This fascinating look at the future of genetics is worth the read. Consisting of several stories at different points, readers need to consider this a series of chronological vignettes that lead to a greater picture of where playing God could lead. Readers will be thinking about the characters and scenarios long after they finish the book.

What happens when we manipulate our DNA? Could the science be used to better humanity or be the root of new evils? Fusing organs to save a life? Manipulating genes for vanity? Or to create a super human intended for slave work? Brilliantly told in six stories that span hundreds of years, we read the what-ifs of genetic manipulation. The author touches on political strife among countries regarding the different points of view, but mostly on the humans touched by this manipulation and the entire human race. Each character is carefully crafted and so well-written that they are so relatable. While the concepts are high level, the sexual content is acceptable for middle school and up. Fast-paced and highly engaging. Highly recommend!

Okay so a couple things: this isn't a linear story (though there is a bit of a connection throughout all the stories), and for me, it took a bit to get into. The premises being Black Mirror-adjacent is what grabbed me, and the concept is really interesting. One thing I appreciated is that throughout these stories, we're seeing the same kind of things that happen today - discrimination in so many ways, and a question of how we choose who gets these special things while others don't - and it was interesting to see those issues translate into technology.

I liked it okay, but this isn't one that grabbed me or one that I'll read again, so I'm giving it two stars.

***Actual Rating: 4.5/5 Lucky-to-be-Human Stars***

Oh, man, this book makes me feel so good about being a human. To begin with, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful consists of six stories, demonstrating six different (yet somehow connected) scenarios of what artificial intelligence (A.I.) may be capable of in the near future. Each story showcases how the cyborgs may coexist with human beings and start to blend in our initial world without being noticed at first. Unlike what most of us believe, these robotic creatures may not want to wipe the entire human race out. They’re quite easy to get along with and they’re also social animals, just like us! The only significant difference between these cyborgs and humans is that the former are nearly immortal (well, technically, they are not mortals but still!), and that scares me a little. *You’ll see why when I further elaborate…*

Since there are six short stories in this book, I’ll just break down my thoughts into six parts as well. Here we go…
-----
[PART ONE // Cyborg Twins]

The first story is about a twin brother trying to live for his dying twin sister because her body’s failing her. However their parents are in disbelief, the doctor insists that the brother should accept his sister’s organs, including her heart, so that at least one of the twins can stay alive. As bizarre as it seems, pumping another person’s heart to live may be the only solution for the twins, and I’m surprised by the invisible yet strong bond cyborgs have. What impresses me more is that A.I. twins do exist! Honestly, before reading this story, the idea of cyborg twins has never ever come across my mind. So color me shock when learning this teeny tiny fact about them!
-----
[PART TWO // Cyborg Couple]

Milla is a part-human, part-robot creature while Gabriel is a human. They sort of have a crush on each other but after Gabriel takes advantage of Milla catches a glimpse of what Milla’s made of, he may not seem to be as reliable as a boyfriend should be. People talk. Rumors spread. Bullying happens.

In Milla and Gabriel’s story, I find their romance a bit disturbing yet mesmerizing since they prove how forgiveness can become a universal language, an ultimate solution, and the catalyst for the elimination of bullying/rumors with the help of advanced medical technology. The best part about their ending? Problems are solved and the world’s getting back the peace it deserves. In general, I think cyborg couples are worthy of living on Earth after all.
-----
[PART THREE // Cyborg God]

When it comes to cyborgs, who would’ve thought that they have some religious beliefs just like humans do? Reverend Tad Tadd is the well-known Cyborg God and as sacred as that sounds, there’s something relatively shocking to me: People actually ”reuse” their deceased family member’s eyes and hair just to symbolize the eternity of life. In all honesty, the concept here is all fresh and original to me and I’m utterly fascinated by it.
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[PART FOUR // Advancing Cyborgs]

The fourth story in this book is my least favorite since all I’m aware of is how well these cyborgs are in translating various languages—from human’s communication tools to animals’—and that enhancing their levels of vocabulary is simply a piece of cake. Despite my general lack of interest, I’m fairly intrigued by the usage of anagram in the characters’ conversations. Apparently, the author’s creativity knows no boundaries!
-----
[PART FIVE // Cyborg Betrayals]

This time, the A.I. sensation expands from the U.S. to Europe and throughout Jake, Kostya, and Yulia’s escape to Siberia, the secrets they keep have put their friendship to the test. This story gives readers insight into the life of a cyborg slave, the betrayal between similar species, and how cancers can be cured by implementing, once again, advance medical. Although there may not be anything in common in the topics above, I can guarantee that this tale proves how multidimensional artificial intelligence can be.
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[PART SIX // Cyborg Civilization]

Last but not least, we’re coming to the end of the story and let me tell you how incredibly well-done this story is. I’m awestruck by the realization that cyborgs are, in fact, a brand-new generation of living creatures. These A.I.-enhanced “people” aren’t here to annihilate the humanity; they’re here to recreate their very own civilization just as the origin of homo sapiens who appeared millions of years ago did.

Interestingly, it never occurs to me that there’s an evolution for cyborgs to transform their half-human, half-robot being into a fully-developed creature. That is, even though they can function pretty well on their own, they still have to undergo some sort of metamorphosis in order to become part of us, which totally broadens my horizons.
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To sum up, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a splendidly written, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED story with unforgettable characters, mind-blowing plot twists, and shocking revelations of cyborgs. Each one of the six stories shows the possibilities and limitless potentials of these A.I.-featured creatures.

As intimidating as A.I. may sound, I’m delighted to say that this book makes me think differently because knowing that as invincible as cyborgs seem, their process of blending in is very likely to bear a resemblance to ours, which provides me with the kind of confidence and strength I need when facing the unknown future. As a matter of fact, this book empowers me so much that I indeed feel much stronger, faster, and more beautiful about being a human. :-)

***Massive thanks to Penguin Random House International Sales and Random House Children's Books for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.***

Dayton's novel "Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful" was an interesting read to say the least. It took me a little while to get into, but once I got a third of the way, I was hooked. The first-person perspective is a little confusing at time, but it made sense in the end. TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of rape and sexual assault

This book is best described as thematically linked short stories. There are some ties in location and character. Personally, I wish the links had been stronger. For instance, a few of the stories directly referenced the character of Tad Tadd. I loved the idea of seeing his perspective and perception of him changing as time passed. We get a few snap shots but it might have been cool to see that constant change, paralleling the societal perception of genetic modification.
The book takes the form of relatively short stories, all with open endings. We never hear how life turns out for individuals but are allowed to imagine their end for ourselves. The implication is that the individual actually doesn't matter but that their experiences are representative of the human species on the whole. The last few stories take us pretty far afield and thus begin to suffer some believability issues. But the writing is tight and clean. By starting in what is essentially our reality and extrapolating from there, Dylan has provided a collection that most every reader will appreciate at some stage.

Wow. That was not what I was expecting.
This novel is made up of six parts; each story connects along a timeline from our near future to our far future, showing the results of our actions along the way. It deals with advances in medical science, at first allowing treatment of diseases, birth defects, injuries- good things, right?- then moving to how we'd likely not be satisfied with just improving our health, how we'd start to exploit the modifications to suit our whims by altering our appearance, our physical capabilities, basically making our wildest dreams come true, while at the same time, we'd screw things up. Think of the possibilities- enhanced military, engineered to kill better; workers, able to be adapted to whatever task they're needed for, no matter how harsh. Of course, not everyone would be on board for this, so there would be protests, terrorist attacks, zealots leading cults of rabid believers ready to do whatever their leader says. The six stories each give a look at the stages of our downfall, from "This is amazing! We're saved!" to "What have we done?" I admit I was not expecting the depth of this story- what a nice surprise!

I try to go into books with little to no expectations, so I can easily shrug off a disappointment, or be blown away.

I was blown away.

I wasn't sure what direction the stories were going to lead when the book started, but I found myself being drawn into each one more and more until I was sucked into the book for the long haul. In her Afterward, the author describes the book as basically being between "this is all amazing" and "we're all doomed," and that is probably the best description I could come up with for how I felt when it was over. It's a book that will make you think and probably leave you a bit uncomfortable at the end. Definitely recommended.

“It’s like death and toffee.”

** Trigger warning for rape and homophobic violence. **

“Russia is starting to mine the solar system, and Americans are going to be getting their unicorn horns polished and designing children with claws and rainbow auras.”

***

He is passing from his own world into another, where humans and gravity hold sway. Up there, he isn’t Snake. He is only Chimera624, property of the Blessed Cures Consortium. If I were to examine the Consortium’s books, would I find myself listed as property too?

***

When you’d read Dickens, and Dickinson, and you’d read selections of Greek mythology and stories by a woman called Brontë and even a few by a man called Vonnegut—or at least, when you’d read the parts of those books that made it through the Proto Authority’s redaction process—you sometimes thought about a different sort of life.

***

This was, in a way, the beginning of a fairy tale.

***

This book began as a thought that one might variously describe as cynical or realistic (personally, my vote is on “all of the above”). While researching medical and technological advances on the horizon, Dayton’s initial reaction was the obvious: amazaballs! (Yes, it is 2019 and I am still using that word. Sue me.) This was rapidly supplanted by the more pessimistic: “We will definitely find some way of messing this up in spectacular fashion.” The six stories in STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEUATIFUL exist in the liminal space between the two.

The stories take place in the vague and unspecified future: both not-so-distant, and many generations down the line (in the twilight of humanity, you might even say). While the tech is indeed amazing – from drive-ins that combine on-screen images with pictures on each car’s windshield to create a 3D experience, to the eradication of inherited diseases and body mods ranging from moving tattoos to wings and horns and gills and flippers – it kind of takes a backseat to how society chooses to interpret, respond to, and utilize these gifts. Unsurprisingly, theological and geopolitical rifts form. While many people welcome life-saving medical advances (cross-species organ harvesting; the merging of organic and robotic parts; gene manipulation to eliminate disease), the more frivolous cosmetic procedures (see: wings and horns and gills and flippers) prove controversial. Sometimes the distinction isn’t so clear-cut.

In Part 1: Matched Pair (“A few years from now…”), we meet Evan Weary on the eve of his sister Julia’s death, and his resurrection (of sorts). The semi-identical twins were born with the same genetic disease, which caused stunted growth and gradual organ failure in their too-short lives. Julia lies in a coma, while Evan prepares to accept (or “cannibalize,” depending on your POV) a myriad of her organs so that he might have a chance.

Part 2: St. Ludmilla (“A few more years from now…”) introduces us to Milla (so named for the titular saint), whose broken body was pieced together with a “meshline” after a devastating car accident. Because bigotry against “anyone who’d been severely damaged and then put back together” is on the rise, Milla downplays the fallout. But when Gabriel, the guy she’d been crushing on for years, discovers her secret, the consequences are … let’s just say deliciously felicitous. (Is it terrible that I wanted her to push him?)

In Part 3: The Reverend Mr. Tad Tadd’s Love Story (“Let’s leap ahead a little more…”), we learn a little more about Tad Tadd (never trust a guy with two first names!). Along with the tech, Tadd is the one character who remains a constant thread in all six stories. Tadd is an evangelical preacher who’s a hybrid of Jim Jones and Fred Phelps (of the Westboro Baptist Church fame). As a young man, he railed against altering our bodies in any way that would make them less “human” – even upon penalty of death. But when his wife and young son are killed at one of his protests (and, let’s face it, it’s hard not to root for the Ethiopian “mob”), Tad does a 180…but in a way that still manages to be self-serving and does absolutely nothing to help his “loved” ones. Fast-forward decades, maybe even a century, and the man has several pairs of multi-colored (think: tentacles) and extra eyes on the sides of his head. Jump ahead even more, and the man is God. But even gods can fall. And I’d getting ahead of myself.

Part 4: Eight Waded (“A lot of time has passed…”) mostly takes place underwater, where our anti-hero Alexios lives. Created to his parents’ specs by Genetic Radiance and deemed a failure, young Alexios was given “employment” as a chimera wrangler at the lab’s sister facility, The Blessed Cures Consortium. Here he defends the company’s property – with the help of a dolphin pod, no less – and lures unsuspecting manatees to their repeated torture:

***

Chimera. It means a living thing that contains tissue from two or more distinct organisms. Humans have used pigs and sheep and even rats to grow human organs cheaply and safely. But manatees are so much larger, and their lumbering ways and gentle attitudes so ideal to peacefully cultivating alien tissue, that my employer, the Blessed Cures Consortium, chose them as far more perfect chimeras than lowly pigs. Also, they can hide manatees underwater and leave their competitors guessing.

***

Chimera.
Or, switched around:
Ah, crime.

***

A perfect job for an eleven-year-old with a big brain and no empathy. (Though, let’s face it, the kid’s as much as slave as the sea creatures.) I especially love that Dayton chose manatees to be the “living organ tanks”; unlike pigs and sheeps, manatees – with their chubby bodies and docile demeanor – are universally beloved. They are cute and cuddly and worthy of consideration and compassion; certain to arouse outrage when mistreated. Yet they’re no different from pigs in the ways that matter: both are sentient, capable of feeling pain (and joy and love and grief, etc.) and suffering.

Anyway, the whole chapter reads like something out of Margaret Atwood’s ORYX AND CRAKE. So yes, I loved it.

Part 5: California (“We are definitely in the future now…”) takes us to Russia, where teenagers Jake and Kostya are on the run, having just escaped from a slave camp on an asteroid where they were being forced to mine platinum. Russia and America now (or will soon) sit on opposite sides of the “Genetic Curtain”: whereas Russia and its colonies prohibit the joining of human and nonhuman, America has yoyoed to the other extreme, allowing pretty much any and every mod devised by science, medically necessary or merely cosmetic. Yet Russia makes some exceptions, most notably for its prisoners and those deemed “deviant.”

And so it is that a cryogenically frozen California boy from a world long dead, and a Russian boy who just so happens to like kissing other boys, find their half-robot selves on a train barreling toward Siberia. Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

Part 6: Curiosities (“They have left us far behind…”) brings it all home on a reservation for “proto” humans located just outside of Denver. Teens Luck and Starlock are star-crossed lovers: with their contrasting white and black skins, there’s no chance these crazy kids are going to be Paired by the humans in charge. Not when genetic purity is the goal (ironic, coming from the people sporting antennae and wings!). But when the sentries fall – literally, their wings fall off and they wither to nothing – the Protos venture out beyond the confines of their electrified fence to see if there’s anything left in the big wide world. You know what they say about the meek inheriting the earth.

While I liked each story well enough, my enjoyment grew with each new chapter. It was really fascinating to watch Dayton’s world expand and grow, and to see how the pieces fit together. Whereas I’d give Part 1 a 3/5 – it’s rather short, and thus short on details – after that it was smooth sailing. Each chapter is a little longer than the one before it, so that they range from short stories (Part 1) to novellas (Part 5 and 6 each occupy about 25% of the book). The larger the ‘verse, the more captivated I became. I couldn’t stop reading, and yet I never wanted it to end.

"Does that mean that humans, as a race, have allowed imagination and beauty to infiltrate their lives with each passing generation? Or have they destroyed imagination and beauty by capturing and codifying them? In which case—am I the final result?"

I… absolutely loved this.

So this is an exploration of the world in the future, with technology but mostly with genetic engineering. but there's something about it that really made it stick out for me - throughout, this leaned into discussions of privilege, who gets modifications and who doesn't, who gets forced into modifications and who doesn't, because at the heart of this conversation on genetic engineering and technology and our future is a far larger and far more consistent question - who gets to decide on the humanity of others? where do we draw the line at human and subhuman? and we have drawn these distinctions for centuries, for millennia, we as a species, but when we talk about the future we always assume power will somehow become a thing given by merit. but power is neverbased on merit - it is based on privilege and money and in the very best case scenario, what we might call merit-based growth, it is based off pure dumb luck. and not since The Hunger Games have I seen a book about the future lean into that reality.

So I suppose what I'm trying to say is that every story in this book is about genetic engineering, but every story in this book is also about the people who wield power. It is frighteningly rational that one man makes an impact on every story in this book, sometimes criticizing and sometimes normalizing but never, ever giving up the power he has been given by a society desperate for a guide.

→ T H E S T O R I E S ←
I’ve talked about thematic overlays, but each story stands fairly well on its own too. The first story follows Julia and Evan, semi-identical twins semi-merged in a landmark surgery. The second story follows Gabrielle, a girl who is definitely not morally good, and also Oppression. The third story… should not be spoiled, and contains a lot of very fucked-up religious overtones, and the title is an allusion to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
"I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown."

The fourth section is my favorite of the book, and I just realized it (possibly accidentally) follows the plotline of the poem, and human beings will always alienate those with different brains. The fifth section is the second section again, evangelism of the normal.

And then sixth section is reverse colonialism, and a reverse of the fifth story and the second, and I found that confusing at first, but in the end I found it a brilliant commentary on the human tendency to reverse prejudices to where they suit us. Who is human and who is subhuman is a matter of opinion no matter what side it comes from.

This had a few sections I just wished went further, and I’m not sure everyone will enjoy it, but I would highly recommend to anyone intrigued by the earlier description.

I like the idea of the book, and as someone who finds novels with a premise in robotics, AI etc. interesting I was excited to read this book.
The novel jumped from plot point to plot point, and the book was convoluted and not written very clearly so it was hard for me to follow where the author was trying to go with the book. I feel like the book could've been organized in a much better fashion, because I had to get through a good portion of the novel before I understood where the author was trying to go with the book.
I did like how the author pieced many smaller narratives together to tie into one overarching idea and theme on how these modifications have had an impact on that society, and the ending gave me some food for thought to mull over.
I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

(We received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

Arwen Elys Dayton’s new book Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful is a collection of six stories spanning a couple hundred years of human experimentation with genetic modification. Six teens provide different perspectives on the social, emotional, and political implications of this brave new world.

We reviewed this book on our 12/06 ep. of the YA Café Podcast.

Some highlights from our non-spoiler section:

*1:20 We loved the premise and the narrative voices in this book

*3:33 We nerd out about anagrams

*5:45 We have a lengthy discussion regarding the rape scenes in this book, and the larger implications of the portrayal of sexual assault in literature

Be sure to check out the rest of the episode, including our spoiler-informed thoughts!

Included in this book, are six tales that are separate but also continue the theme of changing the human body for either survival or what the individual wants. In one story, a girl hides her repaired body which has become part robotic. Many people think it’s wrong even if it saves the person’s life. In another story a reverend preaches against changing their body. It’s as if plastic surgery and dna manipulation has gone farther than what one could imagine. But when the reverend has a tragedy, he decides that one should change their “looks.” It’s an amazing look at for profit enterprises that say anything goes. Other countries have banned this type of plastic surgery and dna manipulation. While it appears that institutions ignore ethical questions, there are still heroic and kindness in these stories. I think it is a very worthwhile read even though at times it scared me to think what people would do to make themselves “in fashion” or their greed to be the best whither physical or mental.

This was good, I wanted to read once I heard about it. I thought the story was going to be different than what it was. For me, this wasn't a character or plot book, it was a book about a message and a very big and scary message. I didn't get hooked to any characters, for me it was the world they lived in that made me want to keep reading. There was something about the world the hooked me. Made me see the people I know heading into that world. My mind started thinking, where would my family be? What would I do? Could I even live in this world? But the thing is I don't know because I'm not in that world. I could go on but then this would lead away from this book. Overall, if you want a book that will make you think, then give this book a read.

The concept of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful hooked me from when I first heard about it. I tend to be really gripped by stories that explore a moral issue (medical advances in this case).

Rather than one cohesive novel, this story is more like a series of connected novellas set in the same story world. Sometimes one story references events or characters from another story, but the main characters are always different. Each approaches the issue in a slightly different way. One story asks, should people allow doctors to give them synthetic organs following an accident? Does that come too close to playing God? Another follows the lives of people considered second-class who’ve been physically altered to allow them to be a kind of super slaves.

In terms of the characters, most are flawed but looking for answers and facing some regrets from the past. Sometimes this made them immediately likeable, as with Alexios, a boy who’s been edited to have dolphin skin and flippers and lives in an aquatic place, taking care of manatees, and Luck, a girl who has a forbidden love for her best friend. Sometimes I had a hard time seeing past the flaws. For instance, I had a harder time connecting with Jake, who used to pressure girls to have sex and Milla, who took revenge on a boy who made her life miserable.

I kept thinking back to both of the books by Parker Peevyhouse that I’ve read while I was reading Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful. It reminded me of Where Futures End in the way each of the six stories related to each other but didn’t necessarily overlap. And the way it wrestled with science and morality reminded me of The Echo Room. I think Parker Peevyhouse fans will really enjoy this book. If you enjoy Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful and you haven’t read anything by Parker Peevyhouse, definitely check out her books, too.

This imaginative anthology of futuristic stories is fascinating. Although a couple of the six short stories were a bit slow, the overall idea was definitely worth exploring and evoked the eternal ethical debate of how much is too much when it comes to human modifications.

This is a great read for fans of Black Mirror. Usually I avoid ordering short story collections, but this one has enough fascinating sci-fi for me to get in the hands of the right kids.

In the near future, an ill young man receives organs from his now-vegetative twin sister that are not just transplanted into him to replace his own, but integrated with his to make better organs. A bit later in the future, a young woman is repaired with inorganic inner parts to bring her back to life and function after a deadly car crash, though none of that is really visible to outsiders. Later in the future, a boy who was engineered to be super-intelligent lacks both emotional intelligence and correct body proportions and ends up being surgically altered so he can work in the ocean alongside dolphins and manatees.

Even later, two young men who have been working as slaves mining platinum on asteroids manage to escape back to Earth — which is tricky because their bodies have been drastically changed, many machine parts replacing and augmenting their natural forms so they can do the work, and they stand out from others who haven’t been modified in the country they land in.

Far into the future, humanity has changed drastically and some “Protos” (or unmodified, less “advanced” people) are kept in reservations. They are genetically diverse and only allowed to mate with others who look like them and not given equal rights or even allowed to leave the reservations. Then a devastating disease starts killing off the advanced “humans,” leaving a few young Protos to venture off their reservation to find out what the future holds for them.

In each of six stories in this compelling and thought-provoking young adult book, young people have been affected by humanity’s push to improve upon itself, whether through genetic engineering or surgery or both. As time goes forward, the urge to do nature one better results in more and more drastic (and what one would definitely now consider “unnatural”) results. All characters have been changed physically in some way, many without a choice. All face some level of derision; all wonder if they can possibly still be “human” given what they are.

Arwen Elys Dayton writes in an author’s note that she had been “poring over articles about gene editing, methods of growing human organs outside the human body, changing the body’s structure and function using bioelectronics interfaces and microscopic mechanical devices” and thought at first that these would be a miraculous cure for disease and aging and so on. Then she thought, “We will definitely find some way of messing this up in spectacular fashion.” Thus the book was born. Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful explores what it means to be human, how these advances could affect how we see each other and the world, and how it will be just to live our lives in the ways we’ve always done when so much about “life” is changed.

The book for a number of segments really reminded me of Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series, with its young characters whose parts are harvested for organ and tissue transplants for adults and “wanted” children. The tone was similar as it explored social mores and ethics surrounding bodily improvements.

Though the stories are loosely connected, I still had to shift gears as each ended and a new one began. But it didn’t take me long at all to get deeply involved in the lives and challenges of each character. I will definitely be thinking about this for a while.

We have all seen movies set in the future, where humans have complete control over DNA and can create “perfect” children for a “perfect” society. I suspect that when one hears talk of genetic modifications, the thoughts that come to mind are curing diseases, customizing hair, skin, and eyes, correcting imperfections like poor vision or allergies, and a slew of other fairly benign changes that bring humans closer to society’s idea of perfection. Arwen Elys Dayton shares her view of the future in Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful, and it is anything but this somewhat simplified picture of superficial changes. It is not that Ms. Dayton means to scare people into making ethical decisions regarding genetic modifications. It is that Ms. Dayton recognizes how the best intentions of humans never really turn out the way we expect them. What starts as a little change to the retina’s DNA to provide someone with 20/20 vision quickly morphs into giving someone the sight of an eagle or the olfactory senses of a dog. Her vision involves some grotesque changes that may or may not change the idea of what makes someone a human.

Therein lies Ms. Dayton’s point. What does make us human? Is it our mind or our body? What happens when we change ourselves to the point of being more animal or robot than human? What happens when we fill ourselves with someone else’s organs? Do we become the other person? Am I still me? These are classic conundrums regarding genetic modification, except with the advent of CRISPR, these questions are more important than ever. For now, the scientific community is drawing a hard line at using CRISPR for the humane genome, but that doesn’t mean that this hard line will remain forever.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful means to shock and horrify you. There is a deliberate progression in each story as the main character shares his or her life in a world of extreme modification. Ms. Dayton makes no judgments, presenting each story in her vision of our future as matter-of-factly as possible. The reader provides the sentiment, whatever that may be, making it a novel ripe for discussion.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is disturbing. You would like to think that humans would never go to such extremes to change our bodies, but there is nothing in the novel which should surprise you. Humans have always been willing and eager to do extreme things to their bodies in an attempt to be different, make a statement, or achieve arbitrary beauty standards. It is not a stretch of the imagination to understand that should we gain the ability to make changes at the genetic level, those extreme changes take on a whole other meaning. As such, its characters will haunt you for a long time, and that is another point. The next time someone talks to you about CRISPR or genetic modification as the next scientific breakthrough, you will remember the six characters in Ms. Dayton’s story. We all should remember these characters. Our future may depend on it.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

stronger, faster, and more beautiful (Arwen Elys Dayton)

Title: stronger, faster, and more beautiful

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Publisher: Random House Children's / Delacorte Press

Publication Date: Available Now!! (hardcover/e-book)

ISBN: 978-0525580959

Source: NetGalley

{picture of cover]

This novel contains six interconnected stories that showcase the possibilities and potential problems that could result from medical science.  Apparently the author's first thought when reading about gene editing was "This is it! We'll be able to eradicate disease, extend our lives, turn humans into superhumans!"  Her second thought was "We will definitely find some way of messing this up in a spectacular fashion."  She uses this novel to explore the space between the two thoughts.

This was an engrossing read whose beautiful writing kept me captivated.  The six parts explore organ transplants, synthetic organs and robotic parts, religious questions surrounding medical ethics, genetically designed children, cryonics, and body modifications.  But this list does not do these stories justice.

Because behind the background of the medical and scientific marvels posed by each chapter, ye also get a brilliant look at the human morals, personalities, and conflicts involved.  Each section poses new questions.  All questions are challenging.  The answers are unexpected or non-existent or both.  This book makes the reader think and feel.  Each jump in time and technology is plausible because of what came before.  And yet when the end is reached, the landscape seems unfathomable.  And possible at the same time.

I highly recommend this book.  Part four was me favourite though all of it was so very good.  Words don't really do it justice.  It has to be experienced.  A fantastic book that the whole crew should read.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House Children's / Delacorte Press!

Side note: much thanks to me matey, Paul @ paul'spicks for making me aware of this book's existence.  Arrr!

Goodread's website has this to say about the novel:

For fans of television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, this compelling, mind-bending novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

Set in our world, spanning the near to distant futures, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a novel made up of six interconnected stories that ask how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimens, and how hard that will push the definition of "human."

This extraordinary work explores the amazing possibilities of genetic manipulation and life extension, as well as the ethical quandaries that will arise with these advances. The results range from the heavenly to the monstrous. Deeply thoughtful, poignant, horrifying, and action-packed, Arwen Elys Dayton's Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is groundbreaking in both form and substance.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Arwen Elys Dayton - Author

To buy the novel please visit:

stronger, faster, and more beautiful - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List