REVIEW: Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan (Uninvited #1)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Source: Edelweiss via publisher*
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.

My thoughts, feelings, and reactions

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan was a different kind of dystopian novel that really caught my attention. It had a unique premise and the thing that really drew me to the book was the whole HTS gene. I liked the way Jordan incorporated this into this world and changed the life of a girl by the shocking revelation that she would be a killer one day. 



The main character, Davy Hamilton was picture perfect. She was super talented at a very young age, loved and admired by friends, teachers, and other parents and even envied by many. She had loving parents and a boyfriend who adored her. All of this came crashing down on her and it completely changed her vision of the world around her and even herself. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Davy was weak, just closed-minded in the beginning. She was in denial, which was understandable, but what I loved was how determined she was to prove that she wasn’t a monster or the killer people seemed to believe. She fought hard with herself and I think knowing Sean and Gil made her realize that they weren’t so different as her. She did struggle to accept what happened to her but she tried her damn hardest not to let the HTS gene define her.

 

I liked being in Davy’s head and experiencing her hardship as being a carrier. I got to her see go through being at her lowest point, then her highest, and even when she had to make a life altering decision. But what I really liked more than being in Davy’s head was the short, small snippets before the chapters that showed what was going on outside of Davy’s immediate world. It should how brutal people were, how carriers had their own self-fulfilling prophecy, and how chaotic things really seemed to be when scrutinized. I wish these glimpses were more prominent in the novel because they brought more understanding to world itself. 



There was romance in the book for those looking for something like that. However, it is not very heavy. The novel is more focused on Davy’s struggles, what she goes through being a carrier and how she has to survive being labeled dangerous among the dangerous. However, the romance has some serious potential. The little that I did get was both satisfying while still leaving me wanting more between Sean and Davy. 

Sean was still mystery to me, even now, but what she showed and the way he acted had me rooting for him all the way.

So basically this book centers around the HTS gene and I really loved that concept because I thought it really relates to today’s world. People still judge and discriminate because of label or appearance or because what society believes. The HTS gene in this book is basically that label. The people in this book look at the carriers like they are already killers. It didn’t matter if they knew that person before and had positive past encounters with them. I thought Jordan did a great job of balancing out this part of the book and incorporating this into Davy’s life while still showing what’s truly going on around her that she’s not aware of. Jordan doesn’t reveal everything, she does it bit by bit and this is what makes the book truly enticing. Even when things get revealed, there’s still so much left to know, I’m itching for the next book!


All in all,  I loved Uninvited. It had a great storyline, a main character than stands out among the rest, and a world that’s so much more than I could have imagined.

*Thanks to HarperCollins for sending a copy for review purposes

I was not compensated for my opinion.