Emily's Review 

It is the year 2039, and the Australian government has decided to reintroduce the death penalty - with some crucial new stipulations. If a victim’s family wants retribution for their loss, they must carry out the punishment themselves. The story follows Octavia, a therapist tasked with supporting the first ever family to trial this new set up after the brutal murder of their youngest member, 10-year-old Lucy. As the execution date approaches, tensions rise within the family as old secrets come to light and they struggle to reconcile their different styles of dealing with grief. This dystopian debut novel from Georgia Harper is fast-paced, confronting, and will force you to consider your own morality - how far would you go for revenge? 

Publisher's Review 

A near-future Australia.
The death penalty is back. But if the victim's family wants the perpetrator to die, they have to do it themselves. Twenty-four hours alone in a room with the condemned. No cameras. No microphones. Just whatever punishment they decide befits the crime.

Ten-year-old Lucy was murdered.
Through counselling sessions with their court-appointed psychologist, we learn the stories of her family members- Lucy's two mothers - Stella and Matisse - her much older brother and her bookish teenage sister, who is too young to participate in the execution, but who has plans of her own . . .

Secrets and grief threaten to break the family.
As the execution date nears, already-struggling Stella remains adamant that she must carry out the punishment. But it becomes clear that if she steps into that room, the family may lose her too.

What would you do?

Publishes 26th of March 2024