by R.S.A. Garcia
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
What made me request this book, was the eyes of the cover model. I suppose it is a rather generic sort of cover but it caught my attention. The blurb didn't repel or terribly entice me, but every time I saw that cover on Netgalley I just kept clicking it.
This book opens up with some political information about the Roulon sponsoring Earth into DiploCore so as "...not to become a pawn between more powerful civilizations...".
Next we find a wounded Michael trying to escape through air vents from some undescribed enemy. We then meet Desmond Obuki a businessman and a former soldier. He rescues a woman being beaten to death by an Elutheran, an alien describes as having a muscular proboscis and a short sharp beak. He takes her to Colin, the doctor who fails to save her. When she dies in the medbay a hairless green biped alien (accompanied by another alien, Andraju) raises her from the dead. Andraju is taking care of the biped for a man named Chris, but it freaks him out, so he leaves the little alien with the doctor. So starts a fairly exciting sci-fi novel.
Lex has between brutally beaten, raped, and stabbed. She awakens in the hospital with no memories. She chooses her name as the one thing on her mind, though she doesn't know the meaning.
There's political intrigue, genetic tampering, and betrayal. Heart stopping betrayal. I cried when she realized the betrayal dealt to her, even as she didn't realize the true depths of the betrayal. This is an incredibly intricate story that weaves its way through morality, ethics, forgiveness, and personal growth.
I had a few issues with this story. One is that there were entirely too many different types of aliens and characters introduced. They are all well written, but they are all written as if they should be noted as integral to the plotline, and unless there is a sequel, for some of these characters that doesn't seem to be the case. One of the other things I found so frustrating with this book is the over utilization of italics, it sometimes seemed awkward or misplaced, or inconsistently used. I also found the use of Roman numerals (I think to denote changes in sections) a bit bothersome.
Other than those few things, the story was entirely compelling, I couldn't put it down and when it came to the end, I read and re-read the last chapters wishing it weren't over and trying to eek every last nuance out of it. I'll be sorely disappointed if there's no sequel to this. I have to know where Lex's story goes from here. This book doesn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, the current story is resolved satisfactorily enough, but there's still so much to do and explore.
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