In a future ravaged by greed and war, The Domicile has emerged. A new civilization governed by clandestine Elders where citizens are united by white masks and uniform identities. To remove one’s mask, to go outside the Domicile, to show defiance, means being sent to the Meurtre, a horrifying death sentence.

Q437B doesn’t follow the rules. She craves sunlight, dares to love her childhood friend B116A, and – the most forbidden of all – has seen the true face of her beloved beneath the mask.

But when Q becomes an Adulte, The Domicile threatens to take away everything that makes her happy. She is forced to marry an abusive soldier who demands she conform. Whispers spread about the unconventional lessons she teaches her new students. And when Q openly disobeys the Elders, the people become restless, questioning the truth of the world in the wake of such defiance.      

Rumblings of discontent stir as others begin to follow the path toward their freedom. The Revolution has begun, and Q is the spark that ignited the flames.

Received a copy for a honest review

A post apocalyptic world, we all have our own ideas on it. Whether it be zombies over running the earth or some other group that holds the power each is its own unique take, as is the case with this series. There are ten Domiciles where people live now that the Earth is a dried and barren wasteland, at least that’s what the Elders want the people to think. The people that live in the Domicile have no names, just a id number. No skin is to be shown, including of the face so elaborate mask are worn. Everyone wears the same clothing, black tops and bottoms and gloves. The Elders decide everything for everyone, what they will be or their “life path” as it is called as well as who will marry who. Q437B and B116A ,or “Q” and “B” as they call each other, have been friends since they were children. A friendship that was not stopped but frowned upon since they were to be married to others when they grew. B knows the truth of the world outside the Domicile, that it isn’t a dry and barren place but a lovely lush place, and shares this truth with Q by taking her outside the Domicile when his job as a Maitre of the Keys takes him out. Both Q and B fall in love with each other and doesn’t want to marry the partner that the Elders have picked for them but the know it’s certain death to go as gains them so they go through with the Ripening Ceremony. Q is not only unhappy with who she is mated to but learns that they have been put together so that he can make her conform to the Elders rules, as they have been watching her and B for a long time. What happens next is something that the Elders did not expect though, her husband abuses her openly trying to get her to obey and she still remains true to herself and seeing this gets others to want to be more like her, question the why of it all. I think that this is what happens after a while to a group that has absolute power, someone comes along and questions WHY. Q, being raised by her grandmother who was born before the time of the Domiciles and having lived through revolution, knows more about the before times than what is taught by the Elders and its this information as well as knowing what the Earth looks like outside that makes her question so much. It is the love that Q and B have for each other that sparks a change, it is also that spark that makes the Elders want her dead. I liken this story to V for Vendetta, the Divergent series, or even the Hunger Games series, someone strong standing up for what THEY believe and causing the world around them to question everything that they know. Having never read anything by a this author before I don’t really know her writing style, but I do know this. Any book that sucks you in, makes you feel, and makes you think is a good book. I can’t wait to see what happens to Q and B and to know if things are the same or different in the other Domiciles.

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Courtney’s love for writing started pretty much when she learned to read, which her mother would tell you was a feat in itself back when she was in the first grade. Once she aced those flashcards with vocabulary words, Courtney’s writing took off. And her love with it. In school, she was always writing short stories on a word processor (What?? Word processor with floppy disks?). Oh yes, she literally had a card filing case full of floppy disks.
Now getting her Doctorate in social work, she’s used this education to help her writing some of the gritty issues entwined in her stories. When Courtney isn’t writing her next book while drinking coffee, you can find her doing homework (drag) with chocolate chip flavored coffee, reading series of books (because school books are only so interesting) while drinking pumpkin flavored coffee, playing with her little boy, or daydreaming of future beach houses while drinking some other scrumptious flavor of coffee.