Immutable (Ripple #5) by Cidney Swanson

Published:  July 22nd, 2014

Immutable (Ripple #5)

By: Cidney Swanson

Williams Press

ASIN:  B00M1ZMJJM

Purchase Links:  Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Kobo // 

Seventeen year old Martina, raised as part of Helmann's elite Angel Corps, wants nothing more than to rebuild the life she lost because of Helmann's lies.  In a single afternoon, she discovers the truth about the woman who raised her and the boyfriend she thought she'd never see again.  Meanwhile, her Uncle Fritz Gottlieb has his eye on the Angel Corps, and he has no qualms sacrificing Martina's dreams to make his own come true.

Review

     Immutable is one of those books that gets you involved and smashes you to pieces in the process.  After reading the other books in the Ripple series (Rippler, Chameleon, Unfurl, & Visible).  But there is still a side of the story that hasn't been told - that of the children that Helmann engineered for his nefarious purposes.  We do get to see how Sam, Will, Gwyn, Sir Walter, Chretien and the others are doing in brief scenes, along with glimpses at the evil of Fritz from inside his own mind.  But the majority of this book is about Martina, one of Helmann's daughters, and an ex-member of his "Angel Corps."  When we first meet Martina, she's living in France, in the city of Nice, feeling absolutely alone and forgotten.  Two of her brothers have chosen to take a drug called Immutin from Dr. Pfeffer, who has been monitoring all of them.  It will take away their ability to Ripple permanently and they can live a normal life.  Martina herself is taking a supressant to curtail her abilties, while working in a clinic to help others.  Her other two brothers, Hansel and Georg, have refused to take the supressant and have taken off with their evil half-brother Fritz.  Martina thinks she is doing some good, using her abilties to steal from the corrupt and help her poor, underpriveleged patients in the small time frame between injections when her medicine wears off.
     But Martina is so low and depressed, all she wants is to see her beloved adoptive mother, Mutti.  When Pfeffer puts her on a plane to the Caribbean, Martina thinks that she'll be happy again soon.  But upon arriving there she discovers secrets that have been kept from her, and learns of a recent tragedy.  This sends events spiralling out of control, until a life or death situation results.  Martina is forced to seek out Pfeffer in Las Abuelitas, California.  She's thrown into the paths of Sam, Will and their friends and family, while trying to find a way to save her own loved ones.  Can they all find a way to stop Fritz from gaining information that could destroy all their lives?  Or will Martina be forced to make an impossible choice between her beliefs of what's right, and saving her loved ones?  I absolutely loved getting into Martina's head and watching her form opinions of the world around her, without Helmann's twisted philosophies to guide her.  She's very smart, but emotionally damaged and trying to cling onto the remnants of a life she doesn't have anymore.  There was some great action in this book, but I felt like it was building more towards another one than giving a resolution.  The whole thing with Fritz and the Immutin makes sense, but I did feel like it was on the backburner for a good majority of the book.  I really enjoyed seeing old friends again and making new ones.  Another favorite book from Cidney Swanson, in one of my favorite series! :D

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author herself.  No money was exchanged for this review.*

You Don't Even Know Me At All

Published:  January 14th, 2014

Vitro

By: Jessica Khoury

Razorbill

ISBN-13:  9781595146059

On Skin Island, even the laws of creation can be broken.

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life.  These beings -- the Vitros -- have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of.  But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago.  With the help of Jim Julien, a young charter pilot, she arrives -- and discovers a terrifying secret she never imagined: she has a Vitro twin, Lux, who is the culmination of Corpus' dangerous research.

Now Sophie is torn between reuniting with the mother who betrayed her and protecting the genetically enhanced twin she never knew existed.  But untangling the twisted strands of these relationships will have to wait, for Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

Review

     I am a huge fan of Jessica Khoury's debut novel, Origin.  I enjoyed reading a science fiction book focusing on the dangers of experimentation, that was just the right balance of science, action and romance.  So of course I was absolutely DYING to read Vitro as soon as I knew it existed!  I figured that, knowing it was in the same universe as Origin, it would pretty damn awesome and strike a good balance once more.  That said I did enjoy all of the beautiful descriptions and the dual POV was far more well done than a lot of authors manage.  But for me this book had the same issue that another author's (Cat Patrick) did post debut.  It had the Goldilocks Syndrome.  This is something made up by me, to describe a phenomenon of a perfectly balanced debut, followed by truly good books that are just not quite right.  Too hot, too cold, etc.  For me the biggest problem with Vitro was the character development - or lack thereof.  The plot is great stuff for a science fiction YA - what are at first belived to be clones, altered on a fundamental level by scientific experimentation.  It turns out that they are unused, previously frozen embryos that were previously normal human beings.  But the scientists working for Corpus have altered them into something resembling slaves by implanting a microchip in their brains during development.  The chip causes imprinting to occur - the person (known as a Vitro) will automatically live for the first person they see upon waking for the first time.  They will protect them, love them, and even die for them if necessary.

     The three main characters in this book are normal girl Sophie Crue, whose mother is a scientist on the Vitro project, her childhood friend (and pilot) Jim Julien and Sophie's twin sister, a Vitro named Lux.  Sophie has gone to Skin Island to find her Mom, who she believes is in trouble after a cryptic and worrying email that seems to be from her.  Trying to find a way to the island, Sophie runs across her old friend Jim Julien from when she lived on Guam as a child.  Now he has a pilot's license - and just as much of a sense of adventure as he did when they were kids.  But going to Skin Island is even more dangerous than Sophie and Jim ever imagined.  When the two get separated, Sophie is mistaken for Lux and shown off to a potential buyer by her own Mother - while Jim is going back to the plane with Lux who he's 'rescued' thinking she was Sophie!  With sinister forces working against them, a corporation driven by evil greed and secrets and people who will stop at nothing to kill them all three teens are in for a ride.  But will things end happily ever after for all of them?

     For carrying an entire book, we know almost next to nothing about Sophie or Jim (even by the time the novel ended).  Sure the blanks have been kind of filled in alongside all the "deep dark secrets", but nothing truly personal or insightful into their past experiences and personalities as individuals.  They came across as stereotypes, and cardboard placeholders to move along the action and the plot.  I could have easily replaced Sophie with Lux and as long as neither of them spoke, not noticed a difference.  No one else did either, if the amount of time they traded places undetected is any indication!  Jim was also very dull to me character-wise.  Let's go to an island all the locals avoid like the plague, because I have a crush on a girl I haven't seen in almost a decade and a half.  Really bright idea Jim-bo!  That said, while I didn't get anything heavily emotional from it and the identity of the "real" villain was laughably obvious from less than 100 pages into the book, it was still a fun and easy read.  I enjoyed it for what it was - an action film in book form.  I will definitely read whatever Khoury writes next, because I am a fan of both Origin and Vitro.  And I will be endlessly curious to see if she can reattain the perfection of her first novel once more.  I'd recommend to those looking for a book that will make you ask semi-deep questions, but also give you the opportunity to enjoy Bruce Willis-worthy explosions! :D

VERDICT:  3/5 Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published January 14th, 2014.*

The Ripple Effect

Published: May 26th, 2011

Rippler

By: Cidney Swanson

Williams Press

ISBN-13: 9780983562108

Samantha Ruiz has a freak gene that turns her invisible. She can’t control it, and it’s getting worse. Afraid of becoming a lab-rat, Sam keeps her ability secret, until fellow runner Will Baker sees her vanish into thin air. Will promises secrecy and help, and Sam begins to fall in love.

Together, the two discover there are worse things than being a scientific curiosity. Someone’s been killing people who possess Sam's gene. A mysterious man from France sends letters that offer hope for safety, but also reveal a sinister connection with Nazi experiments.

The more time Sam spends with Will, the less she can imagine life without him. When Sam uncovers secrets from her past, she must choose between keeping Will in her life or keeping Will safe.

Review

   Fifteen year old Sam has always been soothed and comforted by water since her earliest memories.  That turns out not to be such a good thing when she turns invisible on her cross-country team's canoe trip - while she's in the canoe with the other kids.  This starts off an odyssey of learning why she is able to turn invisible and what it means for her future happiness and safety.  The person to take the journey with her is her neighbor Will Baker who happened to see her vanish from the canoe and covered for her with the coach.  Because he knew what her genetic mutation is called and he knew more about it than she ever dreamed possible.  It turns out Will's sister Mickie was studying under a man named Professor Pfeffer, who was an expert on Rippler Syndrome, which is an offshoot of a numbness disease (Helmann's) that Will and Mickie's Dad has.  Then the Professor disappeared without a trace and the people studying Rippler's and even just Helmann's began getting killed off in what looked like accidents, but weren't.  And the only clues they really have are in a journal full of sick experiments in a indecipherable language from World War II.  Will and Sam will need all the help they can get to save one another from the danger their abilities present to their very existences while trying to figure out what really happened in the accident that killed Sam's Mom, life, friendship, and their feelings for one another.  I was truly invested in this book!  Other reviews that I've read have complained that there isn't enough action and the pacing isn't that great.  I had NONE of these problems.  I LOVED the characters, the plot and the cliffhanger at the end!  I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book, Chameleon.  The journal entries add a sadistic twist to everything you've ever heard about Nazi medical experiments and worked it into the plot in a chilling way.  Cidney's writing style read like the characters were everyday people just telling the readers about themselves.  I honestly can say that I really liked it from beginning to end.  This book is highly recommended to fans of X-Men, YA paranormal fiction and fantasy. 

VERDICT: 5/5  Stars

Book #7 of Challenge COMPLETE

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author herself, via LibraryThing.  No money was exchanged for this review. The publication date of this book was May 26th, 2011.*