I liked this concept of three samples from Augmented, Inside and Things I Learned While I Was Dead. From genetic engineering to youth’s struggles, in various settings, these three offered a good range, I recommend all three, but particularly interested in Things I Learned While I Was Dead and Augmented.

These three samples are nice and long giving the reader a really good chance to get a vibe for each story and end up wanting to read more……

Augmented
— I loved how this book began, the single page introduction set toward the end of the events of the book, augmentation day, followed by a return to where everything begins. I think the premise of this book holds a ton of promise overall, this idea of teenagers having genetically engineered skills to benefit society. The main character’s plant based augmentation is incredibly intriguing and I’m definitely quite eager to read more.

Inside by S. A. Gales
— You’re thrown right into the action from the very beginning and then, in a manner quite similar to Augmented, brought back to some time before the events of the first chapter actually began. I was a little less invested in this one, if only because I’m not super into the world building. But I do love the setting. The closest vibe I can compare it to is almost treasure-hunt-y, even if that might not be the case. Had Uncharted feels.

Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark
— I really appreciated the author’s note at the beginning, including trigger warnings related to the difficult subjects portrayed in the book. And oh my gosh, once I actually started diving into this, I was incredibly intrigued. The book starts off throwing you right into the confusion of everything. We’re not entirely sure why the main character was dead or why she was brought back, but we’re eager to learn more about it. The whole thing seems to have been planned, which you learn more about as you read further and get into the interspersed epistolary format that brief sections of the book take on—honestly, I got really excited when I saw the included poetry and the pamphlet (?) about the HEALE Programme. All I can say is I’m incredibly excited to see where this one goes!

3/5 stars
this is a great sampler of the books and a good way to get a feeling if you might like them or not. I liked two of the three books and will maybe continue them.

Thank you for sharing this captivating sample of upcoming sci-fi / speculative novels. I'm especially looking forward to Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, I love Afrofuturism!

YA sci-fi is still fairly rare on the market, it's great publishers are starting to recognize the potential of the genre for the young generation.

I was delighted to be able to read a sampler of Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, iNSiDE by S.A. Gales and and Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark. I absolutley love YA sci-fi and to be honest Fabre just doe everything better.

The 3 samples are nice and long giving the reader a really good chance to get a vibe for the story an inevitably get hooked.

I really enjoyed all 3 samples but especially cannot wait to get my hands on iNSiDE, the concept is fascinating and I cannot wait to see where Gales goes with it.

Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark also had me enthralled from the start and I definitely need to know what is next!