The Factory

A twisted dystopian story of children, a factory and the climate crisis, The Factory by Catherine Egan is a truly terrifying narrative.

Asher Doyle is plagued by school bullying and an unstable home life. When his mother gets in trouble with loan sharks, their only way forward is for Asher to enroll at the Factory. Deemed a research facility and looking for children just Asher’s age, he jumps at the chance and learns quite quickly that the place is not at all as it appears.

There seems to be a universal theme in the newly published dystopian novels for middle grade readers and many focus on the after effects of an environmental collapse. On the one hand, it makes for a compelling story but on the other hand, they are definitely anxiety inducing! Catherine Egan takes readers on a journey and asks the question, what would you do if you couldn’t see a future for yourself. 

I love how this story twists and turns and keeps us readers fully on our toes. Throughout the story it’s so hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys and every time you think you have it figured out, she throws another twist your way. I particularly enjoyed the interludes between chapters when we discover things that won’t happen. It is an interesting device to show readers what could have been in the future but we aren’t quite sure if that’s an actual future or future possibilities. There is a lot of guessing happening throughout the novel keeping it fresh and thrilling. Just when you think that the problem has been solved, you are introduced to the second book in this series so even after Asher leaves the Factory, his journey is not quite over.