In a dystopian future, the US has overhauled its criminal justice system. Those with a sentence over 30 years can choose to enter a gladiator-style competition and earn their freedom—if they survive the death matches. At the center of this new sports gaining traction across the country are two rising stars, Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker. As they ascend to stardom, both women face difficult choices to clench their freedom. Will Thurwar and Staxxx be free?

CHAIN is a brilliant book that examines the ways in which a for-profit criminal justice system fails society, both those serving time within and those searching for closure & healing outside. While the setting is extreme, where a fight-to-the-death system is implemented for those incarcerated, Adjei-Brenyah draws parallels between this distant future and the current prison system; both focus heavily on punishment rather than reform.

We follow multiple POVs throughout CHAIN, and the readers are tasked to figure out who the narrators are. Additionally, footnotes on the US history of incarceration & prison complex are scattered across chapters. While these intricacies could break the flow of reading, I appreciate Adjei-Brenyah's inclusion & originality in painting a layered story that encourages the readers to reimagine a more humane & compassionate justice system. At its core, CHAIN asks us: can we design a system that creates more peace and less pain?

Thank you to Pantheon Books and NetGalley for the eARC.