This Mortal Coil (This Mortal Coil, #1) by Emily Suvada ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. This Mortal Coil is available to purchase as of November 7, 2017.

I have been holding onto this ARC for what feels like a lifetime, and have finally made good on my promise to myself to crack it open and see it through. The concept of biohacking DNA is certainly something that has come up. in scientific fields over the course of time and this concept of engineering vaccines through people's DNA in real time was intriguing. The author sets up this story in an intriguing way - we are exposed to this post-apocalyptic / dystopian world where a virus has run rampant through people and those not infected are fighting for their lives to stay alive. Flashing forward we are transported to a more controlled society in the sense that the main character is not actively in danger - or so we thought. Catarina Agatta is suddenly meets Cole, a soldier who has the regretful news that her father, Lachlan, is dead, and he needs her help in order to unlock the vaccine hidden away.

The introduction of Cole into story has the readers curious - who is this guy, where did he come from, and can Cat - and the readers - trust him at his word? He definitely comes across as the "dangerous" option for Cat to go along with as opposed to other romantic interests, as his little soldier qualities appear to be set to keep her safe as she works towards unlocking the vaccine. I am a sucker for when the male lead is basically tasked or in this case, programmed, to protect the female lead and would do anything to keep her safe. Considering they just met, I can understand why Cat was hesitant to trust Cole, but he also seemed to be just as cautious towards her when she would propose doing some less than anticipated work on him when it comes to his panel and genes.

Cat's initial characterization was not keeping me entertained - she was irritating to me and her internal monologue was not something I was immediately drawn towards. I can give her some slack considering she found out some pretty impactful news and is now on this epic run to save millions of people, but there was just something about her that was driving me up a wall. While this is a young adult novel, I feel as though it could have worked better as new adult with some aged up characters to be in their early twenties rather than late teens. Cat's development felt stagnant until the last one third of the book and I was growing tired of her having the same thoughts every chapter.

The plot as a whole was lacking - we see the eventual addition of a love triangle but it seemed to overtake the actual plot of the book once it was introduced until the last few chapters where actual plot devices came back. I wanted to really dive into a dystopian novel and this story was just not cutting it for me even though the summary really had my interest locked in. When the action finally started up, I had hope that the story was turning around and would draw me back in, and it did for awhile, until the love triangle seemed to take center stage once again. The shocking twist towards the end of the book definitely has me intrigued enough into considering continuing on with this series, but it will later rather than sooner. Once again, I did read an ARC version of this book, so if there were any changes from that version to the final version, I may not be aware.

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Wildcard (Warcross, #2) by Marie Lu Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Warcross on my blog, now!

I absolutely loved Warcross, and since science fiction is a genre that I am trying to get back into, I was excited to finally see this duology through and explore the consequences of the ending of the first installment. Hideo and Emika's relationship is put to the test through a number of obstacles and betrayals, and as Emika learns to navigate a world that is changing the NeuroLink algorithm, she must also discover the possible endgame of her decisions.

Hideo's actions now have unimaginable consequences for everyone using NeuroLink, and while the ethics of his decisions are certainly questionable, Lu writes his character in a way that you cannot help but feel for him and gain an understanding of why he did what he did. Complex characters are always a joy to read and experience, as not everyone is perfect or is going to be the hero in the story. Emika's admiration for him as a creator and feelings towards him as a possible romantic partner complicate her rationale in fixing what he has done, and her inner struggle was well established throughout this final installment.

Emika made some questionable decisions in my eyes - she somehow did not seem as collected as she was in Warcross, and I found myself growing slightly agitated with the decisions she was making throughout the book. I wanted to her to really lock into the tasks at hand, but she seemed a little aloof. She was also entirely too trusting this book, and considering how the first book ended, I would have expected her to have her guard up and be incredibly weary of any new people that inserted themselves into her life.

The fellow Phoenix Riders made great contributions to the story, and it was enjoyable to see their characterizations more fleshed out - while Emika's story is certainly intriguing, I loved getting to know these other characters more, in additional to seeing how their lives were affected by the NeuroLink change. Lu ahas always done a great job at incorporating side characters into her stories without overpowering the main leads, and Wildcard is not exception - I felt as though I had such a solid grasp of who everyone was, and as their motives changed throughout the story, you could see the pattern of their thought processes influence their actions.

Echoing my original sentiment included in my review of Warcross, I had such a fun time reading this book - there were times where I did feel as though the story was moving a little slower than I would have liked, but the overall vibe of this installment kept me drawn in and eager to see what happened next. It did take me longer to get though this book compared to the first, but I believe that was mostly due to it being about a year and a half since I read Warcross. There were a number of times where I was yelling at the pages, especially during moments where people were revealed to be more sinister than they wanted to be perceived as to others. 

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Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2) by Victoria Aveyard Review

This review contains mild spoilers for Red Queen - please read with caution. You can read my review of Queen Song on Goodreads now!

It has been years since I read Red Queen, and I was somewhat hesitant to dive back into the series with so much time having passed, and the only major detail I could remember from the book was regarding Maven's little character arc that left Mare shocked. And to be completely honest, Maven was serving this entire book, he was funny and brandish despite being the villain, and provided an interesting perspective from Mare when it came to personal development. His iconic "No, I don't think so," line lives in my head rent free, and I have to hand it to him, it gagged everyone. I may not condone some of his actions, but I certainly can appreciate his flare for the dramatics.

I personally felt as though Mare was making herself seem a little too important throughout the book - yes, she is the lightening girl -- the Red Queen -- but she seemed to place herself above the common folk too often more my liking. Understanding that she is a seventeen-year-old girl who was thrust into an insane and unexpected circumstance, I can let it slide, since other characters tend to hold her higher than the masses. That being said, a lot of characters seemed to place an enormous amount of blame on Mare for things that were in no way her fault, or for events occurring that were inevitable the second Maven showed his true intentions.

The world-building was still a tad so-so for me, and I kept having to remind myself that this was a dystopia-fantasy world. At times it felt as though the world was medieval, and then you would be reminded that they have security cameras, guns, and jets. I wish it was more concise on the setting, but that may fall on me for not brushing up on the world before going back in. Cal was probably one of my favorite characters in this book - he was sassy, put people in their place when it was needed, and provided an internal conflict to Mare as she navigated a world in which the crown was now against her.

Shade's role in this book left me underwhelmed at times - his presence was endearing and provided hope for Mare, but I was not attached his development as the story unfolded. While he was not a major side character, his being was constantly on Mare's mind, so we received a lot of internal thoughts about his relationship with Mare and how he would aid in their cause. Kilorn had me stressed tenfold with any scene he was in, and I constantly had a feeling that he would not be the person we thought him to be.

The rest of the side characters were entertaining when they needed to be, and provided enough filler in between action scenes or emotional scenes that the story moved at a decent pace. It certainly picked up towards the end of the book, and definitely had me tuned in to see what would become of all these characters.

Glass Sword continues Mare's journey as she fights for a world without blood discrimination and to find reasoning behind the biggest betrayal by her closest friend. I have a feeling that I will return to this series in the future to see it to the end, but it may take another eight years for me to move on to the third installment.

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Warcross (Warcross, #1) by Marie Lu Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC -- any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review.

I have been a fan of Marie Lu's Legend series for a long time, and I finally decided that it was time to pick up Warcross from the spot on my shelf after years of starting at it. At first, I was not really vibing with the main character, and I will put the blame on myself since there is a six year age difference between us, and I have not been reading too much young adult books, especially science fiction or dystopian. But since I am in my young adult novel renaissance, I made my piece with Emika, our female lead. 

Lu does a very good job of expanding on Emika's backstory -- you will first feel as you do not know anything about her, but each piece of information you learn about Emika comes at the perfect time. I will admit that I felt frustrated when she was first introduced, but she definitely grows on you within the first 75 pages. Our 18-year-old lead is living in a beaten down apartment with a roommate who barely contributes to Emika's story. With being thousands of dollars in debt and behind in rent, Emika uses her Warcross skills as a bounty hunter catching criminals in order to get by.

By chance and total accident, Emika finds herself being propelled into an entirely new league of champions of Warcross after hacking into an international championship, and catches the eye of the game's creator, 21-year-old billionaire Hideo. From there, we follow Emika as she becomes a wild card in a game that captivates millions of players and audience members as she helps Hideo on a very important task working on a security issue. I will say that I guessed what the reveal was and still loved every second of Emika working her way toward it. I loved that from right off the bat, we could tell that Hideo and Emika were going to become much closer than anticipated as she becomes his personal spy inside the tournament.

Hideo's personality is very stoic in the beginning, which is expected as everyone around him seems to only want to be in his presence in order to get ahead or level up in Warcross. He also has so much rizz and really knows how to let Emika know what he wants, which had me doing cartwheels across the room. Lu allows Emika and Hideo's opposing personalities to compliment one another as they each let their guard down around each other, something they have not done for many years. Both with tragic pasts and hackers to track down, their romantic relationship was something so great to see. I absolutely loved the way that Lu was able to incorporate virtual reality and real life in their vulnerable states, and the way that Hideo opened up to Emika had my heart swooning.

The players on Emika's Warcross team were so much fun to read about, especially as readers are learning about them just as Emika meets them for the first time. Yes, she can look up their information, but there really is no better way to get to know your team members that actually learning their skills while in the game. Hammie had me cracking up because she was always so unhinged, and Asher's captain skills definitely came out to play in and out of the tournament. There is a ton of drama and scandal throughout the book, and coupled with the excitement of the Warcross games, it made for a very entertaining read.

I genuinely just had a great time reading this -- it is a super quick read and really captivates the reader once you get into the inner workings of Warcross and Emika acting as a spy for Hideo. There were so many times that I caught myself giggling and kicking my feet over Emika and Hideo's development, and I just loved how well they complimented each other without one overpowering the other in the relationship. Lu surprised me on just how much I enjoyed reading this, but it should have come at no surprise, considering how much I enjoyed Legend and the rest of the series. I will definitely be finishing the duology!

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Followers by Megan Angelo Review

This review contains spoilers for Followers.

The concept of this book really stood out to me, and I was looking forward to see some type of futuristic, dystopian-esque Black Mirror novel play out before me. As a disclaimer, the version of the book that I was reading was the 2018 ARC that was given out at Book Expo -- I am not aware if there were any changes between the advanced copy and the final printed version. 

At times the story felt a little scattered -- when the author would jump between 2015/2016 and 2051, most of the time it was a cohesive jump, but at some points I felt as though I was thrown into an entirely different story. Going from 2051 Marlow and her attempt at leaving Constellation back to 2015/16 with the author talking about characters we had only heard of once was throwing me off -- I kept wondering how their stories connected and they never fully were able to establish relationships that made sense.

A majority of the plot devices has a lot of potential, but it felt as though scenes were either being rushed or they were being filled with overzealous details that did not pertain to the characters and their development. Switching between 2015/2016 and 2051, the author takes us on a journey into a world where the internet we use today stopped working in 2015 to a world where the internet has the largest presence in everyone's lives in 2051.

2015 Orla and Floss have this symbiotic relationship with one another where Orla provides Floss the fame, and Floss provides Orla the internet presence as a journalist wanting to become a novelist. At least, that was the plan, until Orla suddenly finds herself with as much fame as Floss when her and her boyfriend's documentary-style tv show airs. Floss continuously does reckless things in order to get the attention on her at every chance she gets, and unfortunately it takes her basically pushing a girl down stairs to launch her into stardom.

2051 Marlow and Floss are participating in what basically appears to be a 24/7 reality world where they cannot make any decisions for themselves. Marlow, Floss's daughter, has always lived in this network-ran world, where her every move is watched by her millions of followers and a device talks to her in her head as if they are one being. 

After being on medication for nearly twenty years, Marlow is taken off of this miracle drug when the network reveals to her that she and her husband, Ellis, will be having a baby. This basically triggers Marlow's descent into realizing that nothing everything is as it appears -- she becomes more aware of her surroundings and the hold that the network has on everyone in Constellation. She is looking for privacy, a concept that no one really entertains, with everyone's lives in Constellation being broadcasted for their millions of followers.

In the 2015/16 chapters we learn a lot more about how Floss and Marlow ended up in Constellation and how Marlow even came to be. Her relation to Orla is something that surprised Marlow, especially as she was just under the impression that Aston was not her biological father. But to find out that Floss was not her biological mother was a shock to her, and really pushed forward her turn to privacy. So many people in Marlow's life are just there to use her for followers, fame, and money -- they have no concern for her wellbeing and basically view her as a product instead of a person.

The ending of the book personally left me with more questions than answers. I felt a little underwhelmed and that the writing was not fulfilling what the plot needed to push it forward. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I found myself wondering how much longer it would be until it was over. The idea was definitely there, but some plot points felt as though they fell through the cracks and were never picked back up.

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