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Sophie Mackintosh

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Blue Ticket Hardcover – June 30, 2020

by Sophie Mackintosh (Author)

3.8 1,112 ratings

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Discover this chilling new novel about motherhood and personhood, free will and fate, human longing and animal instinct

Calla knows how the lottery works. Everyone does. On the day of your first bleed, you report to the station to learn what kind of woman you will be. A white ticket grants you children. A blue ticket grants you freedom. You are relieved of the terrible burden of choice. And, once you've taken your ticket, there is no going back.

But what if the life you're given is the wrong one?

Blue Ticket is a devastating enquiry into free will and the fraught space of motherhood. Bold and chilling, it pushes beneath the skin of female identity and patriarchal violence, to the point where human longing meets our animal bodies.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hamish Hamilton (June 30, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 286 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241404452
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241404454
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.67 x 1.18 x 8.74 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.8 1,112 ratings

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Sophie Mackintosh

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Sophie Mackintosh was born in South Wales in 1988, and is currently based in London. Her fiction, essays and poetry have been published by Granta, The White Review, The New York Times and The Stinging Fly, among others. Her short story ‘Grace’ was the winner of the 2016 White Review Short Story Prize, and her story ‘The Running Ones’ won the Virago/Stylist Short Story competition in 2016.

Sophie’s debut novel The Water Cure was published by Hamish Hamilton in the UK in Spring 2018 and by Doubleday in the US in early 2019 to critical acclaim, and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Her second novel Blue Ticket will be published in Spring 2020.

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3.8 out of 5

1,112 global ratings

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Joel

Fantastic

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2021

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I will say that to start out I struggled with this book a bit. The writing starts out cold and didn't seem to flow for me; it felt very detached.

By the end of it, however, I felt like this was a really incredible, gorgeously executed and moving book -- the best novel I've read that's been published in the past few years.

I would highly recommend it, and say that it's worth sticking it out to the end. Very beautiful.

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2020

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I’m not sure what I think of this book. It had such promise. There wasn’t really any world building, we never even know what year it is or why the girls are made to pick a ticket. One problem I have is that the girls are put out on a road by themselves the minute they have a period, and made to make it on their own. Boys seem to be too, but their choice of having a child or not is never taken away from them, and I think that is one of the worst things that happens in this book. The ending is pretty bad. The main character is naive and a little stupid. I don’t want to give anything away but the whole book just made me sad. There was so very little joy to be found in this book.

2 people found this helpful

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M

Not quite handmaids tale

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2021

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Overall this was an interesting read and I'd recommend it. I do think it's not quite as fulfilling as I hoped as I read. I was kind of hoping for more depth into this world created and so when it ends you wish you knew more and understood more. It feels like you weren't given enough in the journey to really commit to it. I feel that this was intentional by the writer and it does give the book a certain nuance to it, yet for a reader, I can't feel as much connection as I want because of the details it lacks. That being said, it is not quite a handmaid's tale but it's worth reading.

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2020

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My Review of the
BLUE TICKET
By Sophie Mackintosh
Published by Doubleday Books
***********
This dystopian and feminist novel was one that really intrigues, perplexes and makes you think while you read. It is a page turner that can’t be left for another day because you must know how everything plays out as you have already bonded with your protagonist. I felt connected because I actually cared and was conflicted personally for her. This is a wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and it is a must read for anyone.

Calla was born into this dystopian world and like all other females; they must go and receive a ticket upon maturity of menstruation to discover what lies in their fate for their future self.

A white ticket determines they are deemed worthy of marriage and children and a blue ticket means they are fated to a life of a career and total independence. Once you receive your ticket there is no going back and measures are put into place to ensure that if you ever yearn for the other life, that it will not happen.

This system of choosing for the women has released them of having to choose between the two for themselves. Believing they have somehow provided relief and burden to women and that they know better than the women themselves.

But what if free will and social expectations collide and the system is flawed? That women like Calla believe they were given the wrong ticket and the life that has been chosen for them is not at all what they would choose on their own. What if some women are willing to defy the Government no matter the cost, to live the life they believe they were truly born to live, even if it means dying for it?

Blue Ticket tests the extremes of the imagination of how far power and control can intervene if it is allowed to rise over people’s own desires.

10 people found this helpful

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sehai741

Terrible writing.

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2021

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The storyline is great, but the writing is terrible and hard to follow. You never get to know or have real feelings for the main character. The story jumps around too much to enjoy it.

One person found this helpful

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Jessica S.

Don’t order. Big let down.

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021

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I had such high expectations for this book. I loved the concept idea and as a result I ended up ordering the book the very first day it released. First of all, there are no quotations to distinguish when someone is speaking out loud, which really bothered me but I was able to eventually catch on and figure out who was speaking. Secondly, without giving away the ending, I was highly disappointed in the way it ended. The beginning was slow and jumped around a bit. The middle picked up. Closer to the end of the book I expected one thing to happen, but it didn’t, and suddenly the book was over. Maybe my expectations for this book are what ended up disappointing me, but I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

2 people found this helpful

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Yadira Andrade

Best friend liked it...

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2020

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A friend of mine recommended this book to me. I instantly put it in my wish list because she is a non-reader. An she said it caught her attention. So I bought it for my best friend while she was in quarantine from Covid-19 so it can give he a break from reality. She told me she was unsure about it at but it grew on her and at the end she really liked it.

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2020

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Eh. It grew on me as I read, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It seemed too forced, too intentionally creative. I also thought the presentation of the blue and white characters was, unfortunately, so black and white that it was boring. I understand the intent, but the presentation was simplistic and at times annoying. Still, I did continue reading. It was entertaining, but not moving and not thought provoking. I can easily move on to my next read.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Katie LeClare

Defective

Reviewed in Canada on August 19, 2020

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Original purchase was defective with pages that were not readable due to heavy ink and smearing. Did exchange (which was very quick) but second copy also having same issue. The book itself is very good. Will purchase Kindle edition once I am refunded.

Ana Rita

Great!

Reviewed in Spain on April 13, 2021

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Arrived perfectly packed and in good condition! Beautiful hardback cover.

Ivana Korpar

Needs more work

Reviewed in Germany on April 7, 2021

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Good idea of a dystopia, but lacks worldbuilding.

Kim H

Masterpiece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2020

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This was my first foray into clinical prose (thank you Steph for enlightening me on how it was written) and I bloody loved it.

I love a good dystopian fiction novel and this one 100% delivered. I always thought Margaret Atwood was queen of this genre (I've adored her since I read The Heart Goes Last) but if Sophie's other books are anything like this one then she might be knocked off her throne.

As someone who doesn't want children, it was really interesting to me to read about an alternative world where some people are desperate for them, in the same way that people in our world are desperate for them, but their journeys are very different to ours.

And just when I thought I couldn't love this book anymore, along came lesbianism and I was obsessed 🙌🏼

Very easily could have read this in a couple of days had it not been for work/multiple reads. And this is one book that I haven't seen much of on Bookstagram but it should be ALL OVER IT.

5 people found this helpful

mel

Great second book from Sophie

Reviewed in Australia on June 18, 2020

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Fantastic second book by the author of The Water Cure.

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