Metronome: The 'unputdownable' BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club Pick

This is a really enjoyable read. I would have liked a clearer ending though. I would recommend this book as the story is different from things I have read before

Couldn't wait to finish it, didn't want it to end. The story is so simple but behind it there is the enormity of a world unrecognisable to our own. The writing is sparing and beautifully evocative and the characters utterly believable. The ending will stay with me for a long time.

A slog through a bleak book followed by a disappointing ending

A really unusual futuristic read Recommend it

Absolutely gripping - I could not put it down!

Set in a dystopian world where having a child without permission is a criminal offence, Aina and Whitney have been exiled to a remote island to live out there 12 year sentence. Their lives revolve around a pill clock that dispenses pills every 8 hours to keep them alive on the island. The story is set at the end of their 12 years and they are awaiting parole, which doesn't seem to be coming. The book is all very mysterious and there is little explanation into why permission was required to have children or what is currently going on preventing the warden from turning up. Aina is planning an escape and works out a plan to enable her to gain an extra pill to allow her to venture further on the island, as she believes Whitney has been keeping secrets from her about what is out there. The story is a very slow burner, descriptive and eerie in parts. I enjoyed the characters, but I did feel they were underdeveloped in the fact that there was so much the reader didn't know about the story to enable you to fully understand the characters. The story does flit in parts which makes it slightly confusing as to what the reality is...eg the ending. I personally did not believe she found maxime and Ruth. I think she was so delirious from the journey and her injury she imagined them rescuing her and she in fact died. The story was quite bleak overall. Did I enjoy it? Yes to an extent.

2 chapters in and hooked …

I found this book very thought provoking but also confusing. I understand that the author wanted people to work things out themselves and draw their own conclusions butvthere was so little explanation of society and background of the characters that I found it really hard to get invested in them and their story or care aboutvthem. I stuck with it hoping for answer and felt some were given but even more was left unresolved!

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Well written and engrossing, however the ending is a huge disappointment

My book arrived in great condition and I absolutely loved the story

This tale is well written, original in concepts, and paced perfectly. There is so much very average writing about, it is a rare pleasure to read something so well crafted.