In a dystopian parallel world, all people are governed by their Instincts and subjects of the totalitarian We. The instincts are complementary abilities that keep society running smoothly. There are Makers and Repairers, Helpers and Healers, Calculators and Welcomers, and more. The We’s rules include the principle “All instincts are equal,” but as in George Orwell’s famous parable, some are more equal than others. Goliath is a Protector, whose instinct forces him into dangerous situations to save lives. He has already lost both his arms and wears prostheses, but he wants to save his eleventh life before he becomes an adult because he will then become one of the society’s elite, the Virtuous, with extra privileges. Claire is a Confidant, who listens without judging to everyone’s problems and wears headphones to shut out noise when her instinct doesn’t force her to listen. She will likely never join the elite, but that’s fine with her because she’s hiding a secret that could destroy her life. Her instinct mark is fake, meaning she is only pretending to be a confidant because she has no instinct at all. She is acting out of free will while accommodating the totalitarian regime.
When a classmate at the School for Confidants disappears along with a handful of other teenagers, Claire decides to track down these untraceables, whose situation resonates with her own. Goliath joins her in the hope of saving his eleventh life. When the two do succeed in locating and saving the untraceables, who have been lured into a mass suicide plot by the subversive owner of a popular local bar, they become part of the Virtuous, but for the impostor Claire, this becomes a curse. The rulers of the We turn her into a celebrity, showing the populace that even the humblest of instincts can be richly rewarded. Her younger brother, a professional assassin employed by the We, responds to his instinct to hunt her, for she is an Anomaly in the We’s collective order, threatening to bring it down through her very existence.
While We’s theme is on the surface one of individualism versus collectivism, it is in fact a meditation on free will. The citizens of this supercontinent are taught to obey their instincts, as if they are nonhuman animals devoid of reason, the ability to recall the past or plan for their future, and the ability to transcend carnal desire with love. The characters who detach themselves from loyalty to the We, including a Docile programmed to serve the powerful, do so out of love as they remember their connection to their childhood friends and families before they were sent off to develop their instincts at boarding schools. Those who cannot think for themselves, who have totally subsumed themselves to their instincts, cannot love.
Teen and adult readers should know that the translation from French to English contains mostly British slang and terminology such as “revision” rather than “review” for the process of studying for exams. The book is also 560 pages long, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the dystopian world as well as in the lives and backstories of the main characters. However, fans of more action may have little patience with the detailed description of the myriad of sites on the supercontinent ruled by the We or the intricate rules that their subjects must obey. Yet this theme-driven story reminiscent of classic dystopian works from Orwell to Philip Pullman, raises disconcerting questions about the relationship between the freedom of the individual and the good of the entire society, the difficulty of achieving true equality and security in a society in which some individuals will turn into predators, and the role of morality, free will, and personal responsibility.
Written by Christelle Dabos
Translated from French by Hildegarde Serle
Europa Editions, 2026
ISBN 979-8-88966-204-4
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Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the author of the YA historical novel Torch (Carolrhoda Lab, 2022), winner of the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and a 2022 Booklist Editors’ Choice, and the YA verse novel Eyes Open (Carolrhoda Lab 2024), chosen by Booklist as a Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth, 2024. She wrote the picture book Ways to Play (Levine Querido, 2023), illustrated by Gabriel Alborozo, and co-authored with Zetta Elliott the middle grade verse novel Moonwalking (FSG, 2022). Her nonfiction includes a biography of Temple Grandin in the She Persisted chapter book series from Philomel and Film Makers: 15 Groundbreaking Women Directors (co-authored with Tanisia “Tee” Moore) from Chicago Review Press. She translates books for youth from Portuguese to English, including the 2023 YA graphic novel Pardalita by Joana Estrela, published by Levine Querido, which was named a Batchelder Honor Book in 2024 and the graphic novel Our Beautiful Darkness (Enchanted Lion), by the Angolan author Ondjaki, illustrated by António Jorge Gonçalves.
