Claire loves to read!

Published by: CHBB Publishing (19th January 2016)

ISBN: 9781523256303

Source: ARC via author

Rating: 5*

Synopsis:

Don’t stand out. Blend in. Remain invisible. Those are the rules I lived by—the rules I thought would keep me alive. 

I was wrong.

Wynter Reeves is a law-abiding citizen of the State, a willing conformist whose daily life is haunted by terrorism and oppression. With the constant threat of death hanging over her like a shadow, she forces herself to live by a strict set of rules, all in the hope of ensuring she is never noticed. However, on her twenty-first birthday, as she prepares to take the placement exam that will determine her future within society, she begins to show symptoms of a rare and debilitating illness—ultimately attracting the attention of the State. Taken into the custody of the feared research facility known as the DSD, her worst nightmare becomes reality.

Ripped away from the life she knew, Wynter is forced to become the test subject of the mysterious Dr. Richter. Through him, she learns the true and terrifying nature of her condition: a disease called Ultraxenopia.

Review:

I initially read and reviewed Ultraxenopia last year, and it was my best read of the year. It's now been revised, and this is my review of this new, revised publication.

I was immediately struck by the author's fantastically descriptive writing style. There is such meticulous attention to detail that every possible query is accounted for. This debut novel is intelligently written and haunting with a gripping plot. It is just extraordinary. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars!

Wynter is a great character. She's vulnerable yet feisty, determined and resilient. She is likeable and I believe that readers, be they fans of young, or new, adult, or other genres, they will find it very difficult not to feel empathy for Wynter. Dr Richter, on the other hand, is the complete opposite; he's the epitome of the evil villain.

I'd pretty much stopped reading dystopian books because many of them were so alike and I got disheartened, but Ultraxenopia has restored my faith in the genre. It is, hands down, the best dystopian novel I've ever read - better than all the Divergent, Hunger Games and Maze Runner books.

It is difficult to say much else without giving away too much of the plot, but suffice to say, I read it in one sitting as I simply couldn't put it down, I was utterly engrossed and unaware of my surroundings. It felt as though I was experiencing every emotion alongside Wynter, and was as desperate as she to fight for survival. I simply cannot praise it highly enough!