Never Too Many To Read : Blog Tour: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada...Review, Favorite Quotes, & Giveaway!

So excited because today is my stop on This Mortal Coil Blog Tour!

Keep reading to learn more about this fascinating SciFi story that I loved, to check out my review, and to see a few of my favorite quotes!
Plus, you can enter to win your own copy!

This Mortal Coil

by Emily Suvada

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: November 7th 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

In this gripping debut novel, seventeen-year-old Cat must use her gene-hacking skills to decode her late father’s message concealing a vaccine to a horrifying plague.

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.

To be completely honest, I’m not quite sure how to describe what I just read, but I do know I enjoyed every bit of it. This Mortal Coil is unlike anything I've read and completely fascinated me from start to finish..I just couldn't put it down. This is a complex story that is going to be a hard one to review without spoilers, but I shall do my best.

In a world where everyone and everything can be (and is) genetically modified through technology, hacker Catarina Agata and millions of others are struggling to survive Hydra, a deadly virus that is sweeping the world. Catarina’s world is turned upside-down when her father, a world-renowned geneticist, is kidnapped by Cartaxus, an organization that wants him to find a cure for the deadly virus.

After two years of struggling to survive on her own while hiding from the organization that took her father, once again Catarina's world is shaken when a Cartaxus soldier appears supposedly with a message from her father. Suddenly Catarina’s thrown into the thick of things as her hacking skills and more are needed to unlock the cure to the deadly virus. The problem is the more she learns, the more questions she has. Now Catarina isn't sure who to trust and is more confused than ever.

As Catarina works to complete her father’s mission, she uncovers things that confuse her and make her realize that things might not be what she has been led to believe. Sheltered much of her life, she has been raised to believe one thing about herself, her father, and his past, and only has her father’s version of events to go by, who obviously is probably a bit biased. Plus her own views on Cartaxus and their work is colored by her experiences and what others have taught her.

As the story progresses and new information is revealed, suddenly Catarina is not quite sure what to believe or who to trust and it’s very difficult for her. It was interesting to see what she discovers and her reactions to everything she discovers. She is definitely an intriguing character...independent, intelligent, and greatly affected by her past and the world around her. Yet, despite her tough and fierce exterior, she still has managed to maintain a grasp on humanity and all of the emotions that come with it. With only her point of view in the story, we are as unsure as she is about what might truly be going on and each new discovery gives not only Catarina a glimpse at the truth and answers to what is happening, but readers as well. This makes for a very exciting read and adventure.

And This Mortal Coil is definitely exciting…from the very first page until the last, the excitement and thrill of the story never really slows. Each new discovery or revelation brings new challenges and more characters are introduced making for a complex yet cohesive story and world that keeps you guessing as to what might happen next.

With This Mortal Coil, Emily Suvada has not only created a fascinating world that could plausibly become the future as technology becomes more and more advanced and a part of life and as new scientific discoveries are made, but she has also managed to show the dangers that come with such advances and gives a glimpse of the negative effects it could have on humanity. She does this not only with the main plot of the story, but with little details such as DRM food or weaponized nanites.

To be honest with you, This Mortal Coil is filled with quite a bit of scientific and technological terms and concepts that some may find to be too much, but I found it all to be fascinating and was mesmerized by the author’s vision of modified genetics and technology. Just don't ask me to explain how any of it works…my geekery only goes so far. But all of Suvada’s ideas manage to come together to create a story that I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Her imagination and knowledge is a little bit terrifying and a lot brilliant.

With all of the technology and science mumbo jumbo there is still, at the core of this story, emotion, heart, and a connection between characters that goes beyond all of that. Suvada managed to portray the intricacies of human emotions such as kindness, compassion, and love as well as pain, regret, and sadness through her all of characters. Despite all of their technological advances and genetic modifications, they are still human. I couldn't help but become connected to the characters and invested in their story...I felt their heartache, disappointment, joy, fear, and excitement.

And the apocalyptic world Suvada describes is like something straight out of a sci-fi/horror movie. From the virus and how it affects people to what people can do for temporary immunity, it was all so gruesome and dramatic, I could feel the desperation that motivated the characters to find a cure. And it's such an intense story with something happening every minute and so many surprises. You never know what to expect nor do the characters.

This Mortal Coil is a riveting story that I'm not likely to forget any time soon and definitely one I'd recommend to sci-fi fans.

*I received a free digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

It was so hard to find quotes that wouldn't spoil the story as each page seemed to reveal something new and relevant to the plot, but I tried my best and here are a few quotes that really stood out to me…