Forget what you heard: dystopian fiction is so back! Jill Tew’s new dystopian romance, The Dividing Sky, takes us to the year 2364, where only the major U.S. cities remain inhabitable. Think Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, etc.
The Dividing Sky takes place in the Metro, where the main character Liv Newman earns money as an EmoProxy, both legally and illegally. She accepts an assignment to venture to the Outerlands while also on the run from the police force. Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao tracks her down, only to find that she’s lost her memories.
The more time Liv and Adrian spend in the Outerlands, the more their worldview comes crashing down. (And the more fond they feel for each other.) Here are three of our favorite things about The Dividing Sky by Jill Tew!
Book Overview: The Dividing Sky
Content warnings: violence, drug use, serious injury, forced captivity, animal death, weapons, medical procedures, PTSD, vomiting, mentions of child trafficking
Summary: In 2364, eighteen-year-old Liv Newman dreams of a future beyond her lower-class life in the Metro. As a Proxy, she uses the neurochip in her brain to sell memories to wealthy clients. Maybe a few illegally, but money equals freedom. So when a customer offers her a ludicrous sum to go on an assignment in no-man’s-land, Liv accepts. Now she just has to survive.
Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao believes in order over all. After discovering that a renegade Proxy’s shady dealings are messing with citizens’ brain chemistry, he vows to extinguish the threat. But when he tracks Liv down, there’s one problem: her memories are gone. Can Adrian bring himself to condemn her for crimes she doesn’t remember?
As Liv and Adrian navigate the world beyond the Metro and their growing feelings for one another, they grapple with who they are, who they could be, and whether another way of living is possible.
The Proxy Concept
In The Dividing Sky, LifeCorp forces employees to prioritize production and output at all costs. The more they produce, the more valuable they are. So this forces people to outsource everything else in life. The joys of living and the feeling of being alive are commodities. Relationships and bonds between people can be maintained via RelaProxy. As an EmoProxy, Liv sells memories and feelings to her clients, all of whom are too busy toiling away to experience life for themselves. We think it’s such a brilliant concept for a dystopia like the Metro because it’s something that could very well happen in our own world.
Forced Proximity
Liv and Adrian live on opposite sides of society. Liv has the ability to alter people’s brain chemistry when she shares her memories. Adrian’s job is to arrest Liv and neutralize this threat. They should hate each other. But sparks fly on their first encounter. Then when they find each other in the Outerlands, Liv has no memories or who she is or why she’s here. She and Adrian have no choice but to stick together and watch each other’s backs. This forced proximity couples with Adrian’s inner dilemma about arresting Liv or allowing his feelings for her to grow. Who’s to say what’ll happen when Liv does get her memories back?
The Haven
Another one of our favorite things about The Dividing Sky is the Haven located in the Outerlands. It’s exactly the kind of community we can see ourselves living in. There, people are content with slow living. They don’t feel like they have to keep racing to meet production quotas or for their next drug fix. The Haveners value art, culture, and individual style, as opposed to the gray uniforms of the Metro. They defend their own and welcome those who seek true freedom. The Haven grants its people the ability to live fully and to find their form of happiness, one they won’t find packaged in a vial or a bottle.
Lovers from opposing sides of society. Forced proximity. Not only did we devour the dystopian romance in Jill Tew’s The Dividing Sky, but we also found ourselves reflecting on our world and how we want to live in it.
The Dividing Sky by Jill Tew comes out June 24th, and you can order a copy of it here!
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