The Declaration Book Review

Book Name: O Pacto
Author/s: Gemma Malley
Language Portuguese
Original Title: The Declaration
Publisher, year: Editorial Presença, 2009
Page total: 288
Date Read: July 10-11
Genre/s: YA, sci-fi, future, dystopian society

"January 11th 2140

My name is Anna.

My name is Anna and I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't exist.

But I do."

This is how Anna's story begins. Anna is a Surplus, a child that should not have been born. Due to tremendous scientific knowledge, people have a choice to make: you either sign the Declaration, live forever but have no children, or you Refuse and have children but you'll not have Longevity drugs, thus, you'll get sick, age and die. Literally, life for life.

Anna lives in Grange Hall, the institution that prepares all Surpluses for the outside world. She was taught she, as all Surpluses, is a waist of Nature's limited resources, that she's no right to live and that she must compensate her parents' crime with a life of servitude. Then Peter arrives, with his unthinkable ideas of Nature and Longevity. He tells her her parents (whom she hates, for having and abandoning her) love her very much and that they want her back, and he wants to escape with her. Will she throw away everything she believed and run away with him?

I loved this book. Really. I could kiss it to death, it's so good. I really like books with a message, this was reason #1. Reason #2 was that it was all so believable, with the characters acting in a real way. The other main reason is that it's well written, and the used language is accessible. It was also very interesting the way Anna's opinions changed throughout the book.

I thoroughly recommend it.

(portuguese cover, left; american cover, right)
Rating: 5/5

Quotes from book:
"He said that we belonged together because he was born with a flower and I was born with a butterfly and that flowers and butterflies need each other for survival."

"Surplus meant unnecessary. Not required.
You couldn’t be a Surplus if you were needed by someone else. You couldn’t be a Surplus if you were loved. "