Saturday 24 August 2013

Altered by Jennifer Rush

Altered (Altered #1)
Author: Jennifer Rush
Pages: 323
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers




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’s 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.


After reading over hundred books, I think I found the one. You don't know how long I've waited to read this. When I first saw the cover on Goodreads, I immediately hopped onto my library's database. Seeing that they didn't have it, I requested it to be ordered. Thankfully, they accepted my request. Two months after waiting for it to be ordered and processed, I finally had the chance to devour it. And let me say, that even though the year isn't finished yet I think I found my top read of this year. 

Our protagonist, Anna was thirteen when discovered she discovered four boys living in their basement. Five years later, she helps her dad take their blood samples and test their skills for certain reasons that her dad kept hidden. With a set of boys, Anna, obviously, has her eye out for one boy. Nick, Cas, Sam and Trev are a complex group of boys. Different personalities and traits, they somehow seem to work well with each other. Cas is the funniest out of the group - always cracking jokes and bringing humor into the group. Their leader, Sam is quiet and always keeps to himself. Trev is what I like to call a down-to-earth kind of guy – kind, easy to talk to. Out of all the boys, I seem to find Nick the most interesting. Even though he's mean and rude, there's that hidden past to him that I'm waiting for the author to reveal. 

I don't have problems with Anna, but I don't see why she's head over heels with Sam. It's not that Sam is a horrible love interest because believe me, he's isn't, it's just that I don't see the chemistry. They do have some swoony moments but that wasn't enough for me. In the second book, Erased, I hope to see more character development. Though I didn't see any chemistry between those two, I did see potential chemistry between Trev and Anna. 

What I liked most about this book was the chase, the locations, the hiding, basically everything. With characters on the run, it makes the book exhilarating, exciting and definitely a page-turner. You're always on the edge of seat, wondering when they'll get caught or what secret is each of them hiding. Trust me when I say that you need to read this. 

Overall, this was a phenomenal debut with a killer plot, devastating secrets and heart-pounding twists; you'll have a hard time putting this one down.

5/5 STARS

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good mystery read! It must be really good since you gave it 5 stars even if you didn't feel the chemistry between Sam and Anna. Hope you enjoy Erased too! :D

    Nina @ The Bookish Confections

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    1. Yeah, even though their relationship wasn't the greatest, I have feeling I might start to like them in Erased. Can't wait for it to come out. I'm kind of tempted to pre-order it. Haha.

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  2. This one sounds interesting! Mysteries, cute boys, secrets and a fast pace! Will look into this book after reading your review. Glad you found "the one" :)

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    1. YES! You need to look into this one. I'm glad I found "the one" too. Though, it may change. Haha.

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