This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada: Review and Giveaway!

Hello! Today I have a review and giveaway for you guys! I was lucky enough to meet Emily Suvada this week, and so I've got a signed copy of This Mortal Coil to give away today!

Here's my review of this great book to whet your appetite!

Title: This Mortal Coil

Author: Emily Suvada
Series:  This Mortal Coil, #1
Pages:  464
Publisher: Penguin Children's Books
Date of Publication: 2nd November 2017
Source: Waterstones
Synopsis from Goodreads: When a lone soldier, Cole, arrives with news of Lachlan Agatta's death, all hope seems lost for Catarina. Her father was the world's leading geneticist, and humanity's best hope of beating a devastating virus. Then, hidden beneath Cole's genehacked enhancements she finds a message of hope: Lachlan created a vaccine.

Only she can find and decrypt it, if she can unravel the clues he left for her. The closer she gets, the more she finds herself at risk from Cartaxus, a shadowy organization with a stranglehold on the world's genetic tech. But it's too late to turn back.

There are three billion lives at stake, two people who can save them, and one final secret that Cat must unlock. A secret that will change everything.

My Thoughts:
Catarina's futuristic world collapsed when a plague took over that causes the victims to explode into a pink cloud of super-infectious gas.  However, there is hope in her father, a super-intelligent geneticist who writes code that can change people's bodies.  He's developed a vaccine, and Catarina has to do what she can to unlock it and save the world from the Hydra virus.

From the very first page, This Mortal Coil had me hooked. This type of sci-fi thriller/post-apocalypse is not usually my first choice anymore so I was a little apprehensive at first, but after only one chapter I was completely pulled in.  Emily's world-building is insanely good - I often get bored in complex world-building (I'm not a fan of fantasy partly for this reason) but it was so easy and enjoyable to read.  Even though the science behind the Hydra plague and the gene-coding is fairly technical, I could keep up completely and somehow it's totally believable and interesting.

I really liked Catarina and the other characters. I liked how she was so loyal to her father and determined even in the most dire circumstances.  She was pretty badass at times too and she could fend for herself, so it was great to read such a strong and independent female character (yes girl power!).  The other characters were great too - my favourites were Cole and Leoben, the soldiers Cat teams up with.  Cat learns to trust them and she softens and grows, and as the relationship with Cole blossoms into more it feels totally natural and real which is refreshing!

The plot is insane. It's twist after turn and then another twist again. I was constantly surprised, and each one kept me reading more and more. I can't believe the twist at the end - I was so shocked! I must admit that I was a little confused at the end, but I think I was reading so fast as I was impatient to finish and find out what happened so I probably could have tried harder to take it all in. There's also a massive cliffhanger which always annoys me but just makes me so much more excited for the sequel, This Cruel Design. 

Overall, This Mortal Coil was a really engaging and exciting read, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I cannot wait to read more of the series (I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at the first two chapters and they did not disappoint) when it comes out in the autumn. I highly recommend this thriller if you're looking for something totally gripping, and for fans of series such as The Illuminae Files. I loved it!

So do you want to win this signed copy of This Mortal Coil? Comment below with why you want to read it, or head over to Twitter and retweet the giveaway tweet to be in with a chance to win! 

Giveaway T&Cs: Ends 1st April 3pm UK time. UK entrants only.