This book was a cross between Lois Lowry’s The Giver and the X-Men series, and I’m hooked!

The storytelling in The Diseased Ones is very honest in a perfectly constructed dystopian setting. While featuring a narrator who was taught to conceal emotion, the honesty of her inner monologue made it easy to connect with this character that a lot of readers would possibly find “unlikeable.” I particularly enjoyed scenes when Hollis interacted with her peers. The supporting characters were very fun to get to know, and Hollis’s reactions were all very genuine and true to the story and character. 

My main issue was the abrupt ending to the novel. I believe the intent was to set up a heart-wrenching cliff hanger, but it really just came across as poor story structure (or an ebook glitch). My opinion is that the true end of book one is after the first few chapters of book two - where there’s still a lot of tension and suspense leaving you wanting to know what happens next!

I am so grateful for the author, who provided me the ebook as part of my ARC read for The Empowered Ones, for introducing me to my newest dystopian YA obsession. I’m so excited to be on this journey!