Books for Christian Girls: "Recorder" by Cathy McCrumb

About this book:

  “The Consortium is All. But Recorder Can No Longer Obey.
    Recorder has no family, no friends, and no name. Donated to the Consortium before birth, her sole purpose is to maintain and verify the records. A neural implant and drone ensure compliance, punishing for displays of bias.
    Suddenly cut off from controlling technology, Recorder tastes what it means to be human. But if the Consortium discovers her feelings, everyone she knows will be in danger.
    With no name, no resources, and only an infinitesimal possibility of escape, Recorder's time is running out.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Children of the Consortium” trilogy.

Spiritual Content- A few references to Scriptures (“all things worked together for the good”, “dust unto dust”, “something about never leaving or forsaking her”); The phrase “only God knows right now” is said by someone to another (who both seem to have faiths); A side character has a cross necklace which shocks the Recorder to learn that the person has a religion and comments “it surprises me that you would believe in something as unquantifiable as a god” and the girl says “Well, he wouldn’t be much of a God if he was quantifiable, would he?”; Someone wishes another “Godspeed”; Someone tells Recorder that “some people say we evolved from the dust of stars. Others say we are uniquely formed by a divine being. Stardust or Creation. Either way, you are exceptional. You are the only one of you in all the space and time. You cannot be nothing.” (She says these words again later); Recorder asks others to swear something to her by “whatever star or deity you will”; Recorder says that she’ll need “wishes and prayers” to do something hard and later isn’t sure if “prayer or hope was the right word” but did both that she wouldn’t get caught; Mentions of a cross necklace; Mentions of two characters having wooden “worry beads” and running them through their fingers when stressed/worried (could be a rosary); A few mentions of prayers & someone uttering “what might have been prayer”; A couple mentions of two Christians telling the other to “look to the light”;
             *Note: When Recorder tells a guy who stop invoking a deity when he curses and that “deities and religions are not sanctioned for public discourse. [He] should speak of religion only in the privacy of [his] personal space with like-minded people”, he responds that how will he find one if no one speaks of their faith, but tells her to never mind his comment because he was only cursing and that “no god’d want [him] anyway”; When upset, Recorder asks why the “universe” cannot give her some small hope for the future; When someone is told that their deceased loved one is in a better place, another person says that “being alive would be better”; A side character asks another if everything is meaningless; “Pax” is said a couple of times when showing that you want peace with another (Pax is the goddess of peace); A few mentions of someone who was trapped in a mine thinking that ghosts would get to him & would talk to the ghosts; A couple mentions of being lucky; A mention of that when at the end of someone’s life, everyone should find peace; A mention of Ceres’s twin moons; A mention of evil mythological beings; A mention of taste evolving.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blah blah blah’, a ‘good night’, an unfinished ‘son of a —‘, three forms of ‘shove off/leave off/back off’, three forms of ‘shut up’, four forms of ‘idiot’, nine forms of ‘blast/blast you’, twelve ‘blasted’s, and thirteen forms of ‘stupid’; Made-up cursing for this fictional world includes: a ‘for colony’s sake’, a ‘void it’, a ‘void-ridden’, a ‘what in the name of light’, three ‘trog’s (derogatory), three ‘void take it’s, three ‘voided’s, twelve forms of spacing (used for emphasis), fourteen forms of ‘stars above’, sixteen ‘moons and stars’, and twenty-one ‘stars’ (exclamation); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Many mentions of curses (said, not written; two of them “invoked a deity”); Someone tells others that they “can rot”; Viewing a murder & autopsy in videos/projections (including how it happened and trying to find out the murderer, up to semi-detailed); Finding dead bodies (including seeing video of a murdered one, up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone pass away (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, Fighting off giant cockroaches, Punching someone in the face, Being shocked, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, Throwing up, (including someone taking Recorder’s helmet off after she throws up in it so she doesn’t choke on it), & Being put into a medical tanks filled with goo and freaking out (up to semi-detailed); An explosion, earthquake, helping others (including injured children), seeing a death, deaths of loved ones, injuries, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Panic & Anxiety (up to semi-detailed); A nightmare (with a corpse talking and someone turning into a giant bug, up to semi-detailed); Eavesdropping; Seeing someone being beat up by a bully, fighting, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Recorders are punished (shocked) by their drone if they do not act like they are supposed to (such as being emotional or helping a citizen because they are only to observe) and we see this happen on-page a handful of times (including when our main Recorder was a child, up to semi-detailed; *Spoiler, but about self-harm* After her drone is destroyed, Recorder starts to hit herself when she shows emotion, someone catches on to this later and says she doesn’t have to hurt herself because her drone not being there anymore, but Recorder thinks that the person is wrong, though she does try to stop hitting herself after that point *End of Spoiler*); The team is to gather information on what happened to a group of people on a secret location where many of them have died (one person wants to rescue the bodies, but because that is not their mission, they only rescue the ones who are alive in medical tanks); *Spoiler* Recorders have an implant in them that will kill the Recorder if they go rogue and try to survive on their own *End of Spoiler*; *Major Spoiler* It's hinted at in this first book about the Hall of Reclamation being the worst thing that can happen to Recorders who do not follow their rules, but it's never really said what it is; In the second book, we quickly learn that it's where Recorders and Elders go to either be put into medical containers for organ donation or take care of those who are set for that path; This is deemed part of their service and if they cannot serve, then their bodies will in this way *End of Spoiler*; Two scenes of those who have passed being “recycled” and the bodies (“shells” going on a conveyor belt), the person’s hair being cut-off, & the coldness of the whole process with grief (up to semi-detailed); Someone plans to get “good and drunk” after the passing of his family member; Many mentions of deaths, grief, bodies, retrieving bodies, seeing a murdered body in a video, finding bodies (and remembering seeing them), & a murderer (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of attempted murder, possible executions, & people disappearing who broke the government’s rules/laws; Mentions of survivors’ guilt after many others have died; Mentions of an unknown virus & someone’s plans to unleash it (biological weapon); Mentions of coffins, people who have passed being “recycled”, & the family receiving money from what’s left of the bodies (someone tells Recorder about his mother’s service and we see on-page two others); Mentions of Recorders and others being shocked & in pain; Mentions of an explosion, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, throwing up and almost drowning in vomit (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of threats; Mentions of bullies, fighting, fights/beatings, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of champagne and cocktails at a party, drinks, drinking, a spiked punch bowl, & getting drunk (drinking because of a boss and wanting to get drunk after the death of a family member); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; Mentions of an anti-obscenity law that Recorders uphold (others can be fined for cussing); Mentions of nightmares (including giant cockroaches & corpses); Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of animal experimentation (which didn’t happen) & someone planning to euthanize cats (but others rescued them and all of them made it except one that was pregnant); A few mentions of children not making it after a place self-destruct (and the heaviness of seeing a video of one of the children being scared and sedated); A few mentions of thieves & stealing; A few mentions of possible atrophy; A few mentions of parents arguing & grief (over a child being sick); A few mentions of couples breaking their contracts (divorce); A couple mentions of someone being beat up for his actions (assault to a girl); A mention of suicide; A mention of a someone dying in a mine because of a lack of oxygen; A mention of a man’s son dying (prior to the book); A mention of gambling; A mention of urine;

             *Note: After some events, Recorder does not feel like she has a purpose anymore and is nothing (someone disagrees with her about this because every human is valuable, but she still believes it to be true); When Recorder says that children are forgettable individually so being in a larger unit maintains their neutrality and that she’s not important as an individual, someone else says that’s a lie; A side character’s grandfather calls him a parasite that ruined his daughter’s life (we see this in a chapter from his point of view and how the boy was only allowed to call his mother by her first name because of it); Another side character in a flashback is disrespectful to her controlling mother; Some people do not view Recorders as humans (even though they technically are; Another person is glad a Recorder is dead as he views them as spies for the Consortium); Those who are Recorders or other government service staff were “gifted” by their biological donors and it’s said that they redeem their gifting by doing service (they are gifted at the third trimester of pregnancy to “assure a better survival rate for the fetuses and to avoid further emotional complications for the donors, who are compensated for their contribution”); Often times unwanted or medically fragile pregnancies are gifted to the Consortium; A girl says that her biological mother didn’t want her and was going to give her to the Consortium but she was adopted by family members (this makes our Recorder wonder if her mother’s extended family knew that was an option, but she shakes away the thought); Mentions of children having “defects” and that the children won’t be normal inside and take too much from the parents (like medical appointments, counseling, therapies, and then causing the parents to be isolated, but the father is still committed to the child and mother; *Spoiler* The mother chooses to gift the twins to the Consortium and because they aren’t contracted (married), the father has no say in the matter so she gifts the babies so that they will be taken care of there, saying that the man will not want this burden because the children will never be functional and would “crush him like a black hole”; This has haunted the man for years and he continues to search for her and the children *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of eugenics, genocide, an attempted genetic cleansing a hundred years prior to the book starting, & how destruction of a pregnancy is illegal and immoral; A couple mentions of guilt of parents for gifting their children; A mention of a horror video (movie); A mention of a young man wearing earrings; A mention of someone having a therapist.

Sexual Content- A head kiss, an almost kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kisses (one forced), and a detailed kiss; A few kisses on-page in side characters’ chapters (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, Noticing, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Wanting to touch & Wondering about touching a guy’s hair (barely-above-not-detailed); An on-page assault with a guy forcing an embrace and kiss on Recorder (she tries to push him off and wipes her lips multiple times afterwards, up to semi-detailed; Later, she tells someone that she doesn’t understand because kissing wasn’t pleasant like she’s heard it was; She feels shame and failure after it happens and will not wear the outfit she was wearing again; *Spoilers* Someone tries to turn the situation that Recorder had forced “unwanted attention” on the guy, but none of the main side characters believe it and most are sympathetic to her; Recorder notes that everyone is avoiding him so she offers mercy to him and the opportunity to redeem himself; It’s revealed later on that the guy was concerned that he got her sick because he is involved in releasing a virus to the public which makes the assault attempted murder *End of Spoiler*; Another guy is playing a young woman’s feelings in order to get information from her and her status; *Spoiler* Recorder asks a guy to kiss her because when she’s alone, the thought of him comforts her; Someone yells at them for kissing because she’s supposed to report to the Consortium and because her lips are swollen and have his DNA on them, she could get into trouble *End of Spoiler*; Talks about the assault, assaulter, & kisses/kissing; Seeing couples kiss, embrace, & hold hands (barely-above-not-detailed); Couples do not get married in this world but have a “contract” & call the other their “partner” (there are also nonexclusive contracts that have a time limit; There is a mention of an uncle with a young contract partner); Recorders and Citizens are not allowed to be together in a romantic sense, but we hear about that happening once and both of them being sent away (and never heard from again; Someone calls it disgusting that they fell in love and he seduced the Recorder, but another says that they both must have been in love); In a side character’s chapter, we learn that he was with a much-older woman (20+ years his senior) and that while they didn’t have a contract, they lived together (we see them in bed and cuddling together), she was pregnant, and that he wanted to marry her (which she didn’t understand why he would use that word because it was outdated and thinks he will leave her at some point because he’s too young; *Spoiler* One of the babies is said to be defective, so the mother decides to give the babies to the Consortium; Because they are not contracted together, the father has no choice in the matter though he begs the woman to not do that and that they will figure it out; She ends up gifting the babies and he continues to try to find them many years later *End of Spoiler*; A couple guys tease and flirt with Recorder a few times (including saying that she had an “emotional reaction” to him & another one flirts with her and she takes it as him belittling her); A grandmother teases her granddaughter that if she doesn’t go after a guy, she will to show him how to make a woman happy; A guy comments on a woman’s “assets” and enjoying “that kind of athleticism”; Two ‘babe’s; Mentions of the assault, forced kiss, & others treating the assaulter rudely and hitting him; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & consent; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, & break-ups (these terms aren’t used but the idea of them are); Mentions of a guy who is full of himself; Mentions of couples, hand holding, embraces, & them kissing; Mentions of flirting, winks, & blushes; A few mentions of handsome guys; A few mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of a guy flexing his muscles; A mention of the guy who “mauled” Recorder and another guy hoping he enjoyed it (which he didn’t); A mention of learning how to “fend off unwanted advances”; A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A side character’s mother body shames her (saying that her arms are “like a miner” and shouldn’t be showing); A couple mentions of a young guy taking off his shirt and others whistling at him; A mention of puberty.

-Recorder, age 24
                            POV switches between Recorder & flashbacks to others’ POV (Alec, Kyleigh, Timmons, Jordan, Zhen, Max, & James)
                                             Sci-fi
                                                        354 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Older Girls who enjoy sci-fi books may enjoy this book more and could add a full star to that rating. }

This was wildly different from really any book I’ve ever read before. She’s basically like a robot and when events happen that alter her, she has to learn to manage her emotions and life without her technology—including having to monitor her own vials and knowing when to eat. Recorders are said to keep everyone honest and safe, but some will argue that point because of past troubles with them.

Even after typing this looooong review, I’m still unsure of how I feel about this book, so let’s list some pros and cons:

Pro- I was able to follow along pretty well and never felt too overwhelmed by the sci-fi plot. The author explained things very well and naturally, it never felt like info-dumping.

Con- The story did start to drag for me around the halfway point.

Pro- I liked seeing the eventual found family trope.

Con- There was a lot of characters and names to keep track of (including the same person being called three different names 🥴)

Pro- this was incredibly different from my normal read and I liked that aspect.

Con- The cockroaches were disgusting and completely icky as someone who can’t stand those. I now have trust issues for this author and creatures she adds to this series.

Pro- Our main Recorder didn’t understand different idioms and taking them literally was so Amelia Bedelia-like and I really liked that part.

Con- At times, it stated to feel overly sad and depressing to me. That could totally be me, but I was waiting for something good to finally happen to these characters.

I really wanted to really like this book. It didn’t quite meet my expectations, I’ll admit. Major sci-fi fans will probably enjoy this one more, but I struggled with different elements of this book. I needed more hope throughout it and it sorely lacking that element. I do plan to continue the rest of the series as I own them and am curious about certain things. The concept is there and the characters were well done, but for some reason it still didn’t meet the expectations I had for it.

See y’all on Monday with a new review!