Review: Proxy by Alex London

Rating: 4.5/5 

Recommend: Definitely!!

Hello dear readers, I’m going to keep this one short and sweet as my first review back to the blog, well, as short of a review as I get. I’m also going to try to keep this review fairly spoiler free so that might help with the length. It’s been a long few months without internet but no internet did give me time to whittle down my ‘to be read’ stack.

Review: The first book I read was Proxy, which has been sitting on my nightstand calling my name for quite some time now. I have to say I was not disappointed, and I had some pretty high expectations after hearing such great things about it. The story follows Syd a proxy for spoiled rich kid Knox as he runs from Guardians after being sentenced to death for Knox killing a girl in a car accident. I have to say I don’t usually read books with such an emphasis on technology but this one just sounded too good and I had to pick it up. The tech in this book is unreal, at once enviable and a bit horrifying it added this great element to the story that I don’t think it would’ve had if it wasn’t incorporated into the society in the way that the author wrote it. I do think the pace left a little to be desired with characterization but what we did see of character growth and development was pretty realistic given the situation and I know all of this will probably be covered in the sequel. I do not regret my decision to read this one a single bit, and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested. I really just can’t wait to read the next one. 

Review: Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

    Rating: 4/5 stars

   Reccomend?: Yes.

    Synopsis: When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

    Review: Let me start out by saying that I wasn't sure if I would actually like this book. As you can see from my previous review, I am a fan if Sophie Jordan, and when I saw that she was releasing a young adult dystopian novel, I had to check it out. The premise of this book really is what drew me in, a killer gene?! Like how freaking cool is that! The idea that this group of people, kids included, were so totally and completely discriminated against because they were born with a particular gene was really interesting. After Our main character  Davy tests positive for te gene following a mandatory blood test at school, her entire life is turned upside down. The former private school golden girl music prodigy suddenly becomes ostracized by her former boyfriend, peers and even her family, with the exception of her brother, are terrified of her. She is forced by the government to now attend public school with 5 other positive kids, whom for the entirety of the school day are locked in a "cage" to complete their school work, it's hardly the glamour the music prodigy was used too. It's in the "cage" that Davy meets Sean, a marked carrier, which means he broke the law in someway so they tattooed him to distinguish him as a carrier. Davy is inexplicably drawn to Sean and he finds himself very protective of her, even though he thinks her being around him is a bad idea. Certain events happen that have the entire population of non-carriers turning their back on the carriers, the government rounds up all the carriers and imprisons them, but Davy gets a special chance. 

 What I liked: Davy's growth as a carrier and as a character in general, she goes from blunt hate for carriers to realizing that these people are her family and he loves them as such. Sean was a great character, mysterious and hot but also kind and understanding when he had to be. The marry cast of supporting characters such as the kids in the "cage" and Davy's brother were really great additions and I never felt that Sophie was taking time away from the main story point to talk about the rest of them. 

What I didn't like: the romance became way too involved at the end a it was really mushy. I loved Sean but Davy was so set on not liking Sean to being totally into him and it seemed too fast for my liking, I'm hoping the 2nd book dials back on the romance and continues to focus on the growth of these kids into their new identities.