Control Duology

control

Lydia Kang

- 4.3 • 23 Ratings

- $7.99

- $7.99

For fans of Uglies comes a spiraling, intense sci fi thriller.

"Control blew me away. The twists and turns and suspense made for a thrilling ride. Zel is as authentic a character as I've read in a very long time. Highly recommended" - James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner

Set in 2150 -- in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms -- this is about the human genetic "mistakes" that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

When their overprotective father is killed in a terrible accident, Zel and her younger sister, Dylia, are lost in grief. But it's not until strangers appear, using bizarre sensory weapons, that the life they had is truly eviscerated. Zel ends up in a safe house for teens that aren't like any she's ever seen -- teens who, by law, shouldn't even exist. One of them -- an angry tattooed boy haunted by tragedy -- can help Zel reunite with her sister.

But only if she is willing to lose him.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY OCT 14, 2013

Kang's medical bona fides are on display in this SF debut. In a near-dystopian future, states have consolidated, education is via online holo, and people live under the agriplane, an elevated platform where crops are grown. Zelia, 17, and her younger sister, Dyl, move from state to state with their father's work, never getting attached to any one place. After being orphaned by a freak accident, Zelia and Dyl are thrown into a foster system that tears them apart when they are claimed by rival "safe houses" that either shelter or take advantage of "illegal" children who have been genetically altered. Zel must negotiate a relationship with her new family, including a four-armed boy and a girl who's part plant, and rescue her sister from a nightmare world of drugs and sexual exploitation. With a lot of world-building to chew on in the first half, the story comes close to bogging down, but it quickens as Zelia comes into her own, using her scientific education and strengths she never knew she had. A sweet, edgy romance rounds out this smart, futuristic medical thriller. Ages 12 up.

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