Boy X by Dan Smith (274 pages), started off terribly slow. I picked this book solely off of its cover because the main character looked like a person of color. I am always ecstatic for some diverse fiction.

"It might help if there is someone to share it with you, someone to strengthen you, but sometimes you have to accept things for what they are- learn to live with them" (pg 51).

STORY:
I was not super enthused with the beginning. It felt like a lot of telling and not enough showing. Also, Isabel just magically appeared like, "Hey boo, I'm 'bout to be a main character." I understand Ash, the actual main character, did not know anyone, and the first person he saw was her, but I wish their introduction would have been more imaginative.

This is a really dark book for kids due to all the deaths, viruses, and again that dystopian flavor. For me, it teeters between Young Adult and Children's Fiction because the subject matter is mature, but the writing itself seems like it's catered to a younger audience than teens.

CHARACTERS:
Ash starts out as a confused kid who does not know anything or himself, really. To be honest, nothing jumped out to me about Ash's personality. He was somewhat like a reader-insert because he behaved how the average person would with his circumstances. With that being said, I did not dislike them and I thought his "I am Ash McCarthy" mantra was cute.

Besides Isabel's boring uneventful introduction, I liked her. She's been dealt a crazy situation and tries to maneuver through it while being Ash's emotional support. She was not a damsel-in-distress either.

OVERALL:

"Like a superhero?"

"No." He felt embarrassed at the suggestion. "Not like that. More like..." He tried to think of a way to explain it. "More like when you play a video game for the second time and it lets you keep all the upgrades" (pg 124).

It took at least a hundred pages for this book to become exciting. I almost dropped it on page 83, but I am glad I stuck with it.

The reveal of what Ash's mother was really working on in the laboratory, from the mouth of the least-expected person, kept my interest. I think Boy X's strength was in its climatic moments, which is ironic because most books have better build-ups and bad climaxes ( )

Ash wakes up in a biosphere on an island in central america. How did he get here from England and where's his Mum? Not long after meeting a girl called Isabelle, all hell breaks loose and he witnesses one group of soldiers shooting down a helicopter - the way Ash came to the Island. After the soldiers leave to try to reach a boat on the other side of the island, Isabelle takes Ash to the lab where they discover that his mum and her dad have been infected by a deadly virus and they have 24 hrs to get the antidote which is with the soldiers.
Ash and I must travel through the jungle which is populated by enhanced species from previous testing but they aren’t the only ones as Ash himself notices his cuts heal too quickly, his senses are all enhanced and his reaction times are super quick. Not to mention the white streak in his hair and the change in eye color too. First bit drags out a bit. ( )