Rymellan 1: Disobedience Means Death [Kindle Edition]

This is worldbuilding at its best: Sarah creates a larger than life totalitarian system which is seen through the eyes of the two main characters. Sarah does a terrific job to draw us in into the world of Rymellan. Terrific story!

I enjoyed this series from start to finish, though I liked the third book best. Though I have never been a die hard science fiction fan, preferring fantasy, this series definitely captured my attention. It starts off a little slow, so you must give it a bit to get started, but once I was in, I couldn't put it down and I was relieved to see that all three books in the series were already available. It gets slightly repetitive, and I would have liked to have seen more background information about the world the story is set in, like who makes up the council, how the world got to be the way it is, and what other transgressions and crimes might have taken place throughout its history. But the characters were well drawn with clear and distinct personalities and the triad concept at the end was an interesting twist, both of which made this series a winner for me.

Rymellan 1: Disobedience Means Death is a book written by Sarah Ettrich. She happens to be a very good writer. I certainly hope to buy more books from her in the near future.

In the planet Rymel there is a very strict society. This society has a Chosen council who chooses who people's spouses or rather Chosens are. Under this totalitarian society, the Way, which is the set of laws on the planet is strictly enforced.

No one questions the Way since everyone is supposed to be strong in the Way. People become joined or married normally by the age of 25, but sometimes a little older depending on who a person's Chosen is. The only good thing about this planet is that homophobia does not exist unless you count that the gay men who are joined can't have children. Still, I like that there is no homophobia and there is no mention of lesbian or gay or straight. Instead, what is mentioned is if a person is same-oriented of different-oriented and a person's sexual orientation doesn't matter. I just don't like the totalitarian society.

Now the main characters of this book are Mo and Lesley. These two women have been dating each other since they were in their teens. They have formed a strong bond with each other and love each other dearly. However, their relationship is forced to end by the time they are 25 due to the fact that they are both Chosens. The interesting thing between the characters is how they cope with a society that frowns upon their relationship since they aren't each others Chosens. Well they don't know if they are each others Chosens or not, but they hope they are. The characters were easy to relate to and you feel the ups and downs of their relationship from the time they realize their sexual orientation into their young adulthood.

The book is a very good science fiction and romance. This is also one of the best stories I have seen so far that deals with a same sex relationship between two women. I certainly enjoyed every minute of it. I rate Rymellan 1: Disobedience Means Death by Sarah Ettrich a 9 out of 10.

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