Inheritance

A wonderfully gripping and heartwarming piece of science fiction, YA and LGBT lit, Inheritance is the followup book to the cryptic near-but-not-quite-apocalyptic X-Files homage of a novel, Adaptation. As a long time fan of Lo's work, I was thrown by the uncharacteristic setting and plotlines in Adaptation and found it much less enjoyable than her previous books. However, read in sequence, Inheritance answers all of the questions posed by its prequel as well as far advances the plot and builds solid characterisation. In truth, I put off purchasing Inheritance and instead read a library copy since I'd been so let down by Adaptation. This problematic decision will be soon rectified however as Inheritance far exceeded my show more expectations.

Although I appreciated Adaptation for being an X-Files homage (Julien's bin42.com being a kind of teenage Lone Gunman was particularly amusing) and thought its ideas were dark enough to satisfy the genre. Though being a SF-SF Cali-scrub bildungsroman it was fairly lackluster. Amber Grey was adorable, but then petulant and supposedly a turncoat (which I never believed for a second) and David Li was... obligatory hottie? Reese actually made a convincing protagonist, pushing for the truth about what'd happened to them and the June Disaster. But the climax was confusing and the reveal only gave you a sense of "I told you so" about Amber that Reese upsettingly chooses to ignore. All-in-all, Adaptation was unenjoyable... by itself.

I wish Inheritance had been released simultaneously with Adaptation as the first book was such a let down. Inheritance throws Reese into a heart-throbbing (telepathic?!) relationship with David, who's definitely a hottie and all about being with Reese, and beings to shed more and more light on the shady characters from Adaptation and their various agendas. Where Adaptation was nothing so much as fear of the unknown, Inheritance switches perspective and as Reese's loyalties slowly draw further and further toward the Imria (her struggles with the Jedi-like mental training makes for a fun read), the reader is given a chance to feel her persecution for being different, both for being part-alien as well as for her burgeoning non-traditional sexuality and lifestyle. The plot is less predictable and more stirring than I would have imagined and I blew through 400 pages in two days. I think what i enjoyed the most about Inheritance was how the characters growth was incremental and we don't necessarily come to see them as larger than life, so much as simply teenagers thrown into extraordinary, trying situations and doing their best to cope.

I highly enjoyed Inheritance and think it was perhaps my favorite novel of the last year. Malinda Lo is really an accomplished novelist and I wish, not for the first time, that her work would garner greater attention. show less

This is the sequel to Adaptation. The book where David, Reese, and Amber were introduced. We pick up in this book just where Adaptation ended. David and Reese trying to tell the world what happened to them, how they're changed. It doesn't go well.

Actually a whole lot of things don't go very well for any of the three teens in this book. It starts with the impromptu press conference cut short by Men in Black, then there's lots of questions asked about everything in the narrative, and we the reader get a lot of the answers that we were asking after the first book. About the Imria, and the government, not to mention everything in between and there are a ton of greys in between the two sides.

We also get to meet more Imrians other than Dr. show more Brand and Amber. Their spokesman, a liason, and my favorite Imrian character, Eres, a teacher (or Ummi in the Imria language) that winds up working with both David and Reese to see if they can get control of their adaptations.

Unfortunately there were some parts of the story I didn't like also. I still can't stand David, and Reese still got on my nerves half the time. I still think that Julian is the best character in the story, and Amber grew on me a lot (in a good way) in this book.

I also thought that the book was too mainstream teen. What I liked about Lo's other books, Ash and Huntress was that while they were very obviously sold towards teens they didn't seem like prototypical teen books. There was a depth to them that is usually seen in the adult books of the genre. In Inheritance it all just seemed forced and just so teen angsty. And don't get me started on the David/Reese/Amber stuff. I think I get what Lo was trying to go for, but every scene which touched on that love triangle I had to grit my teeth through. and while I didn't hate the ending, it also didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the book. I liked the first book in this series a lot. I just wish that I'd liked the second book as much. show less

I mean... It was alright, but not at all what I expected. I thought that there would be more action and conspiracy. But 80% of the book was about teenage drama and Reese not being able to choose between Amber and David. I actually quite enjoyed this aspect of the book. The characters were interesting to follow and I will always remember them as my dumb babies. I'm kinda glad I finished this series.

A solid sequel and conclusion to Adaptation. It's not quite as action-packed, but it flowed very well. I liked the progression of character/relationship development and how Reese dealt with big world-changing issues along with normal teenager issues. Sometimes the love triangle made me roll my eyes, but the solution and how the characters got there was satisfying.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Two girls and a guy….plus aliens!

Opening Sentence: “The triangular spaceship hovered motionless in the sky above Resse Holloway’s house, as inscrutable as a blackhole.”

The Review:

Reese, David and Amber are back again in this conclusion to Adaptation. Reese is still struggling to come to terms with Amber’s betrayal, her sexuality and her new abilities as an adapted human hybrid. David is struggling with the adjustment and his relationship with Reese. Amber is just avoiding them all.

I think some interesting questions were answered in this book. The Imrian’s have been to Earth more than once, and well some things that are just better read. However, for the most part, I felt show more like the main focus of this book was Reese’s sexuality and her relationships with Amber and David. Which I could tell you how that would end, but why spoil the fun.

The rest of the storyline felt thrown in and rushed. The science fiction was compelling and interesting, there just wasn’t enough of it. I really thought it was interesting as their abilities began to unfold and they became more comfortable with them and themselves. This almost feels like a coming of age story with aliens…but I did dig David, Reese and Amber and I liked seeing them grow and become stronger, better people.

On the whole as you can probably tell, I wasn’t blown away by the book. I thought the series was good overall and different. Aliens with bird connections and creating hybrids, very interesting concepts. Execution for me personally fell a little short. I don’t care about her sexuality, but honestly it seemed to be the main theme and larger storyline. Everything else felt like a distant second. Which there is nothing wrong with that, but it just sent mixed signals. Is this is a coming of age story or science fiction?

I don’t want to seem if I am tearing down the book, it was good. The writing is excellent, the concepts are fresh and exciting. It just didn’t completely work for me.

Notable Scene:

“He blew some smoke away from her. “This adaptation thing that the Imria are working on could change everything. It’s amazing. Think about what this world would be like if human beings could really do this shared consciousness thing.” He spoke with a rising intensity, his body bending toward her as he gestured with his cigarette. “Do you know why people hate each other? Because they don’t understand each other. But if we could really know how other people feel–really know it– all that would change. It would bring humans to the next level of evolution!” Julian’s fierce belief in the adaptation procedure made Reese uncomfortable.”

FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books for Young Readers provided me with a copy of Inheritance. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

I am so pleased with the unconventional resolution of the love triangle. I think this book also worked better for me than the first one in the series because the aliens reveal irritated me there, but by the time I began reading this book I'd reconciled myself to it. This book is really an unfolding of the problems set up in the first one.

The beginning scene of Inheritance is a continuation of the scene at the end of Adaptation. The first book Adaptation introduced us to the characters -- to Reese and David and to Amber and the Imrians -- and how Reese and David were adapted to save their lives. In Adaptation, they learned what had happened to them, how they were given Imrian DNA and became something not quite human, but at the end of the novel everyone else was finding out as well.

Now we get to see how the general public is going to react when Reese and David come out to tell what happened to them. It's not just people's feelings about the aliens they have to deal with, either. Soon, besides the government, Imria, conspiracy nuts, and people fearing invasion, there are show more also racists, homophobes and generally absurd people making the teens life harder. None of it helping Reese with what be an already difficult problem: figuring out her feelings.

I liked the way other's comments on race (David is Chinese, Reese is white) and sexuality - both through reactions when Reese and David took their story public and more locally through friends, school played a role in Inheritance. It was something that was very honest, both that it would happen, sadly, and that it would impact the characters. It also allowed the characters to have to think through, say or perhaps even do things that they perhaps might not have without that outside motivation or influence.

It brought an interesting layer to the story. At times, when the Imrians were explaining their society or ways in contrast, it was as if they aliens were going to show the humans how to really be human.

Where I did run in to a problem with Inheritance was the pacing. It's not short at 480 pages, but it's not epically long, either. It does, though, take a long time to read. The story is one that's easy to want to stay with, but it's easy to get weighed down in all the detail about Imria or whatever is happening. It doesn't move forward or read easily at a good speed.

arc received for review from publisher & NetGalley show less