Blog Tour: The Breeders

Title: The Breeders
Author: Katie French
Rating: 3
Synopsis (via Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-- moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley. When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom? The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out. 

Review: I was beyond excited to be a part of this blog tour, mainly because this book sounded so interesting! The first page got me intrigued and kept me reading, but as I read, I realized something: every prediction I made was correct. For some reason, this made me disappointed. It was cool that I figured out what was happening in Riley's perspective, but it didn't keep me guessing like most books do. The whole concept of The Breeders was hard to grasp at first because it is so different from our world now, but it was easier to understand the world Riley's family was living in once she got into the city. Reading some parts about the jobs women in the city did, basically prostitution, made me uncomfortable,  but there is that boundary line readers are willing to step over when they read a dystopian novel. I love dystopian novels, but at the same time, it's hard for me to get over the fact how different the character's world is compared to the world I grew up in and live in. I loved the idea behind The Breeders, something new and fresh to read, and I'm sure other readers who are fans of dystopian novels will too. 

Extra Info: Purchase The Breeders at Amazon and Lulu & learn more about the book at Goodreads.

Author Bio: Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English. Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she’s ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.

Author Links: Author Website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. 

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