Book Review: Altered by Jennifer Rush

Title: Altered

Author:  Jennifer Rush

File type:  ebook

Release date: January 1^st,  2012

Genre: YA,  paranormal, adventure

When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?
Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them. 
Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.
Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Ehhh…what to say about this book? First of all, it reminds me of Elemental series which I didn’t like. It was a little bit better, but still not good enough.

I wanted to start this year with a paranormal novel since I haven’t read one in ages. They usually end up disappointing me. There aren’t many PRN novels I enjoy. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up and a lot of tricks authors use don’t work on me any more.

As the blurb tells you, Anna runs with ‘altered’ boys after they escape from secret agents. She has a crush on Sam who is a leader of the group. Other boys are Nick, Cas and Trav. Nick is as I put it like a grumpy old grandpa; Cas who is offering a comic relief and is always hungry and Trav, Anna’s best friend who has a photographic memory.

There aren’t many boring parts of the book except the start but the story was way too predictable and had a lot of holes. I wasn’t fond of the number of killings in it. Way too many people died like it was no big deal. The mole was so obvious and I knew who would get shot from the start.

Romance was not believable and I didn’t see why should Anna and Sam be together. Sure he was tough and very protective towards his friends. But all in all, nothing new.

What I did like about this book were the characters- Nick and Cas and that amazing cover. Cas was a goofball and Nick was there sort of like my representative. He would say the things I felt. The cover was eye catching and the tattoo on Sam’s back has a lot to do with the storyline, though when I found out what it represented I thought it was a little bit too much.