CONFORM by Ariel Sullivan

5 stars

This highly entertaining romantasy/dystopian novel comes from a new publishing collection under Jenna Hager, and it’s perfect for those of us missing the best-selling youth fiction appealing to adults.

Forgot about world-setting, except that we’re past a huge war that decimated most of humanity, and we’re simply plunged into a strictly hierarchical society with four strata. The ruling small group of Illum (short for Illuminated it seems) who govern with an iron fist. Below them are the Elites picked for perfect beauty, who live at the top of skyscrapers above the clouds, wear colorful expensive clothes, dine on gourmet food and spend most of their lives luxuriating in leisure while trying to avoid any social faux pas. The ground dwelling Minor Defects who’ve been cast out of the Elites for some slight mar – in the case of our heroine Emeline because of one blue eye and one brown one, wear all gray, eat gruel, and do monotonous tasks while living solitary lives. Lastly, living below ground are the Major Defects who might as well be named the untouchables – dressed in blue and forbidden the daylight, and goodness even knows if they’re fed at all. Harsh rules for each lower group have created by the Illum and ground into everyone’s heads since youth “Academies” to the point of brainwashing.

Emeline’s been assigned the monotonous and tragic task of destroying art from humanity’s past, and as she pauses struck by the beauty of each painting before sending it to the trash – these are masterpieces you can recognized such as the Mona Lisa. Turns out Emeline was born an elite, but her mean father, over her weak mother’s objections, kept her isolated from both her siblings and society until he banished her as a toddler to the Minor Defect Academy. And so our Cinderella came to be- gorgeous, intelligent, brainwashed into a lack of self-confidence but still fiercely opinionated and feisty.

Turns out that the Illum, to control humanity’s growth and breeding, have constructed pernicious breeding contracts in which the Minor Defects serve as vessels for Elite children breeding before being banished out of society. Thus, we find ourselves in a variant of the land of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The Illum even go so far as serving as matchmaker based on genetic testing and their own other elitist criteria, and we have overlays of a Nazi-authoritarian regime trying to breed their version of super-humans.

On top of all this emerges a powerful love triangle for Emeline’s heart: Collin, the powerful elite she’s been matched with who turns out to the youngest member of the Illum and Hal, a Major Defect who shows up at her art-destroying office and wins her over with charm, humor, wit, and art-analysis.

At stake is the very future of this world: with a rebellion brewing from the defects and an authoritarian shut-down by the Illum. Who will Emeline choose and can you keep up with all the intense lies and twists along the way?!

Cannot wait to read more from both Ariel Sullivan and Jenna Hager’s team.

Thanks to Random House Publishing, Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.