A gritty, unputdownable, epic Science Fiction thriller from a USA Today bestselling author. MONSTERS will hold you until the final page.A teenage girl turning into a monster. A world-weary policeman on the trail of genetic freaks. A schoolteacher with a dark secret. A rogue scientist playing at god. Corporations vying for power. The hidden cyber-world of the wireheads. A tyrannical ruling class … A rogue scientist playing at god. Corporations vying for power. The hidden cyber-world of the wireheads. A tyrannical ruling class called the Purity.
Skin clubs. Freak fights. Murder and modified humans. A society on the edge of collapse.
Two decades after a genetic plague scoured the world, this is daily life for Chloe Dark but when her best friend goes missing, she has no choice but to take the road more dangerous…
As Chloe realizes she has more in common with the freaks than she’d care to admit, the search to save her friend transforms into a fight for life. Now she must risk everything to determine if the real monster is the one within.
Become KYMIERA. Discover the real monsters…
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First: several reviewers have claimed that this ends with a cliffhanger. This is completely untrue. The main plot is that she is trying to find and hopefully rescue the missing girls. At the end, she knows exactly why they were taken and by whom, and all of the missing children who are still alive have been rescued. So that plot is completely finished. Also, by the end, her own mutation has completely run its course and we now see the final result and so the mini-mystery of trying to figure out what it will be is completely paid off as well. What these reviewers mean is that it doesn’t have a “Happy Ever After” ending. Society hasn’t changed and the mutants are still outlaws living under an oppressive government. But just because they didn’t stage a revolution or escape to Shangri-la you can’t call it a “cliffhanger”.
OK.. end of rant.
The book itself was surprisingly good. But it started badly. I had to force myself through the first 10% or so. It’s written in a style where each chapter heading is the name of a char and that’s how you know who the POV of that chapter is. But at the start you don’t know who any of the characters are so just getting a name only makes it more confusing. And some of the chapters are from POV of minor characters who don’t add much to the plot. But having a whole chapter dedicated to them made me think they would turn out more important, so that was confusing too.
There were also some poorly constructed sentences and awkwardly missing commas that added to the confusion (no, “stainless steel glass” is not a thing). There were a few times I almost rage-quit the whole book. But I’m glad I stuck it out because after you get your bearings it becomes a pretty good book.
Not an instant classic, just a decently good read. I might reread it someday. Maybe.
I bought this during a sale event at a discounted price. I don’t think it’s worth what the author is currently charging but most people are richer than me and you might not mind supporting a developing author.
BREAKDOWN:
World-building was good. He gives the impression of a richly developed world but doesn’t show us everything.
Plot was good. Not a lot of twists and turns, but a lot of variety in the multiple roadblocks. It never once felt like formula writing.
Writing style was fair. Started off bad but later on the style began to work better for the story.
Characterization was average. Nothing special. I didn’t get a strong feel for any of them but there was enough to make them worth rooting for.
Overall concept was excellent. At heart it’s a fairly standard but still unique post-apocalyptic dystopia. But there are elements mixed in that bring in cyberpunk (“Wireheads” permanently grafted with computers) and superhero (mutants with powers, origin story) genres and make it truly special.
Overall I’d give it a 3.6 which is just barely enough to round up to four stars. And I do recommend reading it (for those who can afford it).