Book Review: Freak of Nature (IFICS #1) by Julia Crane

Summary: 
Donate Body to Science. Check.
When seventeen-year-old Kaitlyn checked the box, she never suspected she’d have her life–and her body–stolen from her. She awakens one day in a secret laboratory to discover that her body is now half-robot and is forced to hide her own secret: that she still has human emotions and a human mind. If the scientists who made her find out, they’ll erase what remains of who she was.

Kaitlyn finds an unlikely ally in Lucas, a handsome, brilliant scientist who can’t get over the guilt he feels knowing she was once a vibrant, beautiful young woman. He never expected a science project to affect him the way she does. As he tries to help her rediscover her past, he finds himself falling for the brave girl struggling to find her place and acceptance between the human and computer worlds.

Release Date: February 2, 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: NetGalley

Review:
Freak of Nature was a neat book that really grew on me as I read it.  I really enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next book in the series!

Julia Crane's writing is very spare and direct.  I think the best word to sum up her writing style would be succinct.  At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about her writing style.  I found myself wishing for a longer story to allow for the love story to be better developed.  But, by the end of the book I had gotten used to the prose and began to appreciate it for its uniqueness and how well suited it was to the plot.

Freak of Nature was extra special to me because the main character shares my daughter's name, with the exact same spelling.  It was sometimes hard to separate the two Kaitlyns while I was reading, although the fact that Julia's Kaitlyn is a cyborg helped matters.  I found myself automatically liking Kaitlyn before I really knew much about her, just because of her name.  

The cyborg premise is nothing new, but I did like the way Kaitlyn becomes a cyborg.  That part of the story was well-developed, and I enjoyed the scientific aspect of her creation.  I also enjoyed Kaitlyn's demonstrations of strength and agility.  There's nothing more appealing than a strong female lead character.

The book didn't go in the direction I expected it to, and I liked that.  I expected the characters to act a certain way and when they didn't, I was really surprised (which I liked).  I was happy with the way Crane wrapped up the story: plenty of closure but the ending left me looking forward to book two.  

I really enjoyed Freak of Nature and I'm looking forward to reading more from Julia Crane!




1 comment:

  1. I have placed this book in my TBR list! I can't wait to read this. :D

    ReplyDelete

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