A brand-new novella from the New York Times bestseller of Divergent
A thrilling, profoundly moving science fiction retelling of the Greek tragedy Antigone filled with inevitable doom, heart-break and one final act of courage.
Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.
Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.
But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.
Title : Arch-Conspirator
Author : Veronica Roth
Format : eARC
Page Count : 128
Genre : Dystopian Retelling
Publisher : Titan Books
Release Date : February 22, 2023
Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★.5
Micky’s 4.5 star review
Headlines:
Greek tragedy retelling
Dytopian patriarchy
Female power
I ate this novella up in an evening and my thoughts are still on it afterwards. This was a completely full and satisfying story for its 128 pages. I really enjoyed the way Roth told this story in a pass-the-parcel POV keeping a totally coherent narrative voice and perspective of the story. Antigone was the central character, but those around her, good and bad were utterly compelling.
The story of Antigone, her siblings and her parents’ legacy was told in a dystopian earth, an earth that had many shades of familiarity but with a patriarchal dictator at its head. Females were precious for their uterus and therefore disempowered. There was a lot to unpack ethically interwoven into the fast pace of the story.
These characters were mostly shades of grey but with one much darker than the others. I liked seeing Antigone trembling with a sense of anarchy. Some characters really surprised me and the plot was tightly constructed.
I couldn’t put this novella down and I can see the tale staying with me; it’s memorable. I love a shorter story that packs all the punches.
“Sometimes I just stare into the future and don’t like anything I see.”
Thank you to Titan Books for the review copy.
A Take from Two Cities 