A wildly entertaining futuristic sci-fi thriller that addresses the idea of reproductive technology going too far. This is told from the perspective of 3 women - a surrogate, a bio technologist whose job is to prevent DNA from being stolen, and a journalist who is exploring her family background. The narrators were great and really brought this book to life. The twist at the end came out of a nowhere. A really great read.

I thought the narrator did a fantastic job with this book.

This was an interesting sci-fi light thriller that deals with the concept of stealing and selling DNA to create children without the other person's consent.

I don't really read a lot of sci-fi. I liked the idea of this one and found the plot to be horrifying, but it wasn't entirely my taste. I thought the book was well written and I think others may love it.

The book really slowed down for me after the first plot twist and it became more of a cat and mouse chase. I was also able to figure out the final twist and discern who all of the characters were before the end, so that took a little something away for me.

Overall, I would recommend it to those looking for a unique plot that's not so unrealistically futuristic that it remains chilling.

OBSESSED. The next big dystopian/speculative book. Recommending this to everyone I can! Fans of Blake Crouch and Emily St. John Mendel will love this.

It's hard to find a book that is so unique, so special in our age. But this book. It took hold of me from the first chapter and I couldn't put it down! The premise is so wonderfully unique, and completely captivating. I love that the thrill element of this book is driven by the question of "Will this be our reality?" I don't often give a 5 star rating, but this book immediately gets one from me. The plot is brilliant and I couldn't quite put my finger on the outcome, for which I am grateful. It was better and more rewarding than anything I could have foreseen.

Baby X is a new sci-fi thriller with mega Black Mirror vibes.
It’s best going in blind but simply put, this is a stalker-y, love triangle story about a scary future of lab pregnancies and DNA robbers. Imagine a not-so-distant future where DNA stealing is an underground black market and choosing your baby’s physical and emotional traits is as easy as picking out your next read.

I listened to this wild yet eerily conceivable story and found myself really intrigued by the premise but not entirely invested in the characters. At times I thought this would make a great movie but by the end, the male characters got on my nerves and the pacing had me a little spaced out. The narrator nailed the tone and characters though so that helped (and helped me to hate most of them 🙄).

I listened to an audiobook that had an intriguing premise and well-developed characters, making for an engaging and thought-provoking experience. The story centers around a mystery involving an unconventional method of having babies, which added a layer of suspense and curiosity that kept me hooked from start to finish.

The characters were exceptionally well-crafted, each with their own distinct personalities and backgrounds that made them feel real and relatable. Their interactions and development throughout the story were compelling and added depth to the narrative.

What really stood out to me was how the book made me think about the broader implications of this technology. While the method of having babies wasn't entirely new, the narrative delved into the darker, more complex aspects of such innovations. It showed that not all technological progress is purely positive, prompting me to reflect on the potential consequences and ethical dilemmas that come with it.

The audiobook was a fascinating listen. The combination of mystery, science fiction, and strong character development was enriched by thought-provoking themes that challenged my perspective on technology and its impact on society. If you enjoy stories that delve into the complexities of technological advancements and their ethical implications, this audiobook is definitely worth a listen.

I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, but this book was fantastic! I loved the multiple perspectives, and how all the narratives intertwined. I thought the characters were good, and really found the premise of the book incredibly suspenseful. I cannot imagine living in a world where someone can take any of your DNA and have a baby, nor could I have predicted the twist in this book! I would highly recommend this book for a unique thriller.

In this sci-fi book, a futuristic tech called "IVG" lets people in the US have babies using just a bit of their biology. They can choose specific traits for the embryo. However, a shady black market called "The Vault" steals DNA from celebrities like Trace Throne. Throne hires Ember Ryan to protect his DNA but faces a dilemma when a woman named Quinn claims he's her child's father.

Meanwhile, Lilly, conceived naturally, aims to uncover biases in selection clinics as a journalist.

The story follows Ember, Quinn, and Lilly as their paths cross. While it can be confusing at first, it becomes clearer later on. Fans of authors like John Marrs and Blake Crouch will enjoy this speculative fiction novel, earning it a solid 4-star rating.

I listened to the audiobook, and I highly recommend, if you are like me and don't typically gravite toward science fiction. It

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

Wow.

This was a wonderful book and nothing at all what I was expecting.

There are three points of view we get to hear throughout the story; Quinn, Ember, and Lily. All the voices are connected and you don't find out how until you read.

Set in the future with references to now, this story is somewhat timeless. I like that the future in this book isn't completely different from now, the advancements seem a lot more reasonable to me than they are in other books set in the future.

I also don't think the technology in the book is too far off and could actually be a thing in the future.

I love the different voices of each character and the story keeps you interested completely throughout. It didn't take me a while to get pulled in at all. I was all in from the very beginning.

First off we have Quinn, the surrogate, who is just getting to survive and live day by day without truly knowing what she wants in life. Then we have Ember, the extremely intelligent scientist who meets and falls in love with a rock star. Lastly, we have Lily, an intern at a paper who has tons of questions that she wants and needs answers too.

If you want to know what happens, get this book! It's a wonderful read and worth it to add to your read list.

i really enjoyed this sci-fi book! i wouldn't call this a thriller per se, but the pace picks up towards the end. it's sort of a mix between the two. while i did have some lingering questions about the futuristic world in this book, i thought the author did a good job establishing it and explaining the "science." the concept is interesting and well-executed---scientists can take anyone's DNA to create a baby, and potential parents can learn about of the genetic risks their baby might be predisposed to, going as far as selecting the embryo they want based on which qualities they would like their child to inherit. in this world, it's uncommon, and even shameful, to be a child conceived from sex alone (there's a term for it in the book but i forget what it is). there is also a black market type website where people can gain access to anyone's DNA for a pretty penny. the book doesn't get too science-y and was easy to understand (although, apologies if i'm not describing it in the best way!).

this book was told through three different women's viewpoints in third person, and the audiobook had a different narrator for each, i thought each POV was distinct and easy to understand. the main characters were easy to root for. i will say that at 60%, i guessed a big plot twist, but i am also a seasoned thriller reader so i was able to connect the dots. i still enjoyed seeing how the characters got to that point. i think the story is well plotted; it's not an obvious twist and can still shock readers! i do think some parts took some suspension of disbelief (that i won't go into because of spoilers), but i still overall enjoyed this book.

some quotes that stood out to me:
“Independence awaited at long last, a world full of exciting possibilities. The reality had turned out much quieter. It was hard to make friends in a new place, a new state, especially when people didn't often socialize in real life. That was the real reason why she had bought Thorne's chatbot at the show. Plain loneliness.”

"The erosion of privacy--both technological and biological--had been steadily occurring for decades. No one bothered to opposite it anymore."

“Real life didn't conform to desires, no matter how desperate. Innocent people suffered. Often there was no satisfying end, just a string of painful traumas and immeasurable grief.”

“'Do you ever wonder what's really you?' Lily asked. 'I mean, when you achieve something, is it because you were Selected to do it, or is it you, whatever that means?' 'Like where do my predispositions end and I begin?'"

"’No one's a blank slate. We all come into this world with our own set of tools, whether your parents choose them or not.'
'I'm just saying, maybe leaving it to nature isn't always so bad. It's not like Einstein was Selected.’"

i would recommend this if you like:
- The One by John Marrs
- discussions of the ethics of manipulating/selecting the genes of a baby
- female main characters that are easy to root for
- sci-fi thrillers set in the future

Baby X audiobook is out now. thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

The novel sets up a great premise, exploring the ethical and social nightmares of a designer-baby world. Peikoff weaves in a touch of romance as Ember and Trace grow closer, adding an interesting layer to the story. However, where you might expect a non stop thriller. the plot itself unfolds at a slower pace. The suspense builds gradually, and some might find the action less edge-of-your-seat than advertised.

Baby X is best suited for readers who enjoy thought-provoking science fiction with a dash of mystery. If you're looking for a book that will make you ponder the future of genetics and parenthood, Baby X is a 3-star read worth checking out.

I’m bored. This book is so not for me. It had a lot of potential but I can’t even pay attention and the narrator is dragging this on. I can’t force myself to listen to this. DNF for me. Sorry 😢

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kira Peikoff, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this story so I was pleasantly surprised how much I adored this story. This has clever world building that feels organic and logical. I don't want to give away too much about the plot because this is the best kind of twisty.
This is set about 50 or so years into future, with the exact year not specified. I like the way the future is handled, it feels familiar and foreign at the same time. In this future embryos are created in a lab and implanted into a uterus after a 'choosing' process of candidate embryos. It's very much like the movie Gattaca only this novel focuses on different inequalities. In a future in which viable embryos were relatively easy and affordable to create between any gender couple, it seems increasingly likely that surrogacy would become even more class locked as a viable career path. Especially with advanced medicine, longer lives and easier fertility. I find this horrifying and fascinating. Women and marginalized genders born with a uterus are already a heavily exploited class that is oppressed globally. What kind of poverty creates this career choice? How does it pay and what are it's benefits? As great as this future society is, it's clear unequal access to resources has devastating effects on society at large. It's a well played mirror of our current society and balances the freedom implied in practically 100% choice in conception.

I love the idea of future pregnancies being handled in a manner like this because it allows for almost 100% planned and wanted pregnancies. That's a comforting thought in a time of dwindling fertility rates combined with increasing abortion and birth control bans. This future of fast travel, longer lives, almost no disease or illness for the vast majority of that increased life span feels both centuries from our current reality and at the same time, just around the corner tech wise.
This story focuses on one of the few ways in which a child can still be born to an nonconsenting parent, DNA theft. World famous songbird Trace Thorne is protecting his DNA using a private firm created and run by Ember Ryan. Trace and Ember are much more than famous client and DNA protective service, they are also a couple. One night at a restaurant after eating they are approached by a woman who is pretty sure that her baby was created using Trace's DNA. The fallout from this interaction makes up the action of the novel.

The reveals are unexpected and draw the reader even deeper into the story. This is fast paced, well written, and intriguing in the extreme. I loved this and will definitely be following this author for future publications.

The narrators of this audiobook are Jennifer Jill Araya, Imani Jade Powers, and Abigail Reno. This was a fast paced, complicated story with scientific verbiage conveyed with increasing urgency and delivered with smooth efficiency. Exceptionally well done.

Thank you to Kira Peikoff, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

I really liked this one. It was very creepy and fascinating to explore the interplay between science and the cult of celebrity, and unfortunately felt eerily possible given our culture's seeming obsession with both these days... Peikoff does a really great job presenting her science in ways that are accessible and believable, and I enjoyed the multiple perspectives that fed into the tale, with the full implications and meaning of those perspectives all only coming together in the end. This was an engaging and intriguing story that I quite thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book truly shocked me, and I can usually predict twists from the get go. However, this one kept me on my toes and the twist has my jaw on the floor!! I absolutely loved it 🙌 It was clever, unique, and creepy. I have a physical copy of the book and I will definitely be adding it to my “loved” shelf section 🤗

Told through three different POVs, and many years in the future, this book discusses the novel evolution of reproduction, and the technology advancements we have had to "engineer" children. With this technological increase, there is a new concern... the risk of having your DNA stolen without your knowledge. Now that DNA can be obtained from seemingly basic items (plates, bottles, hair, etc.) the world's' "desirables" are being extorted for their DNA...

This was a very interesting read, and I enjoyed the premise. There is also a good twist at the end of the book. The audiobook was well-produced and enjoyable. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed "Brave New World" (however, I find this to be a bit less intense).

This was great! I really enjoyed this sci-fi thriller and I was hooked almost right away. This definitely felt like a Black Mirror episode and it was very gripping. I was in for the ride, the drama, and the intrigue, and it delivered. The journey to the end was better than the ending itself, but I'm not complaining. Everything felt so plausible about the science and it was also very easy to understand, which I appreciate.

If you're not a sci-fi person, I think this book is a good entry point because the blend of sci-fi and thriller makes it easy to get into. Overall, it was a solid read, I liked it a whole lot and I ate it up.

About the audiobook: it's not my favorite, tbh. The narrator doesn't do a bad job, it's just her delivery of certain dramatic moments wasn't great and it kind of took me out of the story. If I was only rating the audiobook performance, I would give it 3 stars.

4.5 stars rounded down

Baby X takes place in a future in which DNA has been weaponized. Celebrities hire bioguards to ensure their DNA is not sneakily stolen by a crook or rabid fan and used to create gametes. Parents create designer babies with the goal of having disease-free children, ideally with ‘elite’ features. This novel follows multiple POVs existing in this reality and raises all the questions you would expect in such a future.

I really enjoyed Baby X and as a woman in STEM, I’ve often thought of how terrifying gene altering can become in the future. Kira Peikoff wrote an intelligent novel with morally dubious characters. The prose is engaging and the story exciting.

The audiobook narrators were great and I thought they did a great job bringing the characters to life.

I would recommend this to fans of speculative fiction/science fiction and particularly to fans of John Marrs’ The One!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Baby X is a fascinating medical thriller set in a near future
world where babies are genetically selected for desirable traits.
We meet Quinn, a surrogate, Ember, a genetic bodyguard, and
Lily, an aspiring journalist, and follow their stories. Quinn agrees
to carry the child of her new friend and his deceased husband.
Ember falls in love with the pop musician whose DNA she's
charged with safeguarding. Lily delves into the world of the
selection process for embryos and hides her own secret that
she's an unforseen
I loved all the medical info in this one! Peikoff clearly knows
biology and explores it thoroughly. I can see how the level of
scientific detail might be too much for some readers, but it was
perfect for me. The final twist irked me, though. Unless i missed
some major clues, the reader was deliberately misled to make
this twist work. Those of you who have read this-did I miss
something?
Also, this was an audiobook for me...oved the three different
voices for the three different POVs, but detested Lily's narrator. I
had to turn up the speed and volume for her parts, and she had
a weird lisp thing going on that i found distracting.

I didn't know what to expect from Baby X by Kira Peikoff, but the blurb sounded intriguing. It was wild. While I must admit that it did take some willing suspension of disbelief about some scientific stuff (such as being able to turn saliva into sperm) I was still caught up in the "what-if" of it all. While the book is science-fiction, it really worked well as a thriller for this reader. I was so engrossed, I listened well into the night just to finish it. I HAD to know how it was going to end. The ending worked well and the characters were interesting. I would recommend this one to readers who are looking for a unique thriller experience and definitely to fans of writers such as Blake Crouch.