I’m really enjoying this author!

The way the stories converged into one was done seamlessly. I figured out the big twist a bit early, but I still enjoyed the ride. I love the dystopian we aren’t there yet but will be there before we know it element to her stories. 3 narrators with distinct POV’s and what appears to be a linear timeline. A quick and enjoyable read with likeable main characters.

When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder-or the craziest stalker-in this propulsive thriller. With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff's Baby X. In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person's cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived.

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for letting me get my hands on this early!

I was absolutely taken aback by how much I enjoyed this unique thriller. It seamlessly blends elements of a domestic thriller with those of a medical thriller. What makes it truly chilling is that it's set in the not-so-distant future, and the plausibility of the events depicted sent shivers down my spine. The idea of stolen DNA, genetically engineered babies, and the notion of "shopping" for your child created a perpetual state of goosebumps as I delved deeper into the story. I relish narratives that feel alarmingly close to reality, as it adds an extra layer of thrill to the reading experience. And that twist at the end? It was nothing short of EPIC!

A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author for providing an ARC of this book. When it releases you can be sure I'll be adding it to my permanent collection.

Wow, what a fun ride!! Baby X is a unique and fast-paced science-fiction/medical/bioethics thriller about the dangers (and rewards) of engineering children. Baby X takes place on a future earth where, instead of having sex to create children, parents provide DNA samples to a lab. The lab then creates pluripotent stem cells from the sample, creates eggs and sperm, and engineers several embryos for the parents to choose from. The parents then choose (based on the stats and risk assessments) which embryo will be implanted for pregnancy.

This book contains everything we want in a sci-fi thriller: Morally grey heroines, total psychopaths, engineered babies, stolen DNA, kidnappings, celebrity stalking, family secrets, and a good dose of bioethical moral dilemmas. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! Baby X is described as Black Mirror meets Gattaca, and this was so true. I am always looking for sci-fi books that parallel the existential themes in Black Mirror, but it is so hard to find good ones that are grounded and focused. Kira Peikoff nailed it!

Kira Peikoff was compared to Blake Crouch and John Marrs in the book's description, and I could not agree more. Since science-fiction can be extremely intimidating to newcomers, especially if it is "hard" sci-fi, the niche sci-fi/thriller genre is an incredibly attractive entry point for people who want to dive in for the first time. As a science-fiction veteran reader, I can honestly say that some sci-fis are just flat out dry. I am so grateful to authors like Kira Peikoff for demonstrating that science-fiction can be speculative in a grounded way, while meeting the needs of readers who want more than jargon and engineering blueprints from their reading experience. Science-fiction does not always have to occur in the "out there" regions of space. Sometimes the most poignant stories are the ones that feel much closer to home... This is one of the ways Baby X sources its power.

Baby X made me feel hopeful, even though it also caters to that delicious "angst" we love from Black Mirror. Perhaps we are not so very far away from a similar earth experience where we can bring children into the world with the confidence that they will have the best chances of succeeding in life without dealing with horrific diseases or unnecessary suffering. Baby X is a symbol of how we are asking the big questions and preparing ourselves for such a time in the near future!

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC, so I could read this early. I feel incredibly lucky, and cannot wait to buy the hard copy version! Can someone please convince the author to write more Black Mirror-esque books? I am obsessed!

WOWOWOW! This was suchhhhh a good book. I’m actually sad it’s done with, I wanted more about their lives. I don’t expect the turn in this book at all and I didn’t feel like it was easily guessed.
I loved the attenuation to detail of what the world is like in 2050.

Wow! The plot is very unique, but it definitely drew me quickly. It was exciting to read something with a futuristic plot but so different to anything else I've read before.

4.5 rounded up
I could not believe how much I liked this unique thriller. Combination domestic thriller with medical thriller. Set in the not too distant future, I could totally see this happening, and that what makes it so creepy. Stolen dna, engineered babies, shopping for your child, I had permanent goosebumps on me while reading this. I love reading things that could very well happen, gives an extra layer of thriller to it. Plus that twist at the end, EPIC!

Review also posted to instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CxiDjArAn8P/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author for an arc of this book. Will definitely be adding this to my permanent collection when it releases mar 5/24

Thanks @crookedlanebooks for this @netgalley ARC of Baby X, which will be haunting my every waking (and possibly sleeping) moment for the rest of my days!!!!

I am!!! Not okay!!!

Honestly, I did a violent full-body shudder on more than one occasion while reading this. There is so much more than I could even get into without making this review as long as the book itself.

Scientific discovery has allowed for any person’s DNA to create both egg and sperm - which means any person’s DNA can be used to create a child (whether they know it or not).

In a world where coveted DNA is sold by The Vault - an untraceable and highly immoral organization that specializes in providing high-profile DNA to anyone willing to pay - it’s in your best interest to be careful to leave nothing behind.

Musician Trace Thorne has had his own gametes up for sale on the Vault, and is determined to not let it happen again. Which is where Ember Ryan comes in.

Ember knows just how easy it is to obtain DNA non-consensually; from the traces on the edge of a coffee cup to a stray hair left on the arm of a chair - and she will (and does) everything to keep her clients safe.

But when a young woman named Quinn approaches her and Thorne with the news that she believes she’s currently carrying his (surrogate) child, all three of them are thrown into a whirlwind that no amount of vigilance could have prepared them for.

Because in a world where DNA is everything, some secrets have become a lot more dangerous.

The worldbuilding is fun and the idea is very creative, but ultimately those three POVs made the story drag too much.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Baby x.
Set in the future where dna belonging to celebrities is stolen and sold on the market like candy. Expensive candy that is.
A rich famous rocker is one of those sought after celeb. And they want to have his baby. And in this future it doesn’t take much to get his dna without even knowing or touching him.
Science fiction and good plot. 3 stars!!

I really liked this book. It was an interesting take on the future and ethical issues that might come up. It definitely kept my attention but the only thing I had trouble with was the pacing - the middle was a bit slow and the end felt rushed. Nonetheless, this was a very good book. Highly recommend!

I haven’t completely finished yet but I wanted to write a little review for people who are maybe looking at requesting. This book is soooo good and completely different it’s like nothing I’ve ever read before it’s so unique interesting crazy. I can’t imagine if it actually came true. I would definitely be picking this book !!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Once I read the description about stolen celeb DNA being sold to make babies.. I knew I was going to love it. I love the futurist elements in the story and all the twists. So many at different times. I literally gasped when I got to the last chapter. Definitely gave me Black Mirror vibes and I need more!