Review: Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Source: Received a copy from Penguin Canada for an honest review.

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: Already Released
Number of Pages: 288 (Paperback)

(Goodreads Link.)

Blurb from Goodreads:

Years ago, scientists began developing the ultimate military weapon: deadly sleeper assassins housed within the bodies of teenagers. Now, Subject Seven, the dangerous alter-ego living inside a 16-year-old boy, has escaped the lab and is on a mission. His objective? To seek out others like him and build an army capable of destroying their creators.

Hunter, Cody, Gene, Tina, and Kylie: five teenagers leading typical lives, until the day they each receive a call from a mysterious stranger and learn that their destinies are intertwined. Subject Seven holds the key that connects them all. And a vicious, bloody battle for their lives is just beginning.

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I loved the idea behind this book. I thought it sounded intense, and full of action, but when I read it, it kind of fell flat for me. After reading the book's description, I imagined that I'd get a more in-depth look into Subject Seven's head, but to be honest, even though he was narrating many of the chapters, it still felt like I wasn't in his head at all. Part of that seemed on purpose because of the fact that he was trying so hard to keep his normal counterpart out of his head, but it just made it hard for me to actually like, or even want to read about, the character.

The action was there, but as far as the characters go, I found it incredibly hard to connect with them. They were so detached, and when they did show emotion it was usually anger or confusion...which often left me confused. I think that readers who read more for action than for emotion might enjoy this book more. It was pretty graphic at times. I'm not squeamish about violence, so it didn't really bother me, but I definitely noticed that it was there. The characters didn't have any conscience about what they were doing either, so that made it seem even worse. I've always been someone who likes to connect and feel what characters feel, so that kept me from loving this book. I did like it, it was a pretty quick read, and the idea was great.

Also, the ages of the characters just didn't really add up for me. I understood that they had the sleeper assassins in them, but they still did not act their ages at all...even when they were their normal counterparts. It also skipped around a lot. Every other chapter was narrated by a different character, and sometimes the narration even changed partway through a chapter, which was confusing at times. The characters were supposed to be confused, so again I understood why this was done, but at the same time, I didn't like it. I don't want to be confused throughout a book, it's frustrating, especially because this confusion had nothing to do with trying to figure out some big puzzle or concept.

Overall, I thought that Subject Seven was a good story, but it was a so/so read for me. I think others would probably enjoy it more than I did, but be warned that if you like to know what a character is feeling or like feeling like you understand a character, you might not find it with this book, but maybe you'll be able to connect with it even though I didn't.

This was one of those books that I expected to really like, but it didn't quite satisfy me, have you ever had a book do that for you? If you did, what book was it and what were you disappointed in?

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur