The Bitter Truth by Andrew Morou
- Amanda Melton
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
What would happen if everyone in the world told only the truth? Morou navigates this idea in his debut novel, The Bitter Truth, A New Era.
The Story
The Bitter Truth follows many people at the beginning, but primarily focuses on this excellent news reporter, Harold Thompson, as he struggles to find the truth in this chaotic world.
Enter the Matt. Interdimensional beings with the power to extract the truth from people so they never lie again. They enter Earth to reign over the people in a world of problems literally.
The story goes on to how corupt governments and corporations try to come up with ideas to protect themselves from the extractors, seemingly to work - before proven otherwise in a worldwide broadcast. There are no good outcomes for telling lies—even the small, municipal lies to yes or no questions.
Society is overrun with this idea. Matt-trusted people are governing cities to find out who is telling the truth and must be arrested for extraction. People are too scared to go to school, to work, or even to be in their own homes. The littlest things could cause an extraction. Parents hold their kids tightly in silence.
Then, a top Matt personal pair is assigned to Harold to help these people by deceiving the system. They are later found out, years later.
The Analysis
I really enjoyed the storytelling. The chapters were short, sweet, and to the point. It was the word choice and the gravity of the story that made me want to continue reading this type.
I love dystopian futures, and this one cuts every single one. While brief, I believe the best part of this story was the tension between truth and control. The story explains how truth can be weaponized, turning transparency into tyranny. As if the question was, do we really need to tell the truth if it hurts people?
The other foundations of this idea were the fear of exposure, seen by people in the small things, the ethics of surveillance, and the moral aspects of resistance.
Rating 4/5
Everything was carved into a single final manuscript for this book. It shows wider potential. So, what comes next?
Hopefully a sequel.
Self Promo
Below is a link to my Ko-Fi page! Please help me keep reading books with any donation you would like to make!
Comments