Review: Wow! What a Ride!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2013
This Sci-Fi set in future America has it all:Genetic manipulation. Cyborgs. Cloning. Action. Suspense. Mystery. You name it, it's here.Love, too. My stomach fluttered at the very sweet, but forbidden romance between the two main characters, Zoe and Noah.Seventeen-year-old Zoe is a GAP - a beautiful, long-lived, Genetically Altered Person.She lives with her rather odd parents and her bother Liam (whom she adores) in magnificent home in a walled city reserved for GAPs outside Los Angeles. Hers is a charmed life filled with luxury and ease. She couldn't be happier. That is until Liam disappears under mysterious circumstances.When the authorities - including her parents - refuse to help her trace him, she leaves the safety of her world and heads for the 'Outside' - Los Angeles - to find her own answers. Her trail leads her to Noah.Noah's an ordinary guy - a natural - who has every reason in the world to despise GAPs.Noah's mother works as a servant in Zoe's home, but ill health (something a GAP hardly ever experiences) means that Noah sometimes comes in to do her job, cleaning up after Zoe and her family. He and his mother are treated with ill-concealed contempt by Zoe's parents.I liked Noah a lot, but I do have a minor gripe about him: his name. Poor guy. Noah is definitely flavour of the month for many YA authors. It really is time they dipped back into the baby name book for some original ideas. Even though it was obvious Lee Strauss was looking for Biblical name for him, she could really have something less hackneyed. Noah deserved something better. And in fact I could say the same about Zoe. Her name is almost a YA fixture. Okay, whinge over . . . back to Perception.When Noah isn't helping his mum keep her job, he's an activist fighting against all genetic engineering. He therefore has little reason to help Zoe find Liam - especially when it comes to light that Liam's working on a radical genetic engineering project. Still, the price Zoe offers to pay is right, so he agrees. Don't think Noah's mercenary. He isn't. In fact, he doesn't have a bad bone in his body. That is what makes him so likeable. And once the love took over, he repeatedly risked his life for nary a dime. I was really rooting for him.But as he and Zoe follow the trail of clues left by Liam, their worlds are turned upside down.Very soon Noah finds himself on the run, hunted by powerful, ruthless men who will stop at nothing to silence him forever. Forbidden by her parents to see Noah, Zoe is forced to undergo a 'fix' (can't tell you what, you'll have to read the book to find out) which her family hope will stop her rebellious truth seeking.This 'fix' leaves Noah seriously conflicted. Torn between his love for Zoe and the need to be a law-abiding citizen, he makes a moral choice, leading to an exciting - heart-stopping, in fact - twist at the end of the book.I was really impressed by Perception.The writing is lovely. Fast paced, but at the same time descriptive enough without being weighed down with pages and pages of gush. I also liked that it is divided into two parts - the first section is seen through Zoe's eyes. Part two is narrated by Noah, and that adds an interesting depth to the story.How many stars?Definitely four.  So if you love a good Sci-Fi romance, this one won't disappoint.