The Fearless. An army, powered by an incredible new serum that makes each soldier stronger, sharper, faster than their enemies. Intended as a force for good, the serum has a terrible side-effect - anyone who takes it is stripped of all humanity, empathy, love. And as the Fearless sweep through the country, forcing the serum on anyone in their path, society becomes a living nightmare.
Cass remembers the night they passed through her village. Her father was Altered. Her mother died soon after. All Cass has left is her little brother - and when Jori is snatched by the Fearless and taken to their hellish lair, Cass must risk everything to get him back.
Review:
Is it a Dystopian? Is it a Post-Apocalyptic? Is it a Zombie novel?
Answer: yes!
Whatever you do, don't dismiss FEARLESS as "just another YA dystopian" to be added to the ginormous pile currently littering the shelves, thanks largely to people like Veronica Roth and Suzanne Collins, with their massive successes and movie deals. Because although they are abundantly plentiful right now, many of them are only "okay", and some not even that. But I feel there are a few things that separate FEARLESS from the rest of the mush, and I'ma tell you what they are!
Thing one - it's set in the UK! Wahoo!
Call me biased about my own fair isle if you want, but I found it very refreshing and a real pleasure to be able to more easily imagine the basic scenery. But, that might not be a big selling point for most people reading this review, so for you guys I'll say it will be a chance for you to strengthen those imagination molecules a bit! Air them out, take them for a walk around the block and come and visit my side of the pond for a change! :)
Thing two - it's unpredictable and daring.
I was having wee flashbacks during parts of FEARLESS to a certain fantastic debut by another author you should know - Miss Susan Ee. Emma Pass, it seems, has a similar level of fearlessness (shnarf) when it comes to violence, gore and torturing her characters to within an inch of their sanity! Yay! I love a brave author. I love being shocked witless, and I love it when the stakes are so high I can't relax for a single second into thinking I can predict how the rest of the story will play out, because no one is safe under her pen. Don't you love it? Yah, me too!
Thing three - Cass!
As a main character, Cass was pretty fantastic. She is single-minded and steadfast throughout in her mission to retrieve her brother, and nothing - not growing romantic feelings or any other kind of testing loyalties - will stand in the way of her achieving that end. He is all that matters to her, the only family she has left, and I admired the heck out of her for that tenacity. Jori should count himself extremely lucky to have a big sis' like her!
Thing four - Myo!
Possibly my favourite thing about this book was the characterisation for Myo. He's a character that's introduced early on under a shroud of mystery, and getting to know him, particularly how different his life has been from Cass's on the island, and how he learned to cope, was completely compelling. As a potential love interest character, he is about as far from the stereotype for a YA "hero" as you can get. There is no alphanesss here, and he doesn't rely on a flawless hot bod to draw readers in, but that doesn't mean his character lacks strength. Or not to me, anyway. Strength can look different to different people, I suppose, but a survivor is a survivor no matter which way you cut it, and that sums up Myo's character perfectly. I loved him!
I haven't talked synopsis much - or, you know, at all - and it would be hard to do so without spoilers anyway, but I don't think I need to. The blurb tells you all you need to know about the scientifically screwed-over soldiers called the Fearless to get you started, and the rest I think you should experience for yourself.
A highly recommended 4 Stars! ★★★★
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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