Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Publication date December 4, 2018
Read courtesy of NetGalley.com

FAN-TAS-TIC!!!!

There was a tadd* of a thread throughout this book of consecutive stories. Amazingly well done and thoroughly enjoyable. I will definitely be getting this for my library!

Each story could be a stand alone, but they are also smoothly interwoven... and thought provoking. The first vaccine, first heart transplant, and first clone (remember Dolly the Sheep?) perpetuated the human ability to dream of a stronger, faster and more beautiful human. Dayton has helped us imagine some of the future possibilities, and some we'd like, while others we'd find quite disturbing. And that's the point.... to consider what our tinkering could mean to our future. Butterfly effect, ripple effect, call it what you want, but Dayton masterfully creates realistic what-ifs (realistic what-ifs: is that an oxymoron?)

I enjoyed every story in here. None of it felt redundant, repetitive, or reused. The uniqueness of each possible inevitably (another oxymoron) kept me turning those pages. Bravo, Ms. Dayton. I accept the challenge to work through these oxymorons in the hopes that it keeps humans from simply becoming morons.



*intentional spelling 👍👌

The description of this book as a novel for fans of Black Mirror and Westworld had me hooked from the start, but unfortunately, the novel lacks the suspense, the drama, and the overall intrigue of those wonderfully, morally-grey shows. Although the novel had trouble keeping me from growing too bored, the story offered me six different stories, and while some stories were less intriguing or sensical than the others, there were a couple of them that really had me rooting for the characters. This being said, the novel tries to show a progression of technology in our world, and how our world handles it, but I'm not sure all the stories told were the best choices, or at least, those stories needed a little more to them. A big problem for me was that this advancing scientific world felt empty; the readers were only given hints here and there about the world around the characters and never much description to really see what these characters were living in. The couple of stories that I did love within this novel are definitely good enough reasons to give this novel a glance, along with the novel's concept, because while the story would have been stronger with more, the concept is still kind of wickedly genius.

This book was absolutely amazing. Spanning over hundred of years it shows the evolution of humanity with the advances in science that have been made. This book was brilliant and thought provoking as well as terrifying and undeniably real. This book is something that can’t be missed in 2018/2019.

I didn't realize this was an anthology when I had requested it, so I was a little skeptical since I am not the biggest fan of anthologies but Ohmygod. The stories interconnect with a Reverend and his daughter over hundred of years worth of time. Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful was captivating, I couldn't read it fast enough and I was sad when I finished because I really wanted more.

If you think about it, a lot of the things that Dayton talks about in this book are already happening or on their way of happening so her ideas aren't far fetched in the least. My favorite story in this anthology had to have been the last one. It's set far into the future where there is a huge divide between genetically modified humans and "protos" humans that have never been altered. It brings up the question of what species is more superior and if genetically altered people are a whole new species with in themselves.

Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful brings up an array of questions as you read. It makes you think about the future and how things can go horribly wrong. It brings up with question of whether or not any of these things ethical and where the cut off is for ethical and unethical modifications. This book will be one to stand out in my mind for a long time to come and it will with out a doubt stay in everyone else's mind as well.

With advancing science able to extend and improve the lives of humans through artificial means, the distinction of what is "natural" arises within Arwen Elys Dayton's Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful. 

Starting more in a contemporary setting with innovative methods of saving a boy's life by using his dying sister's organs to a more far-reaching future where people are separated by type to preserve a purity of genetic material for those who wish to continually modify themselves, this collection of six stories demonstrates the changes people are willing to make and accept to their bodies. Exploring what constitutes being human, this anthology of loosely related tales offers a glimpse into what could be while cautioning against abusing the possibilities presented by developing technologies. 

Provoking deeper thought about what should be done instead of simply what could be done, this collection of stories offers a haunting caution for how humanity is both recognizable and could become horribly unrecognizable as technology advances. With a brief look into each of the six epochs presented, the seemingly exponential progression of technology and the ability to incorporate it into the human body consumes a larger portion of the narrative, relegating the human aspects to the sideline as more of an afterthought, which demonstrates the priorities of those within the stories. While a general sense of setting is established across the six tales that are connected by the presence of a single character threaded, majorly or minorly, throughout the narratives, the latter stories in the anthology are weaker in establishing details of the setting, background for terminology, and rules governing the world, adding an element of disjointedness to the collective. 

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

A sci fi anthology where each subsequent story carries us further in time offering a ‘Black Mirror’ style warning about the abuse of scientific advancement as society strives forward in the quest to achieve perfection.

“Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful” begins simply enough with a new treatment used to heal a dying boy and from there we move forward and watch how this new science goes from being a helping hand to cosmetic madness as the years pass with all the stories connected through a single, controversial Reverend who even gets his own feature story.

The format of this story is interesting because even though we are given snapshots of the world it is enough to track the progression of the science side as well as society’s attitude towards it all giving us everything from fear to uncontrollable vanity and the consequences of such desires. There’s also a bit of real world connection to it in terms of the governments attempts to control its citizens bodies but I’m not sure if that was intentional or just something you can pick up given the recent and increasing fight for personal autonomy.

I did however feel like there needed to be a bit more exposition in the later sections when things were less grounded in reality as the modifications of what it means to be human took over completely because there are a few slang terms and other governmental type organizations thrown in there that I think we’re just supposed to know but it got a little muddled making those some of my least favorite stories.

This is an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of the sci genre who wants to see something that takes science and lets it loose until it catches up with the world as it collapses into madness.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!**

I tried to rad this book before it came out but got about halfway through and was honestly very bored. This book was just not for me.

This was so interesting and honestly completely terrifying! i have to say I love what the author did with this story and I know I won't ever forget it.

Dayton does a great job interweaving each part of this book. They were all very different but they had a connecting thread which was Tad. I will say his part was the most terrifying of them all. The first story gave me the creeps when the guy kept talking to his sister, but man Tad's story was just so crazy and something that I can see someone doing when they are at the end of their rope.

I think the 4 stories in the beginning were my favorite though. They each held something sinister and I liked that feel. The last 2 stories were more future sci fi dystopian and I thought they lacked a bit. I understand why the author chose to go this route I mean she had to show what modification would eventually do to humanity, but I got lost a bit when she was describing this new world. They were very short parts so I know she couldn't go into to much detail, but I liked the creepy crazy chapters more.

All in all I think this was pretty fantastic. I liked how Dayton kept the drama at a minimum with each part but kept enough to keep her readers engaged while showing the real villain of the story. This was so much fun and I am looking forward to more from Dayton!