The Priest

The Priest by Monica La Porta

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book for review.

This book was amazing! One of the best that I have read in quite some time.

Mauricio lives in a world where men are slaves and women rule. The women are divided into two classes: those that give birth to women and those that give birth two men (these are fathered women who are little better than slaves). The religion of this world has brainwashed everyone into believing that men are not required for procreation when in reality it is all done in the labratories with certain male slaves as sperm donors. Rosie is the President's daughter and she has come to the temple to get pregnant and while she is there she meets and falls in love with Mauricio. This, of course, is not acceptable.

This book covers so many topics. Slavery of any race or sex is horrible in whatever form it takes. We see the brutality of this as this story is told thru Maurice's eyes. To never be given a kind word or treated as little more than an animal is so emotionally painful. The topic of same sex marriage is also dealt with as we see the other extreme in this society. Marriage between a man and a woman is not acceptable at all here and is seen as perverse. Women are only allowed to marry and men have no rights at all. Even when the City of Men is established this societal norm wasn't easy to change.

The characters of Maurice and Rosie are so vivid. It was heartbreaking to see them part and how Maurice never got over her. The story is told from Mauricio's point of view. We really come to understand how the emotional abuse and the isolation affects him so much more than the physical abuse he suffers. How he longs for a kind word or some form of positive human contact. Its very heartwrenching to know what he goes thru.


I loved this book and it definitely goes on my list to re-read in the future and I hope that there are other books set in this world. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good dystopia but definitely not for kids as it has some very adult themes altho not because of sex or language.



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