Thursday, December 29, 2016

Book Review: Natural Selection by Malinda Lo

Image (c) Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Natural Selection (Adaptation #1.5) by Malinda Lo
Release Date: September 3rd, 2013
Book Format: eBook
Rating: Five Stars
I was born on Earth, not Kurra. I'm not human,even though I try to be. My people, the Imria, think I'm a little unusual because of that. They call me an Earthsider: as if I've crossed a line, chosen a side. Gone native.
Before she met her girlfriend Reese, before she knew the role she would play in the fate of two worlds, Amber was a fifteen-year-old Imrian torn between two identities. Imrian by blood, Amber was forced to hide her true self to pass as human during the time she spent on earth. And even when she returns to Kurra, her human experiences, including first love and heartache, still separate her from her fellow Imrians. But when Amber undergoes kibila, a traditional Imrian coming-of-age ceremony during which Amber will choose her name and identity for the next fifteen years, she will be forced to either accept her role in both worlds or forge her own path.

Malinda Lo's digital exclusive novella companion to Adaptation and Inheritance takes readers on a journey through Amber's past, giving fans a glimpse into her life on Kurra and a deeper understanding of one of Adaptation's most compelling characters.

I’ve fallen in love with both Adaptation and Inheritance and I feel slightly ashamed that I didn’t hear about this novella until after I finished the second book in the series. I’m not complaining, of course. I’ve been craving to learn more about Amber, even more so when I finished the second book. But, most of all, I wanted to learn more about her home called ‘Kurra’ and this would hopefully hold me over until the third book is released.

Natural Selection focuses on Amber before she met Reese- before the events of Adaptation even happened. This focuses on a fifteen year old Imerian of her experiences on the planet Earth and her experience of going through kibila- as explained in the book description on Goodreads, a traditional Imrian coming-of-age ceremony during which Amber will choose her name and identity for the next fifteen years- side by side. It switches back and forth between Earth and Kurra between each chapter, highlighting just how different and how similar these two places really are.

On Earth we concentrate on Amber (who was known under another name at the time) and her adventure, before she returned back to Kurra, on a school field trip camping with her close friend Morgan. She gushes throughout the story how much she likes Zach although Amber thinks otherwise, but she deals with it… if only if it means she gets to stick close to Morgan herself.

It’s a short book but I feel like that I’ve learned a lot about Amber during this short time with her. She finds herself stuck between two worlds and two cultures. I won’t say much about it, since explaining it would spoil the actual book and it’s worth reading about her yourself rather than hearing about it from a reviewer, but it was interesting to see a glimpse on how she tried to handle things and how she tried to remain herself during the trials.

(Highlight the text for spoilers.) I will admit, however, that I gushed when she left the trip with a particular necklace similar from one of her teachers showed her: a piece of amber with a piece of curled frond inside of it. Although I doubt that it’s a genuine piece (but I doubt many places who sell items that are ‘genuine’), it clicked in my head on how she decided to change her name to Amber and that despite all the bad that happened during the trip the teacher still influenced her positively.

I still wonder if she returned back to that place to see Morgan and many of her classmates again. But, still, it’s a minor thing and I still loved this little ebook and I can’t wait for the third book. If you have read Adaptation and/ or Inheritance and loved it, I would highly recommend this but it’s not necessary to continue the series. If you want a bit of insight on this secondary character, though, this will be more than just a treat.

Originally posted and shared on December 11th, 2013



No comments:

Post a Comment