Kristen Simmons’s The Glass Arrow is a standalone novel. In this dystopian society, there is no longer equality between men and women. Women have become prostitutes whose only purpose in life is to bear baby boys. They are auctioned and sold like slaves until they reach the point of infertility. Few women have escaped beyond the reaches of cities and into the wilderness, only to be hunted by Trackers. Aya is a girl who grew up in the mountains. For all her life, she has been evading Trackers until the day her luck runs out.
Aya is a strong protagonist. When she is captured by Trackers and imprisoned in the capital of Glasscaster, she spends every moment trying to escape. She cares deeply about her family and will do anything to rejoin them. At times she can be too headstrong, which causes her unnecessary harm. While she has a tendency to isolate herself, she also has strong morals. Aya’s resiliency shows as she does her best to escape Glasscaster and her unwavering determination is evident as never gives up and continues to face new challenges. The Glass Arrow is a great book. It had a great protagonist who becomes more resilient as the plot goes on. This book puts an exciting new spin on the dystopian genre. Unlike most dystopian novels, Aya is not born into a dystopian government, nor does she aim to bring down the government. Her soul purpose is to escape the city and reunite with her family. Kristen Simmons builds an interesting and disturbing world, but makes no attempt to expand it. It would have been nice to know how other areas of the world treat women. Even the lore and history of the society is barely touched upon. Through Aya’s eyes, we see a very limited view of The Glass Arrow’s world. The themes that run through this book are chilling. Aya encounters many girls who are complacent with the inequality within the world. It brings up disturbing notions about women’s inequality and how children can be raised to be blind to the wrongs of the world. I give this 331 page book 4.5 stars.