Author: Sophie Jordan
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Source: HarperCollins via Edelweiss
Goodreads rating: 3.93 out of 5.00 (360+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Reading Room
The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.Review by Nara
When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.
Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.
The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.
On the whole, I feel like Uninvited was a bit cliched. It certainly didn't contain any fresh ideas apart from the premise (which I personally didn't think was actually that new- anyone seen the anime Psycho-Pass?) and the whole plotline seemed to follow a fairly predictable path. That being said, I did enjoy the book. The romance was fairly good, the characters interesting and the writing was of high quality.
I think Uninvited reminded me a lot of The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. The romance was completely different, and the basic premise was obviously different, but in terms of pacing and plot- the similarities were there. Being taken to lock-down facilities, having to break out of that facility, rebellion etc etc. Has anyone read both of them? Anyone agree?
The genetics terminology used in the book was very iffy. Honestly, if you're going to use a term like "carrier" you should at least look up what it means so that science nerds aren't attacking you. Every time I read "[person] is a carrier of the gene" when that person was actually someone who was affected, I was like *giant squid of anger*.
You know what I hate? When a love interest does the whole "you must stay away from me for your own good. I'm too dangerous blah blah blah". FREAKING HELL. It's so stupid and so pointless and so effing frustrating. SERIOUSLY. STAHP IT. Every freaking time Sean was all "I'm not good for you" I was like KJALHSKJFDLWQKJL RAGE. I guess I did enjoy the romance to a certain extent, but this sort of cliche stopped me from really being able to wholeheartedly ship Davy and Sean.
I think overall, I'd say that if you've read a lot of similar books, this one really isn't anything new. It's one of those classic rebellion against the authorities type dystopians. However, it is still enjoyable, and if you like dystopians, this isn't a bad one to go for.
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
I really need to go create an account in Edelweiss soon.All those ARCs are really tempting:)
ReplyDeleteAnyway,I've wanted to read this book since I came across it in GR last year.I just finished reading Sophie Jordan's Firelight,and I loved her writing,so I am eager for this one,I guess.
I hate when the hero goes through the stay-away-from-me routine too.It's frustrating.
haha I probably wouldn't have created an account, except that Harper only does their ARCs through Edelweiss. And since I got whitelisted, I'm just like *downloads everything that looks interesting* #zeroselfrestraint
Deletelol I actually really disliked Firelight, but this one's quite different. I'd say the writing style is pretty different too (then again, I read Firelight quite a while ago, and can't remember it 100%)
Uninvited seems to have an interesting storyline although reading your review I'm not sure if it's well executed.
ReplyDeleteAh and the "you must stay away from me for your own good." thing! *shakes head* They need to stop doing that, that line's getting a lil old now.
Yeah, it's not the best. It's an enjoyable read overall, but not the bang I expected (I saw a few people on GR being all IT'S AMAZINGG!! but I didn't feel the same).
DeleteI know! I can't believe authors are still using that damned cliche...
It's nice to see your opinion on this since I really liked this one myself! I thought it was pretty original tbh, but I haven't read the Darkest Minds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the romance! I liked Sean, but I'm getting so tired of the Twilight-esque "I'm dangerous, stay away." Especially if the person in question never does anything dangerous...
The premise is pretty different, it was just something about the action side of things that was a bit similar I guess? lol
DeleteI know! I mean, all Sean had really done is protect Davy at that point, so saying that was like "I'M YOUR PROTECTOR. FEAR ME" and it's like, well, no.
I'm not that much into science so I probably won't feel the same way you do about the facts in the book. And I don't feel so strongly about disliking the "I'm not good for you" line if used within reason. But I haven't read the book so I'm not sure if it's good or bad yet. I definitely would want to try this one out though.
ReplyDeleteUgh, but the problem was it seriously wasn't within reason! -_-
DeleteIt's not a bad book, overall. Slight cliches and predictability, but still worth a read :)
Hi Nara, happy new year! Glad to hear you enjoyed it although it sounded like you were frustrated with a lot of it. I need to read The Darkest Mins too! Can't wait to pick this one up, but I'll keep some things in mind.
ReplyDeleteJeann @ Happy Indulgence
maybe you'll enjoy it a lot more than I did since you've been warned of the predictability and things haha. Also, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THE DARKEST MINDS. It's really really good!
DeleteHappy New Year to you too! :D
You and I agree on this one. The book had a lot of aspects that made me grind my teeth, and yet, I still enjoyed it on another level :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics
True! I think it was enjoyable overall, but definitely a few flaws :)
DeleteI haven't read The Darkest Minds yet, but this worries me. I'm planning on reading both Uninvited and The Darkest Minds, so it won't be good if they're similar. ):
ReplyDeleteAnd UGH, I hate those kind of romances! Like you, I just want to yell STOP IT AND KISS ALREADY. WE ALL KNOW YOU WILL. -sighs- Thanks for the heads up on that annoying part Nara!
I KNOW RIGHT OMG IT'S SO FRUSTRATING AND ANNOYING. You know he's going to give in eventually haha.
DeleteThe Darkest Minds is really really good! I'd recommend that book over this one if you have to choose just one :P