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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved this and am definitely going to read the next book. I have recommended this to my friends and recommended it to you too!
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I went into This Mortal Coil expecting one kind of story and ended up with something completely different – and honestly, I’m not mad about it. The writing is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the world-building incredibly detailed. This book pulls you into a near-future world where gene hacking and bioengineering have reshaped what it means to be human, creating a tense, high-stakes atmosphere from the first page.
⚙️ What I Loved:
💥 Complex World-Building – The science behind the plot is fascinating, and the ethical questions it raises kept me thinking long after I’d finished the last chapter.
🔄 Unexpected Twists – Just when I thought I had a handle on the story, it threw me a curveball that had me questioning everything I thought I knew about this world.
📈 High-Stakes Tension – The stakes feel real and immediate, and the characters are pushed to their limits in a way that makes their choices feel meaningful.
💥 Complex World-Building – The science behind the plot is fascinating, and the ethical questions it raises kept me thinking long after I’d finished the last chapter.
🔄 Unexpected Twists – Just when I thought I had a handle on the story, it threw me a curveball that had me questioning everything I thought I knew about this world.
📈 High-Stakes Tension – The stakes feel real and immediate, and the characters are pushed to their limits in a way that makes their choices feel meaningful.
🔬 Final Take: This was a wild ride, and I’m genuinely excited to see where the rest of the series goes.
A curious mix of dystopian, SF, genetics , adventure and self discovery that despite it’s complexity works in drawing you in.
The story line needs a lot of explaining on where it is set, about and going to go when it starts. The It is complex and as a result it may be hard to get past the first few chapters - I know that they took me longest and at the time I was thinking I am not too sure about this. Once past that stage it reads well and becomes fast paced and exciting. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and would totally recommend it to people interested in SF of a different kind than (only) space travel.
Initially the storyline can be divided into a number of sub plots/lines
The typical YA - love story
A father - daughter relationship
Friendship and how it can influence decisions making
A YA journey of self discovery that in this case is quite mind boggling and also inspirational
The dystopian/genetics SF topic.
But the great thing about the book is that those sublimes too are not quite what they seem. Nothing is typical in this book not only the characters in the book are on the wrong foot, so tends to be the reader. Cat really is not quite what she seems to be at the start She is a hero, but with flaws. Many younger readers will understand some of her struggles in the book. She is both a sympathetic and infuriating character. Other characters are less well fleshed out an end up being somewhat 2-dimensional and fall flat. The technical SF side of the book to me is novel and fun. It is hardcore SF with biology thrown in. So much fun. I love the explanations on the genetics side and one can read the research the author did come through.
I gave this hugely enjoyable book 4 stars.
The reasons are the start, the complexity of the story initially. The interlink tech/genetics though IMO not too far fetched ends up reading as the bees knees t and answer to just about everything, but this is at odds with some of the story line I think.
The support characters are somewhat too 2-dimensional. They fall flat and are one sided. Not all of them, but many do feel like props to Cat’s story and I think that could have been done better.
It makes up for a little too much to give it an upgrade, but it does mean that I fully intend to read part 2.
The story line needs a lot of explaining on where it is set, about and going to go when it starts. The It is complex and as a result it may be hard to get past the first few chapters - I know that they took me longest and at the time I was thinking I am not too sure about this. Once past that stage it reads well and becomes fast paced and exciting. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and would totally recommend it to people interested in SF of a different kind than (only) space travel.
Initially the storyline can be divided into a number of sub plots/lines
The typical YA - love story
A father - daughter relationship
Friendship and how it can influence decisions making
A YA journey of self discovery that in this case is quite mind boggling and also inspirational
The dystopian/genetics SF topic.
But the great thing about the book is that those sublimes too are not quite what they seem. Nothing is typical in this book not only the characters in the book are on the wrong foot, so tends to be the reader. Cat really is not quite what she seems to be at the start She is a hero, but with flaws. Many younger readers will understand some of her struggles in the book. She is both a sympathetic and infuriating character. Other characters are less well fleshed out an end up being somewhat 2-dimensional and fall flat. The technical SF side of the book to me is novel and fun. It is hardcore SF with biology thrown in. So much fun. I love the explanations on the genetics side and one can read the research the author did come through.
I gave this hugely enjoyable book 4 stars.
The reasons are the start, the complexity of the story initially. The interlink tech/genetics though IMO not too far fetched ends up reading as the bees knees t and answer to just about everything, but this is at odds with some of the story line I think.
The support characters are somewhat too 2-dimensional. They fall flat and are one sided. Not all of them, but many do feel like props to Cat’s story and I think that could have been done better.
It makes up for a little too much to give it an upgrade, but it does mean that I fully intend to read part 2.
Woah. That was a lot of twists and turns in one book. This is not at all my usual genre for reading but I loved this book. Definitely highly recommend this one.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5- it took me awhile to wrap my head around the science of genetic apps. Ended up hooked and didn't want to put it down. On to the next one in the series!
this was such a mindf*ck to read! so brilliant and complex and fascinating but not difficult to understand...just wow
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was pretty enjoyable! It starts out with describing the world our main character Catarina lives in. And the challenges she faces daily with the plague that has overtaken the people around her. The sickness was really unique and explained well. Also the idea of technology in everyone’s bodies that you can code to determine what you look like, and even how fast your body heals is so cool.
Catarina’s dad is taken from her to help create a vaccine, and she is left alone to survive.
This story was very entertaining and it caught me off guard a couple times! I definitely didn’t predict what would happen.
I’m curious to see where this goes in the next couple books!
Catarina’s dad is taken from her to help create a vaccine, and she is left alone to survive.
This story was very entertaining and it caught me off guard a couple times! I definitely didn’t predict what would happen.
I’m curious to see where this goes in the next couple books!