This Mortal Coil
By Emily Suvada
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November, 7, 2017
Genre: Young Adult — Science Fiction
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 RATING: 5/5 STARS
MY THOUGHTS:
“Nature designed this plague as a double-edged sword: It either takes your life, or it takes away your humanity.” I feel like the best place to start this review is with this quote, it really gathers the whole message of the book. I liked how there was only one chapter on backstory at the beginning to kind of get you set up, but things become known throughout the book. There wasn’t any part I found slow or hard to understand.
As for characters, I thought Catarina was one of my favorite main characters of all time. She was such a loyal person, I think that was what I most loved about her. She was a very strong character, physically and emotionally, which I don’t see often and really admired her for. I loved when she talked about coding, it was very clearly written out, explained, and understandable. Cole was a pretty solid match for Catarina, he was more forceful, while she was more intelligence, and it worked well as the story progressed.
Usually I feel like sci-fi books are very wordy, with not a lot going on, but this book was concise, and had a lot of action packed scenes. I was happy that romance wasn’t one of the main focuses of the story, but it was trickled in in just the right places. This was definitely a survival of the fittest type book, that I highly enjoyed. I was also happy to have the sequel on hand to start immediately.
This Cruel Design
by Emily Suvada
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Genre: Young Adult — Science Fiction
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Cat thought the Hydra epidemic was over, but when new cases pop up, Cat must team up with an enemy to fix the vaccine before the virus spirals out of control in this thrilling sequel to This Mortal Coil, which New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman says “redefines ‘unputdownable.’”
The nightmare of the outbreak is finally over, but Cat’s fight has only just begun.
Exhausted, wounded, and reeling from revelations that have shaken her to her core, Cat is at a breaking point. Camped in the woods with Cole and Leoben, she’s working day and night, desperate to find a way to stop Lachlan’s plan to reprogram humanity. But she’s failing—Cat can’t even control her newly regrown panel, and try as she might to ignore them, she keeps seeing glitching visions from her past everywhere she turns.
When news arrives that the Hydra virus might not be as dead as they’d thought, the group is pushed into an uneasy alliance with Cartaxus to hunt down Lachlan and fix the vaccine. Their search takes them to Entropia, a city of genehackers hidden deep in the desert that could also hold the answers about Cat’s past that she’s been searching for.
But when confronted with lies and betrayals, Cat is forced to question everything she knows and everyone she trusts. And while Lachlan is always two steps ahead, the biggest threat to Cat may be the secrets buried in her own mind.
MY RATING: 5/5 STARS
PLEASE DON’T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY READ THIS MORTAL COIL, BECAUSE THERE MAY BE POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK!!!!
MY THOUGHTS:
“Erasing memories is easy- but suppressing them is hard.” I felt the need to start here with this review because this is the main focus, in my mind of this book. A lot of betrayal has happened since book one started so Catarina is in a place where she doesn’t know who she can trust even more than the last book. I love that the second book started with a bit of a re-cap of the first book. Even if I hadn’t read This Mortal Coil right before this one, I would be able to pick right up.
I found this book way more romance heavy, but it didn’t bother me since it seemed like that was where it was going to go after the first book ended. You got way more of a backstory pretty quickly in this book, I almost felt like I was reading about different characters, since they had all matured so much. There was a lot more DNA changing throughout this one, which I found pretty cool. People were changing their DNA in some of the coolest ways I can think of.
I love that this author is so descriptive in her writing, but not overwhelming. I felt each scene unfolding in front me vividly. I did find this book a lot more graphic than book one, but nothing too much for me to handle personally. This book is one to pick up if you want a twisty, roller-coaster of a ride through the most amazing sci-fi setting I’ve ever read about.
BOOK LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.
AUTHOR LINKS
GIVEAWAY
Prize: 2 copies of This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada (USA only)
Starts: 10/22/18
Ends: 10/31/18
Tour Schedule
October 22nd
October 23rd
October 24th
October 25th
October 26th
October 27th
October 28th
October 29th
I’d like to thank Fantastic Flying Book Club, Simon Pulse, and Emily Suvada for supplying me with copies of these two books, and making this blog tour possible.*
Boston Book Reader 
This is such a thrilling series, with exceptional character development. Both books are at the top of my list of best reads for last year and this year.
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I Absolutely agree!! It doesn’t get better than this series!
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I want to read these books eventually, so skipped your reviews. Both covers are gorgeous!
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Ahh I hope you love love love them too! This series was unbelievable!!
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I’ve seen this book around loads but never knew what it was about – this sounds interesting!
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This series is absolutely perfect!
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I’ve seen the first cover around quite a lot – it sounds great x
http://www.ofbeautyandnothingness.co.uk
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I honestly feel like it’s under-hyped I think you should absolutely give it a go I can see you enjoying it!
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I haven’t read This Mortal Coil yet, but I just love the blue cover for the sequel!
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Ahh I’m obsessed with the covers!!
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I’m boderline on whether I’d enjoy this one or not.
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It was such a great one if you are in the mood for it you’ll love it!!
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im really happy w ur review for the first book, definiteyl gonna try and prioritise this series seeing as tho i own both of them 😀
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ahhh yay!! I hope you love it!
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I haven’t read the first so only read the first review but I have to say, I am so glad to hear you loved it! Will definitely try to read it soon! 🙂
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Ahhh I loved this series (so far) so much!!!
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