Uninvited - Review

Uninvited (Uninvited, # 1)

By: Sophie Jordan

Published: January 28th 2014 by HarperTeen

384 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!!)

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Goodreads description--The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.

I really got hooked into Sophie Jordan’s writing style with her Firelight series. So that had me extremely interested in checking out this book. The description of “The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report” had me intrigued. I’ve said this a dozen times, but I always feel like I need to say it again whenever the description spells out too much. I read the description of books when I add them to my TBR list or when I decide to pick them up/check them out. However, a varying amount of time goes by between when I read the description and when I pick up any particular book. That being said, this is another book where the description spells out some things for sure that I predicted while reading and I would have known them to be fact had I re-read the description before actually picking it up. But, this is the way that I like it. I don’t enjoy knowing too much information before starting a book.

The description above does state that Davy’s boyfriend Zac ditches her. And well I’ve kind of come to expect that from any book where the main character has an existing relationship at the start of the book. Truthfully, I think I’ve only read a handful of books that start like this, but still. Whenever I don’t have the opportunity to witness the buildup and establishment of a romantic relationship in a book, I’m not as emotionally attached to that relationship. And that’s essentially the case here.

It took me a good 20-30% of Uninvited to feel invested in what was going on. I’m not quite sure if that’s the books fault or because I’ve been trying to take things easier the last couple of weeks. Either way, I can see some readers abandoning this one before they have an opportunity to get hooked. Regardless, I did end up getting hooked, and read the majority of the book in one day.

Davy is a character designed to stir up sympathy within your heart. She’s got a bright future ahead of her. Her parents live in the good neighborhood. She goes to a private school. She’s musically gifted in just about every area possible. She’s already been accepted to Julliard. She’s dating the guy that every other female wants. She’s the good child between her and her brother. But then she finds out the results of her DNA test. She’s positive for the “kill gene.” And despite what the past 17 years of her life shows, everyone around her is now wary of her. They’re afraid that she’ll flip at any moment.

I liked the concept of how even though your actions should be the determining factor when it comes to your character—who you are—people labeled you what they project onto you. It happens all the time. And sometimes there’s just nothing we can do to change the minds of others. I also liked showing how drastically people will respond out of fear. While some of Uninvited is probably extreme to the point of unrealistic, people are definitely afraid of what they can’t see and understand. And fear motivates people to behave inhumanely all the time. And normally, I really don’t like books that have some sort of political undertone or message, I did enjoy the show of how ridiculous the government can be.

Uninvited has wide variety of male depictions in comparison to female ones. We’ve got Davy’s brother, Mitchell, who is a perpetual screw up. Everyone probably should have been more wary of him based off his actions than Davy. But I love the relationship he has with her. Mitchell isn’t perfect, but he’s got Davy’s back despite the recently revelation of her “kill gene.” Davy’s dad is furious at the news of his daughter’s DNA and the treatment of her by those around her. Yet his own behavior is confusing. Zac is Davy’s boyfriend at the start of the book. We all know that he abandons her, but all of that doesn’t go down as quickly as one might expect. He does some really crappy things, but at the same time, you can tell that he still cares for Davy even though he allows himself to be influenced by those around him. We’ve got the perverted teacher who takes advantage of his position as well as the fact that his word is better than that of someone with the “kill gene.” There are no shortage of sociopaths either.

Overall Uninvited turned out to be an average book for me. I enjoyed reading it once I got hooked, but now that a couple of days have passed since I finished it, well I’m just not that stoked about it. Honestly, I was debating on not continuing with the series until I saw that this is only planned to be a two book series. I think I can handle one more. Uninvited gets 3 stars for me. Have you read Uninvited? What did you think? Let me know!