of tackling the subject of love?I’m not sure it ever has and I don’t think he believes it has because he writes:
[T]he capacity to give and receive love is what defines us as human, even if it says Gallifrey on our birth certificate. This trope is by no means the exclusive property of science fiction. Certain genres excepted, it’s possibly the root subject of most fiction. In SF, however, the loss of humanity is not a picturesque metaphor. It is one of the contingencies that SF deals with, in which love becomes the last guarantor that you are still a person.Or as Larkin put it: “What will survive of us is love.” In some writers’ vision of the future love is a definite no-no. In Lauren Oliver’s novel Delirium, for example, the totalitarian government considers love a disease and citizens have to undergo a surgical procedure to cure them but that’s not the case in Jessica’s terrifyingly normal future. Love who you want. Marry who you want or don’t. Marriage is encouraged and if you don’t you lose free health care but that’s it. Everyone in Jessica’s book loves someone or something or thinks they do. Love, however, is not happiness but it can lead one onto the road to happiness.
Sci-fi novels tend to bloat up because pages and pages need to be devoted to exposition. It’s hard to keep that interesting but if you treat readers like adults a balance can be struck. A rookie to be the reader’s proxy is a popular choice and this is what Jessica opts for only with a twist which earns her extra points. The story is being told by Icasia to someone called Eve who’s kept at arm’s length until the very end when her identity and place in the scheme of things are revealed.
The greatest challenge any sci-fi writer faces though is novelty; Jules Verne had it so easy. A central theme in Jessica’s book, for example, is the age cap which made me think of the film Logan’s Run. Based on a 1967 novel, it depicts a society where everyone is young and healthy, no one need work and those who obey the rules faithfully can look forward to the chance for “renewal” (presumably some sort of rebirth or reincarnation) by undergoing the rite of “Carrousel” at the age of thirty. Again, Logan’s Run wasn’t the first to do this. In Asimov’s 1950 novel Pebble in the Sky compulsory euthanasia at the age of sixty had also become the norm. Voluntary euthanasia, such as seen in Soylent Green, was proposed even earlier by Robert Chambers in his 1895 short story ‘The Repairer of Reputations.’ There’s little truly original in science fiction any more but you can make it feel as if it is.
In Jessica’s book you don’t “die” per se, you move into Second Life Phase. Then one day the following news report appears on the inTel (futurespeak for TV):
The new law states that if an individual’s goal has not yet been met by the age of 39.5, they will be required to participate in DeathCare Therapy to help them reach their desired goal. If that desired goal has not been met within six months of the start of DeathCare Therapy sessions, death will be induced at 40.0 years of age, instead of the current 60.0.Imagine you’re 39½—Jerome’s age—and get told you’ve got six months to live. Which happens to a great many people. You learn you have cancer and although there’s a cure your odds aren’t good. The cure, in Jerome’s case, is to find the elusive happiness that’s eluded him all his life so far. Happiness, eh? Not very dystopian. Ever since I was a kid I’ve expected to retire at sixty-five. That was the rule. Until it wasn’t. Now I can’t retire until I’m sixty-seven and Christ knows when my daughter will get to stop working. I sighed when I got the news but that was all. I’m an ordinary Joe; what can I do?
How do you know you’re living in a dystopia anyway? If you look at the history in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four the UK drifted into the state it’s in when we meet Winston Smith. And it’s the same in Jessica’s future. There was no coup or real or imagined disaster. No, in most cases, change comes in easily digestible bites. One day a security camera gets installed at a London train station and the next thing you know there’s a camera for every fourteen people.
So what kind of future has Jessica built? On the whole it’s quite pleasant. There’re no black shirts or brown shirts. Jacobson representatives turn up in sky-blue suits and are generally very civil. It’s not any kind of dystopia you’d recognise but then neither is it a faux utopia. The term I’d probably opt for is one I first heard used in relation to David Karp’s novel One: benevolent dystopia. The government rules with an iron fist in a kid glove. It controls everything to the level it feels things need controlling. There are guidelines but you don’t end up an unperson if you choose your own path, merely penalised. During an understandable outburst at his father’s inducement (senicide ceremony) Jerome blurts out, “I know you’re just doing your job. I blame Jacobson.”
Asten [the Inducement Practitioner] cleared his throat and glanced toward the corner of the ceiling. I looked up to see what was there. It was a small camera.A summons for slander! Imagine if Winston Smith has said that about Big Brother. The Thought Police would’ve hauled him away within minutes. Here in the UK we publicly and shamelessly ridicule our leaders and think nothing of it. Not so in China where they introduced the Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law which made it illegal “to misrepresent, defame, profane or deny the deeds and spirits of heroes and martyrs.”
Gary, with his eyes closed, grabbed Asten’s arm and squeezed it so hard I could see his knuckles turn white. “I trust this moment will be considered an innocent misjudgement resulting from my son’s grief, and that he won’t be walking out of here with a summons to court for slander.”
Asten’s breath shuddered as he inhaled. “Of course, Gary. Nothing of the sort will happen.”
So who then is this Jacobson? He’s not exactly Big Brother but then neither is he an evil overlord lurking in an intimidating fortress planning his next nefarious deed. When you’ve achieved world domination what else is there? He’s viewed more like Chairman Mao than anything else, a kindly father figure. The Jacobson Movement even has a Book although I don’t know if it’s red. Four generations have now passed since a woman called Helga Smith Jacobson formed the movement and facts, myths, misinformation and propaganda have started to blur. The current Jacobson may simply be a figurehead; hard to say. How though, when every other religious, political and philosophical movement has only ever claimed a fraction of the planet’s potential believers, has this Jacobson Movement achieved global success? I’ll tell you.
Persuading a couple to only have one child is one thing but asking a healthy (and let’s say happy) person to lay down their life for the greater good is quite another. How would you manage that especially in the parts of the world where religion is no longer the force it once was? This was addressed in the recent film The Discovery where scientists offer definitive proof of an afterlife. People’s response to the news? They start committing suicide in droves. At a time when overpopulation had become a serious issue Jacobson provided the answer (SLP) and the means (happiness). In Jessica’s book people universally accept humans have a soul—they’re blue-coloured in case you wondered—and there is an afterlife. Assuming it’s not an elaborate con.
[H]ave you ever thought that SLP ain’t all it’s cracked up to be? Or maybe it doesn’t even exist, yahnah? I mean, yeah, there are all these stories and shit. It sounds legit. But it could be all made up to get us into line, yahnah? I mean, have you ever heard about what it’s like over there, mate? From the horse’s mouth like? […] And what about all those glass jars of blue shadows and shit? What if they’re just smoke bombs and food dye?” Hector snorted. “Ya ever thoughta that? What if it’s all just total bullshit like? To give the people a logical reason why they’re cutting down the peeps so the Globe doesn’t explode…”So, yes, of course I was waiting for the shoe to drop, the big reveal at the end—no, Selma’s not baking people into bread—and there are big reveals, but I’m not going to spoil your enjoyment by even hinting at them. The point is this is a society where death—the one thing we all have in common—has lost its sting. But there is a catch and it’s a very clever one: You don’t go straight to the afterlife, no, you get parked in a Transition Grave (Limbo, if you will). This isn’t like reincarnation where an individual gets to earn their entry into Nirvana. No, your kid has to achieve happiness for you to access the afterlife. Insidious or brilliant or a bit of both?
There have been so many books written about the future in recent years their effect has been sorely diminished. If Zamyatin was seeking a publisher for We today I do believe he’d struggle. As established writers Orwell and Huxley might fare better. And that’s the problem Jessica has. She’s not a name people recognise and if they do they probably think of her as a singer or get her confused with the other Jessica (Ruth) Bell who’s also a singer. Which is a crying shame because this is a book that should be taught in schools. I am not, as anyone who’s ever sent me a book looking for a review knows, a soft touch and I’m certainly not a gusher. Books like Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid’s Tale are gamer changers and will deservedly be around forever. Sadly I expect Jessica’s quite wonderful and thought-provoking book will never get the attention and readership it deserves. Are we living in a literary dystopia? Of that I’ve no doubt.
September 21, 2021
The pages fly past and this dystopian story teases like the bluebird of happiness we all seek.
This novel is indeed a rare bird, original in its utterly convincing dystopian world, in style and in structure. A world where you are responsible for your parents’ and your children’s happiness is all too familiar but in Icasia’s world, failure to be happy carries a death sentence for loved ones, not merely guilty feelings. The complex tangle of human relationships is intensified by the sentence of extinction. ‘Icasia Bloom Touches Happiness’ contains all the best elements of speculative fiction; food for thought and heart-jerking.
Intensely emotional, the dialogue braves the big questions about life and values as accusations are hurled by wife, husband and teen daughter. Their fraught relationships are further complicated by the actions of the wife’s new friend, Icasia, who is my favourite character. A rebel single mother who tats for a living (exchanging services for food) Icasia’s brittle exterior covers a desire to do good that often backfires.
I loved the world presented in the novel, so well created in everything from the buildings, to the officials and the vocabulary to match the social system presented. Terms are introduced so naturally that I didn’t once pause and think ‘I don’t know what that means’.
Men cry, a lot. Every gesture is telling and its significance detailed in an almost choreographic way. I wasn’t sure about this aspect of the style as it distanced me from the characters but it grew on me.
I really wanted answers to the existential questions posed within the story and the ending delivered, with hope and without cliches. Also, at last I found out who Eve was!
It’s too original to liken it to another book but it will fit well on my bookshelf beside Doris Lessing, George Orwell and Anthony Burgess. Recommended! I’m still thinking about it and must read it again to appreciate the subtleties, now I know the ending.
This novel is indeed a rare bird, original in its utterly convincing dystopian world, in style and in structure. A world where you are responsible for your parents’ and your children’s happiness is all too familiar but in Icasia’s world, failure to be happy carries a death sentence for loved ones, not merely guilty feelings. The complex tangle of human relationships is intensified by the sentence of extinction. ‘Icasia Bloom Touches Happiness’ contains all the best elements of speculative fiction; food for thought and heart-jerking.
Intensely emotional, the dialogue braves the big questions about life and values as accusations are hurled by wife, husband and teen daughter. Their fraught relationships are further complicated by the actions of the wife’s new friend, Icasia, who is my favourite character. A rebel single mother who tats for a living (exchanging services for food) Icasia’s brittle exterior covers a desire to do good that often backfires.
I loved the world presented in the novel, so well created in everything from the buildings, to the officials and the vocabulary to match the social system presented. Terms are introduced so naturally that I didn’t once pause and think ‘I don’t know what that means’.
Men cry, a lot. Every gesture is telling and its significance detailed in an almost choreographic way. I wasn’t sure about this aspect of the style as it distanced me from the characters but it grew on me.
I really wanted answers to the existential questions posed within the story and the ending delivered, with hope and without cliches. Also, at last I found out who Eve was!
It’s too original to liken it to another book but it will fit well on my bookshelf beside Doris Lessing, George Orwell and Anthony Burgess. Recommended! I’m still thinking about it and must read it again to appreciate the subtleties, now I know the ending.
August 20, 2021
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a dystopian novel centring around the idea of finding happiness, and how different that looks to everyone around us. We are Eve, listening to Icasia tell us her story which subsequently becomes our story as well. I thought that this was a really interesting POV and made the novel feel very ethereal and ambiguous. The writing was excellent and I thought that the world building was done very well although it did remind me a lot of many other dystopian novels that have an all powerful, faceless leader. That's not necessarily a bad thing however, I still felt captivated and read the entire novel in one sitting. There were so many places were I thought the narrative was heading in one direction but then it would swing another way, most of the plot twists were done well and felt natural but I do feel like there were some times that I wanted what we were initially set up to believe happen.
4/5 stars. Thank you to BookSirens and the author for this copy to review.
4/5 stars. Thank you to BookSirens and the author for this copy to review.
September 2, 2022
How I read this: Free ebook copy received from author
4.5 stars
This was a very refreshing book to read. I have been stuck in a loop of 'meh' books for a while, slogging through them and thinking I'll probably never like one ever again. But when I started this one, it engaged me immediately and I finished it in two days. The ideas were fresh and interesting, and the voice was unique as well.
It's hard to tell you what the story is about. At the start, you'll think it's about a dystopian society order, and in a way, maybe it is - but that's not really the main point the book is driving, I think. I don't think this is a particularly big spoiler (or even a spoiler at all), but I think this book is best started without knowing much of anything about it, so I've just spoiler tagged it regardless.
From a scifi world set up, some of the things didn't make sense, but I've decided to let them go for this review, because the book had deeper meaning than just the setup of the dystopian society. That was not the point. Ultimately, I think there are so many things that can be taken away from reading this story that I should probably read it again sometime. It's a short book, and it addresses meaning of life, depression, understanding yourself, finding yourself, family and society dynamics and so much more. More than that, it's just original, and honestly - also kind of weird. I'm sure you'll enjoy this story too.
I thank the author for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
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4.5 stars
This was a very refreshing book to read. I have been stuck in a loop of 'meh' books for a while, slogging through them and thinking I'll probably never like one ever again. But when I started this one, it engaged me immediately and I finished it in two days. The ideas were fresh and interesting, and the voice was unique as well.
It's hard to tell you what the story is about. At the start, you'll think it's about a dystopian society order, and in a way, maybe it is - but that's not really the main point the book is driving, I think. I don't think this is a particularly big spoiler (or even a spoiler at all), but I think this book is best started without knowing much of anything about it, so I've just spoiler tagged it regardless.
From a scifi world set up, some of the things didn't make sense, but I've decided to let them go for this review, because the book had deeper meaning than just the setup of the dystopian society. That was not the point. Ultimately, I think there are so many things that can be taken away from reading this story that I should probably read it again sometime. It's a short book, and it addresses meaning of life, depression, understanding yourself, finding yourself, family and society dynamics and so much more. More than that, it's just original, and honestly - also kind of weird. I'm sure you'll enjoy this story too.
I thank the author for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
July 3, 2021
3.7 Stars
Icasia Bloom lives in a Globe that’s controlled by an elusive leader, Jacobson. They have to adhere to the Rules and follow the protocols. People like Icasia find a way to rebel without entirely breaking the rules.
However, for people to move from First Life Phase to Second Life Phase they need to find Happiness and a Letter that says they have been successful in finding happiness. It’s a dystopian world with rules of its own.
Icasia isn’t bothered much about her happiness. She only cares for her son’s happiness and future. Being a single mother isn’t easy either. She meets Selma, another woman who has been straddling the Rules.
Selma needs to find a way for Jerome to get his Letter of happiness before his 40th birthday. If not, he’ll lose his life and has no say in the matter. Nothing seems to be working, and Icasia promises to help. This results in some vital questions and rule-defying answers that change the way the Globe looks at happiness.
The title and the cover attracted my attention. Dystopian isn’t my genre, but I’m glad I requested this one. The story starts almost straight away and goes on to share details in bits and pieces. That prevented information dump and kept me interested.
The narration jumps from the second person to the third person to omnipresent. Luckily, the chapters are titled (Listen/ Watch/ Chronicles) to alert readers to this fact. The story walks a fine line between dystopian and philosophical. Things are different yet the same.
The characters are flawed, but most of them don’t appear silly or stupid. Leila, Selma's teenage daughter, was a typical teen, which meant some of her actions don’t make sense unless there’s a proper backstory and complete arc.
The theme of the book hinged on what happiness is and how one should find it. As with the dystopian trope, the government has a role to play in most decisions. It isn’t anything new, to be honest. The author makes it interesting to a major extent by using the setting to her advantage.
However, I felt she hasn’t delved deep into the concept. It could be because she didn’t want to risk being preachy. Lord knows how hard it is to maintain balance. Still, the characters needed more exploration. Some of the scenes feel disjointed, as if there’s a missing link. This link doesn’t appear elsewhere to complete the connection. Nor do we find answers to certain questions about why the Rules were established that way. (It sounds vague because I’m trying to avoid spoilers).
The premise is excellent, and the use of the bluebird is worth mentioning. The characters needed more effort. They are good, but they had to be better to elevate the story. Some of the scenes felt too distanced to feel for the characters. I don’t usually relate to most characters, so that’s not an issue. But I do like to feel for them.
Also, the ending wasn’t too great. It sort of diminished the emotions evoked until then.
To sum up, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a decent novel with multiple aspects to ponder about. The book is fast-paced and worth a read.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Vine Leaves Press and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#HowIcasiaBloomTouchedHappiness #NetGalley
Icasia Bloom lives in a Globe that’s controlled by an elusive leader, Jacobson. They have to adhere to the Rules and follow the protocols. People like Icasia find a way to rebel without entirely breaking the rules.
However, for people to move from First Life Phase to Second Life Phase they need to find Happiness and a Letter that says they have been successful in finding happiness. It’s a dystopian world with rules of its own.
Icasia isn’t bothered much about her happiness. She only cares for her son’s happiness and future. Being a single mother isn’t easy either. She meets Selma, another woman who has been straddling the Rules.
Selma needs to find a way for Jerome to get his Letter of happiness before his 40th birthday. If not, he’ll lose his life and has no say in the matter. Nothing seems to be working, and Icasia promises to help. This results in some vital questions and rule-defying answers that change the way the Globe looks at happiness.
The title and the cover attracted my attention. Dystopian isn’t my genre, but I’m glad I requested this one. The story starts almost straight away and goes on to share details in bits and pieces. That prevented information dump and kept me interested.
The narration jumps from the second person to the third person to omnipresent. Luckily, the chapters are titled (Listen/ Watch/ Chronicles) to alert readers to this fact. The story walks a fine line between dystopian and philosophical. Things are different yet the same.
The characters are flawed, but most of them don’t appear silly or stupid. Leila, Selma's teenage daughter, was a typical teen, which meant some of her actions don’t make sense unless there’s a proper backstory and complete arc.
The theme of the book hinged on what happiness is and how one should find it. As with the dystopian trope, the government has a role to play in most decisions. It isn’t anything new, to be honest. The author makes it interesting to a major extent by using the setting to her advantage.
However, I felt she hasn’t delved deep into the concept. It could be because she didn’t want to risk being preachy. Lord knows how hard it is to maintain balance. Still, the characters needed more exploration. Some of the scenes feel disjointed, as if there’s a missing link. This link doesn’t appear elsewhere to complete the connection. Nor do we find answers to certain questions about why the Rules were established that way. (It sounds vague because I’m trying to avoid spoilers).
The premise is excellent, and the use of the bluebird is worth mentioning. The characters needed more effort. They are good, but they had to be better to elevate the story. Some of the scenes felt too distanced to feel for the characters. I don’t usually relate to most characters, so that’s not an issue. But I do like to feel for them.
Also, the ending wasn’t too great. It sort of diminished the emotions evoked until then.
To sum up, How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a decent novel with multiple aspects to ponder about. The book is fast-paced and worth a read.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Vine Leaves Press and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#HowIcasiaBloomTouchedHappiness #NetGalley
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May 24, 2021I really loved it.
.
What is remarkable is that there is so little description of time and place and so few metaphors and yet I was immersed from the start in the emotional worlds of Icasia and the family and felt every part of their story; the whole novel is a metaphor.
Jessica's voice is pure and true and comes through so clearly and confidently.
It is a novel for our times, heartbreaking and yet soulful and uplifting. Our human spirit and chances to live a different way and break out of boxes of material and career success and find happiness in love, commitment and new life was just life transforming for me; it is such a hopeful and spiritual book without preaching; such a fine balance that Jessica Bell handles with skill, and literary precision.
It is a poetic story of love, hope and a story for our times, that gives hope to all those who think and feel differently, who do not accept a way of life that is about greed and control; those of us that have been living that way for years are given affirmation that we are not alone.
Those who are feel disturbed but can't break free, younger people who are embracing life and love, and finding meaning in life, what it is to be human, can feel hope that their instincts and visions for how to be, can find strength and solidarity; that they are not alone.
I have not been so comforted by a novel for a long time. I will pass this book on to friends, young and old.
I agree with your other reviews it will be a book I will re-read to discover the layers and subtleties and really does deserve a place next to Magaret Drabble, Doris Lessing, Magaret Atwood, John Berger, George Orwell, Paulo Cohello and Isabel Allende. It is poetic genius; storytelling at its finest …..
Not a word or image is wasted, everything has meaning without over description or falsehoods. . What is so special is that all my subconscious fears and feelings were brought to the surface. I felt waves of relief, tears, joy and hope for humanity.
It is six in the morning and my dreams after reading this book were sweet, the bluebirds have come back. It is a grey day, raining, there is no sunshine but the bluebirds are singing in the pine trees; they are back. One is on my window sill and calling me back out to play, dance and love again.
Subtle and tender writing from the heart. A complex story of the human condition is shared with love that fills the pages; true love there is nothing flowery or soppy about this book. It is gutsy, intelligent and the most human book I have read for some years. All our presents and futures are rooted in our pasts and we have the power to find our own happiness outside of boxes imposed on us.
What Jessica has chosen to leave out is as important as the pictures she has created, with her deftness of writing to bring you into the intimate world of the Beyetts. Their world feels more real than the world I wake up to every day; their world is mine. I did not read this book with my mind but with my heart, my gut my tongue, my ears, my throat, my skin and my breath. All my senses read this and I can breathe again, full deep breaths of hope.
Absorbing and mesmerizing read. The story is like a painting, a dream, it has stayed with me for days afterwards; it feels part of me, embodied.
Jessica has said what so many of us have been unable to say, stuck in our prisons of fear, playing by the book being the only way we think we can survive. But life has to be more that survival and doing what we are told. The cost of fear and playing by our leaders corrupt rules who need to control our humanity is too high.
Sophisticated simplicity, scrumptious, wise, delicate, a fable for our times that should be handed out for free at secondary schools and translated in to all languages; a manifesto for our times, with not one word of preaching; what a skill, pure genius.
A Cassandra, a Pythia from Delphi that has spoken in poetic beauty, with wisdom and truth that the Gods want us to hear and our bodies are crying out for.
.
What is remarkable is that there is so little description of time and place and so few metaphors and yet I was immersed from the start in the emotional worlds of Icasia and the family and felt every part of their story; the whole novel is a metaphor.
Jessica's voice is pure and true and comes through so clearly and confidently.
It is a novel for our times, heartbreaking and yet soulful and uplifting. Our human spirit and chances to live a different way and break out of boxes of material and career success and find happiness in love, commitment and new life was just life transforming for me; it is such a hopeful and spiritual book without preaching; such a fine balance that Jessica Bell handles with skill, and literary precision.
It is a poetic story of love, hope and a story for our times, that gives hope to all those who think and feel differently, who do not accept a way of life that is about greed and control; those of us that have been living that way for years are given affirmation that we are not alone.
Those who are feel disturbed but can't break free, younger people who are embracing life and love, and finding meaning in life, what it is to be human, can feel hope that their instincts and visions for how to be, can find strength and solidarity; that they are not alone.
I have not been so comforted by a novel for a long time. I will pass this book on to friends, young and old.
I agree with your other reviews it will be a book I will re-read to discover the layers and subtleties and really does deserve a place next to Magaret Drabble, Doris Lessing, Magaret Atwood, John Berger, George Orwell, Paulo Cohello and Isabel Allende. It is poetic genius; storytelling at its finest …..
Not a word or image is wasted, everything has meaning without over description or falsehoods. . What is so special is that all my subconscious fears and feelings were brought to the surface. I felt waves of relief, tears, joy and hope for humanity.
It is six in the morning and my dreams after reading this book were sweet, the bluebirds have come back. It is a grey day, raining, there is no sunshine but the bluebirds are singing in the pine trees; they are back. One is on my window sill and calling me back out to play, dance and love again.
Subtle and tender writing from the heart. A complex story of the human condition is shared with love that fills the pages; true love there is nothing flowery or soppy about this book. It is gutsy, intelligent and the most human book I have read for some years. All our presents and futures are rooted in our pasts and we have the power to find our own happiness outside of boxes imposed on us.
What Jessica has chosen to leave out is as important as the pictures she has created, with her deftness of writing to bring you into the intimate world of the Beyetts. Their world feels more real than the world I wake up to every day; their world is mine. I did not read this book with my mind but with my heart, my gut my tongue, my ears, my throat, my skin and my breath. All my senses read this and I can breathe again, full deep breaths of hope.
Absorbing and mesmerizing read. The story is like a painting, a dream, it has stayed with me for days afterwards; it feels part of me, embodied.
Jessica has said what so many of us have been unable to say, stuck in our prisons of fear, playing by the book being the only way we think we can survive. But life has to be more that survival and doing what we are told. The cost of fear and playing by our leaders corrupt rules who need to control our humanity is too high.
Sophisticated simplicity, scrumptious, wise, delicate, a fable for our times that should be handed out for free at secondary schools and translated in to all languages; a manifesto for our times, with not one word of preaching; what a skill, pure genius.
A Cassandra, a Pythia from Delphi that has spoken in poetic beauty, with wisdom and truth that the Gods want us to hear and our bodies are crying out for.
May 23, 2021
Now it is not often that I delve into the world of science fiction or dystopian futures. Frankly, this last year has given me my fill of living in one. But with that said this author holds a special place in my heart having read her autobiography Dear Reflection: I Never Meant to be a Rebel. A book that I saw more than just a little of myself in. So I was hardly going to turn her down when she offered me the chance to read her latest work of fiction. The second reason was that having read the blurb it reminded me a little of those seventies SciFi film I watched on late-night reruns back in the day. Those worlds that could so easily be ours if things went a little of the rails. I was always left wondering how I would cope if they ever happened to me. So as someone always willing to give almost any book a fighting chance I jumped in to see what it was all about.
I think now more than ever within our lifetimes we are starting to question what it takes to make us truly happy. We are surrounded by the fake versions of it from our tv screens to our insta feeds. But would happen if you had to prove that the version you showed the world was in fact real. Can happiness in fact be a long-lasting emotion or do we aim for a balance hoping that those good days outweigh the bad. All of this is somewhat of a hefty subject to try and wrap up into the pages of a book. But it is a feat Bell handles skillfully, I feel in part this is down to her ability to bring it to us at a very personal level. Whilst science fiction brings up ideas of grand space battles and epic operas. the very best of it gives us very human stories that just so happen to take place in worlds of the future. In the case of this one a world not to distance from our own, we can see ourselves in the characters she has created here. This need and longing to take care of those we hold dear. I mean how far would any of you go to protect those we choose to call family.
Icasia is one of those beautifully crafted characters that we can see the best of ourselves in. The person we think we could be if put in this situation. This is not to say that she does carry with her, her own set of flaws. It is after all impossible to live a very real and human life without ending up a bit battered and broken around the edges. And that is what bell brings to her lead hero someone that we can not only relate to but also hope to have her strength and bravery if put to the test. But as with all great journeys, she is not alone and in meeting Selma it gives her the catalyst to start on a path she could never have foreseen before. Within these pages, we see a remarkable friendship bloom out of hardship and need. It is from a place of complete government control that they from a small world of their own a place that whilst still towing the party line is unique to them a family built of choice rather than blood. Something in part I feel we can all relate to, after all we all build our own family units one way or another.
As with all such stories, these women must face a crucible of great hardship. It is the driving force needed to get the message of the story across to us the readers. we must take on their journey beside them and witness the hard decisions they have to make like they were our own. It is as you would imagine a tricky line to walk too much one way and we stop caring about them it all seems too easy. Too much the other way and we lose hope that they will ever make it to the other side. But here Bell showed me that she can with great finesse and elegance guide us by the hand through the lives of these little families. We are as ever with such works of literary fiction taught a few humbling life lessons along the way. That whilst life is never easy we can make it worth it if we are willing to fight for those things and people we hold dear. It just might in some cases just take a great deal of sacrifice to do so. But after all, is this not what our scars are there to remind us of. That we have lived, and whilst the many may never know us or the things we have down those we care about have and in the grand scheme of things for me, that is what really matters.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness was a book that took me a little by surprise. On the one hand, you have those elements you would expect to get in a book the skirts the edges of those great dystopian works of fiction that have come before. The overpowering government control of one's entire life from birth to death and in some cases beyond. It is a staple of the genre but here it only works as the bones of the story. When we going looking for its heart it is to be found in the bond of these two women and their desire to help those they love at any cost. It is within these very real emotions that the story finds its footing and elevates it to something much ganders. For me at least when it comes to Science Fiction I want to find the human spark the thing I can relate to and make me care about the people I'm reading about. It is something Bell gave me by the buck load and made me truly care about what happened to these people. I can highly recommend you to go grab a copy when it hits shelves on September the 21st.
I think now more than ever within our lifetimes we are starting to question what it takes to make us truly happy. We are surrounded by the fake versions of it from our tv screens to our insta feeds. But would happen if you had to prove that the version you showed the world was in fact real. Can happiness in fact be a long-lasting emotion or do we aim for a balance hoping that those good days outweigh the bad. All of this is somewhat of a hefty subject to try and wrap up into the pages of a book. But it is a feat Bell handles skillfully, I feel in part this is down to her ability to bring it to us at a very personal level. Whilst science fiction brings up ideas of grand space battles and epic operas. the very best of it gives us very human stories that just so happen to take place in worlds of the future. In the case of this one a world not to distance from our own, we can see ourselves in the characters she has created here. This need and longing to take care of those we hold dear. I mean how far would any of you go to protect those we choose to call family.
Icasia is one of those beautifully crafted characters that we can see the best of ourselves in. The person we think we could be if put in this situation. This is not to say that she does carry with her, her own set of flaws. It is after all impossible to live a very real and human life without ending up a bit battered and broken around the edges. And that is what bell brings to her lead hero someone that we can not only relate to but also hope to have her strength and bravery if put to the test. But as with all great journeys, she is not alone and in meeting Selma it gives her the catalyst to start on a path she could never have foreseen before. Within these pages, we see a remarkable friendship bloom out of hardship and need. It is from a place of complete government control that they from a small world of their own a place that whilst still towing the party line is unique to them a family built of choice rather than blood. Something in part I feel we can all relate to, after all we all build our own family units one way or another.
As with all such stories, these women must face a crucible of great hardship. It is the driving force needed to get the message of the story across to us the readers. we must take on their journey beside them and witness the hard decisions they have to make like they were our own. It is as you would imagine a tricky line to walk too much one way and we stop caring about them it all seems too easy. Too much the other way and we lose hope that they will ever make it to the other side. But here Bell showed me that she can with great finesse and elegance guide us by the hand through the lives of these little families. We are as ever with such works of literary fiction taught a few humbling life lessons along the way. That whilst life is never easy we can make it worth it if we are willing to fight for those things and people we hold dear. It just might in some cases just take a great deal of sacrifice to do so. But after all, is this not what our scars are there to remind us of. That we have lived, and whilst the many may never know us or the things we have down those we care about have and in the grand scheme of things for me, that is what really matters.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness was a book that took me a little by surprise. On the one hand, you have those elements you would expect to get in a book the skirts the edges of those great dystopian works of fiction that have come before. The overpowering government control of one's entire life from birth to death and in some cases beyond. It is a staple of the genre but here it only works as the bones of the story. When we going looking for its heart it is to be found in the bond of these two women and their desire to help those they love at any cost. It is within these very real emotions that the story finds its footing and elevates it to something much ganders. For me at least when it comes to Science Fiction I want to find the human spark the thing I can relate to and make me care about the people I'm reading about. It is something Bell gave me by the buck load and made me truly care about what happened to these people. I can highly recommend you to go grab a copy when it hits shelves on September the 21st.
September 12, 2021
“If you don’t find the courage to face the things that hurt you, you will never find the motivation to love and enjoy the things that make you happy.”
Brilliant story concept. The author has presented a well-written, dystopian, SciFi-themed plot set in the twenty-second century. The characters are interesting and relatable. It would have been more interesting if there were more backstories about Icasia's parents and how they raised her as a child. I love how savvy and quick-thinking the main character is and how she solved the dilemma presented.
The story follows, Icasia, a twenty-year-old single mother with no stable career and survives through tattering- tit for tat. To feed her five-year-old son, Abel, Icasia needs to exchange her expertise for food. Then she met Selma Beyett, a married mom and an owner of a newly opened bakery. With most of the people living by the book, Selma needs Icasia's survival skills to help her husband Jerome find his happiness.
The story is compelling, credible and an enjoyable read. There are fascinating issues discussed like population control, birth control, death inducement, and the afterlife. It's very futuristic that you may think the scenarios presented can happen in the future. I love the core message of the story that happiness is different for every person.
I highly recommend this book. I'm grateful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Brilliant story concept. The author has presented a well-written, dystopian, SciFi-themed plot set in the twenty-second century. The characters are interesting and relatable. It would have been more interesting if there were more backstories about Icasia's parents and how they raised her as a child. I love how savvy and quick-thinking the main character is and how she solved the dilemma presented.
The story follows, Icasia, a twenty-year-old single mother with no stable career and survives through tattering- tit for tat. To feed her five-year-old son, Abel, Icasia needs to exchange her expertise for food. Then she met Selma Beyett, a married mom and an owner of a newly opened bakery. With most of the people living by the book, Selma needs Icasia's survival skills to help her husband Jerome find his happiness.
The story is compelling, credible and an enjoyable read. There are fascinating issues discussed like population control, birth control, death inducement, and the afterlife. It's very futuristic that you may think the scenarios presented can happen in the future. I love the core message of the story that happiness is different for every person.
I highly recommend this book. I'm grateful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
September 17, 2022
THE WISHING SHELF BOOK AWARDS
23rd May 2021
TITLE: How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
AUTHOR: Jessica Bell
Star Rating: 5
‘A compelling story of survival in a not too distant future. With strong characterization and written in an accessible and descriptive writing style, this is a gem of a novel.’ The Wishing Shelf
REVIEW
I recently read The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel I've been trying to ‘get around to’ for a long time. In many ways, this wonderfully entitled How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness reminded me of it. Like Margaret Atwood's novel, it is written in such an accessible – and often descriptive – way, anybody could enjoy it. Not only that, but Jessica Bell’s novel also has a strong, dystopian feel to it and, just like The Handmaid's Tale, it is full of the most wonderful, often charismatic, characters.
There's so much to enjoy in this novel set in a world where survival is linked with happiness and to ‘living by The Book’. I must say, the author is a very talented writer, offering the reader not only a clever premise, but a strongly visualized dystopian future to get lost in. The characters in the story, particularly Icasia, are fully formed, individual, and develop as the story unfolds. In terms of the story, although this is very much a thought-provoking read and not at all a thriller, there are still plenty of twists in the plot, and I was never able to predict what was going to happen next.
In terms of the readership for this novel, I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys books that's just that little bit unsettling; that will make you think about how the world is developing and where it will end up. Also, anybody who enjoys character-led plots will find this a compelling read. Personally, I'm always on the lookout for a new author to enjoy. I think I just found one.
A ‘Wishing Shelf’ Book Review
www.thewsa.co.uk
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
Author: Jessica Bell
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 10/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 19 readers:
19 would read another book by this author.
19 thought the cover was good or excellent.
19 felt it was easy to follow.
19 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
18 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
19 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“There´s a dystopian feel to this novel, but not in THG way; it´s far deeper than that. Fascinating!” Male reader, aged 55
“It´s so wonderful to find a novel that´s complex, but not too complex, thought-provoking but still accessible. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Congrats to the author; keep putting pen to paper!” Female reader, aged 37
“This novel looks at the illusiveness of happiness wrapped up in a dystopian novel that´s not like any dystopian novel I have read before. Complex, vividly drawn characters, and so much ´food for thought´, it´ll keep a reading club going for months.” Female reader, aged 62
“At last, an utterly unique book to enjoy.” Female reader, aged 48
To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating insight into happiness set in a totalitarian world. A SILVER MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
23rd May 2021
TITLE: How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
AUTHOR: Jessica Bell
Star Rating: 5
‘A compelling story of survival in a not too distant future. With strong characterization and written in an accessible and descriptive writing style, this is a gem of a novel.’ The Wishing Shelf
REVIEW
I recently read The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel I've been trying to ‘get around to’ for a long time. In many ways, this wonderfully entitled How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness reminded me of it. Like Margaret Atwood's novel, it is written in such an accessible – and often descriptive – way, anybody could enjoy it. Not only that, but Jessica Bell’s novel also has a strong, dystopian feel to it and, just like The Handmaid's Tale, it is full of the most wonderful, often charismatic, characters.
There's so much to enjoy in this novel set in a world where survival is linked with happiness and to ‘living by The Book’. I must say, the author is a very talented writer, offering the reader not only a clever premise, but a strongly visualized dystopian future to get lost in. The characters in the story, particularly Icasia, are fully formed, individual, and develop as the story unfolds. In terms of the story, although this is very much a thought-provoking read and not at all a thriller, there are still plenty of twists in the plot, and I was never able to predict what was going to happen next.
In terms of the readership for this novel, I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys books that's just that little bit unsettling; that will make you think about how the world is developing and where it will end up. Also, anybody who enjoys character-led plots will find this a compelling read. Personally, I'm always on the lookout for a new author to enjoy. I think I just found one.
A ‘Wishing Shelf’ Book Review
www.thewsa.co.uk
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
Author: Jessica Bell
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 10/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 19 readers:
19 would read another book by this author.
19 thought the cover was good or excellent.
19 felt it was easy to follow.
19 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
18 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
19 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“There´s a dystopian feel to this novel, but not in THG way; it´s far deeper than that. Fascinating!” Male reader, aged 55
“It´s so wonderful to find a novel that´s complex, but not too complex, thought-provoking but still accessible. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Congrats to the author; keep putting pen to paper!” Female reader, aged 37
“This novel looks at the illusiveness of happiness wrapped up in a dystopian novel that´s not like any dystopian novel I have read before. Complex, vividly drawn characters, and so much ´food for thought´, it´ll keep a reading club going for months.” Female reader, aged 62
“At last, an utterly unique book to enjoy.” Female reader, aged 48
To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating insight into happiness set in a totalitarian world. A SILVER MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
April 28, 2021
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a riveting ride into what might be. Jessica Bell’s ingenious storyline is played out in the not to distant future, and her vivid characters lead readers through an uncertain landscape riddled with clouds of desperation, fear and uncertainty. One must play by the book to survive this totally absorbing race against time.
April 11, 2022
I was drawn to this book because of the title and that crazy, beautiful cover - I mean, look at it! 😍 Honestly, I’ve been behind on my NetGalley tbr and I’m finally catching up. I didn’t even remember what this book was about so I went in pretty much blind and wow! I read it in a day but I know it will stick with me regardless.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a fascinating, speculative tale about a future dystopia where happiness is the goal (with a time limit) but there is some disagreement about just how to reach it. I don’t want to give too much away about the plot but I thought the premise and the characters were so interesting. I can’t believe I waited this long to read it. What a gem - I hope it finds its way to many more readers soon.
Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a fascinating, speculative tale about a future dystopia where happiness is the goal (with a time limit) but there is some disagreement about just how to reach it. I don’t want to give too much away about the plot but I thought the premise and the characters were so interesting. I can’t believe I waited this long to read it. What a gem - I hope it finds its way to many more readers soon.
Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
September 12, 2021
In an undeterminable future, life seems similar in one way but also very different in another. Reproduction is controlled, and so is the world population. In a world where you’re supposed to live by The Book, happiness matters. In fact, finding happiness is the only goal a person has in life. A successful career is supposedly all you need. But what makes a person happy?
There’s not much of a world-building. But maybe you don’t need it. I like some novels that don’t explain things in detail. But anyway, I would still like to know more about the history and some exceptions. I didn’t like some scenes with no further meaning, like the tattoo and a brief romance. The sense of mystery throughout the book is what I liked most. Especially in the beginning, when you don’t understand what is going on. And throughout the entire novel, when you don’t know who Eve is.
But I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. To conclude, I enjoyed reading this novel, so 3.5 rounded to 4.
Thanks to the Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for the ARC and the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.
There’s not much of a world-building. But maybe you don’t need it. I like some novels that don’t explain things in detail. But anyway, I would still like to know more about the history and some exceptions. I didn’t like some scenes with no further meaning, like the tattoo and a brief romance. The sense of mystery throughout the book is what I liked most. Especially in the beginning, when you don’t understand what is going on. And throughout the entire novel, when you don’t know who Eve is.
But I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. To conclude, I enjoyed reading this novel, so 3.5 rounded to 4.
Thanks to the Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for the ARC and the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.
July 19, 2021
Warning: you might find spoilers in my review, which, in order to honestly talk about this book, I’m afraid I cannot avoid.
First of all, I’m sorry to say this book turned out to be a mixed bag for me. I can’t say I hated it, but I definitely can’t say I liked it, either. Too many things felt off, really off, some too sketchy, some too far-fetched, for the story to work for me. Speculative fiction lives and dies with three main ingredients, world-building, characters, and writing. The setting (i.e. fictional world) readers are asked to believe in should be if not likely, then at least plausible, from the bigger picture down to the tiniest details. The characters must fit in either as compliant accessories or as believable opponents, must remain people the readers can relate to, throughout their narrative trajectory. The writing needs to be compelling and perfectly adapted to genre and story. That’s true for fantasy or SciFi (for example, when you open one of those books, you unquestioningly put up with invented jargon you would find annoying in a romance, say, or a murder mystery), and to an even larger extent for dystopias and uchronias.
I already read and enjoyed some of Jessica’s novels and therefore had high hopes for this one, even more so as dystopian fiction is amongst my favourite genres. But I just couldn’t warm to this book. For starters, the Brave New World I was thrown into was utterly unconvincing. The Jacobson Movement, a soft authoritarian regime, sort of a wishy-washy global dictatorship or hereditary governorship with pseudo-spiritual pretensions, if you will, has (peacefully, one presumes because it’s not specified otherwise) taken over the whole world and abolished countries, languages (apart from English, of course), freedom, religions, feminism, and, one presumes again, any other forms of -isms. Its rise to and staying in power is based on a major intellectual scam everybody apparently subscribes to (why that would be so is also never satisfactorily explained; more about that aspect later). Its outlines remain vague as to the time-frame, as well in absolute terms (are we still in the 21st century?) as in relative terms (how long after the take-over is the story set? I got contradictory vibes about that question throughout the book). I learned that the story was set in what was formerly known as Greece by several hints (one of which made my snort because Greece’s recent past and current ongoing predicament were unhistorically explained as a joint US/German attempt of and final success in taking over the country, which smacked of something I would rather have expected to overhear in a taverna, late at night, by someone having abused of ouzo rather than read in a novel).
Four main things make this odd regime stand out. First, it’s mandatory for men to be sperm donors and for women to be impregnated at fifteen, after which procedure they have their tubes tied. They may then marry the donor, which grants them life-long free healthcare, but they’re free to remain single or marry someone else, too (they have to pay for health expenses ever after, however). Second, everyone is killed at sixty. The official wording, as in any good propaganda machine, is better, but the result is the same. At sixty, bye-bye, and thanks for the fish. Thirdly, the regime’s purported goal is for people to find happiness, mainly through achieving their career goals. If they do, they’re granted some sort of hard-to-believe afterlife for their souls, which are held in limbo because they need to wait for their kids to find happiness, too, before their souls are released into an again purportedly halcyon ever-after. Which fourthly takes us to the existence of souls and the possibility to extract them, store them, and let them live on after the former soul’s bearers’ children have reached their life goal of happiness.
The novel focusses on four main characters: Icasia Bloom, who tells part of the story in a first-person narration while addressing a certain Eve of whom I quickly guessed the identity (unfortunately, this technique didn’t make the story more palatable to me, nor did the details about her that were thrown in, almost as an after-thought and for no discernible reasons, at the very end). Icasia sees herself as something of a rebel, as someone allegedly thinking “outside the book” (she doesn’t really) because she didn’t marry her donor, didn’t pursue any career worth speaking of, and is therefore living as a tatter (exchanging services for food). Her whole life centres around her son Abel. One day, on a tatting mission, she meets and befriends Selma, a young woman who has just opened a bakery. Selma has a thirteen-year-old brat daughter, Leila (sorry for being rude, but I immensely disliked that girl until the end), and has married Jerome five years before the book starts. He’s not Leila’s father, which the girl never ceases to rub in with vicious cruelty (until, again for no evident reasons, she changes her mind about her “dad”). Selma reaches her happiness goal soon after the first chapter, whereas Jerome hasn’t. That’s when the government changes its tack and decrees, unopposedly, that from now on, if you haven’t reached happiness at forty, the “bye-bye, thanks for the fish”-procedure will be initiated at that young age. As bad luck would have it, Jerome is thirty-nine and a half, and far from even wanting to reach the goal, so the novel deals mainly with Selma and Icasia trying to come up with schemes and ideas to save him. As he gets fired for being too stubborn to collaborate, those schemes soon circle around other things than his career…
The central question of the novel could have been philosophical: “What is happiness, how does each of us define it, and what can each of us do to achieve it?” It could have been political: “What is an authoritarian regime like that dictates our every moves and thoughts, including the most intimate ones, and how do we react to it, exemplified by Icasia, Selma, Jerome, Leila?” It could have been a satisfying exercise in character studies, too. But in fact, it remained a half-baked, unformed story. Even the strange world I was shown (and, to some extent, alas, merely told about), apart from being anything but consistent or plausible, remained annoyingly vague. I think I used the term “wishy-washy” earlier, and it really struck me as such. People were following hare-brained instructions without anyone making sure they did. A dictatorship where the leaders haven’t read “How to be a successful dictator 1.01”, or what? A whole lot of suspense went down the drain with this lack of believable strain and stress for the characters involved. As the novel lacks any semblant of historicity, too (how did the Jacobson Movement overcome the bazillion -isms we know today, not least of all the different nationalisms? Where did the religions go to?), the whole frame didn’t feel real to me.
And, uhm. Feminism is dead in this book. I think I haven’t read a more unfeminist book since I studied Otto Weininger’s 1903-essay “Sex and Character” in university. Forced impregnation of girls aged fifteen? I didn’t get the point, other than that it might add some sort of shudder effect on the readers’ part. It doesn’t make sense for the regime, it reduces women to child-bearers, it makes sure the globe remains over-crowded, and it carries the underlying message (reinforced by Icasia’s thoughts and behaviour) that, for a woman, having a child is the be-all and end-all of existence. As we don’t get to know what happens with infertile women (or men, for that matter) or with women who simply refuse (again, it’s an injunction that is not shown to be forcefully implemented, as it would be in any other authoritarian regime), the procedure is kept hanging in empty space (like many other things in this dictatorship). By the way, why Selma would decide to have her daughter impregnated at only thirteen was an even bigger mystery for me; and why stubborn, selfish, insufferable Leila would wholeheartedly embrace her teenage pregnancy without at least a debate remained one, too (she challenged pretty everything else coming from her parents).
Then, the soul-thing. I think the main problem is that you need to believe in the existence of a soul in order to like this book or even “get it”. I cannot say I believe or disbelieve, I simply don’t know (agnostic 100%, and I own it), so I for one wouldn’t trust a regime the whole purpose and foundation of which is dangling from such a thin thread. But nobody else—a whole globe? Seriously?—questions any of this, except Jerome at one moment. At first, when the whole “Second Life”-concept was introduced, I was thinking of something along the lines of cryogenics, and (even though waking up deep-frozen people wouldn’t help an already overcrowded planet) I was saying to myself, “Hey, Jessica could be onto something, here.” Then came the surprise of that appalling soul-scam, and I rolled my eyes. Why would anyone fight and struggle in order to have one’s soul saved if said soul is probably nothing but a philosophical concept (and, in a best-case-scenario, some sort of energy, which cannot be obliterated, anyway, as energy can only be transformed, not destroyed, as physics have taught us)? I think that’s when Jessica really lost me, plot-wise.
The only one who questions the soul-premise is Jerome, who also turned out to be the only person I could relate to. He’s the one who is really thinking outside the book, who struggles and despairs and doesn’t just follow the rules. Everyone else does, Icasia included (her half-assed rebellion ends with her giving in to the system and joining its ranks in the end, so there… huge disappointment for me, by the way). Jerome was also the only one I could half-understand. But the other characters’ actions and reactions seemed off to me more often than not. I didn’t know what to make of them, which was partly due to the fact that I was told a wee bit too often what they were doing with their hands, or if they were sitting, standing, walking around…
That’s the weirdest part of it. I know Jessica’s writing, to some extent, and always enjoyed it. But here, everything seemed a bit wooden and stilted, with bits of telling rather than showing. I trust the typos and time errors I encountered in the ARC I was offered will be proofread and corrected, but that won’t enhance the pace and flow of the novel, I’m afraid. In large parts, the dialogs sounded like nothing real people would say to each other. And yet, from time to time, there was that little Jessica-spark, a gem here, a lovely paragraph there… In the whole, however, either this book wasn’t for me or it needs a thorough overhaul to fix its inherent flaws. I’m really awfully sorry to say it as I’ve always supported Jessica’s artistic endeavours, but I trust her to prefer an honest opinion to unhelpful sycophancy.
I was offered an ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.
First of all, I’m sorry to say this book turned out to be a mixed bag for me. I can’t say I hated it, but I definitely can’t say I liked it, either. Too many things felt off, really off, some too sketchy, some too far-fetched, for the story to work for me. Speculative fiction lives and dies with three main ingredients, world-building, characters, and writing. The setting (i.e. fictional world) readers are asked to believe in should be if not likely, then at least plausible, from the bigger picture down to the tiniest details. The characters must fit in either as compliant accessories or as believable opponents, must remain people the readers can relate to, throughout their narrative trajectory. The writing needs to be compelling and perfectly adapted to genre and story. That’s true for fantasy or SciFi (for example, when you open one of those books, you unquestioningly put up with invented jargon you would find annoying in a romance, say, or a murder mystery), and to an even larger extent for dystopias and uchronias.
I already read and enjoyed some of Jessica’s novels and therefore had high hopes for this one, even more so as dystopian fiction is amongst my favourite genres. But I just couldn’t warm to this book. For starters, the Brave New World I was thrown into was utterly unconvincing. The Jacobson Movement, a soft authoritarian regime, sort of a wishy-washy global dictatorship or hereditary governorship with pseudo-spiritual pretensions, if you will, has (peacefully, one presumes because it’s not specified otherwise) taken over the whole world and abolished countries, languages (apart from English, of course), freedom, religions, feminism, and, one presumes again, any other forms of -isms. Its rise to and staying in power is based on a major intellectual scam everybody apparently subscribes to (why that would be so is also never satisfactorily explained; more about that aspect later). Its outlines remain vague as to the time-frame, as well in absolute terms (are we still in the 21st century?) as in relative terms (how long after the take-over is the story set? I got contradictory vibes about that question throughout the book). I learned that the story was set in what was formerly known as Greece by several hints (one of which made my snort because Greece’s recent past and current ongoing predicament were unhistorically explained as a joint US/German attempt of and final success in taking over the country, which smacked of something I would rather have expected to overhear in a taverna, late at night, by someone having abused of ouzo rather than read in a novel).
Four main things make this odd regime stand out. First, it’s mandatory for men to be sperm donors and for women to be impregnated at fifteen, after which procedure they have their tubes tied. They may then marry the donor, which grants them life-long free healthcare, but they’re free to remain single or marry someone else, too (they have to pay for health expenses ever after, however). Second, everyone is killed at sixty. The official wording, as in any good propaganda machine, is better, but the result is the same. At sixty, bye-bye, and thanks for the fish. Thirdly, the regime’s purported goal is for people to find happiness, mainly through achieving their career goals. If they do, they’re granted some sort of hard-to-believe afterlife for their souls, which are held in limbo because they need to wait for their kids to find happiness, too, before their souls are released into an again purportedly halcyon ever-after. Which fourthly takes us to the existence of souls and the possibility to extract them, store them, and let them live on after the former soul’s bearers’ children have reached their life goal of happiness.
The novel focusses on four main characters: Icasia Bloom, who tells part of the story in a first-person narration while addressing a certain Eve of whom I quickly guessed the identity (unfortunately, this technique didn’t make the story more palatable to me, nor did the details about her that were thrown in, almost as an after-thought and for no discernible reasons, at the very end). Icasia sees herself as something of a rebel, as someone allegedly thinking “outside the book” (she doesn’t really) because she didn’t marry her donor, didn’t pursue any career worth speaking of, and is therefore living as a tatter (exchanging services for food). Her whole life centres around her son Abel. One day, on a tatting mission, she meets and befriends Selma, a young woman who has just opened a bakery. Selma has a thirteen-year-old brat daughter, Leila (sorry for being rude, but I immensely disliked that girl until the end), and has married Jerome five years before the book starts. He’s not Leila’s father, which the girl never ceases to rub in with vicious cruelty (until, again for no evident reasons, she changes her mind about her “dad”). Selma reaches her happiness goal soon after the first chapter, whereas Jerome hasn’t. That’s when the government changes its tack and decrees, unopposedly, that from now on, if you haven’t reached happiness at forty, the “bye-bye, thanks for the fish”-procedure will be initiated at that young age. As bad luck would have it, Jerome is thirty-nine and a half, and far from even wanting to reach the goal, so the novel deals mainly with Selma and Icasia trying to come up with schemes and ideas to save him. As he gets fired for being too stubborn to collaborate, those schemes soon circle around other things than his career…
The central question of the novel could have been philosophical: “What is happiness, how does each of us define it, and what can each of us do to achieve it?” It could have been political: “What is an authoritarian regime like that dictates our every moves and thoughts, including the most intimate ones, and how do we react to it, exemplified by Icasia, Selma, Jerome, Leila?” It could have been a satisfying exercise in character studies, too. But in fact, it remained a half-baked, unformed story. Even the strange world I was shown (and, to some extent, alas, merely told about), apart from being anything but consistent or plausible, remained annoyingly vague. I think I used the term “wishy-washy” earlier, and it really struck me as such. People were following hare-brained instructions without anyone making sure they did. A dictatorship where the leaders haven’t read “How to be a successful dictator 1.01”, or what? A whole lot of suspense went down the drain with this lack of believable strain and stress for the characters involved. As the novel lacks any semblant of historicity, too (how did the Jacobson Movement overcome the bazillion -isms we know today, not least of all the different nationalisms? Where did the religions go to?), the whole frame didn’t feel real to me.
And, uhm. Feminism is dead in this book. I think I haven’t read a more unfeminist book since I studied Otto Weininger’s 1903-essay “Sex and Character” in university. Forced impregnation of girls aged fifteen? I didn’t get the point, other than that it might add some sort of shudder effect on the readers’ part. It doesn’t make sense for the regime, it reduces women to child-bearers, it makes sure the globe remains over-crowded, and it carries the underlying message (reinforced by Icasia’s thoughts and behaviour) that, for a woman, having a child is the be-all and end-all of existence. As we don’t get to know what happens with infertile women (or men, for that matter) or with women who simply refuse (again, it’s an injunction that is not shown to be forcefully implemented, as it would be in any other authoritarian regime), the procedure is kept hanging in empty space (like many other things in this dictatorship). By the way, why Selma would decide to have her daughter impregnated at only thirteen was an even bigger mystery for me; and why stubborn, selfish, insufferable Leila would wholeheartedly embrace her teenage pregnancy without at least a debate remained one, too (she challenged pretty everything else coming from her parents).
Then, the soul-thing. I think the main problem is that you need to believe in the existence of a soul in order to like this book or even “get it”. I cannot say I believe or disbelieve, I simply don’t know (agnostic 100%, and I own it), so I for one wouldn’t trust a regime the whole purpose and foundation of which is dangling from such a thin thread. But nobody else—a whole globe? Seriously?—questions any of this, except Jerome at one moment. At first, when the whole “Second Life”-concept was introduced, I was thinking of something along the lines of cryogenics, and (even though waking up deep-frozen people wouldn’t help an already overcrowded planet) I was saying to myself, “Hey, Jessica could be onto something, here.” Then came the surprise of that appalling soul-scam, and I rolled my eyes. Why would anyone fight and struggle in order to have one’s soul saved if said soul is probably nothing but a philosophical concept (and, in a best-case-scenario, some sort of energy, which cannot be obliterated, anyway, as energy can only be transformed, not destroyed, as physics have taught us)? I think that’s when Jessica really lost me, plot-wise.
The only one who questions the soul-premise is Jerome, who also turned out to be the only person I could relate to. He’s the one who is really thinking outside the book, who struggles and despairs and doesn’t just follow the rules. Everyone else does, Icasia included (her half-assed rebellion ends with her giving in to the system and joining its ranks in the end, so there… huge disappointment for me, by the way). Jerome was also the only one I could half-understand. But the other characters’ actions and reactions seemed off to me more often than not. I didn’t know what to make of them, which was partly due to the fact that I was told a wee bit too often what they were doing with their hands, or if they were sitting, standing, walking around…
That’s the weirdest part of it. I know Jessica’s writing, to some extent, and always enjoyed it. But here, everything seemed a bit wooden and stilted, with bits of telling rather than showing. I trust the typos and time errors I encountered in the ARC I was offered will be proofread and corrected, but that won’t enhance the pace and flow of the novel, I’m afraid. In large parts, the dialogs sounded like nothing real people would say to each other. And yet, from time to time, there was that little Jessica-spark, a gem here, a lovely paragraph there… In the whole, however, either this book wasn’t for me or it needs a thorough overhaul to fix its inherent flaws. I’m really awfully sorry to say it as I’ve always supported Jessica’s artistic endeavours, but I trust her to prefer an honest opinion to unhelpful sycophancy.
I was offered an ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.
September 20, 2021
This immersive and compelling dystopia in the tradition of 1984 and Brave New World that is ultimately a fable about finding happiness and fulfilment in the face of over-controlling and dictatorial government legislation. The futuristic setting of a world that is recognisable to the 21st century reader but filled with extraordinary technology, such as microchipping everyone at birth, makes the story very relatable. While there are some aspects that drew this reader up short - eg the notion that all girls must bear a single child at 15, yet one mother decides to bring her daughter's turn forward when she's just 13 - it is eventually a life-affirming and satisfying tale.
August 31, 2021
Such a strange yet interesting story!
When the population on earth was too dense, the authorities decided that human population should be controlled strictly. So they made a guide book, including the regulations of progeny, pregnancy, and life span. And during that life span, people should find their happiness, or else their soul will be annihilated and will affect their family's life too.
Futuristic science-fiction, but instead of focus on high-tech stuff, it emphasizes scientific research and procedures. We follow the story of Beyett's family through Icasia's POV and overall it's pretty heartwarming.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd. for this ARC!
When the population on earth was too dense, the authorities decided that human population should be controlled strictly. So they made a guide book, including the regulations of progeny, pregnancy, and life span. And during that life span, people should find their happiness, or else their soul will be annihilated and will affect their family's life too.
Futuristic science-fiction, but instead of focus on high-tech stuff, it emphasizes scientific research and procedures. We follow the story of Beyett's family through Icasia's POV and overall it's pretty heartwarming.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd. for this ARC!
June 9, 2021
Jessica Bell’s newest novel, “How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness” is a philosophical tour-de-force dressed as a dystopian journey that brandishes elements of classics such as “The Hand Maid’s Tale” and “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
Twenty-year-old Icasia Bloom lives in a world overtaken by one ruler, the enigmatic Governor Jacobson. He’s instituted rules that force people to find purpose and happiness in their employment. If they don’t do so by a certain age, they’re terminated with no hope of having their souls joined together with those of loved ones in a technologically-based afterlife. More disturbing, to keep the population stable, girls are artificially impregnated by the age of 15 and then sterilized, including 20-year-old Icasia, who has a 5-year-old son.
Icasia lives on the edge of this rigid society by being a Tatter, or someone who earns a living bartering favors for food and other goods, as in tit-for-tat. Rather than marry either her son’s sperm donor or another man of her choice, she forges her own path with her parents’ support. She doesn’t believe she possesses a passion for any kind of profession, until one day when she meets Selma, the owner of a newly-opened bakery.
Icasia is swiftly drawn into the drama surrounding Selma’s husband, who receives a letter stating he faces imminent annihilation without salvation because he hasn’t found the happiness and fulfillment the government requires.
Ever resourceful, Icasia plunges in with one strategy after another in her attempts to help Selma save her husband. Each effort drives Selma further down a philosophical path of what it means to be human until she finds the source of her own happiness, an epiphany that saves her and those she now loves.
Wrapped in the guise of a gritty world where the government ties a pretty bow around death and pressures people to the point of breaking, Icasia’s story inspires intense thought about human existence and the incredible power we possess to create our own happiness.
Twenty-year-old Icasia Bloom lives in a world overtaken by one ruler, the enigmatic Governor Jacobson. He’s instituted rules that force people to find purpose and happiness in their employment. If they don’t do so by a certain age, they’re terminated with no hope of having their souls joined together with those of loved ones in a technologically-based afterlife. More disturbing, to keep the population stable, girls are artificially impregnated by the age of 15 and then sterilized, including 20-year-old Icasia, who has a 5-year-old son.
Icasia lives on the edge of this rigid society by being a Tatter, or someone who earns a living bartering favors for food and other goods, as in tit-for-tat. Rather than marry either her son’s sperm donor or another man of her choice, she forges her own path with her parents’ support. She doesn’t believe she possesses a passion for any kind of profession, until one day when she meets Selma, the owner of a newly-opened bakery.
Icasia is swiftly drawn into the drama surrounding Selma’s husband, who receives a letter stating he faces imminent annihilation without salvation because he hasn’t found the happiness and fulfillment the government requires.
Ever resourceful, Icasia plunges in with one strategy after another in her attempts to help Selma save her husband. Each effort drives Selma further down a philosophical path of what it means to be human until she finds the source of her own happiness, an epiphany that saves her and those she now loves.
Wrapped in the guise of a gritty world where the government ties a pretty bow around death and pressures people to the point of breaking, Icasia’s story inspires intense thought about human existence and the incredible power we possess to create our own happiness.
July 8, 2021
There are no more countries, only one Globe, under the leadership of quasi one man - Jacobson movement.
Every woman must have a child - from the age 15. But wait, what about physicality of girls, you may ask? Well, they hacked the system. Intercourse is no longer tool of making children, it's just about the pleasure, once the random donor’s sperm is given to you surgically. You also may or may not marry the donor (but you may not have a health care benefits then).
But what is more important (actually, the most important thing in your life), you need to have happy life and successful career to die happily and transition your soul into the next phase. If not, your parents and you will be permanently terminated.
Icasia is a tatter. She doesn't have a steady job, just works wherever and whenever it's possible, in exchange of food, etc. In the neighbourhood opens new bakery, and thus comes to the story Selma with her husband Jerome and 13yo daughter Leila. Jerome has a problem, he has not yet achieved happiness and he and his parents going to die forever. Can they prevent it and find his happiness?
Story is told continually from 3 views: Icasia's POV, general POV, therapy POV (which sometimes didn't make sense to me). I wasn´t very fond of the constant changing. Characters were quite annoying (but maybe they supposed to be) and I needed more answers than was explained.
It is not action/radical movement story. It's more spiritual. How do you find happiness? Can it be found only in work achievements, as the government says? I like my dystopias with twisted secrets. This was also kind of twisted but more on the soft side. I was still missing something utterly wrong which didn´t come (I´m thinking now; I may have a problem, not a book.?). But if you like spiritual dystopias, Icasia is for you.
But thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Every woman must have a child - from the age 15. But wait, what about physicality of girls, you may ask? Well, they hacked the system. Intercourse is no longer tool of making children, it's just about the pleasure, once the random donor’s sperm is given to you surgically. You also may or may not marry the donor (but you may not have a health care benefits then).
But what is more important (actually, the most important thing in your life), you need to have happy life and successful career to die happily and transition your soul into the next phase. If not, your parents and you will be permanently terminated.
Icasia is a tatter. She doesn't have a steady job, just works wherever and whenever it's possible, in exchange of food, etc. In the neighbourhood opens new bakery, and thus comes to the story Selma with her husband Jerome and 13yo daughter Leila. Jerome has a problem, he has not yet achieved happiness and he and his parents going to die forever. Can they prevent it and find his happiness?
Story is told continually from 3 views: Icasia's POV, general POV, therapy POV (which sometimes didn't make sense to me). I wasn´t very fond of the constant changing. Characters were quite annoying (but maybe they supposed to be) and I needed more answers than was explained.
It is not action/radical movement story. It's more spiritual. How do you find happiness? Can it be found only in work achievements, as the government says? I like my dystopias with twisted secrets. This was also kind of twisted but more on the soft side. I was still missing something utterly wrong which didn´t come (I´m thinking now; I may have a problem, not a book.?). But if you like spiritual dystopias, Icasia is for you.
But thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
June 19, 2021
“A little fire kindled in my chest at the sounds of ‘happy’ and ‘simple’. There must be some kind of link, I thought.” From How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness
3.5 stars
Warnings: depression/contemplating suicide, forced teenage pregnancy
I fell in love with this gorgeous cover and knew I had to read it. You are thrust into a dystopian world with a lot of jargon immediately, without an info dump until about 20% of the way in. The story seems to be in first person told to someone named Eve; but a few times feelings of other characters were related that she wouldn’t have access to. Halfway through almost you get a few third person accounts mixed in. There were some world building flaws not addressed, like what about infertile women, I guess they don’t exist? And women who get pregnant with their tubes tied, which seeing as this is done to teenagers, and the younger that happens the less effective it is for birth control later on. Why they would force teenagers to have a child when the whole problem was overpopulation in the first place wasn’t really explained. Or how happiness was really monitored. Why on earth would Selma want her daughter to get pregnant even earlier at 13? I had a real disconnect with that character because of that. There seemed only a brief outline of closure to the story, which is also not my preferred end. I wish the theme of everyone needs something different to reach happiness was explored a little more, I thought that was the strength of the book.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
Warnings: depression/contemplating suicide, forced teenage pregnancy
I fell in love with this gorgeous cover and knew I had to read it. You are thrust into a dystopian world with a lot of jargon immediately, without an info dump until about 20% of the way in. The story seems to be in first person told to someone named Eve; but a few times feelings of other characters were related that she wouldn’t have access to. Halfway through almost you get a few third person accounts mixed in. There were some world building flaws not addressed, like what about infertile women, I guess they don’t exist? And women who get pregnant with their tubes tied, which seeing as this is done to teenagers, and the younger that happens the less effective it is for birth control later on. Why they would force teenagers to have a child when the whole problem was overpopulation in the first place wasn’t really explained. Or how happiness was really monitored. Why on earth would Selma want her daughter to get pregnant even earlier at 13? I had a real disconnect with that character because of that. There seemed only a brief outline of closure to the story, which is also not my preferred end. I wish the theme of everyone needs something different to reach happiness was explored a little more, I thought that was the strength of the book.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2021
So it is important to note that I VERY rarely venture into dystopian or fantasy or spec fiction as a reader and a writer. My heart and soul lies in raw realism. So now, I wonder if after reading this ARC of Icasia will spoil me for future dystopian reads because it was THAT good. Not only is it a page-turner in its seamless narrative voice, but it was this gorgeous mixture of emotional and informational. That's hard to do well. Jess does it really well. When lines blur like this, you have sheer pleasure as a reader. Maybe like life? Isn't real life a bunch of blurred lines and questions and science vs. nature?
I invested in Selma's story so fast, and wondered the entire time about Icasia's destiny and what her true lesson would be. I didn't like Jerome or connect to him, but I sure as hell know men like him, so that relatability crept in, whether I liked him or not. I had my suspicions about who Icasia was speaking to, but it was never a given, and upon finding out, I was so satisfied, which is what every book should do--satisfy.
The world-building is always so impressive to me as a contemporary writer. Jessica definitely mapped this out, and the rewards are rich.
I highly recommend this novel. A quick, delicious and important read...that is, if you are constantly wondering what this life here is for. :)
I invested in Selma's story so fast, and wondered the entire time about Icasia's destiny and what her true lesson would be. I didn't like Jerome or connect to him, but I sure as hell know men like him, so that relatability crept in, whether I liked him or not. I had my suspicions about who Icasia was speaking to, but it was never a given, and upon finding out, I was so satisfied, which is what every book should do--satisfy.
The world-building is always so impressive to me as a contemporary writer. Jessica definitely mapped this out, and the rewards are rich.
I highly recommend this novel. A quick, delicious and important read...that is, if you are constantly wondering what this life here is for. :)
July 19, 2021
Disclaimer: I got this book as an advanced readers copy and this is my honest review of the book 😀
It’s 1984 crossed over with the Handmaid’s tale set about a hundred years or so into the future - this is probably more dystopia than SciFi but the lines are very blurred here.
The story features our main character named Icasia Bloom, a woman living in a society where all the countries of the world has coalesced into one mega government. There is a system that keeps its citizens under control by forcing people and their progeny to achieve certain milestones in life by a certain age, or else they are annihilated. The plot and universe in this book reminds me of the film, the Lobster.
The book explores and attempts to capture the meaning of happiness, among many other moral and philosophical conundrums. I like the complex relationships of the characters in the book, although some elements of the story felt “convenient” in a deus ex machina way (and certain events between characters in the book are at times are pretty random) but the overall ideas you tend to explore as you’re reading the book is very interesting.
Highly recommend this to dystopia and speculative fiction readers.
It’s 1984 crossed over with the Handmaid’s tale set about a hundred years or so into the future - this is probably more dystopia than SciFi but the lines are very blurred here.
The story features our main character named Icasia Bloom, a woman living in a society where all the countries of the world has coalesced into one mega government. There is a system that keeps its citizens under control by forcing people and their progeny to achieve certain milestones in life by a certain age, or else they are annihilated. The plot and universe in this book reminds me of the film, the Lobster.
The book explores and attempts to capture the meaning of happiness, among many other moral and philosophical conundrums. I like the complex relationships of the characters in the book, although some elements of the story felt “convenient” in a deus ex machina way (and certain events between characters in the book are at times are pretty random) but the overall ideas you tend to explore as you’re reading the book is very interesting.
Highly recommend this to dystopia and speculative fiction readers.
May 13, 2021
People are always pondering the afterlife and, in this story, getting there depends on not only them but their offspring finding happiness. Each person has until they are 40 to get a letter. If they get a letter, they go to a holding place. If their offspring gets a letter, they move onto another life.
We likely all have an idea of what makes us happy but to pull the idea out and give it a shake, Bell has created a world where people are disconnected on purpose. People who have gotten letters, often don't understand what triggered it and no one really examines how this occurs until this group tries to save someone, nearing 40 who hasn't yet received their letter, from permanent death. There's a lot to take in as Icasia looks for the means to a letter.
The pacing is good, the world-building is interesting; some benevolent dictatorship vibes. It's shorter so there isn't a lot of fluff. The characters are lightly written but not stereotypes or caricatures and the ending leaves a lot of questions if you like to think about things.
I received a free review copy but my opinions are my own. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
We likely all have an idea of what makes us happy but to pull the idea out and give it a shake, Bell has created a world where people are disconnected on purpose. People who have gotten letters, often don't understand what triggered it and no one really examines how this occurs until this group tries to save someone, nearing 40 who hasn't yet received their letter, from permanent death. There's a lot to take in as Icasia looks for the means to a letter.
The pacing is good, the world-building is interesting; some benevolent dictatorship vibes. It's shorter so there isn't a lot of fluff. The characters are lightly written but not stereotypes or caricatures and the ending leaves a lot of questions if you like to think about things.
I received a free review copy but my opinions are my own. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
August 31, 2021
A unique and very enjoyable story set in a future world where it’s crucial to find happiness or suffer the consequences. If I was comparing it with other books, I would say it has shades of A Handmaid’s Tale and many themes from George Orwell’s 1984.
The characters live in a world where there’s a global government and they must abide by the laws of Governor Jacobson. While we don’t meet him, the Governor’s influence is everywhere. Icasia Bloom is going about her daily life, trying to provide for her son and to secure his happiness when she’s offered a job that changes her world and her entire outlook on life.
The scene-setting in this book is perfect for me; just enough description to imagine the world where the characters live, but not too much to draw the reader away from the intriguing story.
It’s thought-provoking, entertaining, and makes for riveting reading. Make sure you set aside some time when you start this book because you won’t be able to put it down!
One of the best books I’ve read in ages and highly recommended for anyone who loves a good story.
The characters live in a world where there’s a global government and they must abide by the laws of Governor Jacobson. While we don’t meet him, the Governor’s influence is everywhere. Icasia Bloom is going about her daily life, trying to provide for her son and to secure his happiness when she’s offered a job that changes her world and her entire outlook on life.
The scene-setting in this book is perfect for me; just enough description to imagine the world where the characters live, but not too much to draw the reader away from the intriguing story.
It’s thought-provoking, entertaining, and makes for riveting reading. Make sure you set aside some time when you start this book because you won’t be able to put it down!
One of the best books I’ve read in ages and highly recommended for anyone who loves a good story.
September 21, 2021
This book is humanity. It explores the search for happiness on an entirely new level, and in ever increasing depth. In a totalitarian regime, where the people live by the Book, a few people wonder if there is another way forward to finding contentment in everyday life. Without revolution or violence, they discover that there is more to what they are being told. And each concept is one that will have you contemplating your own existence. The connection I felt to these characters made it feel like a memoir written about the future. Truly stunning in its subtleties and prose.
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