Book Review: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Hi everyone! It’s Kaitlyn again! Now, you may be thinking, isn’t this a blog for writer stuff? The answer is yes, but I would also like to review some of my favorite books for you guys. So here it is! My favorite book from the past two months! (I will also do all of my reviews spoiler free so that everyone can enjoy it!)

Book: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Published in late 2017

Overview:

Catarina Agatta (Cat) is stuck in a dystopian world in which a virus has taken over and began killing people. While she is a hacker, she cannot hack this virus. Her father, Lachlan Agatta, a famous geneticist, was taken by an enemy group, Cartaxus, to find a cure for the virus. A Cartaxus soldier named Cole shows up at her house and informs her that her father has died and she is the one who must stop the virus. Will Cat be able to save the entire population, or will the virus demolish everything in its path, including Cat?

Review:

This is to be honest one of the most nail-biting novels I have ever read. Between the plot twists and the way Suvada so artfully weaves in scientific knowledge and how well the setting is depicted, for me this novel was truly thrilling. The novel itself is a dystopian teen fiction but it also incorporates science fiction elements such as biotechnology implanted into humans to give them different abilities. I, myself, had read some reviews before I bought the book, so I thought because I knew there were plot twists that I would figure out the twists before I read it. Nope! I was not even close. I think that’s why it was super enjoyable for me because it was almost like a mystery that I was trying to solve as I was reading the book.

Best things about the book:

-The setting was beautifully described and executed

-The plot was absolutely insane! (In the best possible way, of course!)

-The characters were lifelike and understandable. They also were incredibly dynamic.

-All of the science lingo and information was very well-done

Some of the things I didn’t like or didn’t understand:

-The beginning of this novel is very gory! While I can understand why some gore might be put in the novel, I just didn’t expect this much.

(WARNING TO SENSITIVE PEOPLE! This book contains mentions of cannibalism and detailed and brutal injuries! )

-Some of the plot twists make some of the details confusing. For instance, there sort of was a love triangle, or was there?

-Some of the cliches were still there among the plot twists

Conclusion:

To be honest, most people either love or hate this book. I am one of the people that absolutely loves this even though parts of it can be a little cliche. I would definitely recommend this book; specifically to those of you that enjoy interesting science fiction or dystopian fiction. Altogether, Suvada did a very good job of making a 420 page whirlwind of a story, and I enjoyed every single page!

-Kaitlyn. ❤

 

Novel Settings: Should I Visit the Place I’m Writing About?

Hi everyone! Once again, my name is Kaitlyn, and I just wanted to speak to a subject that I have a strong opinion about. The big question that every author has when they are starting to write a novel: Where does this story take place? Whenever I begin to write and create a new story one of the first hurdles besides names that I  have to cross is to put the story into a certain time and place. This generally influences the entire plot or climax of the story which is why it is so vital. For instance, you wouldn’t set a story that the climax surrounds around getting water to survive, in Antarctica. While this seems decently straightforward, it really is not as easy as it looks. Sometimes you have to go back and rewrite the entire scene because you imagined it in a different setting and have to fix it.

This brings me to an important topic that I wanted to talk about. Should you travel to the place that you are setting your story in? My simple answer is: no. No, you do not have to always travel to the place you are writing about. A majority of the time that is not even physically possible due to the fact that it is set in a different time period or with inventions that have not been made yet. I do find it valuable if you can visit the setting of your book, but I don’t think that it is impossible to write a story in a setting that you have not visited. If your setting exists in real life, but you cannot visit for whatever reason, see if you can find someone who has visited or lived there. The other way is to do research either in a library or online. You can look at pictures to help with descriptions and read about customs.

There really is no magic equation for creating a realistic setting. I think that the characters and what they are doing help to fill out the setting, but they cannot create the entire setting. That is why they need us, the authors. We take the gaps in the plot or in minor conflicts and turn them into places we can set up the location for the rest of the novel. So, to summarize what I was trying to say is that it is definitely possible to create a realistic setting without physically visiting the place. I hope this helps anyone worried about how they are going to afford travelling to another country or state.

With much love,

Kaitlyn. ❤

The Introduction

Hello! My name is Kaitlyn Pierce and I am an aspiring author. I just wanted to share a little bit about myself. I am am still going to school and I’m studying science. I have a giant collection of books that I love and I also love the smell of new books or the smell of well cared for old books. I am not super picky with food, but one of my favorite foods is spicy yellow curry- closely followed by pizza. My absolute favorite type of weather is rain. I am currently in the process of writing 3 unrelated books and would love to one day have one of my books published! I lately have loved to read teen dystopian and science  fiction. I listen to almost any genre of music, but I love to listen to indie rock and alternative music. I also enjoy reading and hearing comments from followers and also finding out how I can connect more with all of you! Hopefully I can post some blogs soon so that we can keep getting to know each other!

With much love,

Kaitlyn. ❤