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A review by crikeycrawfish
This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada
5.0
Loved loved loved. My heart says 5 stars 100% but my head says that with the issues it's maybe a 4.5 possibly a 4. But I'm going to keep my rating at a 5 because the ending had me pretty shook and I'll just list the issues it had.
Have you ever bought a book knowing what it was about and then it sat on your shelf so long that by the time you decided to pick it up you had completely mis-remembered the premise? Yea that was me with this book and it actually worked out very well because it was like a pleasant surprise to find out that this book was post-apocalyptic aka one of my favorite kind of stories to read about. I think the only thing I initially remembered about the book was that it involved hackers and I never would have connected the two but it WORKED.
HYDRA, the disease that has essentially ruined the world, was interesting and original and I loved the more we learned about. Like come on, a disease that makes you literally explode?? and then anyone who breathes in your gross exploded bits becomes infected too??? Being a biology nerd, hearing how this virus worked, it was a beautiful thing to enjoy and seemed like it could be a real disease (as horrifying as that would be).
Another interesting aspect with the disease was the WRATH it incited and the way to get immunity. It made it similar to zombies without being outright so which I think really worked and once again made it all the more terrifying, knowing there's nothing you can do to stop yourself from slipping into madness. Fantastic.
Character wise, I loved them. They were amazing although a few little things bothered me (but didn't really take away too much from the story for me)
Catarina: Hardcore, intelligent, bad ass. I'd want you on my side fighting any day of the week. She's compassionate and determined and not afraid to do what's right. Which is kinda where my issue came in. She was almost a little TOO altruistic. A little too willing to self sacrifice in moments. She was edging on being a little Mary Sue so just be prepared for that when you go into this, but once again it wasn't so much like that that I couldn't enjoy it.
Cole: My sweet baby artist I love you and your sensitive soul. Sometimes you too could be a little much and I couldn't tell what was actually your decisions and feelings and what was in your programming...
Dax: I have a sneaking suspicion about something I believe I'll find out in the next book... So I won't say more on that.
Leoben: You are fantastic and I hope to get so much more of you in the next book.
Lachlan: .... bruh.
The action sequences I thought were great and the tech/hacker lingo didn't get to be too much that I couldn't follow it. I actually loved all the advancements you could find and how well explained the gene modification was and it's limitations. The fact that there were limits at all made it more real and more of like a realistic future that could happen with the way technology is growing now.
And now for the issues I had:
- Insta-love: So this wasn't SUPER a thing but it kind of was. And I HATE instalove but honestly wasn't too bothered by it but I did want to make it known that it was present here. Also a love triangle-esq thing? Kind of? Not really? Don't really know how to explain all that.
- I kinda already mentioned this above but Cat's near Mary Sue type character. Most of the time I was too into the story to care but sometimes I'd tilt my head and go "really? that's what we're gonna do. Okie"
- the last one I can’t talk about bc of spoilers but it’s near the end
Those were my biggest issues but once again, I enjoyed the story enough that I could live with those issues.
But Y'ALL! THAT ENDING. Amazing. I don't know how I didn't see it coming. I feel bamboozled in the best way. Honestly the ending twist was so great that's probably why my rating for this book is so high so take that as you will.
So I do suggest to readers who enjoy a little bit of science, or post-apocalyptic books, and a good fair amount of violence because it all happens and it's great so read it.
Have you ever bought a book knowing what it was about and then it sat on your shelf so long that by the time you decided to pick it up you had completely mis-remembered the premise? Yea that was me with this book and it actually worked out very well because it was like a pleasant surprise to find out that this book was post-apocalyptic aka one of my favorite kind of stories to read about. I think the only thing I initially remembered about the book was that it involved hackers and I never would have connected the two but it WORKED.
HYDRA, the disease that has essentially ruined the world, was interesting and original and I loved the more we learned about. Like come on, a disease that makes you literally explode?? and then anyone who breathes in your gross exploded bits becomes infected too??? Being a biology nerd, hearing how this virus worked, it was a beautiful thing to enjoy and seemed like it could be a real disease (as horrifying as that would be).
Another interesting aspect with the disease was the WRATH it incited and the way to get immunity. It made it similar to zombies without being outright so which I think really worked and once again made it all the more terrifying, knowing there's nothing you can do to stop yourself from slipping into madness. Fantastic.
Character wise, I loved them. They were amazing although a few little things bothered me (but didn't really take away too much from the story for me)
Catarina: Hardcore, intelligent, bad ass. I'd want you on my side fighting any day of the week. She's compassionate and determined and not afraid to do what's right. Which is kinda where my issue came in. She was almost a little TOO altruistic. A little too willing to self sacrifice in moments. She was edging on being a little Mary Sue so just be prepared for that when you go into this, but once again it wasn't so much like that that I couldn't enjoy it.
Cole: My sweet baby artist I love you and your sensitive soul. Sometimes you too could be a little much and I couldn't tell what was actually your decisions and feelings and what was in your programming...
Dax: I have a sneaking suspicion about something I believe I'll find out in the next book... So I won't say more on that.
Leoben: You are fantastic and I hope to get so much more of you in the next book.
Lachlan: .... bruh.
The action sequences I thought were great and the tech/hacker lingo didn't get to be too much that I couldn't follow it. I actually loved all the advancements you could find and how well explained the gene modification was and it's limitations. The fact that there were limits at all made it more real and more of like a realistic future that could happen with the way technology is growing now.
And now for the issues I had:
- Insta-love: So this wasn't SUPER a thing but it kind of was. And I HATE instalove but honestly wasn't too bothered by it but I did want to make it known that it was present here. Also a love triangle-esq thing? Kind of? Not really? Don't really know how to explain all that.
- I kinda already mentioned this above but Cat's near Mary Sue type character. Most of the time I was too into the story to care but sometimes I'd tilt my head and go "really? that's what we're gonna do. Okie"
- the last one I can’t talk about bc of spoilers but it’s near the end
Those were my biggest issues but once again, I enjoyed the story enough that I could live with those issues.
But Y'ALL! THAT ENDING. Amazing. I don't know how I didn't see it coming. I feel bamboozled in the best way. Honestly the ending twist was so great that's probably why my rating for this book is so high so take that as you will.
So I do suggest to readers who enjoy a little bit of science, or post-apocalyptic books, and a good fair amount of violence because it all happens and it's great so read it.