This speculative book looks at the near future and the advances in science that allow for people to never look their age, live into their 100s, and choose their children (while they are still embryos) based on whatever they want: beauty, intelligence, physical characteristics.

The problem for me is the premise of the book: people will steal genetic material, use it to create an embryo, and then have a famous person's baby without their consent. Celebrities will do whatever they can to avoid leaving genetic material behind. If genetic material is stolen, it can be ransomed to the owner so they don't have a biological child they don't know about.

There is the story of Lily who was conceived the old-fashioned way and now her parents are choosing an embryo to be her sibling. If Lily thought she was less-than before, she's pretty much feeling it now.

Quinn is a surrogate who recently had a baby for a family, and decides now she wants to be a surrogate for a complete stranger and live in his house and what?

Ember is a bio-security specialist who is hired by a famous singer who has been targeted by blackmailers with his DNA in the past. Her job is to remove any biological material when the show is over - from the mic, the water bottle, the floor - so it won't get into the hands of the wrong people.

Some ick in here about people with disabilities who are so unhappy that their parents chose their embryo even though they knew there was a good chance of being deaf or living with depression. Not cool.

The book touches on too many issues to deal with any very well and the ending is so-so. It was a fast read, but not the book for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and The Quick Brown Fox & Co. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sci-fi is a hit or miss genre for me and this was definitely a HIT. The premise of the plot was unique and unlike anything I can remember reading before.

Set in the future where advanced technologies allow for sperm or egg to be created from human cells, an online marketplace selling DNA samples of high-profile individuals illegally, threatens. Trace, a famous singer, who has had his DNA stolen and sold in the marketplace, hires Ember, a biosecurity guard, for protection. When they are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, claiming that Trace is the father of the baby, they are dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Lily, a journalist undertaking a post-grad fellowship, wants to expose the power reproduction clinics have while uncovering the truth behind her mother's jail time.

The book is told from the points of view of the three female protagonists - Quinn, Ember and Lily. Their stories are compelling, each fighting their own hidden battle, and struggling to find answers. I really enjoyed how the storylines came together at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a little of the movie Gattaca. I enjoyed the storyline and I didn’t see the end coming. I couldn’t put it down and it wasn’t like anything else I’ve read

Thank you, NetGalley!

This book was nothing like I thought it would be in a bad way. I did not like the duel POVs. The world-building of this book was weird and hard to follow.

I could not put this book down!! Quick chapters and a twist that shocked me.

Fast forward to the future, any biological matter can now be used to create life. Politicians, athletes, musicians, anyone in the public eye is now at risk. A stranger can now have a baby of their own with a celebrity all thanks to the Vault; an anonymously run company that finds ways to obtain DNA through objects, such as a used tissue or water bottle, to sell it on their website to the highest bidder.

The story follows four POVs. Thorne, a famous singer who is scared of his DNA being sold on the Vault. Ember, the owner of a company that helps protect celebrities from getting their DNA stolen. Quinn, a surrogate. Lily, a girl conceived “the old fashioned way” trying to navigate life among her peers who were created by science to be optimal humans. The story comes together perfectly in the end with a twist you won’t see coming! I also loved reading about all the scientific advancements Peikoff dreamed up throughout the book. It really makes you wonder about our future. Highly recommend!!

5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARCg in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 2052 and the world has changed significantly. Technology has advanced beyond our imagination and Baby X is a story that fans of speculative thrillers will adore.

Imagine a world where your DNA can be used to create either an egg or sperm, where you can conceive your idols child without ever meeting them. All you need to do is buy their stolen DNA from a black market site.

Imagine a world where you can select your child’s personality, gender, strengths, academic success, happiness, creativity, empathy, patience, you can eliminate genetic illness and negative traits.

Imagine a world where anyone can have a baby, there’s no age limit and human’s are now living longer due to being “selected” healthier and without avoidable inherited diseases.

Baby X is that world and the story is narrated by 3 women.

Quinn is a surrogate. She carries “selected” babies for people who can’t have their own for a fee.

Ember is a DNA security guard. She works for celebrities to ensure their DNA is not stolen and used on the black market.

Lily is a journalist, currently working at Vanguard as a post-graduate fellowship, desperate to prove herself and land herself her dream job.

Each women narrates her story with alternating chapters and the reader follows their lives trying to connect the dots to see how these women are linked.

I absolutely ADORED this book. The style of writing, the fast paced chapters, the voices of the 3 women, the storyline, the tension, the twists all kept me glued to the pages.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any fans of the thriller genres. Even if you’ve never read “speculative fiction” before, I think this book is definitely worth reading as it’s thought-provoking and twisted, clever and well plotted.

What an interesting concept! This book follows three women as they navigate the not so far off world of “designer babies” and DNA selection. Can you imagine trying to chose between mental predispositions like bipolar, depression, and anxiety or the physical dispositions like cancer? What if we had to live in a world with a DNA protectors because people stole DNA and sold it on the dark web? I loved moral questions this book brought up.

This is a very good story, a bit of science fiction and a bit of mystery/thriller make for a quick paced plot. Set in the near future, Ember is a sort of security guard (I say sort of because what she guards is bio material) for rock superstar Trace Thorne who has been targeted by a group called the Vault that take anything that he has touched to make material used to create an embryo. He has already put out millions to the Vault to recover material they had obtained. He hired Ember to ensure it doesn't happen again, and things are going good, so good that the two of them fall in love. Not long after this, a woman, Quinn, approaches Ember to tell her that she's pregnant with a baby she believes is from Trace. Quinn had met a guy at a concert and they sort of hit it off, he's quite wealthy, and talks her into getting pregnant (artificial insemination) and he will pay for her accommodation and any expenses. She agrees and is quickly pregnant, getting inseminated in this time period means selecting your own embryo, whether you want a boy or girl and what type of personality. Lily is another young woman who's parents have decided that they are going to have a baby, her mom is 63, but doesn't look a day over 40 with the help of solutions to keep wrinkles at bay. There had been an incident in her mom's past that when the clinic found out about it, refused to do the procedure. This is a very fast pace novel and all of the timelines come together at the end, there was one twist that I did not see near the end, overall a very good book and I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Crookedlanebooks for the ARC.

Baby X is an immediately captivating journey into speculative fiction, filled with imagination and clever twists that will surely resonate with fans of John Marrs. While I found great enjoyment within its ~300 pages, there were moments of slight confusion as the alternating perspectives lacked distinct voices, occasionally blending together. The shorter chapter length, which I personally favor for pacing reasons, kept me engaged and eager to uncover each new revelation nonetheless. While I did anticipate some of the twists, the final reveal left me pleasantly surprised as I wasn't expecting that one at all. Overall, it's a pretty solid read, though I must admit that I'm very thankful that I'll likely never have to see the name Bubala on my Kindle ever again 😂

My sincere thanks to Kira Peikoff, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the DRC!

This book is set 25 years in the future. With 3 narrators Ember, Quinn, and Lily.

In the future anyone two people on the USA can have a child because of a technological breakthrough. Very few people decide to have a baby the old way and now chose to be able to create and pick their child and how they will turn out.

“The Vault” a black market site devoted to stealing DNA from high profile clients (actors, athletes, etc) and selling the DNA to the highest bidder.

3.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ .75 stars! This story takes place in the future, and people have an opportunity to create babies with new technology by using DNA. On the black market, people’s DNA are being sold and Thorne, a famous singer’s DNA has been stolen and he has been blackmailed to pay for his DNA if he wants it back.

Thorne reached out to the authorities for help, but they hadn’t helped him. So, he hires Ember Ryan who is his DNA security and she has guaranteed that this will never happen to him again. But, a woman named Quinn confronts Ember and Thorne and she lets them know that she is pregnant with Thorne’s baby.

Lily started her internship as a journalist and she just wants to prove to them that she can find a great story that they would want to publish. The story that she wants to write about can ruin her relationship with her family.

The story is told from 3 points of view and try to determine if Quinn is really pregnant with Thorne’s baby. What is Quinn’s story and how does Lily’s story play a part in this. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.

First I want to thank NetGalley, Kira Peikoff, and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

If you like speculative thrillers, this book won't disappoint! It is the not so distant future of 2050. In this thriller, any biological material can be used to create life and celebrity DNA is sold to the highest bidder or the most obsessed stalker. The story is narrated alternately by Ember, Quinn and Lilly. It takes a few chapters of each to get the story going, but I was hooked and I loved the way it all tied together in the end.

The pacing of the plot was fast and I was quickly immersed in the story. It was an interesting concept, especially in how eerie and creepy it was and how potentially realistic it could be. I could see this happening in the not so distant future, which is a scary thought!

I highly recommend this book. It was so unique in it's plot. I think you will LOVE the ending! I myself was surprised!

Amazing!! Baby X really made me think and felt like this dystopian could actually become our terrifying future. This was a wildly fun experience and I look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you for the opportunity to read this e-galley.

Baby X tells the story of a future world where everything is wonderful and perfect...or is it?

This book was fine. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. The shifting POVs was kind of confusing, though. I actually had to make a little cheat sheet of all the characters so I could keep track of them. The plot was different, but kind of clumsy and rushed. The twist at the end did surprise me, though...so points for that.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Quick Brown Fox & Co. for the eARC.

The premise of the book was so very enticing that I had to request it - and was thrilled to receive an eARC. Futuristic books are newish to me, but Kira Peikoff's Baby X was just stellar. I have raved about it to so many.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a free copy of this book. Now, let's review!

I am a huge fan of Orphan Black. Thus, anything that resembles a story about cloning or DNA manipulation, I have to get my hands on. This book had a very interesting take on how the future will look like, if gene manipulation and stealing DNA to create humans is possible. Sometimes I found myself thinking "This is a creepy notion...but what if it'll become reality in, say, 50 years?". TBH this is why I requested this book: I wanted a futuristic take on how humans may deal with their own biology in some time to come. Kira Peikoff has a very fluent writing style, which makes it easy to get into the book and follow the different story lines. Her characters are well-crafted and interesting, and their different perspectives come together nicely to create a holistic view. If you like reading futuristic stories, I can definitely recommend this book.

My Rating: 5 Stars! Baby X, let me tell you, WOW! I didn't know this book would take hold of me and pull me in the way it did, yet I am so glad it did. Initially, I did not realize the connection between the three women, but it gradually became evident. As someone who can often predict the endings of stories, I thoroughly enjoyed being constantly surprised by this one. I appreciate being pleasantly surprised, and this book was no exception. I won't give away any spoilers, but it's an excellent read that keeps you guessing and pondering what's inside the characters' minds. My favorite character is probably Quinn or Lily because they are strong women who are unsure of themselves yet find they are indeed strong.

The core scientific concept gave me pause, but overall this is a thrilling, compelling read! There are enough red herrings for me to feel like I'm reading something surprising and innovative, and the twist ties everything together nicely without making it feel too neat.

I generally like dystopian books, and thrillers, and the combination of the two sounded like a win for me. In the end I was quite neutral about the book -- I didn't love it like I thought I would, but it also wasn't a bad read. A few things that didn't work for me: I didn't love Lily's storyline for most of the book -- wondered why it was even relevant. I found myself less interested in those parts so that sort of slowed down the book for me. I also fully understand that this was set in the future, but it was as though TOO much was different. Sure, have the genetic technology and focus the plot around that, but then we have robot dogs, self-driving cars, micro-drone surveillance, etc. It all felt too futuristic to me, when I think it would have been more powerful if it felt more like the reality we know today just with advanced biological technology. All in all an interesting concept, and in the end all story lines did weave together -- it just took a long time.

3.5 stars

Baby X by Kira Peikoff is a fascinating, fictionalized story about the future and the technology that may actually exist in 20 or so years. Food replicators. Self-driving cars. And most important to this story, selecting an offspring’s DNA.

The book is told from three POVs . . .

Quinn: A surrogate who carries a parent’s selected embryo until birth.

Ember: A scientist who ensures that her client’s DNA doesn’t fall into the wrong hands

Lily: A journalist trying to make it in the world as a traditionally conceived baby.

The story did drag at times but I did enjoy the sci-fi elements and the twist at the end of the story was satisfying.