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| ~cool cover~ |
3.90 Stars from 210 GoodReaders
INHUMAN is the first book in a new series from Kat Falls and Scholastic. Readers of Middle-grade fiction might recognize Falls' name from her popular DARK TIDE series.
Backstory:
The world of INHUMAN is one where America and the world have been ravaged by war. In the course of war a horrible virus was released, and this virus, called Ferae, causes the humans that catch it to genetically mutate into human-animal hybrids. Different strains of the virus, result in different animal traits.
Lane lives with her father behind a huge wall that shelters people from the Savage Zone. On her side of the wall teens interact more through the internet than in person because everyone is concerned with avoiding the Ferae virus.
For a while Lane and her father were poor because of the medical bills her mother ran up before her death. Now though they are doing very well. Unfortunately, Lane never questions where the money comes from. Just as she never questions her father about where he goes for weeks at a time.
Turns out that Lane's dad is a is a 'fetch'. Someone who illegally crosses into the Savage Zone.
Plot Basics:
Lane is brought in by a powerful woman who has the goods on her missing father. This woman tells Lane that she wants her to retrieve something. And that if she doesn't, that her father will be shot on sight, IF he returns.
Lane heads out with little but her wits, desperate to find her father.
My Thoughts:
INHUMAN is a fast paced book featuring a feisty heroine that many readers are going to love. Lane is strong and smart and has a well established moral compass.
The world is well described and the characters are interesting, if not completely familiar. There's The Mom who died, because in dystopic lit that's what moms do best. And there's the The Dad who has done his best to provide for his daughter. There's also the omnipresent love triangle. (barf)
The book is fine for Middle-graders, but it's going to be a stretch for some adults to jump on this bandwagon the way that they did for DARK TIDE... unless you like your villains over-the-top bad. The kind of people that would kick your cat and kill your dog if you messed with them. And, in general, the delineation between good and bad is as clear cut as a 700 foot wall.
In addition, this old, well-read, mom found that INHUMAN just broke the Disbelief O'Meter. My Suspension of Disbelief went from first to second to third gear, and still more suspension was needed in order to accept some of the plotting.
What I LIKED:
--Loved Lane. I thought she was spunky, courageous, and smart.
--The premise was very interesting and I thought found the viral mutation to be reasonable enough.
--Loved the Lane would not back down in the face of pressure. She would do the right thing.
What I DIDN'T LIKED:
--INHUMAN required too much Suspension-of-Disbelief for me. And though entertaining there were elements of the plot that were too implausible.
RECOMMEND to who/whom:
**4.5 STARS** for Middle-Graders
**4.0 STARS** for Young Adults
**2.5 Stars** for jaded old me
INHUMAN
Scholastic Press
(Fetch #1)
by Kat Falls
Reading Information:
Word Count: 98,783
Page Count: 384
Accelerated Reader: 5.0 / points: 15.0
AR quiz: 162747
Lexile: HL700L
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