This was a one day read for me, which doesn’t happen often. This book is a compilation of 6 individual stories revolving around the idea of what humanity could be like if and when we start changing genetics to cure disease and reverse disability. It’s actually pretty eye opening. As the author says, It’s such an awesome idea that we will surely screw it up.

This book was really good. I honestly didn't expect it to have six parts (and six points of view). Each one was interesting and each story takes place in the future. I was hooked from the very beginning and even though some stories marked me more than others, I ended up being very impressed with this book!

In this sci-fi book, we get to see how the world could evolve and to be honest, it's f*cking scary. It gives you a possible outcome and you get to see how things can go horribly wrong. Overall, it was a really captivating read that will stay in my mind for a while!

(I received an ARC to read and review via Netgalley)

There are so many brilliant things to say about Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful. While this collection is six separate stories, they are interwoven throughout a common thread. We can appreciate the distance between the stories, as well as the similarities. It never felt disjointed, just like separate parts of this immense gorgeous robotic machine working in harmony. What I adored is how unique this book feels. Everything from the format to the ideas.

My little nerd heart was geeking out so hard for this book. Because a book where the author thinks about what humanity will be in the future will hook me every time. It's, hands down, the best thing I love about science fiction. And what I write about when I write my own geeky thesises. I love the questioning of what we will be in the future. Will we be even more than we ever thought?

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful asks us just this. It asks us where we will take our stand. What we will define as humanity as we move forwards? As our technology advances so much that we can cure what plagued us, what limited us, what defined us. Where will humanity, as we know it, take it's last stand?

How will advances in medicine and technology affect humanity of the future? Could it literally affect their humanity? This collection of six interconnected short stories explores how scientific advances from DNA alteration to extreme body modification may shape our future--for better or for worse. Some of the stories explore the possibility of better life-saving procedures juxtaposed with extreme religious prejudice against those who chose to use it while others consider how some of these procedures might go horribly wrong.

This collection definitely shifted from the more hopeful stories to the much darker possibilities. I thought that was a really great was to show off the extremes, though I wish we'd seen a little more hopefulness and exploration of the amazing possibilities before the shift to how badly these things could be misused. Overall, I thought this was a really interesting collection. I liked the interconnected short story format-- this story really couldn't have been told as effectively any other way. It does get bogged down occasionally and some of the stories are more engaging that others. But definitely a fascinating imagining of what a transhumanist future might look like-- though I certainly hope it wouldn't turn out exactly like in these stories.

I think this one will really appeal to fans of Black Mirror.

I loved this book. It is a supremely Annish book. I have some quibbles with the last story and the way it ended, but as a whole, I loved the characters and the world. My favorites are between the dolphin story and the asteroid miners. Both were just so lovely and I could have read whole books about each. I liked it so much I'm even willing to give Seeker another shot, now, though it could just be that I'm not into that style of fantasy.

For fans of Uglies, Dark Life, of science fiction, of stories. Not too mature for your mid-to-older Junior High students.

I requested this book from NetGalley based on a recommendation from an author I love:

"An alternately charming and horrifying exploration of what it means to be human and how far we'll go in pursuit of personal and societal 'perfection.' I devoured this book." --Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

It lived up to that! The book is a series of short stories, each with a different set of characters living out possible futures that employ today's emerging technologies more broadly. The stories range from the near-future with small changes to the human body driving heart-felt debates on morality and policy, to hundreds of years from now when "human" bodies are markedly different from what they are now. Each story stands on its own, yet as a whole, they hold together to give the book a satisfying end.

Each story highlights one aspect of emerging technology: genetic manipulation, organ transplant, extreme modification of the human body. As a writer of science fiction, I found the possibilities fascinating. As a reader and mom, I found them terrifying. This is a great book to get teens thinking through their point of view on how we should use the technology currently being developed.

The review will be posted on TheWingedPen.com on Tuesday.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton is about exactly that - what happens when humans go to any length to be their most perfect self. We’re not talking about being a kinder person, or engaging in something that you love, or doing charitable works. No, by perfect we mean changing your appearance, replacing your organs, or extending your life all in an effort to achieve some false sense of biological utopia.

Such is the premise of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful, which follows six teens, each with their own story which connects to the whole concept of the novel. What begins as salvaging one twin’s organs to save the other, soon moves on to replacing damaged body parts with robotic bits, and then examines a fanatic preacher turned glorified, modified idol. While these concepts may not seem so far-fetched when compared to today’s society, the story quickly turns horrifying when it explores a young prodigy whose body has been altered to allow him to live underwater and coax animals into experimentation. It gets worse when Russia decides to turn people with terminal cancer into robotic slaves. The tales culminate in story 6, which explores what happens when these body modifications get drastically out of control.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a mixed bag of bizarre characters and intriguing concepts. While some stories offer up an emotional connection with the characters, others are completely plot-driven. I personally preferred the first two stories of the novel, which could fall into a contemporary genre with a sci-fi twist. There is still much of what makes us human to find in these tales. From there, however, it is all downhill, unless you enjoy your science fiction on the heavy side. Dayton gave readers little to care about in her later characters, instead focusing on strange and outlandish scenarios and action-packed plots. Personally, this wasn’t for me, as I felt Dayton tried to cram too many foreign concepts into too few pages. I often felt lost and reading felt like a chore, as I had to constantly learn and remember new details about an alien Earth.

Thank you to NetGalley & Delacorte Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heart transplants. Body modification. Harvesting spleens from other animals. Steel/plastic/synthskin... How far can science go to help the human body fix itself? Or even create new? What are the religious and ethical ramifications of these practices?

Arwen Elys Dayton pushes these questions further and further in each of the six connected stories in Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful. It is populated with thought-provoking voices that are brimming with dark humor, eternal hope, and still others with stark, religious furor. The best part of this collection is the way Dayton seamlessly intertwines technology and the human desire for perfection in each narrative. Each subsequent step seems plausible in light of the previous machination.

Every story is a bitter-sweet satisfaction. A try for perfection, yet a dash towards a possible cliff.

Highly recommended for high school students and beyond. The speculative and dystopian fan will jump to this book.

Fascinating and disturbing. At first, the ties to current thinking can be seen, but it gets more bizarre the farther you get from the present. I liked the through line of Reverend Tadd and his daughter. Some of the future modifications were a bit gruesome, but thought provoking.

Although I'm not always a fan of science fiction, what I do love are books that explore the repercussions of technology and what questions will be raised as a result of genetic engineering. This book does just that as the six interconnected stories examine the controversies between science and religion and how they intersect and often divide us. Set in the near future, the novel shows worlds where genetic engineering has advanced to the point where skin and organs can be fused/manufactured/placed in humans to extend their lives. But where does a human end and a robot begin? And would God want us to take science this far? Lots of questions make this a very readable book that would make for great discussions!

What a weird book. If you like a non linear narrative (six stories with loose connections) and being slightly disgusted with the future: pick this up.

I am blown away by this book. I finished it yesterday and have thought about it since. I loved the short stories and how they hop through time. The story may seem a bit far fetched but still feels like this isn’t too unrealistic to be the way humans evolve in the future. There were a few of the short stories that I could have read a whole book of. Especially the last one, I would love for the author to continue the story and let us know more. Love!

This book is very confusing to start with. It hops around to different story lines and it takes a while into each story to explain what is going on. The general idea is that medical technology has advanced so greatly and while at first it was intended to cure those who were with ailments, broken or ridden with disease, it soon goes into harvesting extra livers from dolphins and manatees which just weirded me out. I didn't expect a story line quite like this so just be aware if you find it hard to stomach that sort of idea.

This book, a set of short(ish) stories set in the distant future when gene-editing has become a reality, is unexpectedly sweet and terrifying all at once. I don't want to say much about the plots, as it is honestly such a delight to read - one of the best books I have read this year, hands-down.

Fans of Arwen Elys Dayton's Seeker series already know that she is not afraid to tackle difficult themes and topics while creating an engaging narrative. However, rather than returning to a book series Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a collection of interconnected short stories that examine various aspects of genetic manipulation and how scientific advances both hold the power to heal and harm. Starting in the near future and moving progressively beyond our realm of understanding and progress each tale shows how humanity might decide to handle genetic manipulation , and where it might lead us.

I take Faster, Stronger, and More Beautiful as a cautionary tale of how genetic manipulation can become a crutch that humanity might rely on so heavily they no longer can survive without it. The first story, a sobering tale of a teenage boy having his organs fused with his comatose twin sister's to save his life, shows a reality most readers can find relatable. However, Dayton quickly jumps to situations beyond our current understanding of gene therapy such as a boy modified to physically be like a manatee and humans merged with machines to provide nearly immortal grunt work. I struggled to comprehend the plots and find meaning in the more futuristic settings, but I also wanted to learn how the various threads tied into each other and how they worked as a whole.

I have spent several months since finishing the book to digest the material and formulate my thoughts, but when I recently described it to a co-worker I realized the impact it left on me. Faster, Stronger, and More Beautiful is an extremely different type of work than the author's Seeker series, but its power lies in how it makes readers analyze their feelings on a serious issue. It has stayed with me since I turned the last page, and I suspect I will be mulling over it for a long time.

4.5 Unexpected Consequences to Tweaking a Single Gene out of 5

This is an intriguing collection of interconnected short stories that had me getting goosebumps more than once. I really enjoyed the first few stories, but it started to drag toward the middle. Absolutely perfect for Black mirror fans

Overall, I liked the book but the message is a little too heavy handed for my taste and some of the middle stories made me glaze my eyes over a bit. That being said, this unique Science Fiction novel is well written and will make readers think about the future that's already here. The structure is unusual because there are different short stories told as time keeps moving forward (over 100 years) and advancements in technology keep improving. But they all connect in the same world with a Reverend character that ties it all together seamlessly. A few of the short stories stand out, but I particularly liked the first story about the twin taking his twin's organs and the story about the Reverend turning his daughter into a "Monster". A good science fiction read but not one I would reread. I would still add it to my teen collection at the library.

This book is so powerful and such an amazing read. For real it fits in totally with Black Mirror and is a really entertaining yet spooky read. It really makes you think.

It took me a little while to get hooked on the disjointed narrative being told across all the stories, but by the third installment, I was so engrossed I couldn't put it down. The writing style is smooth and imaginative and disturbing and made me take a long look at the people around me. It wasn't hard to imagine us going down the path Dayton described.

The character arc of Reverend Tadd provided a thread that carried through the entire book. Tadd's transformation from fundamentalist preacher to a fundamentalist of a different kind showed how his core personality didn't change. Rather, his beliefs were warped by his experiences to take him down a terrifying path.

I'd like to say this thought-provoking book was pure science fiction, but if the science becomes a reality, it isn't a stretch to imagine the world going to these extremes. And that's what changes this collection of stories from an exercise in imagination to a cautionary tale.

Wow! This book was a winner from the first page to the last. Each of the six stories was so interesting on its own, but, tied together by a thin and frightening thread, they made up a truly remarkable story. Before starting the book I thought it was going to be more on the light side; perhaps looking at how physical modifications might effect one person at a time, in both the near and more distant future. Instead, it took a much broader look at what could happen throughout the world of the future. By telling these six stories, each further into the future, the reader is taken on a wild ride of “just because we can, does that mean we should?” This well-written, fast-paced book was hard to put down and will stay with you long after it is finished. It is definitely not to be missed!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.