Alien meets Jurassic Park. ( )

What had a great premise, lacked in character development. I felt there were so many things unanswered and left a hole in my satisfaction of a conclusion. I feel it was not quite descriptive as it could have been. Maybe like I was reading an abridged version of one if my other 600 ya books I own. It's just lacking something. That it factor. ( )

Teen prisoners held on a spaceship manned by a handful of humans and some powerful AI would be thrilling enough, but throw in an invasion by a highly intelligent and ruthless alien race and you have the ingredients for quite a nail biter.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story but wish I didn’t have to wait long for the sequel. ( )

Caryn Lix's debut young adult novel "Sanctuary" is set in a space prison far above Earth. Not just any space prison, though, this one holds hundreds of teens with special powers, that have been incarcerated for various reasons. From simply flying in the wrong place to murder, there's a wide variety of people in there, and Kenzie, the main character and only viewpoint, is a junior prison guard living on the station with her parents. Her life will be and always has been about her citizenship and the prisoners. A corporation called Omnistellar not only runs the lives of the prison guards, but also the lives of rich people everywhere, giving them a special citizenship that comes with a quality of life that others just don't get to have. All that changes one day, when a false alarm leads to a real emergency on the prison, when only her and her mother are on board. Kenzie is kidnapped by the prisoners, and used as a hostage to get what they want, until something more sinister shows up.

I had a lot of questions while I was reading this book, and most of them were answered only with, it's a mystery how it happened. I couldn't quite picture the characters, and I really felt like I was missing something, like reading the second book in a series. That being said, the story was mostly solid, and I could easily imagine the world the characters were in, and the monster's that surrounded them. At the beginning of the book Kenzie trusts the company and Sanctuary completely, but slowly the prisoners change her mind. Is that because of Stockholm syndrome or is that because they actually have a good reasoning? Is Omnistellar just another evil corporation? Only time will tell.

I would say this book is a mix between Alien, and X-Men, but written for teenagers. If you like those things, you may find that you like this book as well. The cover caught my eye immediately, and the description sounded like something that would be right up my alley. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this book, it's just not my new favourite. My one final question is, will there be more for the characters? The ending left a lot to the imagination. I'm curious to see what the author's next move is.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon, and another link to the Author's twitter.

https://amzn.to/2LFsPT5

https://twitter.com/Missrithenay?lang=en

Thanks for reading!
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com) ( )

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon Pulse and Caryn Lix for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Rating 4.5 stars.

Okay, so I was soooo into this book that I didn’t notice I was reaching the end. And there had better be a sequel because I had no idea the book was ending. I mean, come on, give a girl a head’s up! I literally thought I was missing chapters. I thought, hmmm I have an ARC where the author actually forgot to include the ending. But nope, that’s the ending I’m stuck with until Caryn Lix decides to write another book.

I knew it was great from the first sentence, first page, first chapter. I was reading something else when I received the ARC and I was so excited I would read a sentence here or there, a paragraph if I was lucky and then I would get pulled away. But it stuck with me and I couldn’t wait until I could just sink my teeth into it.

Here we have Kenzie, an Omnistellar company girl who tows the line. She is part of a team that includes both her parents and a small number of guards that protect the safety of a prison that houses humans with extra special powers. Not just any humans, but this prison is full of kids. Aliens visited Earth and when they left certain people were left with special powers. For those who abused their powers they were sent to a prison housed on a planet. Adults on one prison planet and kids on another. Both of Kenzie’s parents have brought her up to respect the company, be loyal and appreciate the life that working for the company has afforded them. Kenzie is a little lost because her parents are getting a divorce and her dad is returning to Earth. Her mother is especially strict and when they are at work, very impersonal. Kenzie is now a junior guard and the company expects a lot from their employees, including, if necessary, putting their life on the line. I mean, all of these kids are criminals. They have abused their powers, endangered humans, had a trial and were sentenced to serve until they are eighteen years of age. A safety drill turns into a prison break and Kenzie is taken hostage. They need her to help them break out and get off this planet. Kenzie starts to realize that not all is as it seems. Maybe the company hasn’t been as fair to these kids as she thought. They certainly weren’t these animals intent on hurting humans as she was led to believe. How much of a hardened criminal can a 9 year old be? Yes, their powers can be scary but soon Kenzie’s whole world starts to turn upside down as she begins to bond with them. Especially their leader Cage. It’s not only his super speed that is making her heart race. But getting off the planet becomes a real priority as they learn that they are not alone. There is something far more sinister and far more alien that is hunting them down.

In case I didn’t make it obvious I loved this book. The action was exciting, the monster scary and alien. The world that Lix created was so interesting. Why did the aliens visit Earth? Why did the leave people with powers? We never get to know much about the alien story. I assume we will get to know more in the upcoming books. But there is enough juicy bits that I want to know it all. And the powers that people have. They fly, they read minds, they meld with computers, they are invisible and they are fast like The Flash. I loved all of the characters, their relationships and their interrelationships. Yes, Kenzie and Cage! What a sweet romance. But I wanted to know more about all of them, their backstories, all of it. Kenzie is a strong female lead. She is smart, strong and arc of learning that the world is never as simple as it seems is handled so well. Don’t become too attached - characters will die so stay on your toes. This is making it into my classroom library because I think kids will love it. There wasn’t much I didn’t love except the ending. It was so abrupt it was like finishing in the middle of a sentence. Even if there are sequels shouldn’t you close off the first book? It just was a little unsatisfying, but I still can’t wait for the next book. ( )