Dystopia...time travel...faith...marriage based on honoring vows instead of romance and butterflies...these are a few of my favorite things....and they ALL are present in this book! I absolutely love how she blended all of these elements into a hopeful story of the self-sacrifice that believers are called to.

This book was unsettling in a convicting way--a good reminder of the vast importance of sharing the gospel and passing down our faith to our children.

5 stars for the story, but the writing itself was a shy 3 stars.

There were a few places with some timeline clumsiness--I hate having to page back to figure out whether it's been an hour or a month since the last scene. Those transitions need to be more obvious.

Multiple POVs are rarely appealing to me because so few authors can pull it off smoothly, but I see why it was necessary for this story. The voices were too similar some of the time, and, again, I hate paging back to figure out who is talking. Even with paging back, there are a couple places where I never did figure out which person said what. "He said, she said" is very dull, but more clarity on who was speaking would have maintained the flow of the story so much better.

I loved this book in spite of the clunky writing that jarred me out of the story, and if it gets a good edit someday I'll give it a solid 5 stars.

I first read Volition back when it was first published late 2019. Since then, I have thought of it on occasion, recently deciding to renew my acquaintance with it-and what a good decision that was. It was so much richer the second time that I read it. I found it just as interesting a plot as the first time, while also finding it thought-provoking and full of witticisms I neglected to properly appreciate the first time through. This book will be finding its place on my shelves in its physical paper-backed glory (a bit ironic considering the subject material).

Romance-wise: completely clean

Violence: there is some mild violence and mention of a distant past serial killer more as an aside. Due to some deep-thinking themes, I think age 15 would be ideal, but I wouldn’t have an issue with a younger child reading it. I just don’t think they would easily understand it. As an adult, I could see it as a light read, as I took it the first time, or a more thoughtful one, as I read it this time.

Note: this is different from my usual genres, but Chautona wrote it, so I read it. Please also note that the main character’s religious views determine a large part of the story line. As a practicing Christian, I found it fit perfectly (there are some books I would say not to force Jesus into, but Chautona writes God seamlessly into her books and I found this to be neither cheesy nor cliche).

Bumping up to 5 stars because I keep thinking about this book more than the ones I'm currently reading.

Best science fiction book I’ve read to date!

I haven’t read a science fiction book in what seems like forever, but it was so much fun to get back into that with Volition a couple of weeks ago! I got to read this just before the author published it, as part of her launch team (we were trying to help with editing…it partially worked!), but I got sucked into the story a little too well to be of much value on the editing front.

What a book. It doesn’t have a plot that you’d expect, but it draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. I loved watching Andi grow as a person and in her faith in this story. She faced many discouraging times as well as great testing of her faith, and it took a lot of wisdom to navigate the different situations she found herself in. James was a wonderful encouragement, and he also had some wisdom to share. I loved his gentle, steady character.

The writing itself could have had a bit more polishing—but I suspect that will be corrected before too long. The world-building, too, could have had a bit more work, I thought. But the plot was sound, and the ending satisfying.

I loved so many different elements of this book. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one I go back to re-read eventually (which I think says something, because it’s rare that happens for me). But it’s such a unique setting with some wonderful life lessons in it, and for that, I really appreciated this story! Recommended if you enjoy a good Christian fiction that is engaging as well as challenging, and even if you don’t normally like sci-fi, give this a shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up liking it!

I was given a free review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

Read it and weep

This book has got all- sci fi, romance, mystery, self sacrifice, complicated realtionships, the blessing and pain facing the results of our choices\ actions....

Wow....!!! This book fascinated me so much!! It kept me enthralled like few books do. The plot was so good, and I loved the characters. James is very sweet and patient with Andi.❤️

Spoiler

I almost jumped for joy when he became a Christian. It kinda scared me when I was practically done with the book and he still wasn't. XD I'm thankful for epilogues.

The last names they had are so interesting. And the ending.....?!?! LOVE IT. I loved the whole thing. ❤️

Spoiler

The fact that there were so few books and stationary items in the future was sooo sad... But my favorite thing about the future was how they handled women's periods, haha!!

Rarely do I read sci-fi -- liked a few that I read.
Rarely do I read time-travel novels -- like never.
Often I will read mail-order bride romances -- love them.

Each of those in one story? I've never heard of it. Until Chautona Havig wrote a sci-fi romance. Hmm, the first thought to come to mind when I saw that she had written a sci-fi was "okay, that's nice but not for me." all right, a bit harsh, right?

Until last night at midnight I wanted to read something while falling asleep and I didn't want to start the advance reader copy of The Land Beneath Us until this morning -- The paperback came in the mail, I have to reread it! -- and I wanted to read something I knew I liked, so I scrolled through Mrs. Havig's Amazon author profile, ordered one of her paperbacks (a new Christmas one I haven't read yet!) with a gift card (didn't spend a dime! :D) but wanted to read something then and there.

Of course that led me to see her newest books, one of which was the one I scoffed at not a month before (and only for her will I say that… Any other author I'd be too kind, but I know she'll understand and forgive me … I hope.) so I returned a book in my Kindle Unlimited library that I had yet to read, and dove into a book by my favorite author expecting little -- staying up until around 3 in the morning. I'm regretting that now as I yawn, I should add, but this read was surprising.

Might I suggest you not judge a book by it's genre? (Unless it's horror or magical fantasy and then be careful as you run far away, just sayin'.)

I say that with all the conviction possible. Volition is a one of a kind.

The topics tackled in Volition were not quite what I expected, not that I expected much. The reasons Andi stayed were perfect and yet you get to see a character grow from the pained, anger, grieving person she is after making the choice to stay. There were a few places that are for more mature readers say 17/19 up but they were all innocent, and the ending was perfection.

While I don't normally read sci-fi I do enjoy, recommend, and hope you will check out Volition. It is an intriguing book.

I LOVE Sci-Fi, so I didn’t want to miss this book because of the author. I wasn’t disappointed. This time-travel love story has plenty of things in it to enjoy. Fun, romance, faith, and happy me, Science fiction. The scary part, this government is all to real. Frighteningly so in its completely possible portrayal. It’s a strong warning while at the same time enter-wound in the depths of faith in a world of persecution. I love the character growth in this book. I really hope this author blesses us with more books like this one.

Thanks to Celebrate Lit for my copy of this book. This review is mine and a positive review was not required.