Control
By Lydia Kang
Published on December 26, 2013
Published by Dial
Source: Publisher for Review
Published by Dial
Source: Publisher for Review
When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.
A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.
Oh wow! This book was fantastic. I am admittedly am a huge fan of Xmen and have been since I was a kid. This book was so reminiscent of an Xmen story that I couldn't put it down. This book didn't stop- the action was constant. I found myself saying, "I will go to bed at the next slow part, I will go to bed at the next slow part." Three hours later I had finished the book and hadn't found a slow part!
We don't get to know a huge amount about Zel and Dyl's backstory, but it is slowly unfurled throughout the novel (and we don't get to know everything. Zel's dad is killed at the beginning of the book and they are seperated at the foster home placement office. Dyl is put with a family made of teens who have mutations and powers. Dyl is taken somewhere similiar but much more sinister. Dyl spends the book trying to rescue her sister.
I enjoyed the romance in this story and that the "bad guys" were clearly bad without any desire for redemption. I found the end to be painful and I can't wait to find out what happens to some of the characters.
There is one character, who went from the creepiest one to the one I enjoyed the most. (I wish I could give more details than that, but it is a spoiler.
All in all, if you are a fan of the Xmen series- then you will be a fan of this book! It seems to be a little under the radar, but it was so so excellent.
