Peter Gulgowski

For this debut novel, Peter Gulgowski has managed to hit the ball out of the park with The Government. Fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games will be on the edge of their seats, clinging to each and every page filled to the brim this novel is.

At birth, citizens of the Dystopian United States are decided if they are Desirable or Undesirable. If you are a Desirable, you are treated with the highest of honors, and that includes richness, popularity, and so on. If you are an Undesirable, you better pray that you make it to the age of eighteen before they come for you.

Aria Hill—the first main character—is an Undesirable who's been closed off and confined to the walls of a government-run compound since she was born. After her friend attempts and fails to escape, she is left wondering if she'll ever see outside the walls. A government soldier by the name of Jace—the second main character—offers to lead Aria and her friends to safety in the form of the Resistance—the only group physically capable of taking out the leader, Gloria Chambers.

"Only a few had tried to escape, and it didn't end well."

This becomes no easy feat, and Jace and Aria are left to scramble for their lives, leaving behind loved ones just for the opportunity of a life they were so cruelly stripped of.

Peter Gulgowski takes fans by surprise with this book, giving an ending that was both seen and unheard of. The plot flowed, the characters were well developed, and most importantly, the moral was received. For that, this book receives a rating of 5/5 stars.… (mais)

*I WAS A CHOSEN BETA READER FOR THIS BOOK*

I've said it time and time again, but I'll repeat it for y'all again. Peter's books are literal hooks. They clip themselves into your brain and never leave. You end up thinking about them, even after you've finished reading. It's incredible what he can do with his writing, and I am so excited for his future books.

Now, onto the actual exciting stuff. I knew that this was going to be one of Peter's best books by the way he was announcing and talking about it. You could practically hear the excitement floating about his words, and I mean that. I was so excited and honored when he came to me and asked if I would like to beta read it (this was the first time he's looked for beta readers). Of course, I accepted. Why wouldn't I? This book was going to be spectacular, and the sooner I could read it and help out with the edits, the faster it would seem to come out for the rest of you.

The plot of this book was out of the ordinary. I've never heard of someone doing a government system based on voting, and I fell in absolute love with the idea of a faulty government system. So, I binge read the majority of this book. Now, when I say binge read, I mean I spent my class time reading this book instead of doing classwork. That ended up coming to bite me in the butt, but it's all good now. IT WAS WORTH IT!

I know a lot of you have been searching for more books with LGBT+ rep, and this is one of them! The main character, Darrius, is gay and has a--from what I could tell--very hot boyfriend. Now, I'm a Christian and don't tend to read books with LGBT+ rep, but when I do, I always make sure to look out for things I see in my friends who are LGBT+.

The amount of work that went into the characters and their development was astounding, and I really wasn't surprised at all by this. Peter is spectacular when it comes to writing characters. When talking about this book, however, I was thoroughly impressed by the characters development.

For Darrius
- Became more knowledgeable
- Didn't stop pursuing
- Didn't give up on his family

For Darrius's dad
- Was highly supportive
- Supported his family fully
- Did whatever he could to protect his kids

For President Wright
- Sinister
- Scary
- Full of surprises

I absolutely loved this book and still cannot get over everything I read. Peter has brought us yet another amazing 5-star book that should be recognized by everyone. I HIGHLY suggest all of you purchase and read it.… (mais)