The Cyclopes’ Eye
by
Jeffrey Haskey-Valerius
YA Dystopian / Soft Sci-Fi
Publisher: NineStar Press
Publication Date: April 9, 2024
Page count: 366 pages
SYNOPSIS
First they came for his sister’s eye. Now they’re coming for his. And what’s even worse is he deserves it.
Henry has never had anything good happen to him, period. Full stop. That’s why, after school, he’s going to put on his big-boy pants and confess his love to his best friend—because the universe owes him one, dammit, and he needs a win.
But maybe doing it on Drill Day wasn’t the best idea—the one day a month that healthcare conglomerate Axiom infiltrates schools across America to select a new candidate to give up one of their eyes, for… research? And if this Drill Day is anything like the last, Henry will never get a chance at a good life. Especially if his past keeps threatening to eat him alive, and especially if his old ways of keeping the darkness at bay refuse to work anymore.
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Review
5 stars!
Creative, exciting, and disturbing vision of a dystopian future California.
The Cyclopes’ Eye is the fresh, exciting, and disturbing new dystopian young adult novel by Jeffrey Haskey-Valerius, and features a not-too-distant future where middle and high school students undergo a selection process to offer up an eye for medical research. With its genuine and appealing young adult protagonist and shocking storyline, this debut novel was not only impressive but mesmerizing.
Henry Youngwell is the fascinating main character who has been selected to give up an eye to the Axiom Corporation’s supposed research program, even though they’ve just announced they’ve successfully developed the ultimate alternative for the process. Henry is a complex young protagonist with tragic beginnings; his mother is in prison and his father is an abusive alcoholic who can’t hold a job. He and his twin sister, Judith, subsist on what money Henry brings in from his part-time job and the two are literally starving to death. Judith was selected to trade her eye for their new home only the month before and is only just recuperating from the surgery. Henry’s subsequent selection is unprecedented and unexpected. Besides their poverty, Henry is dealing with critical emotional issues. He constantly struggles to keep anger and violent reactions under control since the removal of his mother from their home and his father’s neglect and abuse, and feels guilty for not preventing his sister from agreeing to give up her eye. He has a close group of friends and is navigating the usual trials and tribulations inherent to adolescence, including a major crush on his best friend, Sam. Henry’s narrative and inner thoughts are delightfully witty and clever, even in the midst of such a stress-filled events.
The plot and specifics of this future California are unique and make for absorbing reading. The Axiom Corporation is frightening and all-controlling and embedded in daily life for these kids, reminding me of aspects of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy and George Orwell’s 1984. Still, I never knew where the story was going so each page was a fresh, compelling journey.
As the plot includes some serious, possibly triggering, topics, such as abuse, self-harm, and suicide ideation as well as shocking, graphic details, this book will not be for everyone. Potential readers should read the book’s blurb and reviews for the provided and implied content warnings. I recommend THE CYCLOPES’ EYE to readers who enjoy exciting dystopian young adult fiction.
About the Author
Jeffrey Haskey-Valerius works in healthcare by day and writes weird fiction and poetry by night. His shorter work has been featured in numerous literary journals and has been nominated for prizes, including Best of the Net. He currently lives in the Midwest with his unbelievably handsome and perfect dog, and also a human whom he loves. The Cyclopes’ Eye is his debut novel.
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