Review : Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Uninvited (Uninvited #1)
Author : Sophie Jordan
Publication Date : January 28th 2013
Publisher : Harper Teen
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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.

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.

Personal Thoughts

Sophie Jordan's Firelight series wasn't one I had much luck with, but I did find myself loving her New Adult romance novel, Foreplay. That along with the fact that Uninvited had a cool concept that sent the scientist in me squealing, were what propelled me to give the book a shot. And I'm so glad I did, because this proved to me such an entertaining read and I personally can't wait to learn more about the world the author has created.

Davy Hamilton has the perfect life. She has decent parents, has a great boyfriend and is a great student at school. But all that changes when she finds out that she is HTS positive ; she has the killing gene. Davy was a character I grew very fond of throughout the book. There was something about her that made it easy being inside her head. I think it's because she had this normalcy to her that actually made it quite effortless to connect with. We watch as she struggles upon finding out about her "condition" and how that affects her. Sophie Jordan shed light to the fears and doubts that ran through Davy's head in a realistic way. I found myself rooting for Davy and wanting her to stop suffering. Over the course of the story, we watch as Davy begins to grow as an individual, accepting her fate and making the wise decision of not allowing her killer gene to define her. I loved that Davy grew from a somewhat sheltered, naive girl into this strong-willed and level-headed young woman. Sean, her love interest, isn't someone we get to know as well as Davy, especially since he had that quiet, mysterious and broody thing going on for him. He did grow on me though, especially towards the end, because he proved what a nice guy he truly was. My favorite secondary characters in Uninvited have to be the other HTS positive kids Davy finds herself among. They bonded over their genetic condition and I loved the friendship Davy developed with some of them.

The plot line was also well-done. Sophie Jordan wrote the book in such a way that you actually get to experience the development of the dystopian world. From the very first page, the writing had that effortless quality to it that made it easy to sink into the story. Uninvited was also the perfect balance between a character-driven story and a plot-driven book, which I think added to my enjoyment of the novel. In addition, the world-building was elaborate. It's a scary world where all these kids with the killer gene are basically caged and expected to stay away from the rest of the world. One of the main themes in this book was discrimination. I loved the fact that Sophie Jordan added this to her book. It paralleled what discrimination can be like in certain parts of the world today. We watch how close friends of Davy shun her, despite having known her for such a long time, as soon as her truth comes out. Uninvited also brought about an interesting concept about genetic information. Can you imagine if the government was privy to your genetic information? I have no doubt that some governments wouldn't hesitate to hold it against their citizens. This is exactly what they do in Uninvited. Along with it's strong world building, Uninvited also has a sweet romance that developed between Davy and Sean as they slowly started to trust each other. I liked that the romance always developed at the sidelines and was never one of the focuses of the book. My only complaint about Uninvited is the ending. I personally felt like the book could have done with a couple of more pages since I felt like the ending scene was rushed. Despite that, I appreciated the lack of a love triangle or a cliffhanger.

Uninvited is, in my opinion, going to be one of my favorite YA dystopian series if Sophie Jordan continues as brilliantly in the next installment. It's exciting, entertaining and a definite page-turner.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the e-ARC of Uninvited.