Thought provoking and exciting read

My rating:   5 out of 5

Susan and her husband have been trying to years to have a baby, and then Susan is pregnant, but well its complicated and not quite as expected.  But there is a way to put things right. 

Set a few years ahead of now, and then eleven years later, this is a tale of love and secrets and tweaking the truth to make things better than they otherwise might have been, but when that tweaking includes genetic enhancements what is acceptable and how far should one go?

The first half of this book is about trying to conceive, and the option of genetic changes.  The second half is 11 years later when Zurel (Susan’s daughter), and others, are beginning to ask questions, and this section had my heart leaping as I raced through the pages.    

There are a lot of strong themes in this book around conception difficulties, and genetic enhancements and this certainly makes for disturbing and thought provoking reading.  The characters and story telling are excellent, which makes for an emotional read.    

A fascinating and exciting read which does not attempt to provide answers to a difficult topic that may be part of our lives sooner than we think.  Indeed a newspaper article I read recently (February 2022) suggested the use of genetic enhancements such as in Off Target might be only 20 years away. 

5*s from me because Eve Smith has (as she also did in The Waiting Rooms)  woven a great story around issues that are topical, interesting, contentious and need to be thought about and discussed. 

At the end of the book are suggested Book Club discussion points. 

On the author’s website,  https://www.evesmithauthor.com/ , there are some interesting articles about issues covered in the book.  There are also suggestions for further reading around this topic. 

Publisher:  Orenda Books

Publication Date:  Paperback and Audiobook February 2022, Kindle version December 2021

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Other book/s I have read, and reviewed, by this author (click on book cover to see review) :