Nadia Afifi

Filled with some cool and interesting ideas, but just not executed in a compelling way. I was confused by the POV (I think it was 3rd-person limited, but still not sure), and there were so many sentences that did so much expository work. For example, at the beginning while the reader is still trying to figure out the world the protagonist lives in, we are given some sentences that work really hard, probably too hard.

"It was no surprise that D’Arcy, a top quantum programmer at the Academy who custom-made her own Third Eye, had placed well – but Pandora? The project was both unusually prestigious and clandestine, even by the standards of insular Aldwych." These two sentences so clunkily convey too much information meant as character development and setting.

And this, relayed by an instructor at the academy to the protagonist "'But to do research on one of the stations, especially the Osiris, is reserved for the seasoned and the true elite. Only the best in the world go into space, no matter how they score at Placement.'" Would she really not have known this?

Some of the themes were interesting, which is why I gave it 2 stars, but the writing was just too awkward for it to be an enjoyable read for me.… (mehr)

I need to stop accidentally picking up YA when I'm not in the mood for YA. This was a perfectly good first-in-a-YA-dystopia-trilogy book. The main character's background as an escapee from a cult was a unique point of interest and her field of expertise and resulting job is pretty cool. I liked the friendship she eventually struck up with her patient too. Anyway then the conspiracy breaks into action and she's on the run and fighting and so forth, cue climax, resolution, and brief respite before she'll have to face book number two. People who actively like YA dystopia action will probably like it just fine; I don't think I'll continue with the series myself.… (mehr)

Wow....this book has a lot going on! Cults, cloning, space, memory reading, conspiracies.....it has a bit of everything! Amira is a neuroscientist who finds herself in the middle of a very controversial human cloning project. Two test subjects have died....and there are people conspiring to make sure the third does not birth the cloned baby she is carrying. Amira comes in to investigate the deaths and to protect the third test subject and discovers much deeper issues.

This story packs in a lot of story elements and action. It's definitely never boring....I was glued to the page the entire time I was reading this book. So many interesting concepts and characters...and always something going on. At times the story did get a bit bogged down in everything it was trying to accomplish....just so much packed into one story -- religious cults and their effects on former members, the ethics of cloning humans, how strongly religious sects react to science....lots of big topics. But even with so much packed into one tale, the author manages to pull it off for the most part. I couldn't stop reading!

Awesome debut novel! I'm definitely looking forward to more by this new author!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mehr)

Too Messy

There is an interesting book buried in here but it is obscured by side plots and ornamentation. Thus our hero is a young and inexperienced neuroscientist with an unnecessarily horrific personal background. Immediately after graduation she is tossed into the deep end of a controversial, probably immoral, and likely illegal cloning project involving young women from similar backgrounds to hers. These women are spontaneously dying. Someone has decided that what is killing them is a mental issue that needs the attention of a neuroscientist. But a young and inexperienced one will do. And for some reason the subjects are all doped up all the time. But the drugs don't affect the fetuses they are carrying. And there are political ramifications. And a bunch of other things going on. Not all of this stuff is plausible or needed to carry the main plot.

The project is not well explained and I have so very many hard science questions that are unanswered.

In all psychological fields today, future practitioners are themselves expected to undergo analysis during their training. This is to help them understand themselves better and also to help them understand what their clients will feel as their therapy progresses. This step is considered an integral part of training. I do not believe that this rule would not be followed even in the future outlined in this book. Yet Amira's first experience with the mind probe machine is the day of her final placement (not unlike a sorting hat). Somehow, despite her years of study, Amira believes that she will be able to fool the machine at this crucial time and hide her past. This is nonsense. How can the mind probe be helpful to a client if it is easily deceived?

I stopped reading when the weight of hard science questions overwhelmed my only mild interest in the messy plot.

And I hate the title.

I received a review copy of "The Sentient" by Nadia Afifi from Flame Tree Press through NetGalley.com.… (mehr)