The Ministry of Manners

Published on 7 October 2026 at 21:41

The Ministry of Manners

🤫📹⚡🦸‍♂️

by David Solomons

★★★★

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: David Solomons

🎨 Cover artist: Hazem Asif

📅 Release Date: 7th May 2026

📚 Book type: Chapter, 272 pages

🌟 Reader level: Confident

⚠️ Content: 8+

🤫 Brilliant dystopian concept
⚡ Gripping action and suspense
📹 Clever surveillance elements
🦸‍♂️ Strong themes of bravery
✨ Exciting without being scary
📱 Fantastic futuristic world-building

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

I saw The Ministry of Manners recommended by someone on my Bookstagram and was immediately drawn in by the blurb. I LOVE a dystopian storyline, and this sounded like a brilliant option for children who want to dip their toes into the genre without anything too scary!

I absolutely devoured this book and loved the action and suspense! The world-building is brilliant, with homes, streets and corridors bugged with microphones and cameras, mobile phones tracking your every move and people unable to even speak their minds. Every chapter is packed with secrets, control and bravery, and it definitely made me appreciate the little freedoms we often take for granted!

I also loved that the action is really captivating without relying on violence or fear. It has all the excitement I’d want from a dystopian story, but it still feels appropriate for KS2 readers. I think it would be a fantastic introduction to the genre for children who might find some dystopian books a little too dark or frightening.

🌟I would definitely recommend this to more confident readers, as some of the language is a little technical in places, and to anyone who loves dystopian, sci-fi or futuristic stories. If you like books full of secrets, rebellion and suspense, this one is definitely worth picking up! 🌟

Blurb

Be quiet. Be polite. Or be silenced.

Alfie and Margot Hawthorne have grown up under the Ministry of Manners, where politeness isn't a choice - it's the law. And one wrong word can change your life. He knows how to stay out of trouble, but she has never been one for quiet obedience.

When the Ministry takes Margot, everything changes. Inside the Manners Retreat, she fights to stay herself in a place built to erase her. Meanwhile, Alfie falls in with the Unsilenced - those who still dare to speak. But the Ministry has plans of its own. And if they succeed, rebellion won't just be punished. It'll be impossible.