Book Review: Cell 7 by Kerry Drewery
- Nataliya Klymko
- Jul 15, 2020
- 6 min read
Should she live or die? You decide. An adored celebrity has been killed. Sixteen-year-old Martha Honeydew was found holding a gun, standing over the body. Now Justice must prevail. The general public will decide whether Martha is innocent or guilty by viewing daily episodes of the hugely popular TV show Death is Justice, the only TV show that gives the power of life and death decisions - all for the price of a phone call. Martha has admitted to the crime. But is she guilty? Or is reality sometimes more complicated than the images we are shown on TV?
Kerry Drewery's first book in the Cell 7 Trilogy, Cell 7, is a fascinating dystopian YA novel that effectively portrays a world in which trial by media and the public takes on a whole new meaning, by allowing everyone to be a juror on every case. Or at least at first sight. We are introduced to a dystopian London in which there is a clear class split between those wealthy living in the City and the Avenues, and those who live in the deprived areas of the High Rises.
The book starts with an in-media-res prologue, with our protagonist Martha Honeydew, a 16 year old from the High Rises, admitting to the murder of someone by the name of Jackson Paige.
Throughout the rest of the book, we are introduced to the judicial system of this world through Martha, who is sentenced to be executed at the end of the 7 days in the aptly named Cell 7 for the murder of Paige. The accused stay in the Cells numbered 1-7 each day, during which the public are able to vote through telephone or the web as to whether they believe the accused is guilty or not guilty, or as its phrased in the book, in favour of the execution or against it, exhibiting bias towards capital punishment. Throughout the 7 days, the public are also able to participate in conduting justice through two TV programs: Death is Justice, which showcases the accused on death row and later allows access to CCTV footage in the cells of the accused, and Buzz for Justice, where 3 citizens, paying for the priviledge of course, are allowed to choose whether to acquit someone, or not.
Through the eyes of our protagonsist Martha, we see the injustice of such a system, which is biased towards those who can pay a substancial price to partake in justice, making sure that the rich benefit, despite the façade of benefits for all. We see that the murder of Paige was part of a much larger plan - to highlight the corrpution and injustice of the judicial system in this world.
Martha, however is not out only narrator. We are also introduced privy to the thoughts of Eve Stanton, Martha's counsellor of death row, who we find out has a negative experience with death row, and becomes a confidant to Martha, her access to the outside world during her time in death row. Ex-Supreme Court Judge Cicero is also a narrator for a chapter closer to the end of the book, and can be seen to be a voice of reason from the past (he is, after all, an ex-Judge before the judicial reforms), and is, therefore, perhaps the most knowledgable to compare the past and the present. Our other narrator comes in the form of Isaac Paige, the son of the murdered Jackson Paige, but also the love interest of Martha. We find that Isaac is a part of this larger plan to expose the failings of the system, and is a pivotal player behind the scenes, ultimately exposing the true killer (who I'm not going to name for spoiler reasons, you'll have to read the book) and highlighting his alliances for the girl from the Rises, in the words of his adoptive mother Patty.
The world that Drewery conjures in Cell 7 is frightingly realistic - it depicts a judiciary which has no place for evidence or mitigating circumstances, painted by the black and white view of Justice instilled into those who impact justice the most. It isn't difficult to imagine such a bleak future, in which an idealistic 'rule by the people' is distorted to benefit those in power. Panem et circuses always appealed to people, and this book cleverly merges to the two.
The structure of the book is what made it appealing. Martha's story was told in short, to the point, chapters, with the help of narration from other characters, but mostly Eve Stanton, her counsellor. The chapters are split into sections Cell 1 - Cell 7, depending on what Cell Martha is in during the chapters. The script formatting of the chapters which are based on the Death is Justice or Buzz for Justice shows is an interesting change in between the narratives of the characters, as the script format showcases the heartless presenter Kristina Albright, and the roving reporter Joshua Decker, who seemingly has an issue with the current Justice system.
The dialogue of the story is not overdone and every piece of dialogue is carefully crafted to ensure that the reader is able to put the pieces of the master plan together and find out what actually happened to Jackson Paige, for it is not as simple as we are led to believe in the Prologue. The pace of the story mirrors Martha's in each day and every cell, where she attempts to come to terms with her inevitable death and hope that her death will lead to systematic change. The chronology of the story, along with intimate look at society through Martha's eyes absorbs the readers into the mystery of Jackson Paige's murder, and a seemingly innocent look at the failings of the new judicial system.
The characters are rich and nuanced. Martha, our protagonist, who is seemingly guilty in the Prologue seems to provide a closed-and-shut case for the public jury, yet by the end of the book we find out that Martha is not the criminal, yet chose to see the bigger picture and use the murder to her advantage to show the injustice of the system towards those who live in the Rises. Eve Stanton, her counsellor, also has her own experiences with the Death Row, and we can see at the beginning her silent protest against such a system which fails to see the grey in crime along with her son Max Stanton, a tech genius. Judge Cicero is portrayed as a crazy in this new world, yet helps to show the difference between our current judicial system and the new 'fairer' system. Isaac Paige, Jackson's son is also well written, and has a fabulous backstory which links him to both the richest and the poorest of the society. All in all, the characters are spectacular and I felt that none of the characters were mere placeholders - they are all pivotal to the plot of the story.
The character ships are also what I enjoyed about the story. The teenage, forbidden Romeo and Juliet love of Martha Honeydew and Isaac Paige and how it led to this master plan to break the system, along with how they met initially, two polar opposites, was a brilliant addition to the story, especially since it played a key role in why Martha claimed she was guilty in the Prologue.
My favourite scene has to be Eve agreeing to go on Death is Justice to try to persuade the public that Martha was innocent, and then apologising to her son Max about all the things she said about her husband, who was executed a few years prior.
Overall, I am head over heels over this book. I was honestly surprised I had never heard of it before I accidentally found it on the shelf of my local The Works store. For anyone who is into dystopian, futuristic novels like the Divergent Trilogy, Hunger Games, Brave New World, etc, this is a must read. It is hard-hitting and gripping, and when I begun it, I could not put it down - I really needed to find out whether Martha's plan to expose the system had worked, and needless to say, the ending was as perhaps expected as unexpected.The uniqueness and though-provoking underlying message has made me want to come back to read this book over and over again.
Disclaimer: I own a paperback copy of this novel purchased from my local branch of The Works. In no way was I compensated for writing a review for this novel.
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