Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Uninvited (Uninvited, #1)

by Sophie Jordan

You can’t change your DNA…even when it says you’re a murderer.

When Davy tests positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome, aka “the kill gene,” she loses everything. Once the perfect high school senior, she is uninvited from her prep school and abandoned by her friends and boyfriend. Even her parents are now afraid of her—although she’s never hurt a fly. Davy doesn’t feel any differently, but genes don’t lie. One day she will kill someone.

Without any say in the matter, Davy is thrown into a special class for HTS carriers. She has no doubt the predictions are right about them, especially Sean, who already bears the “H” tattoo as proof of his violence. Yet when the world turns on the carriers, Sean is the only one she can trust. Maybe he’s not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The plot contains mild profanity and graphic violence.

Reviewed by Amber on

3 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

Having heard a lot of negative reviews about Jordan’s first YA series, Firelight, I was hesitant to read Uninvited… but also kind of curious. The synopsis is what ultimately made up my mind, because I love a good dystopian where the government claims to be able to detect Kill Genes or Kill Instincts, or anything of the sort. This happened in The Forsaken as well, and it’s always intriguing to see how the government deals with it.

I thought that the world building itself was good, although nothing special. We’ve seen it before with Minority Report and The Forsaken. Like I said, though, I love this idea, and found it intriguing. Jordan did a good job of explaining the dystopian world gradually without having it become overbearing. It fit in with the fast-paced plot nicely, and the whole beginning of the novel flowed well.

It took a while for me to connect with Davy, the main character. She starts off as very spoilt and rather snobby, but when she tests positive for the gene she gets pulled down to Earth. Of course, this character growth takes a while, which is fantastic. We see Davy start a new school, meet a bunch of teenagers who have been accused of having this gene, get into trouble, and eventually leave her hometown to go elsewhere. I thought that the romance started out quite well. I was with Davy as she was feeling equal amounts of intrigue and terror when it came to Sean at first.

Wait, did I say that the romance started out well? Okay, I have weird taste. I mean that Sean was, to begin with, slightly scary, with his HTS-related tattoo that makes it evident that he’s broken the rules of his agreement with the government before. However, as we get to know him, we realise that he’s actually quite nice. And Davy soon realises that you don’t actually have to do anything wrong to earn a tattoo from the government.

As the novel progressed, the romance became boring. There was no instalove there, but I got fed up with how Sean was constantly protecting Davy and saving her. I wanted her to be able to save herself, which would probably have been slightly unrealistic in certain situations that she got herself into, but maybe the author should have written different situations to empower her female protagonist.

Overall I was very pleased with my first Sophie Jordan book. Uninvited draws you in, and introduces you to a creepy future where the government controls everything, down to your DNA. I’m glad that this series is a duology, and I hope it will stay that way, because while I enjoyed the plot, I don’t think there’s enough to stretch it out over any more than two books. But who knows what Jordan has in mind? Hopefully a more exciting romance *cough*

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  • Started reading
  • 12 January, 2014: Finished reading
  • 12 January, 2014: Reviewed