Malinda Lo's Adaptation is a pretty solid, fun read. While not quite for hardcore sci-fi fans, this book is definitely substantial escapist entertainment.

Perhaps what I like most is how the struggle of main protagonist Reese, coming to terms with her bisexuality, plays out. Even if such awkward self-reflection was not happening in the midst of Area 51 melodrama, the internal conflict is so authentically written that this dilemma alone could have made up the entirety of the narrative's dramatic tension. If there is one thing Malinda Lo does well, it's flesh out interesting characters. She also has excellent taste.

Now to pivot, sadly, it is Malinda Lo's taste that also brings me to my criticism of the book, especially with her references. Given the plot, it makes sense she would specifically mention The Birds or The X Files, but her brief mention of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness was where things unraveled for me. Le Guin's book is perhaps one of the greatest sci-fi works ever written on the topics of gender and sexuality. It is the gold standard.

While I like when authors give nods to their influences, sadly, given how Lo is writing on similar themes, I spent the rest of the novel comparing what was tonally Lo's pop-corn flick to Le Guin's cinematic masterpiece. Does that mean Adaptation is bad? Not at all, I wholeheartedly recommend it. More so, for me at least, that move felt like writing a check that was impossible to cash.

My nitpicking aside, Adaptation is a good book. I would write more about why the plot is interesting, but the less you know, the more you will likely enjoy it.

Rating: 3.5 stars