Review Detail

The story:

In a futuristic society that oppresses immigrants and requires citizens, including children, to use guns to enforce the laws, two teenage girls from completely different backgrounds must question everything about the society they live in to save the people they love.


What I loved:

I’m fond of stories that are told in dual first person if they’re done well. Jenny is a citizen who dreams of going to the Academy and becoming a safety officer like her mother. Hannah is the daughter of immigrant parents who just achieved citizenship. They meet in school and from there, both affect each other’s lives in ways neither could have imagined. Both together and separately, they discover that there is something inherently wrong with the society they live in. As their lives and those of those closest to them begin to crumble around them, they realize playing by the rules is not always the way to go. The plot builds to a thrilling ending, and I found myself turning page after page to get there.

Joel Doty’s writing style is crisp, with not much waste or fluff, and the rapid back-and-forth between the two girls’ perspectives is engaging and well-written, and the dialogue rang true for their ages (13 and 15).


What I didn’t love:

Honestly, not much. I did have to suspend my disbelief that a society can reach this point, where children are encouraged to not only carry guns but use them on another person who they merely suspect of breaking the law. (With the way things are going in the real world, however, such a society is not as hard to believe as it used to be.)


My Final Verdict:

The Good Citizen is an excellent read for those who enjoy dystopian, coming-of-age stories, or just a good YA suspense thriller. I’m not sure if this book will be a standalone or part of a series, but regardless, it’s a great story.