Adaptation

I feel about this like how I felt about [b:Ash 6472451 Ash Malinda Lo https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1286563960s/6472451.jpg 6550542], which is like... I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I'm stoked that there's a bi love triangle and diverse characters in a sci-fi conspiracy thriller! But also... eh? I'll definitely rec this to teens–perhaps those who aren't so jaded will find this less predictable/annoying. And of course lots of teens will be happy to see characters like themselves reflected in the pages.

This book opened up with birds going crazy and plunging into the ground (to their deaths) or flying en masse into airplanes causing crashes all over the world.

My first thought was what is happening here?

As I continued reading, I grew more and more fascinated - and more and more confused.

Mysteries, secrets, and conspiracies oh my!

This is one book where I couldn't possibly have predicted what was really going on.

That makes me adore Malinda Lo.

Reese is my favorite kind of main character. As her life is imploding and the world around her seems to be going crazy, she doesn't keep everything to herself (even though the government required her to sign an NDA after her accident). She finds ways to talk to her mom (yes - her mother). She decides - with David - that it's okay to bring her best friend Julian into the loop. She doesn't just suffer in silence and try to fix the world herself. I get so angry with characters who do that!

Her mom is actually involved in her life. That never happens in YA! A large chunk of the book is dedicated to Reese discovering that she likes girls (too). Her mom catches her kissing a girl, and there's no drama whatsoever surrounding the scene. LOVE.

I do think the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly (in what world would the government release Reese and David simply because of media pressure?) but I'm excited to see what happens next. This story is far from over.

I really enjoyed this book a lot, and in the very beginning, I found myself going to Google Maps to see their driving route between Las Vegas and the site of the accident. I learned that Ash Springs is as described: a trailer park and a Shell gas station, with nothing around for many miles. The Extraterrestrial Highway likewise is long stretches of desert without any buildings or people.

I decided to look up what kind of experiences people have while in induced comas, and many report having brief flashes of awareness of what's going on around them, but it has a dreamlike quality where they're confused and the brain tries its hardest to string together a coherent narrative. I am not bothered by the author's choice to have Reese come back to consciousness seemingly instantaneously, but I was bothered by the premise that there was no way for the Area 51 medical teams to transport Reese and David to a hospital closer to their homes–it is not revealed until the end that they would have died if not given the nonconsenting alien DNA treatment. I also would have liked being informed earlier in the book that Reese's ruptured spleen was repaired and not removed as I'd assumed–I think removal is the typical treatment, because you can survive without a spleen–I thought to myself as she signed the NDA, “If she doesn't have a spleen, her doctors need to know!”

I read this book soon after finishing the nonfiction book Republic of Lies, about the rise of various conspiracists' ideas in recent history in the U.S., so I was pleased that Reese's best friend Julian didn't think the moon landing was faked.

I found the characters really engaging and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.