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It’s been nearly a hundred years since the Correction, a reset of humanity’s tenure on Earth. The new utopian society is policed solely by the implementation of the Existential Virus, a sentient awareness added to human DNA that corrects behavior in the Biodome. By infecting perpetrators with various types of viruses (mild illnesses as a warning for minor infractions and deadly disease for serious offenses), the rampant discontent and crime that plagued Earth’s previous societies have virtually disappeared, along with more than twenty percent of the most incorrigible people. Through an equitable distribution of resources, economic stability has been achieved. Citizen needs are met as all choose internships in career fields after high school. Climate change and environmental degradation have been painstakingly stabilized during the Age of Resolve, and life in this sustainable system is much happier for all beings.
When Everett Steele, a recent high school graduate, and her like-minded friend, Jake Domanso, enter their chosen fields in animal rehabilitation programs, they stumble upon a sinister plot to eliminate the EV. At great risk to themselves and their families, they pursue leads and dead ends until they find the source that is causing the EV to fail in ways that range from minor to deadly.
Author Grydsuk veers from typical dystopian fare in this unique debut novel. She strategically builds a believable universe at her story’s outset and continues to fine-tune characterizations, pacing, and plot toward a cliffhanging crescendo. Her highly relatable young heroes match wits with a powerful, manipulative villain who prefers the chaos of free will to the stability of the utopian lifestyle. Fans of young adult dystopian fiction such as The Hunger Games and the Divergent series will undoubtedly look forward to this book’s sequel.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review