Perception by Lee Strauss

Perception by Lee Strauss
Published: 12th September 2012
By: ESB Publishing
Source: Amazon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book with a blue cover for my January challenge. That's what I was looking for when I discovered Perception on my kindle, and that's about how much I knew about it too, that it had a blue cover. But I thought I'd give it a go anyway, and I'm just so glad that I did, that I found this gem hidden away on my kindle, maybe never to be discovered. I've so many books on my kindle I know I'll never get to read them all. That's the reason why I'm participating in these challenges, to try get through some of the books I already own and only request/buy ones that I'm waiting on or that sound like something I'd really enjoy.

Lee Strauss was an author I'd never heard of, but on finishing this book, I discovered that it's a pen name of Elle Strauss, whom I have come across and have more of her books on my kindle. I'll be more inclined to get around to picking those ones up now.

So, Perception is a sci-fi, with some mystery and romance too. Zoe is a GAP, a genetically modified person who lives longer than a normal person, never gets sick, is extremely beautiful, you get the gist, superior in every way. GAP's are extremely wealthy and live in gated communities, a kind of utopia, away from the naturals, who live on the "outside."

Noah is a natural, and like his father before him, leads protests the GAPs and the unfairness that they can lead such better, superior lives because they can afford it. To undergo genetic modification costs €750,000 per person, so obviously, it's the minority who can afford it.

But when Zoe's brother Liam goes missing, and Zoe doesn't feel as though she can trust anyone. Liam's chip is gone, and even the police appear cagey. The only person she thinks might be able to help her is Noah Brody, the maids son, and he hates GAPs. But Zoe needs to find him.

She ventures to the outside, LA, a place she's never been before, with fear and trepidation. She finds the building where Noah was protesting, and spots him at a church not too far away. Disguised as a natural, she tries to get some information about her brother from Noah and his friend Dexter. It doesn't take Noah long to figure out who she really is, and to her surprise, he agrees to help her.

Such a great read, this book was everything I enjoy. The main characters were really great, though for the first few pages I didn't think I was going to like Zoe. She thought a lot of herself and felt she was better than anyone who wasn't a GAP. But when her brother goes missing, she comes back to earth with a bump. Noah, on first impressions, seems quite grouchy and hard done by. But when you get to know him, you realise he's only like that around the GAPs. But as these two warm up to each other, it's impossible not to fall in love with them. Both of them, especially Zoe, change their way of thinking completely, and as they fall for each other, it's just fantastic. Before Zoe gets to know Noah, she doesn't find him attractive at all, but everytime she meets him, she feels like he's getting better looking each time. I really enjoyed how this romance was written.

I didn't actually read the blurb of this book until after I'd finished the book, but it mentions "exploring the clash between faith and science," if I had read this beforehand, I might have thought it had a lot of religious undertones, so just to let you know, it doesn't.

I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this book. It's only 99c on Amazon and so worth it.

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