Category Archives: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Title: Ava

Author: Victoria Dillon

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Publication Date: March 3, 2026

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 238 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

For fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale comes Ava, a provocative blend of speculative fiction and social commentary that takes readers on a gripping, thought-provoking journey into the fight for women’s autonomy in a politically charged Southern landscape.

What if the only way to reclaim reproductive freedom was to rewrite the very nature of birth itself?

Ten years after Roe v. Wade is overturned, twenty-two-year-old biologist Larkin finds herself unexpectedly pregnant in a country where choice is no longer an option. Initially uncertain, she embraces motherhood—until a devastating diagnosis changes everything. Trapped by Tennessee’s strict abortion laws, she is forced to carry her baby to term, only to endure the heartbreak of losing her hours after birth.

Years later, Larkin joins a radical scientific movement that could change a groundbreaking technology that replaces gestation with incubation, allowing women true control over their reproduction. When she uses it to bring her second daughter, Ava, into the world, she believes she has finally reclaimed her autonomy. But as Ava grows and begins to question the very choice that created her, Larkin is challenged in ways she never imagined.

Ava is a powerful, emotionally charged exploration of motherhood, bodily autonomy, and the far-reaching consequences of restrictive legislation. In a future shaped by loss and innovation, mother and daughter must confront the ultimate what does it truly mean to have a choice?

Content Warning: Miscarriage, misogyny, forced pregnancy and birth, and a baby who died of a fatal birth defect a few hours after being born.

Review:

Reproductive freedom is more than a catch phrase.

The science fiction elements were intriguing and like nothing I’ve ever seen in this genre before. I especially enjoyed the sections that discussed how human reproduction could be altered in order to make it much safer for pregnant people to experience. While I don’t want to give away too many hints about how the incubation process worked in this tale, I was fascinated by the technological changes that made such a thing possible and thought it was a good platform to discuss everything from sexism to bodily autonomy.

I would have loved to see more character and plot development At times this read more like an outline of a book than the finished product, especially when it came to exploring the character’s internal lives and how the invention of a new way for humans to reproduce might change society forever. As important as the messages were in it, I was underwhelmed by the execution of the storyline and kept wishing the author would give us more details about how everything worked and what the characters thought of these biological and social developments.

There was a cliffhanger ending here that made me wish to know what happened next. It will be interesting to see if other readers have the same reaction, but I thought it was a good place to end given all of the dramatic changes to society that had just taken place. The consequences of these actions could be far reaching and spur on multiple sequels if the author wanted to write them.

Ava was thought provoking.