I'm a massive William Gibson fan but it's been a while since I've read a cyberpunk novel... and I don't think I've read one aimed at a YA audience.

This was excellent! Truly excellent. I'm lost for words. Simultaneously twisty and intimate and epic and convincing. It threw up all manner of ethical quandaries. Whilst it flung you straight into the world of genkits and biotech, Suvada didn't leave you bewildered or unable to engage with the plot and characters as some SciFi can.

It took my breath away.

This is quite far from my usual choice of genre, but given the hype I'd seen surrounding it, I was eager to give it a try. I was so happy that I did. It's different, gripping and emotional. I hope there's a sequel, as I devoured this and need more Catarina and Cole!!

This is a young adult fiction that can be enjoyed on many levels and as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed this. This is an outstanding novel that works on many levels and Suvada has taken a real tired formula and has sparked it with new life to give an unique perspective and highly enjoyable read.

Taking a leaf out of the outstanding novels of Mira Grant and adding her own spin to the proceedings, this novel’s science is enthralling and really captures a world that is very possible in the near future. Using a story device of an apocalyptic world, Suvada captures a world where the human race is at peril and only one girl has the decryption key to unlock man’s fate.

The characters are richly drawn and the settings are awe inspiring. The science is written in full detail but never gets in the way of the plot. In fact, she has a talent of providing this intricate detail to drive the story forward. The love story that progresses the novel works well though at times there is a bit of young adult nativity to this which on one level makes sense considering the ages of the characters but works within the confines of the story.

Some of the characters due lend themselves to stereotypes but the author puts her own spin on this to make them interesting. The novel also has an ending that is very thought provoking and satisfying though there are some loose ends to develop this into a series. I would be very interested to see where this goes but if this is a stand alone, it works extremely well.

This is a highly recommended novel and I have placed this up there with some of my favorite young adult fiction which includes the excellent Feed series by Mira Grant and the Unwind series by Neil Schusterman. If this series takes off, we are looking at the start of a wonderful series that should do very well. I’m a complete fan now and can’t wait to read her other works when they are released. Highly recommended.

This is one of the best contemporary sci-fi books I've read in a long time. I know nothing about coding and that only made me more intrigued so please do not think this is a book for tech nerds only! This book gripped me from the first page and I read the entire thing in two days. A sci-fi classic for the contemporary reader!

Cat's father is a famous geneticist who may have found a cure for a deathly global plague. During the outbreak, he is kidnapped by Caraxus who is using his skills for their own benefit. Cat is left on her own until Cole, a Cartaxus soldier tells her she is now an orphan but her dad was able to create a vaccine to kill the plague and that she needs to help Cole find it and save the world. Cat does not know who to trust. Will she do the right thing? Very much under the cyber punk umbrella, Mortal Coil is good from an unusual concept point of view and I rather liked the technology. The love stuff got in the way a bit and watered down Cole's character too much. Otherwise a good read, action and a few twists.

Emily Suvada has written a brilliant dystopian science fiction thriller set in a future where humanity is threatened by a deadly plague that has people exploding into toxic Hydra clouds. Catarina Agatta is a talented hacker, 'bobcat', working with The Skies resistance movement against the monolithic Cartaxus Corporation. She is the daughter of the most able scientist in the country, Dr Lachlan Agatta, working on a solution to the plague. He and his assistant, Dax, were forcibly taken by Cartaxus,, to work for them two years ago. Before he was taken, he drummed it into Catarina that she must never trust or have anything to do with Cartaxus. However, a Cartaxus soldier, Lieutenant Cole Franklin, now seeks her out, under the radar, to inform her of the death of Lachlan, and that he succeeded in developing a vaccine. Cole is implanted with the latest technology, including the vaccine, but the coding is beyond them, the only way they can save the world is by working together and making their way to a Canadian Laboratory.

Suvada creates an intricate and complex post-apocalyptic world where people can be implanted with technology to recode their DNA, to potentially become whatever they want to be. Healing Apps are in everyday use, and the scientific explanations, given in some detail, are clear and easily understandable. Cat is not certain she can trust Cole, but it soon becomes clear that her father has coded him so that he will protect Cat as his most overriding mission. As Cat and Cole endeavour to reach the Canadian Lab, they face betrayal from every corner and nothing is as it seems. Cat is astonished to discover that a Cartaxus bunker is nothing like what she expected it to be. Cat's journey leads her to discover that there is much more to her than she was ever aware of. This leads to momentous world shifts as Cat is forced to rearrange her realities. In the meantime, Cat and Cole's relationship assumes a chemistry and importance that neither see coming.

This is an atmospheric and gripping story that you cannot stop reading until you reach the climactic end. There is clearly more to come in this story as the issues are not resolved. Suvada has taken established science fiction tropes and given them an original spin in this novel. The narrative is imaginative, has considerable depth, and the story is impressively plotted. The characters grab your interest, are well developed, and nuanced. Cat is tough, vulnerable and courageous, willing to put the interests of the world above her own. I have no doubt that this is a book that is going to do well, and quite frankly it deserves to do so. A fantastic and absorbing read that I highly recommend. Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC.

There’s no gene for Run Like Hell…

Or is there?

Stop the presses I’ve found my new YA trilogy obsession with Emily Suvada’s “This Mortal Coil” a fast paced, intricately woven, brilliantly fascinating and best of all intelligent and addictive thriller.

Actually I’m assuming trilogy I guess it may end up being more but this is definitely book one and what a book one it is. For a start we have genuinely likable characters, none of whom are in any way generic, who you almost immediately care about and by the end of the novel you are entirely attached to.

Secondly Ms Suvada manages to avoid almost everything passe and overdone in your classic YA post apocalyptic story and makes the genre seem fresh as the morning sun – her romance threads are realistic, her relationship building is highly natural and the world building is subtle, immersive and well achieved. It’s also bloody clever. Rather than stick with your everyday virus she has created a truly fascinating, scientific geek heaven, honestly believable outbreak and rather than zombies she has….well I’ll let you find out that one for yourself.

The sciency (yes I know that’s not really a word) parts are really really riveting, the tech speak is easy to absorb within the narrative, it defines and drives the characters and sets us up for a lot of high thrills and spills action along the way. This is one of those truly immersive novels where you live in it for the moment, a proper page turner that will appeal to all ages, it is an adventure of the classic kind brought into modern times with socially relevant themes running throughout.

Seriously also it’s like a YA psychological thriller spun into a fantasy – it has often literally breathtaking twists and turns as our anchor to it all Cat starts to discover some horrific truths behind her honest belief system and starts to methodically yet emotionally untangle a web of deceit that shatters the very centre of her being. The ending will have you up out of your chair, a kind of fist pumping but dammit now I have to wait reaction that encompasses all that has gone before it into one big bubble of reading trauma. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Beautifully written, skillfully plotted with that touch of subtle intuitive storytelling that makes a book a word of mouth success, I am rather hopeful that movies and the suchlike will follow. We’ll see. But I get the feeling I just signed on for one HELL of a ride.

Highly Recommended.

An extremely good idea (sort of simplified YA version of Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovac series which is being made into a TV series - finally) where science has enabled himans to code their genes and enhance bodily functions by way of embedded apps. Set in the aftermath of a plague, where the majority of humanity have been driven to live in corporate bunkers for safety, the 17 year old female protagonist Cat (predictably plane, and not code enhanced) has to decipher the code for a vaccine (written by her deceased father) and distribute it to humanity. Its a great premise, and a fun story, but the writing is pretty basic and a bit frustrating - everything is explained so clearly there's very little suspense. But hopefully that will improve as the series progresses. I will revisit for the sequel to give it another go

A pretty good take on the done-to-death apocalypse genre. A virus that kills and spreads in a wonderfully gory manner (isn't the cover of this book lovely? *wink*) and turns some uninfected folk in to what are essentially monsters. The gene technology is fascinating and detailed, and scary as hell.

But...
In my opinion this book is 100 pages too long. Also the teen angst and obligatory love triangle, plus the constant getting injured/almost dying and patching each other up got really tiresome and repetitive for me.

However, despite my moans and groans I did enjoy the underlying story, which is actually quite original for an overdone genre. The tech is really amazing and makes you wonder, and worry, what the future will actually be like as today's science fiction becomes tomorrow's science fact.

Hardcore YA fans will love this book but it might prove to be too gory for younger readers and too angsty for older ones.

Crazy, brilliant, ingenious they are the three words I would use to describe ‘This Mortal Coil’

In a tech controlled world Catarina and her father Lauchlan are genius’. He is known for his brilliance, but in the past has made mistakes, now the virus is coming for all of them and he needs to make a vaccine. Cartaxus – the company that controls the apps that are available to change your world for the better, from making food taste better, to helping you heal.

I really enjoyed this book, it sits clearly on the YA Sci-fi and fantasy shelf, has interesting characters and its easy to connect with Catarina as you read. Today’s world is so full of technology with a lot of it being managed by apps the future vision feels like it’s a path we could be headed down, scientific research, only learning so much from animals and the ability to grow horns or change your hair colour at the push of a button feels like its nearly a possibility. Its all about trying to outwit nature and change evolution – perfect for getting your imagination fired up.

Not just another plague book!
This novel has it all, hackers, genetically modified humans, blood and gore, romance and a great plot twist.
With hints of 'Hunger Games' this thrilling dystopian adventure deserves to be recommended to teens and adults alike. Although this is a complete story, the opening is there for a sequel. Cannot wait!

As a debut novel, first in a new series for young adults, this book ticks all the boxes.
The scenario is believable and suitably gruesome.
The characters are interesting and work well together (except maybe Agnes. I can't get a handle on Agnes).
The science is frighteningly possible but also in language that can be understood. Nothing worse than leaving the readers confused.
There is a happy ending...ah, well, I just dropped that in there becase it seems like a happy endiing then Rosa has a lightbulb moment...
Bring on book two.

((2.5 stars, rounded up for THAT plot twist))

i don't think i've ever been so conflicted about a book in a while.

i'll start with the stuff i liked first. the plot and the concept was excellent. there have been no shortage of apocalyptic plagues in speculative fiction, but both the concept of the virus itself and the circumstances surrounding it were extremely original. i mean, bodies exploding and floating around in a giant Death Cloud??? that's the kind of macabre stuff i can really get behind, man. there were also so many plot twists, and i wasn't expecting at least half of them.

but then...

there was so much potential, but it was just watered down by the writing and the characters. i mean, it should have tipped me off when the book opened with Unnecessary Bird Death (i love birds so if you kill them that's a huge black mark, my friend) and then the annoyances just multiplied from there.

first off, THERE IS A LOVE TRIANGLE. yeah, i know. this is like, a mortal sin in YA literature in the year of our Lord 2017 and it ticks me off that the editor didn't go, "hey, you know, you don't need this #Drama with the old love interest, you can just have the new one. or, maybe, none at all, maybe just a strong platonic love because romantic love is not the be-all and end-all of human relationships"

but romance is kind of, not my thing. i don't mind m/m and f/f relationships, simply because i'm a Huge Queer and i love seeing people like me in books, and that feeling of "YAS QUEERS" usually overrides my "ew romance" instinct. unfortunately, this was neither a gay relationship nor a particularly exciting and nuanced romantic relationship that i could get behind. because hey, i'm not like, anti-straight people, i like lots of m/f relationships, it's just my Silly Nonsense Tolerance Level is always lower.

and this, my friends.... was a lot of silly nonsense.

i just don't see the point in having a romantic relationship when a platonic relationship would do just fine. and why the HELL do boys smell so nice in YA books. sweat doesn't smell nice, it smells like gorillas, mkay?

it was kind-of instalove-y. not quite, but it was nearly there tbh. i didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them, and the characters themselves just seemed pretty flat to me. like i said in one of my updates, cat did not seem particularly genius-like most of the time, but rather naive, and cole was like a lovesick, less-cool version of bucky barnes. and dax, the Old Love Interest who reappears, was POINTLESS. i mean come on, why??? WHY???

the writing was also lacklustre. first-person present isn't my favourite tense and perspective, and i think it's becoming a bit overused. i suppose it worked to some extent, as that POV is best for an action/suspense filled narrative and there was quite a lot of that going on, but it seemed too simplistic at times, despite the massive Plot Twist Bombshells that were being dropped left right and centre towards the end.

overall: this was an excellent concept, but was ruined by a messy execution and pointless romance. this has a pretty high rating overall though, so if you like romance in your books you'll probably like this a lot. but if you don't, be warned.

Actual rating 4.5 stars.

I have read a slew of post-apocalyptic novels in which a deadly virus has wreaked havoc and culled the majority of our species. What ordinarily happens is that a portion of humanity devolves into zombie-like creatures, another into opportunistic gangs, and a lone few are left to somehow save the world. That is exactly what this novel does. But where as many of the other titles I have read perform to their stereotypes and deviate little from this generic outline, this managed to deliver something different.

Whilst I have read the basic premise for this novel before, Suvada managed to make it appear fresh. And she does that by making it feel believable. The scientific whys and hows to this novel are explored from every angle. Instead of just allowing an unexplained and unknowable phenomenon to befall us, an understandable and functioning explanation is provided. The reader is given an authentic-feeling insight into computer coding, DNA sequencing, and gene mutating. Now I know little about any of these things so maybe someone with a background in these topics would be able to call bullshit, but to the uninitiated this felt like a very real exploration of the potential future of our species.

In addition to this authenticity were the characters, I initially feared the dreaded insta-love trope was once again going to rear its ugly head, but this, fortunately, managed to remain trope free! Each of the characters felt like well-rounded and real individuals and so I believed in each of the chaotic episodes they found themselves in.

Whilst I enjoyed every portion of this novel, the ending was its phenomenal crowning glory. Twist after twist mutated the plot until it was unrecognisable from its original conception and transformed into something truly unforgettable. If I wasn't sold by the rest of it, this ending would keep me reading an eternity's worth of instalments in this series. So with that said, when is the next one due?