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!

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!

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.

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.

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……

Thank you for this awesome sampler of upcoming YA sci-fi books. I will be looking for a copy of INSIDE in the near future!

The three previews offer an exciting, inventive, and diverse window into the world of YA/Middle grade sci-fi.

Augmented opens with, and works towards, a mystery that is poised to unravel a dark truth behind the protagonist's life-giving abilities and the seemingly utopian society she lives in. Inside jumps between the past and the present as its protagonist works to infiltrate a group she has only ever known as the enemy. Things I Learned While I Was Dead explores the sisterly zeal that persists in the aftermath of a too-good-to-be-true life saving procedure, told in limited person POV.

Out of the three, I'm most interested in finding out what happens in Augmented. Akaego seems like an interesting main character with a good voice (narrative and otherwise), and the book appears to build on the premise quite well, the character interactions are also pretty fun to read. I'm least likely to read Inside, though the premise is interesting. Lastly, Things I Learned While I Was Dead is more 50-50 for me, though I'd definitely read it if I were in a mood for a more slow-burn reveal in a contained setting.

Thank you to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for making these excerpts available.

I really enjoyed this sampler of intriguing upcoming YA titles.

The first, Augmented, reminded me a bit of Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, specifically the schooling, but I can tell from the blurb it’ll go in a completely different direction. It sounds neat but based on the sample, I don’t think this one is for me.

The world of the second book, iNSiDE, is very interesting and unusual. The glitches within Naya’s city and the way the whole place works border on confusing for me. I feel like Naya’s experience outside with the Spiravets could potentially be pretty predictable, but I’m interested in reading the book to see if that’s the case.

Things I Learned While I Was Dead is the book I’m most interested in as it’s super mysterious. I want to know everything about the facility where Calico is being held. I want to know what the heck is up with Jem. And where is Asha? In just a few short chapters, I’ve already come up with theories and I really want to know if I’m right or wrong. I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

Thank you for the sampler!

Augmented

Akaego has just had her whole life shaken up, supposedly she has a rare ability that could help her ravaged near future home, she's just moved to a new prestigious school, one she knows she doesn’t fit into cause her so called ability and her 16th birthday is soon approaching the one where everyone in her society has their ability surgically implanted permanently, the rare one not the one she’s used and study her whole life cause society says you can only have one and to make matters worse the Freestakers an anti-enhancement group has taken an interested in her.

As this was only a sample, I was unable to finish the whole book. However, the start seemed really interesting, the premise seemed interesting and unique. I wasn’t sold on the characters, but I feel like that would change if I read more and got to know them better.

It felt similar to the utopian and dystopian books I read as a teenager, such as “Matched” and “Divergent”. I’m definitely going to pick up the rest of the book because I want to know what happens next.

iNSiDE

In the nowhere space lies a city, one that would be perfect if not for the glitches and “Spiravits” Tambor, also known as Naya, is the general’s daughter. She's smart, but struggles in combat. When her mother, the general, assigns her a top-secret mission, one she can't refuse, one that brands her a traitor and sends her into the heart of enemy territory to gather intel and return within a week with that intel. However, not all is as it seems. Is the outside truly that bad, and are the “Spiravits” really monsters?

This sample was amazing, I need my hands on the full book yesterday, it was that good. The characters are all interesting, especially Naya. I wonder if she has some deeper connection with the “Spiravits” as the city seems to listen to them both, I also really love the world building, the concept, the living city, moving corridors and “glitches” seem really unique and I cant wait to explore it more, I also liked the authors note at the start about the world building inspirations for this book, it added depth to the novel.

I can’t wait to see where this book goes next.

Things I Learned While I was Dead

First off, I love that the author included a content warning at the beginning. Secondly, the shifting between different writing styles and prose is really interesting and adds a lot of depth and emotion to the story. It can be a little confusing at the start, but it really adds to the story.

The story follows sisters Calico and Asha, moving between past and present, primarily from Calico's point of view, while Asha's perspective feels more dreamlike. I'm not sure if this changes later on, but it really balances and works well with the story so far.

Calico has signed both herself and her sister up for a medical experiment because Asha is dying and hopes to save her. However, when Calico awakens, it’s not at all what she expected, especially since she didn’t read much before signing her name, but it's definitely different to what she was expecting.

I can already tell this is going to be an emotional and moving read that hits hard. I was so confused when the sample ended because I just needed more! The story finished at such a cliff-hanger, and I seriously need to read the rest sooner rather than later.

A big thank you to Faber Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this sampler of upcoming YA sci-fi fiction including three titles. I enjoyed each sampler and am looking forward to seeing more about them. I added a couple to my TBR, as the samplers did catch my interest and made me want to read the book. I love these samplers for the ability, beyond a blurb or description, to get an idea for how much you might want to read a book. The author's writing style and characters can seem interesting and a cover can draw your eye, but these give you more context before committing to the entire story.

Books included:

- Augmented by Kenechi Udogu
- iNSiDE by S.A. Gales
- Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark

5/5 stars for the sampler - thank you!