Archetype

Archetype

By M.D. Waters

Published on Feb 8th, 2014
Published by Dutton Adult
Source: Publisher

Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.

Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .

The first novel in a two-part series, Archetype heralds the arrival of a truly memorable character—and the talented author who created her

This was a fun book.  You just have to get past the first 30ish pages, which are really confusing.

Emma seems to be schizophrenic.  She flip-flops between her waking hours and dreams.  It is pretty obvious from the start that these italicized paragraphs are actually memories, but you have no idea why.  And I will admit it: I really did not see the twist coming.  I don't know if it was because I was reading it so fast that I missed clues or what, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I think the author does a nice job of dragging the reader along.  Emma is obviously frustrated with the conflict between reality and memory, and she clearly wants more.  As a reader, you are in the exact same place: wondering when it is all going to fall together.  And it does.  And it is exciting.  :)  You DO have to take some leaps of faith though, especially after the "big reveal".  The finesse with which the author teases and lures you in the first 3/4ths of the book gets a little sloppy at the end.  That said, please sign me up for Prototype when that comes out, because I want to see where Emma is going.

If I had to put a negative out there, it would be that I do not ever believe Emma loves Declan.  Sure, he is nice to her, but from the very beginning, Emma admits internally that she is playing along with his feelings rather than growing her own.  Later in the book, she claims to have fallen in love with him, but you do not get to see the build, so it does not ring true.

Overall, I would totally recommend this book for any sci-fi dystopia fans.  However, be forewarned, there is a lot of innuendo in this book and one pretty hot sex scene.  Nothing like having your memories wiped and discovering the joy of sex again!  Therefore, I might not hand this over to a teen so readily, but a younger adult could definitely dig it.

~Ericka