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

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.

The tension ratchets upwards with each chapter, claustrophobic, tense, the sense of dread builds relentlessly throughout the book to it's conclusion.

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!

A strange tale of a couple sentenced to a remote croft for 12 years - a punishment for having a child without permission. The writing is atmospheric and depicts the hardship and monotonous existence while they eke out a living waiting for parole. Towards the end of the 12 years the couples relationship is so strained that Aine tries to find a way to leave but this is hampered by their reliance on a rather sinister pill delivery system - a medication that they must take three times a day to protect them from an unspecified toxin in the atmosphere.There is little explanation of what has happened in society for restrictions on having children or why there is such a harsh punishment for breaking the rules. Nor is there any detail about the environmental breakdown that seems to have happened. That said, as much is left to the readers imagination, the story made me think about how I might cope with the isolation and deprivation - I think I might have resorted to violence earlier than in the book!

… a few have said the end felt rushed. I disagree. I thought the quickening of the pace was entirely reflective of the urgency of the plight. For me that was a skilful shift from the pace that proceeded it. A wonderful book in terms of allowing the imagination of the reader create a follow up story too. Spoiler alert; my brain went from “is max real, or is this her end of life vision?” To “maybe Witney is right and the warden was coming, and if Witney is right, max and Aina are now both doomed” and various other possibilities between. I enjoyed thinking about it as much I did reading it.

An intriguing premise which had me interested from the outset. Unfortunately the story became less satisfying as it progressed and the ending suggested the author just didn’t know where to go with it. Ambiguity can be thought provoking but sometimes it’s just a cop out when the author leaves the reader to finish the book. That breaks the deal between author and reader!

This was a strange one. I loved the idea of it when I read the blurb, and ny reading pal told me to talk to her about it when I was finished as she’d recently read it.The idea of Aina and Whitney being punished for a crime by being placed on island alone, was something different to anything I’d read before. The pills had me intrigued, I wondered why they had to keep taking them. The story starts out really interesting, I liked reading the flashbacks to their lies before this, but the world sounds crazy! When you read it you’ll know what I mean.The last maybe third of the book seemed very rushed, and I think it could have been played out a bit more. The first ⅔ were really detailed and had me hooked, but the last ⅓ just felt too quick.Overall a good story, a really different idea.

A beautifully written book that unveils itself in a wonderfully rhythmic way. I couldn't put the book down.

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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.