Review: Breathtaking Dystopian Novel!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2014
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *Mirror X left me speechless...for a while. Having finished this thrilling Dystopian novel late into the night, I stayed awake for quite a while thinking about it. This was truly different for me, all in a good way, and left me wishing I had more of the story.Mirror X was full of surprises, each one, something I wasn't able to predict. The main character, Cassie, from our time, has been frozen and reawakened 1000 years later. Of course this being included in the synopsis, I expected her to find the world quite changed, and boy was it ever.She awakens to find herself in a genetics hospital that turns out to be far more sinister than what's on the general surface. We immediately meet Michael, a young doctor, who has been with Cassie throughout her dormant phase and now is with her as a guide into this new world.It doesn't take long before the author kicks Mirror X into full gear. We find out that this new world was plagued with a deadly disease that left women infertile and the current population is 100% made up of clones. This shocking revelation creates a serious burden for Cassie as she is able to assimilate on her own that she is the only woman on earth who is fertile.I applaud the author for creating such a moral dilemma and then tackling it beautifully. Of course Cassie is only 17 and is now faced with having to save to world by repopulation where the hospitals intentions are to use every single last one of her eggs to produce daughters who will grow up and face the same expectations that is being placed into Cassie's lap now.At first the expectation is offered to Cassie with the hope she will comply and understand the world's dilemma, but for a 17-year-old girl, that is frightening and expecting too much. Cassie feels the pains of the world's current issue, but having woke up 1000 years later, she is also left to grieve after everyone she's lost.We soon find out that Cassie really has no choice and was actually already artificially inseminated while she was comatose. Now discovering she is 3 months pregnant, Cassie is faced with having to become a mother. When she meets the father of her child, she finds the boy she liked 1000 years ago, now cloned, Travel, willing to raise a family with her. Oh, this part was so tragic. While having formed an attachment with the Dr. Michael, being presented the one boy from her past as the new father of her child...it was tragic on so many levels.Travel was a wonderful boy and it broke my heart when Cassie has baby Victoria only to realize the truth depth of the hospitals horrific intentions. Mirror X made me think of what I would do in Cassie's shoes. Being the only female on the planet would I willingly turn myself into a baby mill?These characters had such depth to them, all believable making me devour this novel in a few sittings. There are so many things to go over and review, but I cannot say enough how Mirror X is a novel that needs to be read and experienced for yourself.I loved the way the author introduces Michael in the very beginning and how it's obvious that Michael love's Cassie but to find out at the very end why he's so strongly connected to her...that's where the speechless part comes in and I won't give any spoilers on that. It was truly a shock for me and I did not see the connection coming.The novel leaves off with Cassie, Michael and baby Victoria escaping into a different region under the more sympathetic care of a different president. But there is so much more to the story I can't wait to find out where Cassie and Michael's story will go.Mirror X was such a wonderful novel to read. I would highly recommend this to lovers of YA Dystopian novels. It was fresh, original, moving, and left me thinking of the fate of all the characters long after I read the last page.