Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Juice” by Janet Stilson, Dragon Moon Press, Feb.9, 2021

WOW! Janet Stilson, the author of “The Juice” has written an intriguing, thrilling, edgy, and unique novel. The genres for this novel are Science Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, and Thriller. The timeline for this story is set in the author’s present, and goes to the past when in pertains in telling about the characters or events. The author describes her many colorful characters as complex and complicated. There is a touch of political aspirations, romance, espionage, sabotage betrayals, and good vs. evil.

Can you imagine a world where a chemical substance can be the cause and event of doing extreme good things or terrible things? There is a chemical mind-altering substance called “Juice” if given to a person or persons can cause the subject/s to be so attractive to everyone, almost hypnotizing them or putting other people in a trance, that they follow what they are told? Or a gadget that can make one invisible? Jarat Ellington is aware that one of his friends is now deceased, and that the juice was stolen that his friend had invented. His friend Thom had managed to tell Jarat how this chemical caused a charming effect on other people and could be used for good or evil. This sends Jarat on a search for the thieves that have stolen this.

In Jarat’s quest, he finds out that there are political adversaries willing to do anything to exert their control, and huge companies that want more money, and the news media. Jarat also meets many intriguing characters, including a “Charismite” who has been on the chemical and can charm her way into anything. Anywhere Jarat goes there are danger and death. There is also a secret society.

There are twists and turns, and unpredictable events that make this novel so edgy and tense. I would highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy Science Fiction.
2 s Sara Zaninelli333 24

“Open your soul to kindness, wider than its even been, wider than you ever thought it could possibly be. [...] And if you can’t love some of them, just pray for them, pray for the rest.”
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This is a great sci fi book and some of the ideas described in it are just so cool. For instance one of the main characters, Jarat, has had a brain transplant and even if part of the personality of the previous owner has been transferred to him, that would just be revolutionary. I found the three points of view a bit confusing, especially at the beginning, but the story is really enjoyable. Jarat’s friend has invented a drug that is able to change the person that takes it into a Charismate: if you met one of them you’d just be ready to do everything he wants. The idea is very scary and it has incredible potential, in particular in politics. Indeed Jarat’s friend is killed and the drug stolen and used in the election campaign for the Vice President, who already controls social media and other means of communication. This sounds so incredible, but unfortunately it’s not that far from truth. I have recently watched the Social Dilemma on Netflix and found out how fake news can be spread at incredible speed and the ones that encourage hate and racism are the fastest. Social media are incredibly effective to implant subliminal messages with the result of making everyone as puppets. No one thinks with his own mind anymore and we are encouraged to follow only people that have our same ideas and this is not sane! It is really something we should be aware of and this book is so effective in showing how things could degenerate if moral is set aside and profit is the only goal.2 s Jessica Belmont1,485 55

The Juice by Janet Stilson is what scifi should be, in my opinion. This is easily five stars. I was absolutely addicted from page one and didn’t get a wink of sleep until I finished.

Janet Stilson‘s writing is so awesome. The world building here is incredible and it would be difficult to not get sucked in. We have themes of media, ccorruption, government control…all sorts of things are happening to create a magnificent novel! The events of the novel sometimes parallel our current day, which makes it even more intriguing.

I am in love with the characters that have been created. As with the world building, Janet Stilson captivates what it means to be human in her characters. No one felt one dimensional.

I loved The Juice and highly recommend checking it out!

*I received a free copy of this book from OTRPR in exchange for an honest review on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.*1 Mari9 1 follower

Overall, I felt this book was entertaining and explored some interesting themes and ideas. It was a new and creative take on a dystopian society novel, and it really benefitted from the author's personal experience in the media industry. It also touched on a wide array of themes personal data surveillance, racism and geopolitics, subliminal messaging by government / industry, wealth inequality, gene editing and political intrigue that felt quite relevant to our current day. I also d how the story progressed from the point of view of several different characters and we slowly got to see how they were related.

That being said, I felt the pace was a little rushed with too many things going on that were not explained, and the writing style was a little awkward at times. Some events happened abruptly without much context and at times it felt the plot was being pushed along too quickly. There were so many interesting themes and questions to explore that I wish the author had turned it into 2 or 3 books instead. And lastly, this may just be personal preference, but I did not particularly the random teenager-y words "amaz" and "ridic" that were getting thrown around as I found them a little distracting.

I still enjoyed this book and would be interested in reading other books by this author.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this ebook for free through a Goodreads giveaway. Jane Owen89 23


I’m not a huge fan of Science Fiction but I was pleasantly surprised whilst reading this book. I really enjoyed it. A very unique Read, and there is a little bit of many genres in this story. A Dystopian, thriller, fantasy and even romance thrown in. Extremely entertaining. I found it to be well written, a clever plot line. A thought provoking novel!

Can you imagine there being some sort of substance that affects a persons charisma, making them irresistible and even influencing them to do good or bad? At times this book had me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns. It’s not very often I read something completely different. I loved this book and if your a Science Fiction fan you will love it too but hey even if your not a fan of Science Fiction I believe you will still enjoy it because I did.

I won this book in a ‘Goodreads Giveaway’ and even thought I am not obligated to leave a review I am more than happy to do that knowing how much work these authors put into their books just for us readers. Most definitely a five star read but don’t take my word for it. Read it yourself. Summer70

An Intelligent and Riveting Story in a ly Future!!

The Juice is a captivating story of three very different characters whose stories eventually intertwine in a far-off, but very probable future of ours. The unique futuristic places, terms and descriptions take time to understand and to formulate into a full picture, but will soon paint a very convincing and ly world, and are worth digesting slowly. Concepts that we already see in our present world, such as human genetic engineering, the growing gap between the rich and poor, growing human infertility, wide spread surveillance, increased exposure to advertising, business influence on the government, and so forth, are even more prominent in this story. The characters are unique, with a spirit and a voice of their own. You will soon be committed to following each character through the book. Every detail has been painstakingly thought out and woven to create an engaging story that delivers to the end. I was not disappointed! Rich ZahradnikAuthor 6 books115

Janet Stilson’s debut science fiction novel “The Juice” is a shocking thrill-ride through a dark near-future in which media is controlled by government and people’s dreams are invaded by that same media. Mega corps—maybe just a little more mega than we have now—dominate news and entertainment, injecting political messages into “dreamisodes” over which subscribers believe they have control. They’re wrong. Charisma comes out of bottle—a needle really—and creates superpowered humans who can drive millions to do evil on a global scale. Only three people, unknown to each other, can end the media-tech tyranny. As Stilson is a veteran media journalist, she brings frightening realism to a future that could be heading our way. Sci-fi mystery, romance and the cautionary tale we need right now, “The Juice” is for fans of “Neuromancer,” “Snow Crash” and other novels of dystopian worlds. Gianna Chachere1 review2

As an admittedly newbie to the cyberpunk genre, I had no expectations of what I was I getting into. Set in New York City, the tale is strange, visionary, funny, and SEXY. The author has created an alternate world that feels full and highly intelligent with cinematic flair. As a former New Yorker, I was totally engrossed in the dystopian view of the city in the not so distant future.

The central character Jarat Ellington is an exile from an Elite society, leading a simpler and just life but is pulled into a cat and mouse thriller upon learning of the demise of an old pal who created a substance called the Juice which turns ordinary people charmingly irresistible. An insightful exploration of media power run amok and class warfare with flirty romance. C.c. Webster1 review2

What a fun ride! Full of shining characters, that although set in the distant future, trigger universal struggles--loyalty, love, hubris, and greed, to name a few, that captivate from page 1, and keep you connected until the character threads all intersect. I feel I probably would have grown up in the small hamlet of Pompey, and would be a chav of some sort, but you can't help but think where you would land in this new vision of the class system. Although the storytelling is intricate, it's not heavy, and you'll end up reading with a feverish pace, trying to keep up with all the characters, and the winding arcs. JANICE STONEBRAKER20

I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway... This was a very interesting book and a good read. It reminded me of a mash up of The Hunger Games and Limitless (aka The Dark Fields). It setting was very descriptive and made it easy to imagine. I love the character Luscious, she is so real and someone you would love to meet in real life. I would definitely read this book again. It was a delight and a surprise. Recommended for anyone who is into futuristic and/or Sci-Fi novels. Great read! Nancy Howard7 1 follower

Thought-provoking

Normally I don't read this genre. But this book held my attention from page one. I found the main characters magnetic and the storyline thought-provoking. It's a cautionary tale of government and the media becoming one and the same. It explores the ever-widening wealth gap. And it pushes one to consider how and why we can be so easily influenced by the media. Lark1 review

This book grabbed me from the first page, and was hard to put down right to the very end! Ms. Stilson has created some interesting characters and uses them to explore questions that are pertinent in today's society. HIghly recommend this read. Lark Dunton27

Loved it! grabbed me right from the beginning and held my interest all the way to the end. Good character development, plot was reasonable (for a dystopian YA book), and it was a great, satisfying story. Ms. Stilson has quite an imagination & I look forward to more of her work! Louise424 7

3.5/5 RTC :)arc-books Lisa Whelan78 4

Not a bad story, really interesting concept but the language got on my nerves, found myself skim reading the second half just to find out what happened.... full review ro follow Angela Randall275 7

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