- The cover, and the fact that I’m totally into dystopian literature right now.
I also recommend:
- For the Win by Cory Doctorow
- Ship Breaker by Paulo Bacigalupi
Summary from GoodReads:
Best friends Kayla and Mishalla know they will be separated when the time comes for their Assignments. They are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, and in their strict caste system, GENs are at the bottom rung of society. High-status trueborns and working-class lowborns, born naturally of a mother, are free to choose their own lives. But GENs are gestated in a tank, sequestered in slums, and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen.
When Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul Manel, the patriarch of a trueborn family, she finds a host of secrets and surprises—not least of which is her unexpected friendship with Zul’s great-grandson. Meanwhile, the children that Mishalla is Assigned to care for are being stolen in the middle of the night. With the help of an intriguing lowborn boy, Mishalla begins to suspect that something horrible is happening to them.
After weeks of toiling in their Assignments, mystifying circumstances enable Kayla and Mishalla to reunite. Together they hatch a plan with their new friends to save the children who are disappearing. Yet can GENs really trust humans? Both girls must put their lives and hearts at risk to crack open a sinister conspiracy, one that may reveal secrets no one is ready to face.
My Review:
I have to admit to being a little intimidated when it comes to writing this review – because I feel like I cannot do this book justice. I haven’t felt that way since I read The Hunger Games, y’all. Tankborn is just that damn good, but it’s good in a totally different way.
First, let me just say that I’m loving the emergence of ethnicity into the dystopian genre. Kayla is different from other characters I’ve read, but not noticeably different – just its there and you can bask in its total awesomeness. Then there’s the concept – children being created for.. what again? Strange computers resetting minds? Foster families? What is going on?! It was just so much amazing fun that my mind couldn’t grasp it fully and I kept going back to re-read and put the book down in amazement as the story progressed.
Yes, the story is that good.
If you, like me, are picky about which dystopia genre books you want to rave about to other people, if you are tired of the genre being saturated by lackluster books following a clear-cut formula, then pick up Tankborn. This is not one that will disappoint you.
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