Code Human by N.J. PaigeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I believe Code Human is a powerful book with a message about prejudice and morality. Code Human is a dystopian, coming of age story about Fenesia Thornbark and her family surviving the every day violence of the autocratic Kaukus. Death to anyone who apposes them! The Governor Samuel "Facious" Malborn, is the Purist leader of the Kaukus and his 100 purist chosen. Her family takes the journey to fight for freedom under the name of the Human Code.
The author N.J. Paige asks in the beginning of the book "Who would you die for?" I think that is a very important question. The answer to that question is deep inside us, and reflects who we truly are inside. It shows a person's real values and morals.
There is a caste system in the Kaucus society: Purest, Purestkind, and Underkind: Shiller, Besmirchian, and Rubrick. The Purest are the leaders, the Purestkind are the people who look like the Purest (blue skin, pale white hair and either blue or green eyes, brown eyes are shunned for being different). The Underkind look different so they have no status, they are ignored and treated as slaves to the Purestkind. If the Purestkind are caught being sympathetic to the Underkind or befriending/mating with them.. they will be killed and whipped as well.
"I can't deny the reality of our society, harsh and merciless, the have's and have not's, the free and the bounded"pg 10
Fenesia, her sister Anicey and their mother Sara, are shopping at Mrs. Em's when Fenesha notices a Shiller (Yellow skin,hair and eyes) across from her.
"I stare, not only because a part of me loathes the Shiller. but because she is a Shiller and because I've seen her, or someone like her in my real dreams, except that it...it was my face that I saw."pg 12
Fenesia is Crossing the Border Dance, meaning she is turning 18 and is starting to question the society she lives in. She watches her Mother and Father pretending to hate the Underkind in public, yet treat their employees, Jules and Johnny, like family. They own a restaurant called Wildgoose Mulley and John, the father, always feeds anyone that comes by the backdoor. His quote to his daugher "Feed the famished because they may be the one's who save your life."
This quote proves true later in the story.
Fenesia is coming to terms with her surroundings and the people in it, in fact she's fallen in love with a Besmirchian so she's torn, she wants her family to be safe but yet she can't stand the cruelty around her and wants to be free. She says "Now I understand I've been living a lie!"pg 38
On their way to the restaurant for lunch hour, on the train, a Rubrick is being whipped in public and people are starting a revolution against the harsh treatment of the Underkind, suprisingly some of the Purestkind are joining the revolution called "Defender's of the Code".
Anticey asks her mother, Sara " Why do they suffer and we don't?" while in public on the train. Sara replies "Well because they are lazy and unintelligent and they are not like us, they look different and they hat the fact that we were successful in our endeavors. They hate us for being the chosen. It's easier to blame us for their failures. Besides they are really filthy!"pg 28 This is how the Purestkind are brainwashed to behave, to lie instead of having the freedom to say the real truth.
After this all hell breaks loose and the Thornbark family makes their journey toward freedom and to join the Defender's of the Code.
"Many Purestkind have turned against the Purest. When the human code - civility and freedom - have been broken, our natural instinct comes to the front; that is; what is truly in our hearts. And if we feel empathy for our fellow being and believe in their right to live, their right to freedom and justice, then we will naturally aid in their defense. I did not know that I had even fundamental beliefs close to my heart until two weeks ago and mother, Well she surprises me more than I have surprised myself; considering how she used to talk about the Underkind. Father never said an unpleasant word about the Underkind... I only wish we would have been more prepared.pg 106
I really enjoyed Code Human because it touched my heart, and is true to our own society today. It felt refreshing for a story to be told about who we truly are as humans and what humanity is. I hope that more people read this book, because it really has a powerful message that will touch every reader of all ages!
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