This series is like any other… If you think book 1 is brilliant then the sequel is even better. Read my review for
The Mortal Coil, the first book in the series
here.
The Cruel Design (The Mortal Coil #2)
by Emily Suvada
Publisher – Penguin Random Children’s
Release Date – November 4th 2018
Pre-Order – Amazon | Book Depository
Where can you hide when you’re running from yourself?
Catarina thought they’d stopped the Hydra virus. She was wrong.
After laying everything on the line to decrypt the vaccine, Cat realises that Lachlan’s daemon code is in the panel of every person on the planet’s surface. With it, he can reprogram humanity.
She, Cole and Leoben set out to stop him, but they’re on a timer. Cartaxus – the shadowy corporation that’s both helped and hindered them – has a deadly end game in play. The virus is evolving, the vaccine is dying, and if Cat can’t find Lachlan in three days, they’ll use lethal code to wipe out every person on the planet.
Their path takes them to Entropia, an underground city deep in the desert and home to the most extreme gene hackers, run by the queen of coding, Regina.
Struggling with the revelations about her past, and plagued by strange visions, what Cat finds in Entropia is more than just a trail to Lachlan. Because in the vaulted chambers of Regina’s kingdom, Cat is forced to question everything she knows and everyone she trusts, and discovers that the biggest threat of all may be buried in her own mind.
The best of Science Fiction is right here… Emily Suvada is undoubtedly one of my new favourite writers. I couldn’t wait but to head straight into the sequel, I mean if it’s in front of you its hard not too, right? The Mortal Coil certainly didn’t end in a cliffhanger if that’s what your wondering but it left you wanting for more, so if you can read them together then do. Although now I’m wishing the final book was here already, I have to wait painstakenly another year.
Without giving too much away for those who haven’t read it, I’ll keep it simple. After a life-changing moment at the end of TMC, her life and those of millions of other rest once again in her hands. Like everything in the world, it changes it state, it moves on but nothing as fast as this virus. It’s existence of the virus is evolving far worst than Catarina could ever imagine. It’s a race against time, with three days before the shadow organisation wipes out the entirety of the human race. Catarina faces some hard truths as well as some very hard decisions ahead, she’s at a point where she is a constant struggle with herself but also those around her. When she needs her friends more than ever, its times like these that find herself asking, can she really trust them?
Emily Suvada is undoubtedly one of my new favourite writers. New characters are introduced, a team that was broken apart is now rebuilt. You’ll find yourself in this book having a lot of trust issues, including and I hate to say this with a certain super soldier. I hated that. Cat really does go through it in this book though, both physically and mentally. This girl is one of the best heroines I’ve come across in a long time. Her strength, bravery, is to be truly admired, the fight in her, it really makes your heart swell.
I loved how Emily really racked up the tension and excitement in the story. The thrill of the chase, the constant twists in the plotline sent you on the edge of you seat on in my case my bed. Your heart was beating so fast, you literally couldn’t contain yourself. Emily really pushed the boundaries with the impossible, the stunning breakthroughs with genetics and technological advancements, it felt like you were in a whole new world, especially when Catarina went to Entropia, they were thriving on the virus, with the use of DNA and coding, panels are a thing of the past in TCD. The writing style is stunning, utterly seamless with the science behind making the realms of the impossible even more surreal, pushing ever closer to our reality which is scary to say the least.
It was said to me that The Cruel Design is even better than The Mortal Coil. In a way I didn’t want to get my hopes up, you know how some sequels can be and I really didn’t want to be disappointed. But boy was a wrong, this is a series that really exceeds everything in the first, it intensive, thrilling and quite simply stunning. I can’t wait for book 3 but the wait will be excruciating. Take a breath, grab the book and sink into on the best sci-fi series ever.
Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you so so much to the lovely Penguin publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.