Uninvited - Sophie Jordan [Review]

Title: Uninvited
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Uninvited #1
Release Date: January 28th 2014
Pages: 384
Rating: ★★★★
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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.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. This won't influence the review.

Review:

When I first read the synopsis of this book I knew I was going to like it. There has always been a lot of debate whether a tendency to criminality is genetic or caused someone's environment. This book takes an interesting spin on this subject.

Short Summary

The story revolves around Davy, a seemingly normal girl. She is tested positive for HTS, the killer gene. This means she will very likely kill someone in the future. People with this gene are separated as much as possible from society and are seen as dangerous. Davy is first put in a different school and then a special training academy. She encounters a lot of violence, but also trustworthy people, like Sean.

Characters

I liked the protagonist Davy. I could emphasize with her when her perfect world suddenly collapsed. She was a good person, even though the government and society saw her as a potential killer. At first she was a little naive, thinking everyone was going to treat her the same. She quickly changed and hardened, and would not let people mess with her. 

I had little connection to the love interest Sean. He was set on protecting Davy from the beginning, without any obvious reason. Apart from his foster family, we learn nothing about him. He seemed like a flat character, I hope this changes in book two.

Unfortunately because the book was in two parts, most characters did not get any development. I would have liked to see more from the people at Davy's new school and training center.

Romance

I wasn't really into the romance. I did not feel the chemistry between Sean and Davy. To me it seemed like Davy wasn't attracted to him, but only liked his protection. I can't remember her ever mentioning she actually like-liked him. Sean constantly had to protect Davy, which made her appear kind of dependent. I hope the relationship gets more depth in book two.

Killer Gene concept

I thought this book had a very interesting concept. Here killing is genetic, and findable in the DNA. This means nothing can be done about the person's tendencies to killing, it's in their nature. This goes against what we believe now and all our crimes prevention programs. And even if killing were genetic, how far would you have to go to prevent someone from killing? Lock them all up from birth? When something is in your nature, does it mean you can't fight it? I really love books that make you think and this one definitely did.

Plot

The book had two parts: one where Davy is still at home and one at the training center. 
I liked part one. We get to see how Davy suddenly gets treated differently and her adapting to her new school. I found part two to be a bit rushed. We don't really get to know the center or the people in it. But part two had much more action than part one, I liked that. Overall, the pace was okay. I was never bored, but I would have liked more depth at some places.
Something I missed in the book was news from the world outside Davy's new school and training center. The story is from her isolated perspective and we don't get further knowledge about the world, like how things are going in the other camps and cities.
The book does not end in a cliffhanger, but it does leave you wanting to know how it continues.

Conclusion

A great book that makes you think about issues on nature versus nurture! 

Stars:  4 out of 5