The perfect read for dystopian lovers! A fast paced, moving, exciting read that centres around such an interesting Black Mirror-esque concept not too far removed from our reality to be unbelievable. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will recommend to older teenage readers.

I felt this book would have been better a few years ago in the big dystopia boom. That being said, the concept was very interesting and unique, but I couldn't help feeling that it seemed a bit rushed.

Early one morning, Grace wakes to find herself staring at an ashen sunrise in ominous grey skies. It's like watching a disaster movie, though her family don't seem to think anything is wrong. Grace is one of a handful of people in the country who are seeing the world in shades of grey. But this is only the beginning of the 'greyout', or Monochrome Effect, that is rapidly sweeping the world.

Loss of colour vision is traced to polluted water systems; microplastics covered in harmful bacteria have been poured into the ocean for years. With failing harvests and stay-at-home orders in a world on the brink of a major ecological disaster, there appears to be no cure - until one day Grace sees a single flash of red.

She agrees to join a government-run study with other teenagers who experience intermittent 'colour episodes'. They are promised that they are the key to reversing the damage, but Grace soon realises that the reality is much more complicated, shocking, and dangerous than she could have ever imagined . .
Knows how to blow your mind with a twist!…

4⭐️

I am not usually into dystopian reads but I enjoyed this! The concept of existing without seeing colour was something new to me and thought provoking. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more backstory into how everyone lost the sight of colour, that felt a bit rushed and like here it is. But once we passed that point I was into it.


The story was fast paced and had both intrigue and sinister elements that kept you going. Grace is only doing what she believes is her moral obligation to help science bring colour back to everyone. But when does science cross that line? How far do you go to change the world?

How far would you go to get sight of colour back?

This is a really interesting concept! Personally, I felt the execution was a little bit rushed, but there's a lot to enjoy here and a lot that will stay with you afterwards.

The idea itself is really clever and not one I've seen anywhere before. I hadn't thought about how losing colour vision would affect other things like taste, but it really made me think. I have caught myself looking at coloured things a bit more than I used to, which I'm not at all sorry about! If that's the lingering effect this book has, it'll be a great one.

However, I did feel like the story moved very quickly. That's not always a bad thing, but being in one person's POV means we didn't know a lot of what was going on elsewhere. I would have loved to know how the world was dealing, or even a few more details on the apparent collapse of society that was going on outside the estate walls. Plus, of course, the romance went from 'what a horrible boy' to 'love of my life' in about three days, which always strikes me as weird.

Overall I did enjoy this. The ending leaves an opening for more books and I would definitely want to know what happens next. Worth the read.

Not for me personally as events mirror the last few years in a lot of ways and I’d rather not be reminded of the awfulness. However the concept is intriguing and I can see it being popular as it is written well