Inhuman

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Beyond the Titan wall lies the Feral Zone, and the only people who break quarantine and venture there are the "fetches", who are paid exorbitant sums to bring back items that were left behind when the wall went up--but Delaney McEvoy's father is there and she is being forced to find him and bring him back.

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Inhuman submitted by jentalley on July 9, 2014, 3:17pm A post-apocalyptic YA novel that doesn't involve zombies? Indeed. Kat Falls offers a mildly refreshing take on the subgenre in this one. Other tropes are familiar: human-engineered virus that brings about the downfall of humanity? Check. Questionable pseudo-science, evil corporations, lack of government oversight? Check. Love triangle setting a privileged but noble boy against a poor abandoned tough guy who is also secretly noble despite being a massive douchebag? Check. Heroine who starts out naive but discovers reserves of inner strength? Check.

Despite the somewhat formulaic setup and some really obvious logical flaws, I really enjoyed this novel. Lane is a worthy heroine, a quirky take on the innocent thrown into a situation beyond her control. She takes charge of it and makes proactive decisions, and even if her decisions sometimes have unfortunate consequences she doesn't wait around for someone else to fix it for her. She rolls with the punches and takes in stride the upheaval of her fairly comfortable world. And yet she remains likable and sympathetic in a way that heroines in the post-apocalyptic YA (coughKatnissTrisscough) sometimes do not; Lane isn't afraid be gentle and sympathetic, and she doesn't lose that instinct despite plenty of evidence that the world is not the place she thought it was, but she's not foolish or blind to the realities she discovers.

Stylistically, I would have preferred more showing and less telling. In the beginning we learn that Lane rescues stray animals, which turns out to be important to her character throughout the story, but we never see her with any of them. An important twist was telegraphed pretty early on, as well, although figuring it out didn't ruin any major plot points. And you can't think too hard about how the virus outbreak was handled or it falls apart ... I mean, a wall? Ok. And there's ONE guy working on a cure, but he can't travel into the infected zone for test subjects because ... why again? And "fetching" from the infected zone is illegal, even though the incredibly rich and powerful private corporation clearly has helicopters and fairly unlimited resources and could send a couple of heavily armed SEAL teams in to retrieve pretty much anything fairly easily?

Maybe I'm just really good at suspending disbelief, because despite the flaws I really enjoyed this book. There's a fairy-tale quality to Falls' writing that is a nice change from the unrelenting gritty bleakness of much of this subgenre, a sense that despite a whole lot of awful life is still worth living, not just surviving. I look forward to returning to the world on the other side of the Wall. 3.5 stars.