A review by miffyf
Welcome To Orphancorp by Marlee Jane Ward

5.0

This is an extraordinary novella. Set in a not-too-distant future, the story is visceral, frightening, and all too realistic.
Mirii is a survivor, a young woman on the edge of adulthood and 'freedom'. But how free are you, really, when your whole life has been one of institutionalisation and brutal control? Orphancorp has a ready supply of orphan children at their disposal. Ostensibly a place of caring, Orphancorp is actually state-sanctioned slavery, where only the strongest and smartest have any chance of getting out 'alive'. The system is rigging against any of the orphans actually having a better life on the outside. Undereducated and the under the boot, most children are submissive and compliant.
But not Mirii, and not Vu, a fellow orphan around about the same age. Mirii and Vu form an attachment, of sorts, a desperate and necessarily furtive meeting of mind and body which might compromise all of Mirii's plans for the future.
My only minor gripe is that the novella format didn't allow for a satisfactory resolution to Mirii's story. Thankfully, [b:Psynode|34118457|Psynode|Marlee Jane Ward|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1486284691s/34118457.jpg|55150960] is now published. Can't wait to read it.