ARC Review: Inhuman (Fetch #1) by Kat Falls)

Inhuman

Author: Kat Falls

Series: Fetch

Pages: 384

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic

Amazon pre-order

Release date: 24^th September 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

In a world ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father’s life is forfeit.

America has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.

Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it’s necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane’s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts—he is a Fetch. It’s a dangerous life, but rewarding—until he’s caught.

Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb—and her very DNA—in the Savage Zone. But she’s not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn’t exhibit any signs of “manimal” mutation, he’s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

You can read the first three chapters here

I have been curious about Inhuman by Kat Falls since I first glimpsed the amazing cover, and I'm pleased to say this was a fascinating, compelling read that has left me eager to read the next installment.

Inhuman follows the story of sixteen year-old Delaney ‘Lane’ Park McEvoy who recently found out her father had been travelling to the forbidden feral zone as a ‘fetch’, someone who retrieves valuables from war ravaged areas; a job both dangerous as it is rewarding. Lane has no idea this is what her father does until she is blackmailed into travelling there herself to recover a lost item or her father will be punished.

Delaney was a great character, naïve initially as she has always been protected in her sterile environment but finding out what she was up against didn’t make her squirm or falter, she was gun ho and ready to save her dad which I thought was great and even after a few traumatic experiences she was still determined to succeed, she was kind and compassionate to everyone she came across.

The concept was extremely interesting, the world Kat Falls created showed us what had happened after a biological disaster caused by a high profile company turned millions of people into genetic freaks by spreading a ferae naturea virus which resulted in human/animal hybrids causing in some cases a loss of intelligence and humanity, they are now separated and guarded by a large wall which keeps the infected separated. The plot was fast-paced and flowed well with a number of dramatic scenes showing the element of danger the characters had to face.

Along the way Lane got to meet many intriguing characters, Rafe who was orphaned as a child and knows Lane’s father extremely well lives in the feral zone himself and knows what Lane is up against and is willing to help out of loyalty to her father. Everson is a committed soldier who has also been quite sheltered in his life and is determined to help find a cure, I'm not sure how I feel about him at this stage, he was just ok for me – we also get to meet many manimals, which were quite odd but I was curious about each of them. The villain was twisted and creepy and left me feeling horrified by his actions.

With two smexy male leads we unfortunately also have what seemed to be a love triangle although it wasn’t over the top at all; I was a little bummed about the cliff-hanger ending and who Lane appeared to choose so I’m hoping the sequel gives me the HEA and the answers I am hoping for.

The setting and descriptions are vivid and detailed which drew me into the story; I had a clear image in my mind about what was going on and what the manimals, characters and location were like. The world-building is strong and Kat Falls writing is engaging and crisp and despite it being predictable at times, it was also a mesmerising read.

Overall, Inhuman was an unexpected surprise but you do need to go in with suspension of belief; filled with action, intrigue and fabulous characters I am definitely excited for the sequel.

Thank-you to Scholastic/Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Inhuman.

About the author: Kat Falls lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband, theater director Robert Falls, their three children and a whole slew of pets. She grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an undergrad and went on to receive an MFA in screenwriting from Northwestern University.

Kat came up with the idea for her debut novel, Dark Life (Scholastic Press, May 2010), during a writing exercise. Knowing that her 11-year-old son loved reading about the ocean, Wild West pioneers and, of course, the X-Men, she combined his interests and created a story premise that kept her up nights plotting and world-building.

Today, Dark Life has deals in eighteen international markets and is in development at Disney with the Gotham Group producing. Named an ABC New Voices pick for outstanding debuts of 2010, Dark Life was featured on The Today Show in July 2010 when it was selected by Al Roker for "Al's Book Club for Kids.” Dark Life has been nominated for eight state book awards and in 2011, Kat was awarded a Juvenile Literary Award by The Friends of American Writers'.

The sequel, Rip Tide, was released by Scholastic Press in August, 2011. Each book has been designated as "A Junior Library Guild Selection."

Currently, Kat is working on a YA scifi-adventure trilogy, Inhuman, acquired by Scholastic Press for publication beginning in September 2013.

  

Received as part of Waiting to Catch Fire promotional galley which also has chapters from The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsch and The Bar Code by Suzanne Weyn.