Hana isn’t supposed to exist. She’s grown up hidden by her mother in a secret room of the bioship Cyclo until the day her mother is simply gone–along with the entire crew. Cyclo tells her she was abandoned, but she’s certain her mother wouldn’t leave her there to die. And Hana isn’t ready to die yet. She’s never really had a chance to live. Fenn is supposed to die. He and a crew of hired … and a crew of hired mercenaries are there to monitor Cyclo as she expires, and the payment for the suicide mission will mean Fenn’s sister is able to live. But when he meets Hana, he’s not sure how to save them both.
As Cyclo grows sicker by the day, they unearth more secrets about the ship and the crew. But the more time they spend together, the more Hana and Fenn realize that falling for each other is what could ultimately kill them both.
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This was an incredible coming-of-age story that makes you question so many things about life, death, love, hope, and in the end, forgiveness. There were times I thought the characters couldn’t possibly get out of the bind they were in, but Lydia Kang pulls them out with skill. The world-building and writing are both beautiful and haunting. These characters are going to stick with me for a long time.
Rich with creative sci-fi worldbuilding details, this book was a fascinating read, and the tension kept building as the time grew shorter and shorter for the characters to survive on the ailing bio-ship, Cyclo. For readers who prefer their novels less graphic or violent, this might not be the book for you. Ditto for a fast-track romance to teen sex, but at least those scenes weren’t detailed. Overall, this book was enjoyable to explore, with mystery, danger, romance, and a cast of well-drawn characters—I especially liked the portrayal of the humanoid crew. Finn’s and Hana’s thoughts regarding life and death were portrayed nicely, with much stimulating food for thought. The ending surprised me (perhaps it was a bit contrived?) when I discovered one particular character had survived; it didn’t seem likely. But I still enjoyed how it ended.
Great story. I very much enjoyed the characters and descriptiveness.
This was a very unique book with a very unique setting, that is both a place and a character, and hero and a villain. I agree with other reviews that have said the ship was the most interesting character in the story. It was both something I couldn’t completely grasp because it’s so out of our realm of understanding, and something that I could picture clearly while I read. I felt as if I could feel the squishy surface of the ship’s floor and walls, could picture every detail so completely, and yet I’m not positive the image I created is even remotely what the author intended or what someone else would have imagined it. It really was the ship that made the story, and what kept me reading.
As for the rest of the book…
Fenn as a character had his good moments and not so good. The first chapter from his POV made me really like him. He was a rebel and had always been a rebel, but he was trying to redeem himself, and I was interested to see how he would evolve. Unfortunately, I think a lot of his character got lost in the love story. Yes, I knew this was a love story, but it happened so fast and I felt like the character’s real personality faded away, and I didn’t think his actions were authentic a lot of the times. He got swept off his feet too fast, and he definitely fell in love too fast for me to buy into it.
Hana was okay. She was bland, but she was supposed to be, and as naive as she was, she had her moments when she exerted herself. By the end, though, she was definitely the more realistic of the two characters. Considering how sheltered she’d always been, and how inexperienced she was, I at least felt like her jump into LOVE was more realistic than Fenn’s.
I do recommend this book because it held my attention and made me want to find out what was going to happen. I just wish there had been a little less focus on the love story and we had instead gotten the chance to get to know more about the other characters, where they were from, why they were there, as well more about who Fenn was and his past. It was tough to care about his sacrifice when we never really got to know the person he was sacrificing himself for.
I found Toxic to be a really unique experience: a mish-mash of multiple genres that when put together for me just flowed.
I would describe this if I had to clarify as a Romantic sci-fi YA with elements of horror.
Set in space on an organic ship it was the original premise put forward here that initially intrigued and drew me in.
A young girl that shouldn’t exist: hidden for years in plain sight aboard a living ship: then later abandoned by her caretaker with only her closest companion Cyclo, left assessable for her needs.
Follow this with a suicide voyage of mercenaries sent to harvest data from the dying ship and what we have is a really ingenious and imaginative undertaking.
I actually really adored all the technical Jargon used here I think it added an almost authentic feel to the whole endeavour.
This for me has more of a Sci-Fi action vibe than an overly romantic one and it is in my opinion still age appropriate despite the intimate references of actions between Hana and Fennec.
These references are more about referral and don’t go into any great detail.
I also felt Toxic stuck a good balance between the romance and action and it was certainly fast-paced managing to easily keep me on my toes.
While not overly complicated as a story this didn’t really need to be and despite being somewhat predictable in places this didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment here.
There was still plenty of curveballs to keep this interesting reading: a great experience.
This is a story that I am happy to recommend and one I really did enjoy.
I voluntary reviewed an Arc of Toxic.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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