This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (2017)
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Length: 425 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: The Library
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My Rating:
Goodreads Synopsis: Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.
That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.
When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.
Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?
My Review
Review in a Tweet: This Mortal Coil is a page-turning, science heavy, zombiesque-level apocalypse novel. Catarina is an intelligent hacker. When her father dies he takes the cure to the plague, where the infected explode and infect everyone in its path, with him. Catarina is the world's last hope.
Opening Line: "It's sunset, and the sky is aflame, not with clouds or dust, but with the iridescent feathers of a million genehacked passenger pigeons."
I am a sucker for any kind of survival story so I just knew I had to give this book a try. I was fortunate enough to meet the author last year, and she was very sweet, further cementing my need to read this book. Although there is A LOT of science talk in this book, making it more science-fiction than survival story and not always my cup of tea, I really enjoyed it. However, I am going to have to keep this review short to be able to keep it spoiler free.
Catarina is a very complex main character. After her father is forced to work for Cartaxus to help end the plague, Catarina must survive for two years all on her own. Cole, the soldier sent to protect her while she finds the cure, is just an okay character. I didn't love him and I didn't hate him, but I did find him interesting. Although Catarina doesn't trust him, she can't help but feel something for the guy helping her with her mission.
Let me give a quick run-down of what I thought of the plot. The details of the plague are unique, and since it is rapidly evolving, I felt the same rush/need the characters had to find the cure, making for a quick read. Although at times predictable, there were still a few twists I didn't see coming!
The Bottom Line: Give
This Mortal Coil a read the next time you are in the mood for a sci-fi/survival/dystopian/romance fast-paced read.
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