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A solid feminist dystopian read, with the caveat that I agree with most of the negative reviews and would hesitate to recommend this despite enjoying it myself. Mackintosh's writing feels cold, distant, and clinical which is certainly hit-or-miss.

Blue Ticket tells the story of a society wherein women are assigned a white ticket (allowing them to have children but little other freedoms) or a blue ticket (where women are allowed to have a career and freedom, but never children) based on a random lottery. We follow Calla who is a blue ticket defect who intentionally becomes pregnant and the consequences that ensue. While the concept is not wholly unique, it has good commentary on sexual freedom, rebellion, autonomy, and the seemingly inconsequential choices we make that define our future.

The book is odd because there is little world-building and a bare-bones plot, and I would even hesitate to call it character-driven. It's more about Calla's personal experience and journey than a typical dystopian setting would provide. Calla is understandable but not likable, which is a difficult balance to achieve. I quite liked the direction the ending and epilogue took, and the whole book has such an ominous and foreboding feeling behind every page.

If you enjoyed Elsewhere, The Handmaid’s Tale or I Who Have Never Known Men I think you might enjoy this too for the similar feminist commentary about motherhood.

I thought that there was a way to prove that you deserved it. That one day they would lead me into another room, a room full of light like the one I had seen, and they would say that I had earned my right to choose. I tried my best to demonstrate my suitability, I tried to be maternal at every opportunity. But there is no choosing.