Between Library Shelves

Author:Christine Manzari

Author website: http://www.christinemanzari.com

Published :August 9, 2013

Publisher:CreateSpace

Reading Challenge: Goodreads Reading Challenge

Format: E-book (.mobi) *For Review*

Genre: Young Adult

Category: Dystopian

[Synopsis]

Being a Sophisticate of the Program seems like it’d be a pretty sweet deal: a little genetic alteration and anyone can be smarter, faster, and stronger. It’s a dream come true. All you have to give up is your freedom. Cleo is a Sophisticate and she has a bright future in the Program. But she has a secret. When she gets upset, bad things happen. Explosive things. Things she can’t control. When her secret is discovered, she’s sent to the Academy to train in the military branch of the Program. She’s destined to be a human weapon in the war that’s been going on since Wormwood occurred nearly 30 years ago. 

[Review]

How would it feel to be a sophisticate but not know who your parents were, or where you came from.  All you know is that you are part of a government program. Meet Cleo this is all she knows about herself but her curiosity and knowledge of computers has intrigued her into looking for her parents and information about her existence. These small actions do not go unnoticed by The Program and soon she is locked out of her computer and this is where we realize after a temper tantrum, a room caught on fire we find that Cleo may be a little more special to The Program.  Deviation was a little surprise for me, where I thought I was going to just be reading another dystopian novel where we rebel from the government, which I love. However, I got a story of a girl in a dystopian world trying to find her identity of where she belongs within the government program. Cleo is uprooted from the University, her best friend and is sent to St. Ignatius, school for the mandates best known for the army of The Program. Here she finds enemies, friends, and a mysterious guy, Ozzy, she is drawn to but does not trust. At St. Ignatius she finds more about who she is and what she is capable of doing, and why her room at the University went up in flames, that faithful night before everything changed in her life.   Deviation moved at a great pace with wonderful undertones of trust or lack thereof, secrets, and friendship between other mandates. Cleo learned how to be strong physically and mentally and she was a good female protagonist. There was a lot of romance between her and Ozzy, which I am not used to in dystopian novels but for this particular story it worked and should not be taken as a negative. I will make sure to continue this series to the end because the ending was disturbingly intriguing. 

Favorite Character: Arabella - she is "special" also she has her secrets like Cleo. But she is fun and spunky and her sarcastic, brash comments throughout the story makes you crack a smile often.  She definitely is a strong character and can't wait to see how she develops as a supporting character in the rest of the series.