I am uncomfortable. 

I am so conflicted because this was such a thought-provoking book. This was going to be a surprising four stars… but then the end happened. I wanted to THROW the book across the floor but not in a good way, not in shock, but in pure gross disgust. 

Now that pregnancy and childbirth occur by scientific means, they are separate from romantic love. Instead, sexuality is developed in a sterile place where people are encouraged to fall in love with fictional characters. 

Sex between a married couple is called incest and the family unit is considered separate to sexuality and romance. 

<b>“Mmm, in my case I feel more like I’m the one being consumed. It feels like before I know what’s happening, I’m being dragged into this pseudo-romance system, instilling pseudoromantic feelings in us to make us consume so that it can ultimately devour us. After all, that’s how the economy works, isn’t it? These are businesses to make you fall in love, and I feel like I’m being targeted. That’s why I sometimes hate the system.”</b>

This basically questions the normalisation of certain processes by society. If everyone does something, the new becomes the mundane and expected. 

This premise allows the author to question conventions such as the purpose of family, marriage, even forging lasting connections. The idea of queer relationships is touched on when the idea of men carrying babies to term in an artificial womb is introduced.

<b>“We’re all animals in the process of evolving. So whether or not our instincts match the world is just a coincidence, and we have no idea what will be considered right in the next instance.”

</b>

This is uncomfortable and bizarre, yet very compulsive and really made me reflect on our current values. 

This wasn’t as weird as Earthlings for me, but like I said at the start, that ending was really icky however the more I let it settle, the more I realise how impactful it was. Despite my deep loathing of it. 

Physical shiny arc gifted by Grove Atlantic.