Monster

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, and it may be a case of “it's me, not the book”, but ... I don't think so. I don't know what the actual tags are for this, but I think I saw ‘romance horror' or something like that but for me this didn't work as either.The story takes place in the present or near future. It centers around a company called Vertex (think Amazon + FB + Google + [insert multinational pharmaceutical] + [insert multinational arms conglomerate]) and it's tentacle-like grip on society and its employees. The company's public image is the medical field and their unceasing efforts to eliminate disease and make humanity better. Sounds like a plan most people can get on board with, though I can't say it's my jam. off on a tangent(I think the MC and the author's views on death are very doomsday, perhaps naive, and ultimately unrealistic IMO.) This is the first volume in a 3 book series and it's understandable that a large portion is set up or world building, which I am okay with, however most of the book is just hinting at all of this. I got a sense of the company itself or rather its physical building: the layout, structure, and culture of its different departments. I quite enjoyed this portion. It's atmospheric and the author succeeds in creating tension and foreboding about what's around the corner, however he lost me with two major disappointments. Being somewhat acquainted with popular dystopian movies/books, the reveal wasn't one as such. I knew where this was going at about 30%, which I wouldn't have minded, I'm always up for a good retelling of an old story, but the story is told in first person POV by the Jarod Samuels, and poor Jarod is ... ugh. More on him in a bit. If we are, to a point, in a well defined universe inside of the Vertex complex, the same can't be said about the outside world. We have zero sense of the world outside. The characters seem to inhabit a world where their only human interactions are at work (save one exception) and every other relationship is in the past and off-stage. While this might be true, and perhaps indicative of the characters isolation and drone-like existence, I didn't read it that way. I would've appreciated a look of the outside world to compare & contrast to the world of Vertex. Now we come to our hero, Jarod Samuels. Jarod is 27? going on 15 and not the sharpest tool in the shed. He's gay but a bit uptight about people knowing, though it doesn't seem like anyone cares. His parents were emotionally cool or distant and his only close relationship is with Vanessa “Nessa” Wong, a top researcher at Vertex, and with his former track coach, Georgia Bennett. There's a one time, almost throwaway, mention of a HS fling, but it's just never revisited. It seems he peaked in high school, establishing & holding a record for track, and now he works at Vertex. He's the best runner for the garbagemen until 21 year-old Gabriel Anderson arrives. Jarod narrates the whole story and being inside his constantly doubting everything anyone does or says, including himself gets exhausting. He goes from “Nessa is my best friend, she's saved my life blah blah blah” to “why is she doing this? what does she want” etc. He's either inconsistent, ungrateful, or a schizophrenic. The latter would be a more palatable option. Anyway ... as soon as Gabriel appears Jarod goes from “who is this punk come to usurp my role” to “I need to take care of him and know everything about him”. This is par for the course in romancelandia but I never bought into the romance between these two. Jarod is lonely and Gabriel is just looking for someplace to belong and feel safe. Good relationships have been forged on less but these two are just a bit unbelievable. First they go through a few weeks of “will they won't they” with no real conversation between them. And that is the glaring hole in this relationship. These two NEVER talk about anything. Jarod assumes, surmises, misinterprets, and when all these fail, spies on Gabriel instead of asking a question. It's like bad movies where something super important must be conveyed, but “not now, we don't have time”. Gabriel on the other hand is a bit of a child in his outbursts & reactions to almost everything. He pouts, he's coy, he wants to be dominated, he doesn't want anyone in his business, he ignores every warning, and is later horrified by the job he signed up for ... ugh!!! Stop it already. What is the job, you may ask? They're called garbagemen and they are except the garbage they clean up is not what your local sanitation department picks up at the curb. If you've read any [a:Philip K. Dick 4764 Philip K. Dick https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg], seen any movies about genetic mutations/experimentations you know where the story is going and the first half had me hooked. The writing is pretty good and I was enjoying the world set up. The problem is that that was about 80% of the book, along with the “romance” (the quotations are intentional) between the two most boring teenagers i.e. Jarod & Gabriel, who for some bizarre reason refer to each other by their surnames. The outcome can be seen from miles away and they're is a cliffhanger which I was expecting and not mad at, it's just that there was nothing surprising or particularly scary. There were elements of some X-Men movies and those might scare you more. Or maybe I'm just a calloused, hard assed reader. Could be. Despite my moaning I'll read the follow up, because I own it, and at heart I'm an optimist. I hope Jarod grows a brain and that he and Gabriel reach a semblance of adulthood. I also I hope any other readers get better mileage than I did.