Let me preface the review in saying, it's been a long time since I've gotten to the end of the novel and have literally screamed 'No' because it ended too soon. Animal Graph is set in an apocalyptic world where radiation has made a large perentage of humans mutatated and food sources scarce. One dictaraship/monarchy reigns, King Borran Khan who inherited the merged Americas from his father continues his father evil ideology. To strengthen his right to rule, Borran creates superhuman soldiers through the process of animal graphing. This process mixes the genes of animals indigenous to the Amazion jungle with that of humans. However, due to the infancy of this gene technology, Borran uses it only on a select few soldiers and premarily on criminals. This is how we meet our protagnise, Jin. She was imprisioned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed her brother and was selected for the Animal Graph program. After the graphing, criminal participants are released into the jungle and then they chased by graphed soldiers as a practice exercise. While on the run, Jin meets Adan, another graphed criminal and the two spend the next few days using their new found animal skills trying to elude capture. This novel is definitely more than what meets the eye, and its novel concepts will have you intrigued from start to finish. I truly cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment, and if Jin will be able to keep Jade, her jaguar like spirit animal.

A unique idea - which is what attracted me to the book in the first place. It's definitely solidly in the young adult genre, so if you don't love that genre, don't pick up the book. Technically well written, at a mostly decent pace. Some of the story tends to drag, and some of the flora/fauna mentioned that isn't explained outright is confusing to someone who isn't familiar with that area of South America. I would give a higher rating if I didn't have to stop and Google so many things.

It isn’t enough that the world as we know it has ended after a nuclear war. Now the beauty of the Amazon Jungle has become part of a heinous nightmare where prisoners, incarcerated for simply trying to survive in a world where the masses are yoked to their leaders become lab rats for horrendous experiments.

Human prisoners have become the hosts for animal cell and neural tissue grafting. These humans have also been connected by brain waves to chosen animals. When two prisoners escape into the jungle, their new abilities come to life in an effort to escape detection and find freedom. Jin and Adan must combine their talents and learn to trust one another in a desperate quest to survive in a world gone mad.

M.Black’s ANIMAL GRAPH is more than a dystopian tale from the creative genius of this author’s mind. It raises the question of survival of the fittest, of living in harmony and questioning what if the odds are artificially stacked against these new creations. As new senses come online, new abilities are discovered and evil is on their heels, will they learn that only the strong will survive, but will they find who the strong really are?

A thought-provoking read, told quickly and in a manner that leaves so much open for discovery. These characters were just beginning to flower as this tale ended.

I received this copy from Eloquent Enraptures Publishing.

Series: Graph - Book 1
Publisher: Eloquent Enraptures Publishing
Publication Date: June 7, 2017
Genre: YA fantasy | Post-Apocalyptic
Print Length: 157 pages
Available from: Amazon
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