The Mark is a debut novel by Icelandic author Fríða Ísberg set in a seemingly not-too-distant dystopian – or utopian – future, depending on how you view things.

That in itself is a strong enough reason to pick up this debut, as it lands the reader painfully close to a major referendum at the beginning of the book, which has divided the nation: whether or not to make a sensitivity test mandatory for every citizen.

The test is designed to assess people’s empathy levels and identify people who have the potential for anti-social behaviour or criminality. While not mandatory for all yet, the test has already been rolled out across many industries and services, limiting access to those who refuse to take the test and punishing those who ‘fail’.

All of this becomes clear very early on in the book and to understand the societal difficulties that come with this test, the novel shows the reader exactly how this world works through the eyes of four characters – Vetur, Eyja, Tristan and Ólafur.

Through these characters, the reader is quickly shown the good, the bad and the ugly parts of both sides of the debate. Does the test make society safer or create a greater divide between the haves and the have-nots? Where does privacy end and the needs of the public begin? Are we in danger of breaching the boundaries of individual agency?

While set in a technologically advanced future, The Mark uses a dystopian lens to examine the problems the real-life modern world is currently dealing with. There are already systemic problems that keep certain people out of jobs, that make it harder for them to earn adequate money or to find suitable housing. There are also already technological advances such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition that pose a real and current threat to privacy and equality. And there are parts of the world that already use surveillance systems and credit scores to reward or punish citizens in order to make them “better” members of society.

I have read several books that try to tackle the current problems in society with a futuristic, dystopian lens and sometimes, the task can be too big and challenging to stay within the lines of an interesting plot without veering into the preachy realm. Ísberg’s The Mark is certainly not one of those books. It has taken a unique approach to the idea of social engineering, psychological assessments and profiling, and created a rich and immersive world with four distinct characters that are full of depth. For me, this book definitely hits the mark – pun intended!