Another extremely enthralling premise and incredibly intense novel by Dalcher. I’m a fan of her work but it’s not for the faint hearted - some of the scenes in her books still haunt me long after I’ve finished them and this was no exception. Excruciating excellence.

Unfortunately I found this quite slow and had to stop reading as it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The different POVs and past and present made it a little hard to follow

I absolutely adore Christina Dalcher's books and this one was no exception. I loved the story line of this book and was really rooting for the characters throughout this book.

I struggled a little to keep my attention with this book. Parts of the book I enjoyed and started to follow but then I would lose myself. I dont know if this is a true review. Maybe my head wasn't in it. Don't let this put you off trying it

This is the third book I have read by Christina Dalcher, but the first book I have listened to by this author.

I found the whole premise/concept of this story enthralling and thought provoking - if it transpired that a prosecutor had sentenced to death an innocent person, they would then face the death penalty themselves.

This is the story of a prosecutor, Justine, who had sentenced a man to the death penalty, what spurred her on to deal out this punishment and what transpires after the execution has taken place.

I love a book told from different perspectives and this book did that extremely well, making you want to continue reading to follow the next part of each persons story.

There was one 'wow' moment in this book that blew my mind and made me change my perspective on a few aspects.

I just felt a little let down by then end, otherwise this would have been a 5 star read for me.

The narration was done extremely well and I found myself racing through the last quarter of the book.

Speculative fiction always takes me a while to adjust to - the "hang on a minute" moment at the start of this book where I thought it couldn't possibly happen that prosecutors would be made to take responsibility for wrongly convicted prisoners who had been executed, and to pay with their own life. And I still don't really feel that that is something which would ever be implemented, even in America. However, that's the premise of the book, it's an interesting one, so I made myself accept it had happened and continued with the story.

It's a thought provoking read, and on the whole I quite liked it, but as it continued I found myself completely baffled by the choices that the characters were making - particularly Jussie. I just couldn't relate to the things that she seemed to prioritise when she was making her choices, none of them seemed to ring true, nor for that matter did Jake's, and by the end of the novel I was disappointed with it.

I thought the narrators did a good job. I preferred listening to the audiobook on this occasion, rather than reading the text version.

I really enjoyed this, good twist to the story and I liked the narrator too. A dystopian plot with what happens to the criminal justice system when prosecutors have to put their life on the line when calling for the death penalty

This was such a good audiobook I really enjoyed it! It was really interesting and I thought the narrator was very engaging.

'The Sentence' is an incredibly well-considered exploration of the criminal justice system and death penalty. The book is beautifully constructed and makes for a compelling read. I listened to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed the narration by Laurel Lefkow and Greg Lockett. Christina Dalcher is the reigning Queen of Dystopian Fiction. The work she is producing is fresh, innovative and extremely exciting. A highly recommended read which would make for an immensely interesting book club choice.

This is a very thought provoking book - there are times when it seems perhaps to wallow in unnecessary detail which, if I had read rather than listened, I might have skimmed. That would however have been a shame as the whole book was worth listening to. Central to the story is the debate about the death penalty and the rights and wrongs of it - particularly when there is the potential for the decision to be wrong. I had thought that it was nearly finished when it took an unexpected but very interesting turn which added to my enjoyment of it. It is a book that will stay with me long after I have finished it and for that it is really worth five stars.

This is a legal thriller with a difference. Christine Dalcher has set her tale in the not too distant future America. Very similar to today. There’s still a death row and convicted killers can be sentenced to death, However, under new legislation, if the person is subsequently proven innocent, the prosecutor must face the court.

It’s a compelling and well written take told from two viewpoints. The prosecutor, Justine and the man on death row. It’s well structured so the pace never slackens and bit by bit we learn the backstory to each of the central characters. It switches back and forth, creating tension and leaving you wanting to read ir hear just a bit more. Along the way, it raises compelling arguments for both sides in the debate about the death penalty. It’s morally complex, a tale vey much of outer time where injustice is round every corner. And at the heart of it all is a mighty good legal thriller. Really enjoyed this. .

Justice, injustice, miscarriages of justice, the innocent, the guilty, death row...'illicit happiness comes at a price'...Read it!

This is a riveting and thought-provoking legal thriller set in a future America where the sentence of a death penalty for the most heinous crimes comes with a catch ... if the person is subsequently found to be innocent, the prosecutor gets the death sentence as well!!!

Justine is a prosecutor who was instrumental in creating the new law but following the murder of her husband and whilst in the throes of grief, she takes on the case of Jake Milford, a man accused of murdering a little boy. The evidence is strong and he gets the death penalty. Years later, new evidence comes to the fore and Justine has to decide whether she faces the consequences or runs but all is not as it seems.

Told from the perspective of Justine and from Jake's perspective whilst on death row, this is a riveting book with some great twists and tense moments that I thoroughly enjoyed. The narrators were excellent and really brought the characters to life.

Highly recommended to those of you who enjoy a good legal thriller and thank you to the author, HarperCollins UK Audio, HQ and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Sentence.

This was the first of Dalcher’s books I’ve read and I didn’t realise she was the same author that wrote VOX! Compelling, fast paced + super thought provoking, this was a fascinating plot, centred around the concept of a ‘remedy act’. I loved the complex exploration of the morality issues around the death penalty, but the ending was on the abrupt side.

[𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 (𝘐𝘎), 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩.] —— 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🦇

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher, an audiobook narrated by Laurel Lefkow and Greg Lockett was amazing! I knew it! I knew that audiobook would do its magic! Both narrators did an amazing job, their reading style brought the text to life! The narrators worked perfectly together to create a magical listening experience, flow was easy to understand from one chapter to the next.
Probably because I knew the story after reading the book I had more time to concentrate on characters and it worked! I finally felt Justine!
Jake Milford's entries were more emotional this time. Was harder to keep emotions together, especially because Greg Lockettvoice perfectly fit with how Jake Milford would sound in my head.

As I expected, an audiobook made me love this book! So thank you HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for treating me with this audiobook!

The Sentence by Christine Dalcher is a near future, wonderful examination of the US death penalty. With clear research for character arguments, it was easy to see how the situation depicted in THE SENTENCE evolved. The personal stakes for the characters were high, and how all the threads were pulled together was extremely clever and yet at the same time, it felt like the only way it could have worked out. The writing style, the voice, the story, the way it hung together, it all reminded me of Margaret Atwood. I will read anything Christine Dalcher brings out without even reading the blurb first. She has a solid fan in me now, after Vox, Q, and The Sentence.

An eye for an eye, but where does that stop?

The Sentence is built around a really interesting concept, would you be willing to place your life on the line, knowing that if you're wrong you'll face the same death sentence as you fought for?

I really liked the dual narrative & narration on this audio. Listening to Jake made the situation more intense, especially as the background to the story was revealed.

I did find the story started strong, then had a lull in the middle before ending well. I particularly enjoyed the ambiguity of the final chapters.

I like how Christina Dalcher's books make you think, they take recognisable scenarios & put a spin on them. This is less dystopian than her previous novels, but I actually really enjoyed how close to our reality it was.

3.75⭐️

This is my first book by this author. Read by Laurel Kefkow and Greg Locket the narrators do a good job.

It has a speculative feel. Here the legal system in the US has been revamped. The Prosecutor in the case can ask for the death penalty, but if the person is subsequently found innocent the Prosecutor pays the price with their own life.
Justine Boucher only asked for the death penalty once, but what if she was wrong.

I found the premise of the story very intriguing and original.

Justine is the main narrator we also hear from death row inmate Jake. It moves between the past and the present. I found the past scenarios of Justine boring, although it identified her early thought processes and beliefs, but they were heavy going.

The tone is very anti capital punishment, and manages to incorporate some of the horror stories surrounding the different methods of execution. To be honest it doesn’t need those. The argument is about whether capital punishment is justified, not the mechanics of it which it goes into quite a lot of depth about. It also brings in another prosecutor going through the process of the Remedies act, I really didn’t feel that it needed this aspect, it bought too much into the scenario, the reader is aware of the implications.
It explores the complexities of people, what affects their thoughts and behaviours, and varying shades of right and wrong bringing in justifiable homicide. This was the element that I enjoyed the most.
It tries to cover a lot, and it affects the pace which is slow throughout. It feels longer than the 336 pages.

If you like good clean clear endings which I do, you’re going to be disappointed with this ending.

My overall thoughts I liked the premise, I enjoyed listening, there was enough going on. I liked the inclusion of the convicts POV. I didn’t like one of the paths that the story took, and I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It’s worth a read/ listen if you enjoy death row stories.

A dystopian spec fic that looks at crime nd punishment. @cv_dalchers books all have a common thread of this-could-legit-happenness, very much like John Marrs The Passengers or The Minders nd a which more ppl would write in this genre

Speculate Fiction is my absolute favourite genre in the universe, not far enough into the future to be dystopia but just (only just mind ya) far enough away for it to be possible, but nahhhh it wouldn’t happen… would it!?!?

The premise that if a prisoner is found to be innocent after being sentenced to death, their prosecutor will experience the same fate. See what I mean, one lil tweak with reality and (Batman smacks Robin) Kapow it’s a Gwenyth Paltrow gets her heel stuck Sliding Doors moment, reality shifts, everything is the same but different, nd it’s TERRIFYING!

Did it have me researching “death sentence gone wrong” on Google, oh yes it did, was I f*ckin traumatised, course a was, did a stop, nahhh. This Geordie Alice skipped down that rabbit hole til 4am before having nightmares about dry sponges 🧽 It’s just inhumanely grotesque, how can we still have the death sentence in 2023?

A want more, a want every book she’s written turned into a 4 part binge worthy @netflix series, sum1 make it happen, go, go now 🏃‍♀️ Lemme stock up on vegan jellies, toffee popcorn, nachos nd cheesey sauce dip, bring down the quilt nd binge this not yet created multi series’ all day

If ya like Black Mirror, Severence, Handmaids Tale, The One, The Power or Solos ya gona inhale this nd blow out satisfying timely page-turning smoke rings. The back nd forth of guilt nd innocence in this rusty swing of unputdownable plausibility

Proper class, get it, read it, tell me what ya reckon

Three words; sinister, plausible, deadly

I absolutely devoured this book!
The narration was on point & the concept of this dystopian novel really got me thinking!

I’m not too sure how I feel about Justine’s actions but appreciated the ambiguity of the ending & how it left it to you to decide her fate.

Definitely one I’ll be talking about for a while.