Summary: In a world
ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden
Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father’s life is forfeit.
America
has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country
riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees
of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.
Crossing
from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it’s
necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief.
Sixteen-year-old Lane’s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts—he
is a Fetch. It’s a dangerous life, but rewarding—until he’s caught.
Desperate
to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means
leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb—and her
very DNA—in the Savage Zone. But she’s not alone. In order to complete
her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In
exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back
west. But though Rafe doesn’t exhibit any signs of “manimal” mutation,
he’s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.
Offered as a promotional item on Netgalley, Inhuman was promoted to have a similar theme to that of the popular series The Hunger Games. Beyond the similarities of Dystopian America and the idea of sacrificing yourself to save loved ones, the novels hold very little in common.
The theme of this book is a common one; Lane, our main character, finds herself whisked out of her comfortable, nonthreatening and clean life to retrieve something from the very unsafe world beyond the wall that separates civilized humanity from the Ferae infested groups on the other side. With her father's fate in the balance, Lane sets off to do a 'Fetch' or retrieve a left behind item before time runs out to save his life. The problem is she doesn't have any real experience for surviving on this side of the wall. To make matters worse, she's got a limited amount of days to do the fetch before her way back into the West is closed potentially for good.
As this advance copy is unedited, I can only hope that the formatting issues that arose with the kindle edition will be resolved. There were many times that sentences were split oddly (in the middle of people's dialogue) as well as dialogue running together.
I was ultimately displeased with the ending of the book, while it appears to be the first book in a series, the ending of the book felt like there was no lead in for a second novel. I must also admit that I am not overly pleased with the fact that everything seemed to work out for the Main Character. She looses two friends, yes, however ultimately her father and she are cleared of all crimes and are on their way to have his leg treated on the Western side of the wall away from the Feral Zone.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for a captivating novel, but if you want a quick read, this could fall into that category.
