Review: Archetype by M.D. Waters

Title: Archetype (Archetype #1)
Author: M.D. Waters
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Release date: February 6th 2014
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 5/5

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Introducing a breathtakingly inventive futuristic suspense novel about one woman who rebels against everything she is told to believe.

Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.

Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .

The first novel in a two-part series, Archetype heralds the arrival of a truly memorable character—and the talented author who created her.

Set in a futuristic/dystopian world mixed with sci-fi, mystery, with romance, with a twist in the plot that was very interesting and unexpected. Archetype is a book that captivated me and left a very good impression on me.

The story of Archetype begins with Emma waking up in a hospital not knowing her name, knowing nothing about her past and not knowing the meaning of some words, but with the patience of Declan who claims to be her husband and Dr. Travista, whom is treating her, Emma slowly recovers from her accident. She lives for months in the hospital, under the scrutiny of Dr. Travista and constant visits from her husband Declan, but at night she has nightmares of scenarios she doesn´t know, a war and amidst all this there is a man which she can´t see but she knows is the man she loves, plus it has other puzzling dreams where she is trapped somewhere. Besides that inside her head there is a voice, "Her", which is telling her what to do and what she shouldn´t do but Emma does not always listen to her (this part reminded me a bit of the Host by Stephenie Meyer).

But what Emma doesn´t initially know is that she lives in a world where there are very few fertile women, so all women are concentrated in training centers until reaching their adulthood then they´re to be sold to husbands that can afford them. The women in this world are treated as possessions and gradually Emma will discover who she can trust and who she can´t.

This book is told from Emma´s POV, so most of the book we don´t know what´s really happening, or what´s real, and who is telling the truth, this is something I enjoy immensely! the mystery and suspense behind the identity of Emma, was very well handled. I really loved this book and I recommend it to dystopian and sci-fi fans.