Sunday 5 November 2017

Book Review - This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada


If your father was responsible for the apocalypse would you try to set it right? That's the dilemma Catarina faces when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin after a virus wiped out most of humanity, and drove the rest underground, two years ago. But there's more to Cole than meets the eye - genetically enhanced to protect, he arrives to guide Catarina towards the cure they've all been searching for, and she's the key.

The writing for this was wonderfully descriptive, and the overall plot and pacing was good. I never felt bored, or feel the need to skip text to get into the action - the action was pretty much continuous, and I didn't want to stop reading.The world building is also done well, and fully explores the world in which the characters inhabit. However a downside to this was that I wanted to send more time with Catarina on her own in the world, especially when we first meet her. More time spent exploring the horrors that the people left behind must face, and the sacrifices they make, would have helped to better understand the virus itself, and why everyone is so afraid of it. I feel I could have understood the former Neurosurgeon and his family more, and perhaps had more sympathy for them, if I had a better understand of what they'd been through. As it was, I just really wanted Catarina to punish them, and I felt a little let down by her actions.

Aside from this, I liked Catarina as a main character. She's intelligent yet insecure about her abilities, brave yet still reckless and foolhardy. I would have liked to have seen her portrayed in the eyes of the other main characters as someone who can look after themselves though. Too often I've seen these YA protagonists portrayed as fragile young women who need protecting. I want more badass female characters who don't need wrapping up in cotton wool. However, that said I did enjoy her early interactions with Cole, and the playful too-ing and fro-ing of their relationship with some obvious chemistry. This later evolved into something a little forced in my opinion, and it lost the early charm that the author had managed to develop as soon as their feelings progressed.

I would have liked to have seen more interaction with Agnes, her friend first introduced early on. She's quickly dropped as soon as Cole arrives, and barely mentioned again aside from a few offhand comments about her comms link. It felt a bit like she had served her purpose to the early plot, and was quickly left without any further thought until near the end.

However, I did like the moral ambiguity that we see with all the characters throughout the novel, especially with Catarina's father Lachlan. Often the characters are put into morally questionable situations and must decide what course to take. Questions such as: to save millions, is it ok to let a few suffer? What would you do to survive?

The most unique aspect of this book was the inclusion of DNA and technology as the driving factor behind the virus, and humanities growing reliance on it to maintain all aspects of their life. Genetically modified food which tastes like nothing unless an app is downloaded. Apps that allow a person to alter their sight, make them fast, strong. Although sometimes the jargon got in the way of the story at times, I appreciated it for the unique quality it brought to the text.

The ending left me feeling a little bit left down. Not giving anything away, I had very mixed feelings with regards to how the novel developed and I felt I invested a lot of my time in a character that ultimately turned into something else entirely. I thought it was a little bit like taking the easy way out.

That said, this is still a decent science fiction YA novel, and I'd read the sequel.

 - 3.5 stars (rounded up)

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