I'm quitting this book. I'm bored to dang death and life is too short.

signed,

Wrong reader from hell.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review

I LOVED this sci-fi! As a cell culture nerd by day, this thriller hit close to home.
The future is a scary place where someone can steal your genetic information and do whatever they want with it.
A great fictional litmus for the topic of biological ethics and morality. Is this future as far away as you think?
I know it’s only March, but I’m already calling this one a 2024 must-read.

Thank you NetGalley and Kira Peikoff for the eARC. Can’t wait to see this author’s future works!

“Real life didn’t conform to desires, no matter how desperate.”

“Few things in life were as frustrating as sheer helplessness.”

The premise of this book is FRIGHTENING! Woah. Designer babies and being able to steal a single hair or some saliva from a soda can and make a BABY with ANYONE without their knowledge or consent?! Oh man I hope this is not the direction the world is headed in.

This story is told from multiple POV which KILLED me at the end. Argh I was flipping those pages like they were on fire. Baby X is a very fast paced and terrifyingly probable story that I could not put down. Go on Kira Peikoff, writing stories that have me not only reading but 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 science fiction!

Thank you to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author for the gifted copy.

Set in the future, this thriller is focused on the legal and ethical fallout when biological advances allow life to be created from any sample containing a person’s DNA. Even though this was a quick and entertaining read, I wish that some of the storylines and characters had been more fully developed so I could have been more invested in the story.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much @CrookedLaneBooks for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 05 March 2024)

SYNOPSIS | In a not-so-distant future, genetic advancements allow a person's DNA (any biological matter like an eyelash or skin cell) to be restructured into egg and sperm cells which can then be analyzed for future traits and health concerns before being implanted into a prospective parent. The downside is that celebrities are beginning to be targeted by "The Vault" (a black-market site devoted to selling stolen DNA to the highest bidder).

WHAT I LIKED:
- this felt more like a speculative thriller than true sci-fi
- equally fascinating and frightening concept
- the futuristic world was really well described and I loved the little nods to the world as we know it today
- a bunch of interesting dialogue around the ethical + moral concerns of genetic engineering (would make a fantastic book club choice)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the main storylines felt unrelated until almost the very end

It was good! I remember Black Mirror and this is straight up like an episode of it! It was fun and thrilling.

4.5⭐️ wow! This was really incredible. It was very heavy on the sci-fi, with just a little bit of thriller to keep it engaging. In the not so distant future majority of babies are made in a lab through a process of selection. with that comes the end of many childhood and genetic diseases and overall seems like a positive thing but of course there is a dark side and irreparable consequences to messing with science and human biology.

The premise of "Baby X" was very interesting. There were lots of twists that made it an entertaining read. I think if you enjoyed reading books such as "The One" by John Marrs and "Girl One" by Sara Flannery Murphy, you would enjoy "Baby X".

There has been a lot of buzz about Baby X, so I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy--many thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and author Kira Peikoff for the librarian preview copy! I absolutely loved this dystopian thriller about a world in which babies are made only in labs and protecting one's DNA is a full-time job for body guards. I loved the details about life in the not-so distant future, including 3-D printed food, self-driving cars, and text messages read via contact lenses. The plot centers around the paternity of a baby being carried by a surrogate, and there are three viewpoints in the story, including Quinn, the surrogate; Ember, the bodyguard; and Lily, the journalist. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this page-turning thriller, and it also offers lots of discussion potential for bookclubs. Highly recommended!

Baby X is going to be a big summer sci-fi: it moves quickly with an over the top plot. It reminded me a lot of Naomi Alderman's latest book.

This was a page-turning, dystopian book based on such an interesting concept. The ethical and moral dilemmas were fascinating to consider and the mystery element kept me guessing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
An engaging, quick science fictional read. It was told from different perspectives that came together for a great ending.

I absolutely love when I read a book that keeps me guessing from the beginning until the end. If you love plots, twists, turns, and are you kidding me(s), then just like me this book is a must read.

Reading 2024
Book 57: Baby X by Kira Peikoff

Read this book from #NetGalley on my Kindle. There was a buzz about this book that drew my attention.

Synopsis: When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.

Review: Well now this was a propulsive thriller. The book read quickly, and I stayed up until 1 am one night to finish the last 30%. Making babies in a lab and then selecting the best one, WOW! So much speculation and head scratching possibilities. Will be recommending this book to others looking for a good thriller, my rating 4.25⭐️.

This was surprisingly waaay better than I expected it to be! It takes a page out of the Twilight Zone/Black Mirror speculative sci-fi genre and it did not disappoint! 80% into the story and I’m wondering how is the author going to wrap this up without rushing and taking away from the story, but it was a success! The author did an incredible job with this one. There are tons of issues to discuss with this one and I think it’d make for a really good book club selection.

Baby X is an intriguing exploration of the near future. I loved the way the author used known up-and-coming tech to add to this near future society. They definitely did their research. But that’s kinda where the positives end.

The premise was so interesting, and I even started having dreams about this world. The plot was cheesy. It read like a YA novel. Maybe it is YA? It also felt a liiiittle too close to eugenics without touching on this. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief that far… See why it felt YA? It avoided difficult questions for the sake of a plot.

Look, I’m not sure how believable genetically “coaxing” cells into sex cells is, but I suspended my disbelief. But what got me is that we’re supposed to believe someone could actually collect all fallen DNA from a person in public? Do you know how much skin cells, hair, and spittle we lose every day? It felt incomprehensible to me that you could just have someone follow you around to collect all of it, with 100% accuracy.

The biggest issue to me, however, is the huge lack of diversity and lack of racial awareness in this novel, especially within the intersection of health and technology. No talk of health equity, no talk of race, no talk of how we got to this time where none of this is even touched on. The timeframe and history of all other health tech aspects were touched on (universal healthcare, screening for diseases), but there was no explanation of health inequality, disparities, and race.

To me, it seems glaringly obvious that the author didn’t feel it was necessary to expand on racial tensions and disability equality in the US and how it can change in 50ish years. If all the other timelines of large cultural aspects were explained, why not this? It felt ignorant, and honestly, it upsets me the more I think about it.

Was I entertained? Yes. But it had a gaping hole in the middle of its world — one that was a serious issue.

Thank you yo NetGalley and Crooked Lane for this ARC!

Wow, I am pleasantly surprised by this book. The comparisons to Blake Crouch and Black Mirror are warranted, but I found it more enjoyable in the sense that it’s not extremely disturbing like some episodes of Black Mirror and the female characters are written much better than in Blake Crouch novels.

Baby X is delightfully tense. I liked the different POVs, and I think it added to the tension.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves fun, thought-provoking science fiction with plenty of twists.

A mind-bending and thought-provoking near-futuristic tale.

I loved the changing narratives between three women and the link that binds them all. Very suspenseful and an unexpected twist at the end, this book really drew me in and was progressively difficult to put down!

Rating: 3.5

I was first drawn to Baby X because of the Black Mirror feeling I got from the blurb.

A multi-POV book, set in the not too distant future where people can create the perfect offspring with the help of science. The world building is great, with a technological future built on top of our vastly developing society. The ideas behind how humans have progressed and the future we could possibly take it laid out.

However, there is a lack of development that stunts the overall enjoyment of this story. There were a few things that were quite predictable, the characters were OK but nothing memorable or special,

Overall, it was a decent read, but not something that really sticks out.

If you enjoy John Marrs’ speculative fiction books or the TV series Black Mirror, then you need to read this book!

Baby X is set in the near future where babies can be conceived from almost any kind of your biological material. It doesn’t have to be from male or female gametes. Science can now produce those from any DNA; hair, spit, skin, etc.

Also with the advance of science, humans live much longer now and can have children much later in life than ever before.

The problem that arises is that gametes of major celebrities are being sold on the black market and a person, just by picking up a discarded water bottle, can get the DNA from that major celebrity and have their baby.

I loved this concept. Baby X is told by 3 POVs and is a thriller that kept me turning the pages. I can’t wait to see what Kira Peikoff comes up with next!

*Thank you so much to Quick Brown Fox & Co., Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*