The Blemished

Title ~ The Blemished

Series ~ Blemished, #1

Author ~ Sarah Dalton

Publisher ~ Sarah Dalton

Published ~ 10 August 2012

Genre ~ YA/Dystopian

Book source ~ Won in LibraryThing giveaway.

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

Mina Hart and others like her are Blemished. The Genetic Enhancement Ministry has taken over Britain except for small pockets of resistance. Mina lost her mom to the Resistance, fighting against the life where GEM creates perfect clones and the Blemished are treated like cattle with imperfect genes. Or slaves to do the crappy jobs the GEMs don’t want to soil their lily-white hands doing. However, among the Blemished Mina is different. She can make objects move with her mind and that’s a secret she has to keep or risk losing her life. When she and her dad move to Area 14 she meets new friends, but she also gets into a lot of trouble until she and her friends have to run for their lives. Will they get away? Or will they be captured by GEM?

This was a unique take on the classic dystopian. I have to say I can’t recall reading a story quite like this one. The world is interesting, the characters fairly well-developed and the plot moves along quickly. It is a bit rough in spots, but overall the story advances quite well. There are still many questions that need answered and I have a hard time believing Mina’s dad just up and left her, but for the most part I’m along for the ride. I look forward to seeing what happens in book 2.

All-in-all a great YA, dystopian, fantasy, action book with a sprinkling of romance that makes for interesting reading.