Hey everyone! So today’s post is my stop on the FFBC’s blog tour for Emily Suvada’s This Cruel Design. I was actually incredibly lucky to gain a physical ARC of this copy through the UK publisher, Penguin, thanks to the lovely Kimi and honestly it was a book I was looking forward to reading so much after This Mortal Coil. It was in no way a disappointment – another stellar 5-star story from Emily and I’m emotionally invested in seeing what happens next in this series!

Read on for my full review!

Title: This Cruel Design
Series: This Mortal Coil #2
Author: Emily Suvada
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: 30th October 2018
Pages: 432
Source: Physical ARC provided by the UK publisher (this in no way affects my review which is honest and unbiased)
Rating:

Synopsis:

‘Cat thought the Hydra epidemic was over, but when new cases pop up, Cat must team up with an enemy to fix the vaccine before the virus spirals out of control in this thrilling sequel to This Mortal Coil, which New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman says “redefines‘ unputdownable.’”

The nightmare of the outbreak is finally over, but Cat’s fight has only just begun.

Exhausted, wounded, and reeling from revelations that have shaken her to her core, Cat is at a breaking point. Camped in the woods with Cole and Leoben, she’s working day and night, desperate to find a way to stop Lachlan’s plan to reprogram humanity. But she’s failing–Cat can’t even control her newly regrown panel, and try as she might to ignore them, she keeps seeing glitching visions from her past everywhere she turns.

When news arrives that the Hydra virus might not be as dead as they’d thought, the group is pushed into an uneasy alliance with Cartaxus to hunt down Lachlan and fix the vaccine. Their search takes them to Entropia, a city of genehackers hidden deep in the desert that could also hold the answers about Cat’s past that she’s been searching for.

But when confronted with lies and betrayals, Cat is forced to question everything she knows and everyone she trusts. And while Lachlan is always two steps ahead, the biggest threat to Cat may be the secrets buried in her own mind.’

Review

When I read This Mortal Coil back in August, I really loved the unique sci-fi future created by Emily. Of course, I’d hope we wouldn’t have to contend with an epidemic virus if that future was ever realised–but being able to hack your own genes to change your appearance would certainly be interesting, to say the least.

This Cruel Design continues straight after the events from the first book, so right after Cat has helped to release a vaccine for the deadly Hydra virus and herself, Cole and Leoben are now set on finding Lachlan to make him answer for what he did to them as children.

The characters created by Emily were one of my favourite things about the first book, and this only continued with the introduction of further characters in This Cruel Design. Of course we have our main two characters back again – Cat and Cole – and after the cliffhanger from the first book we find that Cat is still trying to come to terms with who exactly she is, which does introduce some interesting dynamics in their relationship overall.

In terms of new characters, we meet another of their siblings – Anna – who happens to be extremely close to Cole as they’re genetically brother and sister. Anna is a pretty feisty character but another black out agent which makes her extremely protective. We’re also introduced to another coder called Mato. I really liked his character as he supports Cat’s love of coding throughout, trying to help her become better. Another character I found interesting was Regina. She’s an extremely famous coder and her personality is quite extravagant, to the point she codes scales onto her body. Both Mato and Regina are also morally grey which makes them even more intriguing and definitely adds further to the story.

The story itself, much like This Mortal Coil, is riddled with twists and revelations throughout. My absolute favourite thing in books is when I don’t see a twist coming and there were a couple which I really did not see not coming whatsoever. Like, the ending. I can’t even begin to explain it because I absolutely don’t want to ruin it for anyone but I’m 1000% hoping that we get another book in this series super soon because I am in dire need of answers.

‘I have gazed into each cell, into the very patterns of life that bind them, and all I can tell you is this: if there is a design that underpins us, Catarina, then it is cold, it is violent, and it is cruel.’

In the UK? Order this book from Book Depository for free delivery!

About the Author

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.