Blog Tour Review: One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie

One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
Published by Berkley on July 18, 2023
Pages: 400
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

A mother knows best... Doesn't she?

Antonia and Bea are sisters. They are both doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.Antonia had her son tested at an early age to ensure her little angel did not possess the 'violent' M gene.Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result.Both of these women will go to any length to protect their sons.But one of them is hiding a monster.And there are going to be fatal consequences for everybody...

One of the Boys was both delightfully messed up and incredibly thought-provoking, and I absolutely devoured it! In this story, we meet sisters Bea and Antonia. They live in a world in which new technology has emerged that allows doctors to test for a gene that makes males more susceptible to violent behavior.  They each have a son as this test is becoming more prominent. Bea does not like the idea of the test and wants her son to be judged on his own actions, not his genetics. Antonia, however, is married to a man who has made his whole career into developing treatment for boys who test positive, so she is a proponent of the test and has her son tested.

Bea and Antonia’s lives could not be more different, but whether that is because of the test can (and will be!) debated. Bea is barely scraping by, constantly moving and trying to find jobs to support her and her son Simon. Her partner Alfie has long since taken off, and she is pretty much on her own, and as Simon grows, there is quite the stigma around untested males, which makes arranging schooling and childcare all the more difficult. Antonia, however, leads a pretty swanky life. She’s the wife of a doctor who eventually earns a role in the practice herself. Their son Jack is reaping the benefits of a negative male, which means all the best in schools and activities. They are very financially well-off, due to the clamoring for the treatment for kids who test positive. So to say they are living in two different worlds is not a stretch. And when Bea emerges back into Antonia’s life, things go off the rails in a hurry as all kinds of long-hidden secrets and mysteries come to light.

Now, while I loved the characters and the mysteriousness, my favorite aspect has to be the questions this book led me to ponder. First, it certainly brings up the concept of nature-versus-nurture. Are people hardwired from the womb to do terrible things? Is there nothing that can be done to change that trajectory? Bea, of course, thinks that there is more to a person than their genetics, and I certainly hope that is true! How depressing it is to think that we have no agency over our actions, and our paths are formed from the moment we are. It also raised a lot of relevant concerns about how society was treating male children who were either positive or untested. Was it a self-fulfilling prophecy? Did society, by marking these boys as “wrong” instead make them into monsters? These are questions that Bea and Antonia, as well as the reader, will certainly be forced to consider.

Bottom Line: So yes, this book will make you think. It will also entertain, and keep you guessing, which is a pretty tall order from a single novel, but it accomplishes it beautifully!

Would you get your kid tested? Is this concept next-level terrifying to you too?