Incubation is a YA dystopian novel and is one of my new favorites! I got this for free on my Kindle but I’m seriously considering buying the rest (in paper format) because I’m so breathless over the ending. It took me a little while to get into after the initial grab but when things started really going I couldn’t put the book down!
The story takes place after a virus took out huge portions of the population and birds (bird flu) and then locusts and famine have left the country in the hands of an all controlling government. Everly is raised in a Kube, a government school-like facility where they raise children to be a part of society. But when she learns a secret about herself, and one about her best friend, she runs off to find solace and hopefully some truths.
The descriptions of the dilapidated world are great. I always felt like I was traveling with the group and trying to survive along with them. There is a ton of good fast paced descriptive action that I haven’t seen in a dystopian since I read Matched and I really loved it. The character descriptions are just as great and I felt like I would actually bond with the main character, yes I know it’s been a loooooong time since I’ve actually liked the main character, but in this case I’d even want to be her friend.
Unlike most dystopian novels Everly isn’t against the government and believes in what they are trying to do to repair the country and population. Even after some tragic stuff happens to her she doesn’t really become against the government, rather she wants to understand and find the truth. I really admire the story for that because most automatically jump into hating the government. It’s interesting because others in the story are clearly against government and government agencies but she isn’t.
This book does handle some pretty heavy issues though and at times feels relevant to today’s political issues. To read this book you should be open minded to hearing your possible ideas and beliefs being bashed and destroyed. It’s refreshing for me, to see a book so blatantly and unapologetically do things that might offend some.
I love that the story takes place in a bunch of different areas. Not as big as the Testing series, but still pretty different. The group she ends up with are super secretive and end up going to lots of different places to get their work done and I felt like the author enjoyed putting Everly and the gang in these situations. Again, I felt it was really descriptive and enjoyed it.
There is some love interest in the story that I am hoping to see blossom into something else in the next books. There is some switching of love interest but I wouldn’t say there’s exactly a love triangle going on. For a moment I thought it was going to be, but you’d have to read it to understand.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian and YA in general and probably someone who’s interested in just diving into Dystopian!
Overall, I give this book a glowing 4.5 stars, only because it almost lost me for a bit in the first ¼ of the book. I think that if I’m able to read the rest of the series it will be one of my favorites.
Ttyl,
❤ Squared 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐
Squared's Book Reviews 