Review- Solid by Shelley Workinger

Summary (author website):

Eighteen years ago, a rogue Army doctor secretly experimented with a chromosomal drug on unknowing pregnant women. When he was killed not long after the children were born, any knowledge and evidence seemed to die with him – except the living, breathing, human products of his work.

Almost two decades later, the newly self-proclaimed “open-book” military unearths the truth about the experiment, bringing Clio Kaid and the other affected teens to a state-of-the-art, isolated campus where they soon discover that C9x did indeed alter their chromosomes – its mutations presenting as super-human
abilities. The military kids, who come from across the nation and all walks of life, come into their own as lighter-than-air ‘athletes’; ‘indies’ as solid as stone walls; teens who can make themselves invisible and others who can blind with their brilliance.

While exploring her own special ability, forging new friendships and embarking on first love, Clio also stumbles onto information indicating that the military may not have been entirely forthcoming with them and that all may not be as it seems…

What I Expected: Shelley Workinger was kind enough to provide me with a copy of her book, and I’ve actually seen a few reviews for
Solid in the past, so I was totally expecting something awesome. I mean, genetically altered teenagers, conspiracy, mystery? Count me in for sure.

Story

I was blown away by Solid. It totally exceeded my expectations. I have no idea why, either, because I was actually expecting Solid to be
pretty good, and seeing all the praise around the book blogosphere helped those expectations, but it surpassed those, even.

I loved the writing in Solid; I loved the intricacy of American military described; I loved how the whole story felt as authentic as if I was reading a real-life account, and most of all, I loved the characters in Solid.

This book has a unique plot- I mean, how many genetically altered teenagers have you read about? On top of that, there wasn’t a moment when I didn’t stop wondering what was going to happen next in the story.

Okay, the bad guy was obvious as soon as the character in question showed a complete personality change in a certain situation I won’t disclose, but that didn’t ruin the story for me, because it was awesome seeing the characters piece it together themselves. Speaking of
which…

Characters

The MC Clio was one of the best I’ve read about in YA lit because of the fact that she was just so relatable. I could understand what she was going through, even though I’m obviously not someone with super-abilities.

And the male lead, Jack? Swoon-worthy. Again, the best thing about him was that he wasn’t some ultra-hot-perfect-guy sort of person, but a normal guy Clio found attractive.

The circle of friends- Garrett (who I LOVE!), Bliss, and Miranda were so amazingly developed that I felt like I knew each of them by the end of the book. They all had these personality quirks that made them so unique, and- well, I wish I was one of those in this tight-knit circle, almost, because they all seemed so inseparable. And did I mention that I LOVE Garrett?

Parting Thoughts: Solid was one of those books I just couldn’t stop reading. It had a great ensemble of characters, a unique storyline, and most of all, a down-to-earth feel that makes you feel connected to the main characters even though they couldn’t be any more different from you. And the amount of authenticity of teenager slang is commendable. For the most part (except the ‘fo shizzle,’ maybe), we actually do talk like that.

Rating: 4.5/5. I can’t wait for the sequel! That teaser at the end made me wish I had the next book with me RIGHT NOW.

Buy at: Amazon