I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of this review.

I had a hard time getting into True Born by L.E. Sterling. There is a lot of info-dump at the beginning as the author sets up the world, but once I got past I’d say the first third of the book I was hooked. True Born takes place in a dystopian society where a mysterious plague killed nearly everyone. Now there are only two classes: the very rich and the very poor. There is really no inbetween. In addition to these, there are new races that are based on your genes: the Lasters (who are doomed to die), the Splicers (who do exactly what the name suggests, splicing their DNA with other DNA in an effort to survive this plague), and the True Born (who are born immune to the plague).

Lucy and her twin sister Margot don’t seem to fit into any of the new races and no one will tell them why or what they are. When her sister goes missing, Lucy is left to find her and uncover the mystery surrounding them. Lucy is the good sister, the one who never steps a toe out of line. Margot is the one who sneaks off to parties, the courageous one in Lucy’s eyes. So Lucy is at a loss as to what to do. She finds herself having to rely on the True Borns to find her sister. Lucy is an easy character to like, but she has her own prejudices. I like how the author filters these through her eyes, letting the readers see the world as she sees it. She’s very naive in my opinion.

Jared is a True Born who Lucy winds up trusting and y’all he is one of the main reasons I kept reading 😉 He’s snarky with beautiful eyes that remind me of the old mood rings I wore as I child, shifting with his moods. He both intrigued and terrified me. And oh Lord did he have my heart pounding with Lucy when he kissed her *fans self* Yet he’s aloof and leaves Lucy very confused….me too come to think of it.

While True Born is based in a science fiction genre, it gave me more of a fantasy vibe what with the shifting eye color, the horns (don’t ask, just read) and so on. I enjoyed the book, I liked Lucy and Jared’s relationship, and I need to know what will happen next after that cliffhanger. If you enjoy fast-paced dystopian fiction with a hint of romance and a lot of action, I highly recommend it.