While the beginning of Subject A36 was a bit slow, it was still enjoyable because of the backstory and the introduction of some of the characters and their feelings and actions.

And while the premise isn't that new to dystopian YA, it's the characters and how they think about their situation that makes the story great.
I really loved the strong bond between Asher and Brynn. For me, strong, calm Noah, Brynn's brother, stole the show in some scenes.
And the cliffhanger makes me longing for the second book.

Overall, I think that while Teri Polen has not written a big game changer of YA dystopian fiction, she wrote a wonderful story full of hope, loss, trauma, cruelty, strong bonds and cinematic action scenes. I truly enjoyed this book and am excited for the next.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Subject A36 by Teri Polen is the first book in The Colony series. Asher and his family live in a dystopic world where human beings who do not belong to the Colony are hunted down and 'harvested' for their desirable DNA traits. The excuse for this inhumane treatment is that it controls the population (a necessary concern when disease has been pretty much eradicated, leading to longer lifespans). Asher and his adoptive family are part of the Insurgents, who work to free prisoners before they can have their DNA stripped. When accidental transfer leaves behind genetic material from Ash, the Colony begins hunting him in earnest. For Asher Solomon is more than he ever knew, far more valuable than those gathered for 'harvesting'.

First off, dang! I love dystopias, and this was no exception. For some reason, it hit me even harder than say, Hunger Games, or others. I think it's because we are still relatively close in time to the Holocaust, where people were gathered together to be slain, and many died in genetics experiments. With certain people and groups in positions of power, and other groups of people threatened with greater marginalisation, this just feels frighteningly plausible.

Well, the gathering and imprisonment of certain groups anyway. The gene-stripping confused me. Our cells contain our entire DNA blueprint. DNA can be gleaned by blood drawn from a donor, with no need to kill them. I would have liked more exploration of this process, and the process to implant harvested genes into recipients. I'm having a hard time imagining how it might feasibly work.

I really liked all of the main characters. Ash and Noah were my favourites. The loyalty between the two adoptive brothers warms my heart. And Brynn! She's so fierce. I imagine she could put Subject A36 in his place quite easily, no matter what the genetic enhancements. I also get easily attached to the genetically enhanced thanks to Khan Noonien Singh and Julian Bashir. And now I've dated myself 🤣

Some things felt very repetitive though, like Ash mentioning several times that rescued children taken to Insurgent facilities may be adopted by others or form their own families if theirs couldn't be located. Also, how he didn't want to see Oz hurt because his interest in Paige wasn't reciprocated. I got it after the second and third mentions. I didn't need to read it several times more. It's something that could be removed to tighten the story.

I feel it would have flowed better removing the chapters not from Asher's POV. Those few scattered chapters felt like unnecessary over-explaining of things that might work better more succinctly woven into Asher's POV as showing, or as a dialogue exchange. Overall, I did enjoy the story and look forward to seeing the author grow as a writer, and where this story goes.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Black Rose Writing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for R&R Blog Tours

Ash has spent years fighting against the Colony, the ruling class, who steal second class citizens with desirable genetic traits. A secret buried in his past will upend his world and send him spinning into the hands of the Colony.

I have to warn you first of all, the blurb is not exactly accurate, so don't expect it to be.

I enjoyed this read, but it's not amazing. It's almost like a book of two halves; the first part is a standard resist-the-evil-with-an-attractive-group-of-teens story, and the second half becomes something else that I won't spoil, but you can probably see coming if you read this type of story at all. It's an enjoyable read, with quick action scenes and good character building; I liked Paige the best, but everyone was good.

The central conflict, however, doesn't make sense to me. I'm not any kind of medical professional, but I'm pretty sure you don't need to kill someone to take part of their genetic code; you can get DNA from blood, after all, and you wouldn't need much. If they were physically taking organs and so on, it would make much more sense to me.

But if you can ignore that, this is a great, action packed read and I recommend it to everyone.

DNF @ 19%

I think this will be an enjoyable enough read for anyone who likes YA dystopian fiction; however, it doesn't really stand out in any way.

Personally, the premise and prose just don't work for me. Having taken lots of biology and healthcare-related classes, I'm having difficulty suspending disbelief because this version of genetic editing just doesn't make sense — especially considering what's currently already possible. The main characters are pretty archetypical teen rebels, and I'm not particularly invested in any of them or their relationships.

I struggled with this book, I chose it but it wasn't a book I could easily read,and I couldn't get into it.