Article first published on RebeccasReads

25 Perfect Days
Mark Tullis
Vincere Press, LLC (2013)
ISBN 9781938475030
Reviewed by Cianna Reider for Rebecca’s Reads (07/13)

Grade: A+

“25 Perfect Days” was a random choice of book for me. I knew it was fiction and set in the future. I had no idea how incredibly well crafted those 25 stories would be. The author paints a future society with an overlord of new religion, population control, impulse release options, that are frowned upon today. There is a huge class of poor, hopeless, struggling people. The stories interweave, connect and enlighten.

Dystopian tales are a dime a dozen right now, you can basically pick 5 books at random in a book store, and at least 1-2 of them will be dystopian in nature. As a society right now we are fascinated with the future and what it will look like, harking back to a later time, or jumping into a strange and terrifying reality we can barely imagine. Mark Tullis has taken his dystopian twist, and made an extremely terrifying, and disturbingly realistic look at the slippery slide of this complete and utter overall of the American culture. His book stands out to me from the other dozens of dystopian tales and novels I’ve read because we can see this future, and we can feel this future. A future of population control, hundreds of pregnant women having to pay to keep their children, of religion dictating humans place in the ecosystem, and of prisons that give you 5 minutes with the killer of your family member and turn a blind eye.

“25 Perfect Days” is well written, crafted by someone who knows how to choose the right word and craft a sentence, but there’s so much more to the collection then Tullis’s skills alone. He creates a place that makes you think, makes you question, and ultimately makes you look twice. His tales are chilling, heartbreaking. At times, the tales are also uplifting when you see the person, who despite the horrible conditions and worse future, do something to save someone else. Selfless, brave, honorable. These characteristics are prevalent throughout this collection. It allows the reader to see that even in the darkest circumstances people will rise up to attempt the right thing. Each story Mark writes doesn’t necessarily need to be read in order, but each has a numerical title, lending each story to these 25 days, and 25 individual stories of people giving in, giving up or overcoming. This collection, in my opinion is outstanding. It isn’t one of those common dystopian novels that spoon feeds you the future that you must accept. This novel will make you think, and it will make you want to fight back, and want to find a way to rise above.

Well done Mark Tullis!