I didn’t realize until after I finished reading this book that this is actually a sequel in a trilogy. The first book being Origin (which I haven’t read). I’m pretty sure you can read them in any order because they each follow different characters in different situations, they just all have to do with the same organization, Corpus.
Summary:
On Skin Island, even the laws of creation can be broken.
On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.
Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. With the help of Jim Julien, a young charter pilot, she arrives–and discovers a terrifying secret she never imagined: she has a Vitro twin, Lux, who is the culmination of Corpus’s dangerous research.
Now Sophie is torn between reuniting with the mother who betrayed her and protecting the genetically enhanced twin she never knew existed. But untangling the twisted strands of these relationships will have to wait, for Sophie and Jim are about to find out what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.
-Goodreads
Favorite things:
The concept. The thing that I loved about this book so much was that it took something that happens everyday and took it 100 steps farther. Embryos are made in labs everyday and then either used, frozen for later use, or used in experiments (like stem cell research). In fact we can even test embryos to see if they will have genetic problems and some scientist are trying to figure out ways to “edit” those embryos to make them better. I don’t know that we will ever take it as far as the scientist do in Vitro, but they could try which is what makes this book so great and slightly scary.
Skin Island. The atmosphere is really well written in this book. I loved the feeling of the old deserted resort turned secret lab. I wish there had been a map or brochure type thing in the front of the book, that would have been a nice touch. The only thing that annoyed the tar out of me was how many times it was mentioned during the first 50ish pages. Everyone Sophie talked to was like nooo you don’t want to go there, no one ever goes there, no one will fly you there, etc. I got it, it’s a dangerous, mysterious place, no one talks about.
The ethics. This book dealt with some really ethically heavy topics and I feel like it did it really well. It also gave you some things to think about.
Not so Favorite things:
The romance. I feel like the romance was ok but it wasn’t what I was rooting for. It just never seemed to be that big of a deal. Even though Jim was risking his life for Sophie I felt like he was doing it out of obligation not love.
The characters kind of fell flat for me. Sophie and Jim were just kind bleh. I got tired of Jim constantly kicking himself for helping someone else, and Sophie was making bad choices the whole time.
Something felt off with this book the whole way through and I can’t figure out what it was. I can’t tell if the plot was too back and forth, or maybe it was all of the paragraphs with Jim wandering around the island. Ultimately, the whole time I was reading it I couldn’t help but think this book could be like 50 pages shorter than it is. There were times when it felt repetitive and like it just rambled.
Some favorite quotes:
“Tell me, who is the monster? The creation or the creator?”
“If people could fall apart, why couldn’t they fall back together?”
The quills:
Cursing?
I don’t remember there being any cursing, but I read it over the course of a couple weeks.
Physical romance?
Nope, in fact I’m not even sure that there was a kiss in this book.
Gore?
There was a tiny bit towards the end but you could skip over it if wanted.
Will you cry?
Probably not.
Overall rating?
Three out of five hedgehogs
Overall the book was good but I’m not singing it praises.
The Author:
Jessica Khoury, she seems to be pretty active on Goodreads.
Website Goodreads
Even though I wasn’t 100% in love with Vitro I plan on going ahead and reading Origin (the first book), because everyone says it’s really good and better than Vitro
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