[ENGLISH/ESPAÑOL]

~ENGLISH~

1.5 stars
The ARC for this novel was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This story is about Nate, a 16-year-old genetically modified boy who has spent much of his life being a prisoner in a scientific laboratory. He's one of the GEMs that were created to cure the elite of the terrible disease that plagued the population years ago and that have been the subject of experiments for years by scientists in Gathos City.
Nate barely remembers those days, but now he is a different person. After escaping from those labs, he learned to fix technology and trade it for food or a safe place. He must keep a secret that he is a GEM even from his own friends, even from the person he loves. Reed is the head of a small gang of teenagers struggling to survive and Nate is terribly in love with him but can't risk telling him the truth.
He also cannot tell him why his health worsens from time to time as he grows older. GEMs, after all, have to take Remedy regularly if they don't want his health to decline rapidly, if they don't want to die and Nate can only get it from one person.
His life is hard but Nate just wants to be with his friends. However, after a terrorist attack, chaos begins to dominate the streets, Remedy's supply suddenly runs out, putting his life in danger.
Now Nate must decide between joining the terrorist group and living a long life without his friends or staying with Reed... and die by his side.

Writing this review is difficult for me because after finishing the book I was left with mixed feelings. There are so many things I want to say, so many things that I liked and so many that I would have liked to change, but first I want to say that the world that the author created is very interesting!

I totally loved the characters, especially Alden, Nate, and Reed. I found them very adorable, interesting but also somewhat complex.
My favorite of the three, of course, was Alden. He’s an extremely complicated boy, it is not easy to understand him but I think he was one of the most human characters in history, full of defects, fears, a person who makes mistake after mistake but still tries to fix it and survive as best he can.
I LOVED HIM WITH ALL MY HEART!

As for Nate and Reed, I really liked the couple they made. There was chemistry there and I liked the interactions of both too much, especially the drama that was caused by everything that was happening in the city. However I feel that as separate characters they are very neutral, they hardly left any impression on me. I mean, I didn't love them but I didn't hate them either, I just like them.
I think that in the case of both, having talked a little more about their past would have made us understand them.

In addition, the world the author created has a lot of potential. There were too many things that interested me, many aspects of both the GEMs and Gathos City and all the history behind the main conflict that caught my attention but... This is where the review gets a bit difficult.

I think the story has those two things going for it: the characters and the world with great potential. However, there are some things that I did not like, among them the little vital information that was given to us to finish building the base of this world. There were many unresolved questions, basic things that had to be answered in at least the first hundred pages. Things like the laws of this world, the history of both the disease that attacked the population and the GEMs, for example.
Thanks to that, half the time I understood what the characters were doing at the time but did not fully understand the background, since the basis of the universe was not fully explained.

As for the characters... There were some of them that appeared and disappeared for no apparent reason, there were also others that began to be important in the story but were introduced out of nowhere, very quickly and almost in a chaotic way.
There were also some events that in the end were not fully explained and issues that are no longer touched upon and that left me unsatisfied.

I think the story has a lot of potential, I liked the characters (especially Alden) but I think it would have been better if this book had been a trilogy or a bilogy. This would have given the author time not only to explain the basis of the world completely, but also for her to develop some events more calmly.

~ESPAÑOL~
1.5 estrellas.
El ARC de esta novela fue proporcionado por la editorial a través de NetGalley a cambio de una reseña honesta.

La historia se centra en Nate, un chico de 16 años genéticamente modificado que ha pasado gran parte de su vida siendo prisionero en un laboratorio científico. Él es uno de los GEMs que fueron creados para curar a la élite de la terrible enfermedad que hace años azotó a la población y que han sido objeto de experimentos durante años por los científicos de Gathos City.
Nate apenas recuerda aquellos días, pero ahora es una persona diferente. Luego de haber escapado de esos laboratorios, aprendió a reparar tecnología y a cambiarla por comida o algún lugar seguro para pasar la noche. Él debe mantener en secreto que es un GEM incluso de su propios amigos, incluso de la persona que ama. Reed es el jefe de una pequeña banda de adolescentes que luchan sobrevivir y Nate está terriblemente enamorado de él pero no puede arriesgarse a decirle la verdad.
Tampoco puede decirle por qué su salud empeora de vez en cuando conforme va creciendo. Los GEMs, después de todo, tienen que tomar Remedy regularmente si no quieren que su salud decaiga rápidamente, si no quieren morir y Nate sólo puede conseguirlo de una sola persona.
Su vida es dura pero Nate sólo quiere estar con sus amigos. Sin embargo, luego de un atentado terrorista, el caos empieza a dominar las calles, el suministro de Remedy se acaba repentinamente poniendo su vida en peligro.
Ahora Nate debe decidir entre unirse al grupo terrorista y vivir una larga vida sin sus amigos o quedarse con Reed... y morir a su lado.

Escribir esta reseña es algo difícil para mi porque luego de terminar el libro quedé con sentimientos encontrados. Hay tantas cosas que quiero decir, tantas cosas que me gustaron y tantas que me hubiera gustado cambiar pero primero quiero decir que el mundo que creó la autora es muy interesante!

Amé por completo a los personajes, especialmente a Alden, Nate y Reed. Ellos me parecieron muy adorables, interesantes pero también algo complejos.
Mi favorito de los tres, por supuesto, fue Alden. Él es un chico sumamente complicado, no es fácil de entenderlo pero creo que fue uno de los personajes más humanos de la historia, lleno de defectos, temores, una persona que comete error tras error pero que aún así intenta remediarlo y sobrevivir como puede.
LO AMÉ CON TODO MI CORAZÓN!

En cuanto a Nate y Reed, la pareja que hacían me gustó mucho. Había ahí química y me gustaron demasiado las interacciones de ambos, especialmente el drama que se hacía por todo lo que estaba pasando en la ciudad. Sin embargo siento que como personajes por separado son muy neutros, casi no dejaron ninguna impresión en mí. Es decir, no me encantaron pero tampoco los odié, sólo les tengo cariño.
Creo que en el caso de ambos, haber hablado un poco más del pasado de ellos habría hecho que empatizaramos con ellos y pudieramos entenderlos.

Además, el mundo que creó la autora tiene muchísimo potencial. Había demasiadas cosas que me interesaron, muchos aspectos tanto de los GEMs como de Gathos City y la ciudad y toda la historia que había detrás del conflicto principal que me llamaron la atención pero... Aquí es cuando la reseña se pone algo difícil.

Pienso que la historia tiene esas dos cosas a su favor: los personajes y el mundo con un gran potencial. Sin embargo, hay algunas cosas que no me gustaron, entre ellas la poca información vital que se nos dio para terminar de construir la base de este mundo. Hubo muchas preguntas sin resolver, cosas básicas que se debieron contestar en, al menos, las primeras cien páginas. Cosas como las leyes de este mundo, la historia tanto de la enfermedad que atacó a la población como de los GEMs, por ejemplo.
Gracias a eso, la mitad del tiempo entendía lo que los personajes estaban haciendo en el momento pero no comprendía del todo el trasfondo, pues la base del universo no fue explicada en su totalidad.

En cuanto a los personajes... Había algunos de ellos que aparecían y desaparecían sin razón aparente, también había otros que empezaron a ser importantes en la historia pero que fueron introducidos de la nada, de forma muy rápida y casi de forma caótica.
También hubo algunos sucesos que al final no se llegaron a explicar del todo y temas que ya no se vuelven a tocar y que me dejaron insatisfecha.

Creo que la historia tiene muchísimo potencial, los personajes me gustaron (especialmente Alden) pero creo que hubiera sido mejor si este libro hubiera sido una trilogía o bilogía. Así le hubiera dado tiempo a la autora no sólo de explicar la base del mundo por completo, sino también para que pudiera desarrollar algunos eventos con más calma.

Maria Ingrande Mora's novel Fragile Remedy is a dark and beautiful portrait of found family and queer love. The story follows Nate, a Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue (or GEM for short), who needs a steady dose of Remedy to keep him healthy. However, when his access to Remedy is cut short, he must choose between letting in those closest to him and leaving them for good in order to protect them.

The relationship between Nate and Alden in particular stood out to me as a nuanced portrait of love, family, power relationships/abuse, and addiction. The author's ability to pen multi-dimensional characters who come to life as I read made it difficult to put the book down!

CW: addiction, drug use, death and child death.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was instantly attracted this book. The title Fragile Remedy, paired with the beautiful artwork had my wheels turning as to what this book could possibly be about. After reading the synopsis my brain jumped to the movie The Island! Do you guys remember that movie? Am I making myself sound super old? Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor.... anyway it was awesome and that parallel made me want to dive into this dystopian world right away!

Throughout this story we follow a GEM named Nate. A boy genetically engineered in Gathos City to help to the rich heal illnesses, ease pain, and escape reality. Smuggled out of the city as a child Nate falls into a gang playfully called The Alley Cats. Their tale takes you through the gritty underbelly of this world and as they fight to save Nates life you can't help but fall in love with each diverse member of this found family.

Although you are quickly thrown into the world of The Withers it is easy to follow. I would have liked to have understood the cause of society's downfall in order to better grasp the hierarchy of their world but I never felt confused by the world building. Although this story is not romance heavy I adored the strong friendships, nods to new love, and the unbreakable bond of family. I would have liked to have seen a more solid plot line in regard the stereotypical villain in order to give some structure to that portion of this story but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it!

My favorite character arc belonged wholeheartedly to Alden. He was unique and original and I found myself constantly wishing for a closer look into his mind. This dystopian world is immersive and unlike anything I have read in a long time. If you are in the mood for something like along the lines of Divergent then look no further! Maria Ingrande Mora is a fresh new voice in the YA world and I look forward to seeing what she creates in the future.

Huge thank you to North Star Editions, Flux Books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This gritty, dystopian sci-fi dives into the question: what if the rich quarantine off a poor area due to disease, then just never lift the quarantine? The lung rot is long gone, but the occupants of Withers are still trapped.

Nate’s a GEM - a genetically engineered medi-tissue - who exists to cure others with his blood. Nate’s on the run, hiding with a found family who don’t know his secret. He’s afraid they’ll betray him if they know the truth, but his secrets keep him from the boy he longs for, too.

This world is immersive and dark. Almost all of the people we meet are involved in the chem trade - essentially illegal drugs - and all are desperately struggling to survive. Nate’s friends, especially precocious Pixel, will win your heart.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy of this book.

This is a fabulous debut novel with so many elements to love. At the mention of Genetically Engineered Medi-Tissue, this science nerd’s heart sped up. I immediately wanted to know more about Nate and his world – and it’s not pretty. Every day is a struggle to survive – food and safe housing are scarce in the Withers, and Nate’s gang scavenges for everything they have. And his gang? Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and this band of scavengers grabs your heart early on and doesn’t let go. They’re also taking care of a Pixel, a young girl, and each of them would sacrifice their own life to keep her safe. Her relationship with Nate is one of my favorite aspects of this story.

Stakes are sky high with this group. Nate is dying a slow, painful death due to lack of Remedy, the drug that keeps GEMs alive. Alden, his supplier is unable to obtain anymore. Their relationship is a complex one, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Alden, but I think his heart is in the right place most of the time. Nate is withholding secrets from his gang that could end his freedom, but also make his friends’ lives easier. Violence is spreading throughout the Withers, and no place is safe. With seriously limited options, decisions are made that put all their lives in jeopardy. At one point, I thought there might be a sequel to this novel but was happy to discover it’s a standalone and plot threads are resolved by the end. It wouldn’t have been a patient wait for the next book.

As a dystopian fan, I’ve read several novels in the genre. Something I missed in this book was more information about the conflict between Gathos City and the Withers. It’s touched on, but not really fleshed out. I initially thought it would be a primary source of conflict, but that’s not the case.

Fragile Remedy offers outstanding LGBTQ representation, a main character who’s an adorable cinnamon roll, a sweet, tentative first love relationship, and thought-provoking scientific elements. It’s also about sacrifices, making hard decisions, and fighting for your family no matter what.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

thank you to flux and netgallery for the arc!

i liked this one! the worldbuilding was SO incredibly rich and had so much potential, but the plot kind of skipped over the interesting stuff, and was just... meh. the book was kind of all over the place and super unpredictable, and not really in a fun way. i did click with all of the characters almost instantly, and i thought they were all very well developed!

2.75 stars.
I was a bit unsure about the story, but i liked Nate alot. He was very easy to like and grew on me pretty quickly. Though i was a bit unsure about his love interest, i liked him enoguh but did not feel attatched in any way though. But the writing as easy to follow and had a nice flow.

It took me a long time to get into this at the beginning; I started it several times and stopped but once I made it a priority and dug in I LOVED the characters and the storyline. In this age of fantasy, it's hard to find something truly unique and I think this stands out for that. I can see the future sequels, and the prequel where we learn about lungrot and Ivy secreting Nate away from the city. I can't wait for more.

Characters you won't forget, a setting that keeps you immersed, and action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Fragile Remedy is a book you should plan to sink into and read in one sitting!

This arc seems to have such good reviews, and sadly I just cant share that love for it.
Firstly this book just threw me into the world with no explanation. It wasn’t until the halfway point until i even kinda started to understand the world building. And after finishing i still don’t get a lot of it. There were just so many elements and made up future-lingo that were thrown in without a description.
The romance in this book was so confusing. First it seems like its an established relationship, then they say they aren’t together, then they kiss three times so as a reader i assumed that meant they were together now, but then they weren’t together again, and at the end they say they didnt even know the other liked them. It was Confusing and frustrating to read, and even without all the drama they still had no chemistry. The MC and LI barely interacted and when they did they didnt even seem to like each other.
All the characters feel very flat, and the main character didnt have any development and I found him very annoying. And the plot was all over the place, I could never keep track of what was supposed to be happening at any given moment. There were so many overly dramatic scene just thrown in and glossed over. And the whole Val thing frustrated me so much, she kept being set up and alluded to be a main character and just kept disappearing for hundreds of pages at a time. And by the end everyone just forgot about her all over again. The only reason I’m giving this a 2 instead of a 1, is because despite all its flaws it interested me enough that I didnt DNF it.

What a fantastic story concept! It was a science fiction thriller and a medical ethics philosophy track all in one. This was beautifully written and paced just right. The characters are all engaging and relatable, especially Nate and his love for his "found family."

By all accounts, I should have liked this book. However, it was just way too hard for me to get into. Thankfully, the last half picked up and I followed along well enough from that point onwards. I loved the characters and their dynamics together. I just struggled with liking the story itself.
Overall, the worldbuilding was done very well--with genetically modified children who were created to help deal with a pandemic who now rely upon Remedy. The characters have high stakes as they decide whether to do what is right, what is easy, and who to trust.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I’ve been wanting to read more dystopian books recently and “Fragile Remedy” seemed like the perfect chance to do that and I ended up really enjoying it!

The writing style was amazing and I can’t wait to read more by this author in the future! The story was super fast-paced, it grabbed me from the first chapter and didn’t let go until the end! I binge read this whole thing in an evening.

I adore queer found family and this book is the optimum of that trope.

I was a little confused about the world-building at times and there are a lot of technical terms I had to get my head around, but overall this world is super immersive and easy to grasp. It was also a lot darker than I was expecting it to be, but obviously, this is dystopian so that’s to be expected.

I really hope this isn’t a standalone because I have so many unanswered questions and a lot of stuff felt unresolved to me!

Overall, I really enjoyed this queer YA dystopian surrounding a ragtag group of thieves and I highly recommend checking this out!

I was completely blown away by the young adult dystopian read! I immediately fell in love with Reed, Nate and the rest of the gang. The world created by the author is a rich and layered tapestry. I loved the family dynamic of Reed's gang. The ending was perfection!

Fragile Remedy is a wonderful, complex story that covers a plethora of important topics through a dystopian-sci-fi lens. It explores the feeling of grief, addiction and reliance on other people and how these things can be harmful when not managed properly with the sci-fi elements intensifying this portrayal and making these issues explicit and succinct. I love how Maria Ingrande Mora tackles the lack of queerness in dystopia, by making the central character queer and in love with another boy, while also utilising queerness as to accentuate the found family aspects of the story.
In all, Fragile Remedy is a story of survival and togetherness. It's about staying close to those who wish to see you be strong and being strong FOR them. It's about finding a group of people with whom you belong and would stand by you until the end. The relationships and friendships formed in this book feel so amazingly authentic and are pivotal to the story.
Any fans of traditional YA dystopia, queer couples in the centre of stories, fans of the found family trope and fans of heartfelt stories that are character-driven will adore this book.

As an overall story, and as someone who gets really invested in characters, I found Fragile Remedy to be an entertaining read. There's a little something for everyone: a tad of yearning romance, found family, and the fight for survival in a dystopic world. Nate is a hidden GEM who's been smuggled out of Gathos City into the chem-addled Withers, and if he's made, who knows what people are willing to do for his "magic" blood. Ultimately, Nate must keep his identity a secret from everyone he loves, and still find Remedy, the only thing keeping him alive.

While I enjoyed reading the story, I found the pacing to be a little weird in the beginning; it took me a while to get past the first few chapters, and once it picked up, there were still parts that felt oddly rushed or dragging. I did love the nostalgia it brought out because there was something eerily familiar to other popular dystopic novels, and it was something kind of new but still known. As much as I enjoyed Nate's found family, individually they fell flat, and I found this to be true of some of the plot points as well.

All in all, it was an interesting story that kept me rooting for Nate during his hard times, and although predictable, it was a quick read once it got going.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC of this book.

During the first half of the book I enjoyed it but wasn't taken away with it. I found there to be good parts but felt like I read it before. Once I got to the 50% mark things really picked up and there was a lot of action. The story really picked up and I found it to be really interesting. There was plot twist
after plot twist that kept me wanting to see what would happen.
I really enjoyed the queer found family aspect in this book! It really gave some heart to the story. There were rather tough parts throughout this book so the found family part brought light to the story.
I gave this four stars because of how I didn't love the beginning.

**Thank you Netgalley and publisher for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Alden was my second favorite character, my first being Pixel. This was such an interesting story that kept my attention. I loved the romance between Reed and Nate.

This was such a refreshing read for the dystopian genre. The world building is rich and is revealed through clever narration. The characters are so nuanced, diverse and fleshed out through their interactions, rather than just info dumping back stories. The romance between the three leads was so palpable just from Nate's perspective, it's still resonating with me.

I really like how easily I was able to slide into this small corner of this book's universe. Although I wish we could have glimpsed more into Gathos City, I found that disconnect heightened the level of fear the Alley Cats had for their safety, from unseen dangers and overblown rumors.

I very much enjoyed it as a standalone, but could easily see the potential for a series in this world (and I usually prefer standalones). I very much look forward to reading more works from this author!

HOLY SHIT!

what an amazing read! seeing at this is Maria's debut novel, I am very surprised at the level from which she is starting..

The story follows Nate and his merry band of scavengers trying to survive in the lowest and poorest side of the city known as The Withers. Can I just say how strong and brave I think they all are because they have VIP passes on the world's worse Struggle Bus. Not only that but Nate is a GEM, which means he also struggles with making sure he has enough Remedy in his system in order to survive and function.

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. As much as I loved it, I did struggle with it for a long time. It was hard to get through and harder to experience all their hardship and everything they went through to make it to the other side.

Though this is not a relationship or love-focused story, I did enjoy the romance between Nate and Reed. But more than that I very much enjoyed the friendship between Alden and Nate, Alden wasn't a good person and he hurt a lot of people but he was still a fantastic character and I couldn't help but root for him and his adorable quirkiness.

All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am I VERY excited for the rest of the world to enjoy it too. I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more Ingrande Mora, she is a force to be reckoned with.