I was deeply intrigued when I started this book. It has everything I could want in a story: a ruling class, a mistreated slave, a high-born girl who is only looking for love, and hope for those brave enough to rebel against society in order to make their lives happier. I was also disappointed in this book.
There is huge potential here. Set in a future dystopian society where women rule everything, the only sanctioned marriages are between women, and men who are only good as slave labor, La Porta has given us a window into something spectacular. However, the characters fall flat, there's almost no development in the plot, and the narration and conversations are formal and stilted.
Mauricio's child-like glee at experiencing anything new, such as the outside world, quickly becomes tedious with the same terms and descriptions used again and again. And again and again. And again and again. (Get where I'm going with this?) His encounters with Rosie also become repetitive and seem to go nowhere. While they eventually share a "date" and she tells Mauricio a bit of her childhood, there is no basis for a love connection, making this story more awkward.
I read the author's note, telling us that Rosie and Mauricio were characters that came to life during the writing of another novel that was almost finished. To me, this made more sense as to why it fell short of my expectations.
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