Book Review: Altered

Altered by Jennifer Rush

Released: January 1, 2013

Read: August 2016

Publisher: Little Brown Books

Format: Hardcover, 323 pages

Series: Altered #1

Description on Goodreads:

    When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?

    Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who has stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them. 

    Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.

    Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Review:

    Wow. Just wow. The entire time I read Altered, I couldn't help but fall in love with the characters. Can, the outgoing prankster; Trev, the realistic genius; Nick, the bad-tempered badass; Sam, the controlling yet slightly endearing leader; and Anna, the shy yet aggressive tag along. The combination was explosive and extremely interesting. Whenever Nick pissed someone off, Cas or Trev would always be there to calm everyone down. Oddly, Cas was the only one Nick put up with, even though they are polar opposites. Nick and Sam seemed the most complex of the characters for obvious reasons. Nick, with his glares and snide remarks, made me believe he was hiding his insecurities and issues behind his aggravating disguise, and Sam never talked about himself. He didn't want to say too much about what he remembered, which gave off a mysterious feel about him. Clearly Anna was lured by this but I missed out on the charm. 

    Anna herself I didn't particularly like. She was needy and clingy, and had to have everyone make sure she was okay 24/7. I mean, I get it. The boys were altered so there was no way she could be as awesome, intelligent or fit as them. But she could've made things less difficult for them.

    The story itself made me think. Not because I was trying to figure out what was going to happen next, but because I didn't understand what was happening presently. How did one event lead to the next? How did they know to do what they were doing? It was just a bit too confusing for me, and I wish it was more clearly written. 

Favourite Quotes:

• "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." -Mark Twain
• I poked him in the knee. "What would we do without you?" "Die of boredom." "Or prosper in the silence."
• "You and I are the sum of a void left by the absence of someone we love." 

Rating: 7.5/10

Recommended if you like: science experiments involving people, warfare, genetically modified human beings, fantasy, government-induced problems, adventure, action

Keep flipping pages,

Lauren