Toxic by Lydia Kang @lydiaykang @EntangledTeen #bookreview #YA #scifi #fantasy #romance

Title: Toxic

Author: Lydia Kang

Publisher: Entangled: Teen

Publication Date: November 6, 2018

Page Count: 368

My rating: 5 stars

About the book:

Hana isn’t supposed to exist. She’s grown up hidden by her mother in a secret room of the bioship Cyclo until the day her mother is simply gone―along with the entire crew. Cyclo tells her she was abandoned, but she’s certain her mother wouldn’t leave her there to die. And Hana isn’t ready to die yet. She’s never really had a chance to live.

Fenn is supposed to die. He and a crew of hired mercenaries are there to monitor Cyclo as she expires, and the payment for the suicide mission will mean Fenn’s sister is able to live. But when he meets Hana, he’s not sure how to save them both.

As Cyclo grows sicker by the day, they unearth more secrets about the ship and the crew. But the more time they spend together, the more Hana and Fenn realize that falling for each other is what could ultimately kill them both.

Toxic by Lydia Kang is a young adult standalone romantic science fiction fantasy read that has maybe just a touch of horror to it too. When finished with this one it was one of those wow, I didn’t expect THAT moments, but in a good way of course.

Seventeen year old Hana awakens aboard the sentient ship, Cyclo, wondering what happened to her mother. You see Hana has been hidden from the rest of the crew aboard Cyclo her whole life and after a week her mother has not checked in on her. Cyclo informs Hana that the crew and her mother have gone packing up and evacuating the ship.

Fenn has always been a bit of a trouble maker and a huge disappointment to his family. With his sister in desperate need Fenn decided instead of stealing and getting caught again he would earn money and make his family proud by volunteering for a job studying a dying biological ship. The trip for Fenn is one way as he and his crew will not be able to leave Cyclo after it dies but the death benefits to his family would be worth it but the crew never expected to arrive and find a human girl alive on the ship.

Obviously by my rating on this one I completely enjoyed this and found it extremely creative and one intense read. However, I would warn readers that this one is a case of the old insta-love if that were to bother them, along with hints at sexual activity. For myself though I thought the romance was one that I could forgive for being rushed in the situation and the action more than made up for any hesitation I’d had on it. To me the characters were all well developed and the world building quite elaborate but done at a fast enough pace the story never stopped. When finished I’d definitely recommend checking this one out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Lydia Kang is an author of young adult fiction, poetry, and narrative non-fiction. She is a practicing physician who has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Great Weather for Media. She believes in science and knocking on wood, and lives in Omaha with her husband and three children.