3.5 stars.

The reviews on this book were mixed and I've read enough dystopian novels to not be thrilled about reading a mediocre one. But alas, I think there's a lot of gold in this story.

First of all, unlike most other dystopian novels I've read this one focuses on one family and their journey through this new world. The story alternates between the beginnings of the outbreak and the family's transition and the "now" world of many, many years later. The main character is the mom of the family. All of this already made me more curious since most of the dystopian novels I've read are either YA or not focused around a family in general.

Also instead of focusing on all the gory details or even on a lot of what's different (though there's some of each) the main focus here is the psychological impact on the individuals in that family and the acute sense of isolation. This, too, felt novel and interesting to me.

I do wish the characters were a bit more developed. I think we got some peeks into the daughter but the son was almost comically evil and I would have liked to know more about him and same goes for the husband. I understand that the mom was the storyteller and a lot of the boy's transformation is post-separation so maybe she didn't have enough insight there but clearly there was a lot about the husband from before and while we did get some glimpses there, I still craved more. I felt like I wasn't as attached to the family (except for the daughter) as I would have liked to be for the separation to feel awful. Instead it felt like each member of the family was fine with it for their own reasons (which of course meant it didn't feel as devastating.)

I really enjoyed reading this story and really appreciated its unique perspective and protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review

I was looking forward to reading Skin. I love a dystopian novel and I wasn’t to be disappointed. Although the premise has been done before, the author handled the narrative and the describing beautifully. I sense there may be a second book? Bring it on please, I want to know what happens next.

An outbreak that causes a deadly reaction to other humans results in a new way of life for mankind. Angela and her family still live together under the same roof but are now confined to their separate rooms. They were one of the few families that were wealthy enough to upgrade their home for containment. Angela tries to hold her family together but over the year’s family tensions rise and their only communication, via social media and text, becomes less frequent. Desperate to find a purpose, Angela volunteers for her local neighborhood watch. Despite the risk of infection and attack from wild animals, she anticipates each outing as a chance to escape from her new life for a few hours. Angela's world suddenly changes when she discovers a man outside...he's not wearing a suit or even a mask...and he's not sick.

When I read the premise for this novel I knew I had to have it. Imagine a world where people are allergic to other people and there is no cure. For some, those of us who are introverts, this might seem like the perfect world but in reality this novel shows what happens when we lose the ability for human touch. I really enjoyed how the author thought of all the little details such as the need for taking antidepressants every day. There is a clear division of wealth and the ability to stay alive as well as how daily life would run via social media. The novel also discusses the complexities of raising children in a world where they could never leave their room or have physical interactions and what it does to them mentally and physically. Overall this is a very clever and unique novel for lovers of dystopian/post-apocalyptic tales.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC.

In this dystopia, a highly infectious virus forces families to live in isolation from the world and each other. Each member of the family is confined to their own room and communicates by virtual reality.
But what if it was all a lie and people are not contagious at all? Believable story.

A dystopian tale of loneliness, Skin by Liam Brown, is the story of Angela, a woman living in a terrifying world that has been devastated by a virus which makes people allergic to each other. Isolation is the new norm, contact, even with a family member could kill you. Angela lives with her husband and teenage son and daughter, each keeping strict isolation in their own rooms, their only contact coming via screens when they get together for awkward and uncomfortable dinners. In her desperation to leave the house Angela signs up to a local neighborhood watch scheme, and on one of her patrols she is shocked to see a man, walking around without a hazmat suit, or even an air filter, What does it mean? Is the plague over? Could the world be safe again, and is she willing to risk her life to find out?
I really enjoyed the setting of this book, the idea of creating a scenario where any human contact results in death gives a very interesting dynamic, while also being something of a commentary on the voluntary isolation that so many people choose today, living their lives in a virtual world rather than the real one. The dynamics between the family members were really well played out, and I really enjoyed the sections of the book that described the initial confusion and chaos as panic sweeps the country and people go into survival mode. If I had to pick out a flaw, I would say that I was not a fan of the ending, it definitely felt unresolved and unsatisfying which is a shame, as the rest of the book was so strong. Perhaps there is a sequel planned where more will be explained, and if so I look forward to reading it.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Did not grab my attention. Pacing was slow and characters were run of the mill. Too much description before anything happens.

A couple of decades into the future, a pandemic has ravaged the country and the few remaining survivors - including the narrator, Angela - are unable to touch one another or go outdoors without protective suits. But then, while on neighbourhood watch patrol, Angela sees a man chopping wood without any protective clothing, and her beliefs about the new world are questioned. This is an entertaining dystopian novel, though a bit heavy on stuff about parenting for my personal tastes. And I didn't really understand the decision to have Angela narrate the story as a monologue addressed to one of her frozen eggs...!

3.5 stars.
This book was going so well right up until it didn't quite end. I felt I needed more to complete the story. Maybe it's setting up for a sequel where I will get some of my many questions answered? Maybe I am missing something and I am supposed to ponder the outcome myself? Either way, the book left me feeling a bit confused and unsatisfied which is a shame as, up to a point, I was really enjoying what I was reading.
The crux of the story is that there has been a virus unleashed on the world. One which renders people allergic to each other. It is fatal and many have already died. Those that have survived live in isolation, only connected to each other remotely. The book follows one such family who all live together in the same house, but wholly isolated from each other, communicating via screens. Angela, the mother, volunteers for neighbourhood patrols. Donning her isolation suit she walks a circuit checking on how things are going and reporting back. All simple stuff but she enjoys the scant freedom it gives her. Until, one day, she spots a stranger on her travels. A man who is scavenging. A man who isn't even wearing a face mask let alone a suit but who appears to be healthy. He piques her interest and she follows him, desperate to know more about him and why he isn't affected by the virus. But what danger will he put her in when they meet?
As well as the story going on in the present, we also see flashbacks to when the virus first struck. I found these to be fascinating insights into the human condition. These were excellently observed and written and complemented that which was going on in the main story very well.
I also enjoyed the scenes between Angela and the stranger and, at that point, I thought I knew where we were going but sadly, we never quite got there and I was left pondering. Maybe that was the point and I missed it but, to me anyway, it felt incomplete.
There was a foray into the digital world and how that was compensating for the lack of physical contact and how dangerous that world could become but, again, it promised more than it gave. There was also an insight into how younger people cope with a lack of parental control and that was handled very well.
Hopefully there will be a sequel and I can continue the story as the author intends rather than just being left with my own thoughts of how it continued. I'd definitely be up for that. Until that time though, I'm happy to let it go.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

"People shopping. People looking. People moving. People stopping.
All races, shapes and sizes.
Pressed together. Mushed together. Mixed together.
Merged and funneled and sheltering from the rain.
And the sweet awful stink of it all. Expensive perfume mingling with cheap aftershave. Fresh coffee and stale cigarettes. Minty breath and morning breath and garlic breath and dog breath.
All of us breathing each other's air. Stepping in each other's spaces.
People, people, people"

In a not-so-far future, humankind has been decimated by a virus of unknown origins: the disease is extremely painful, extremely lethal, and extremely contagious. Angela has a husband and two kids, but she can't touch them or even look at them in their eyes because they live separate lives, isolated in different areas of the house. Like everybody else, they avoid contact with other human beings at all costs. But where is the government in all of this? Why doesn't anyone fight for a solution? It seems like people have given up too easily, and rather then finding a way to go back to life as it was before, have too easily adjusted to the new way of living.

This book was an enjoyable read, I actually read it all in one sitting. I liked the writing, the pacing was good, the action was involving enough and the plot was well-constructed. This is not the most original story in the genre, I found it followed some tropes way to close, and some jump scares and cliffhangers at the end of chapters felt a little forced. But, overall, this made me spend a very nice afternoon and I recommend to to anyone who wants a true, old school, virus/parasite story to feed our apocalyptic stomachs!

Enjoyable enough,yet scary enough to think this could be in our not too distant future.
A future where everyone lives isolated and the government controls everything.... our only link to outside world of work ,school and indeed family life being computers.
I think it had some valid things to say about what could happen without lack of parental control.
Whilst there was nothing wrong with the book,once the element of sex came in (and why wouldn't it,who wouldn't be thinking about it after years isolated) the book ended quite quickly.
I'd have liked to have more exploration on the idea there was no virus anymore,how long you'd carry on living within the set boundaries before you go nuts or just take a risk or two.
I much preferred the first half.

I’m delighted to be the first person to review this book. I’ve read and liked all of Brown’s books. So much so that when this one showed up on Netgalley I requested it without reading the plot summary and read it (gasp) without checking the page count first. Which is essentially something you can do when you’ve come to rely on the author to tell a good story in a reasonably economical way. And sure enough, Brown delivered once again. This time a dystopia. Oddly enough thematically linked to the just finished Scalzi’s Lock In in that the characters in this book after experiencing a similar global devastation are now locked in, in a way. In their own apartments, in their own lives. With digital connections becoming more and more elaborate and important and real world connections becoming extinct. In such a world people live in separate, isolated and insulated spaces and only venture outside in protective gear. The book’s protagonist, a wife and a mother, lives in one of these separated arrangements, observing her family disintegrate…her daughter, unable to live a normal life of a teenager exercises obsessively, her son, isolated from social norms, becomes a morbidly obese sociopath, her spouse becomes more and more preoccupied with his work of creative immersive environments for the wealthy to play in. And only 5 years have passed since life was recognizable and normal. To its credit, the government has stepped up impressively, coordinating deliveries of all basics, thus eliminating any need for going outside or social interactions. But is it motivated by sheer altruism and a desire to take care of its citizens or is it simply that corralled sheeple are easy to control. Is the world outside a danger to all or is it simply an enforced belief used to contain and manage the population. One day during a neighborhood safety walk, the woman meets a young man, who has no mask, no protective gear and yet is alive in a way that she’s very much began to forget. Suddenly there are possibilities, options even, but they come with near impossible choices. This is a dystopia, after all, not a utopia. The novel is told in split timelines, one of a present life, one of the events immediately leading up to it, so that the reader can actually witness the shrinking of the world, the immersive claustrophobia of the story. It works very well on every level, especially the understated underlying paranoia of the governmental control of the situation. There is also a prescient message about the dangers of virtual reality taking over the real thing and what a complete digital permissiveness can do to the fabric of society as we know it. This is a clever, timely and compelling novel aptly titled after the largest organ of the body the characters are told they can’t touch. Plus it’s just a really great story. Engaging, sad, poignant, interesting and original. Plus it entertains while making you think, which is the best kind of entertainment. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.