It has taken me awhile to write this review. I had to let the book stew. I really enjoyed it, so please don’t take my lateness as a slight. It’s not. This was a fabulous fun adventure.

This book takes place in the future. A long time in the future. So far into the future that all babies are given nanites at birth that help grow technology within their body as they grow through life. How when people refer to hacking and coding they are not talking video games and computer, but gene hacking. Programing DNA to change hair and eye color. To fix your body when it needs repaired, or maybe even give you wings?

Cat is allergic. She has have just the bare minimum of programing in her body because it is rejected with dire consequences. She can communicate with texting, but has no virtual reality access, she can heal herself, but it takes much longer, etc. And currently that is one of the worse things that she can contend with.

There is a deadly virus that has spread throughout the known world. It causes people to literally explode. Anyone can tell an infected person by their behavior, and there is immunity, but it requires going into a zombie like trance and eating infected people before they get a chance to blow.

Cat’s dad and lab mate (who cat is totally crushing on) have been gone for two years. They left her in hiding while they were taken to the Cartaxus labs to produce a real cure. But it’s a deadly world. Not only is the virus roaming free, there are half people who enter the zombie like state and never come out of it. Plus Cartaxus holds all the healing and disease code. But Cartaxus also believes that only “approved” modifications are okay. Gene hacking is forbidden, and no one containing hacked codes have them wiped out upon entering a Cartaxus bunker. Cat can not live without her hacks. Her allergy is not seen by Cartaxus as something that requires special modifications. If she can't live, then she dies. Which is why she has been in hiding.

Nothing is as simple as it seems. In comes blazing a soldier that may be there to kill her, or maybe there to help, but which should Cat believe. This solder, Cole, is so much more than anyone has ever seen. He's a “black” soldier, even he does not know what all his programed abilities are until he needs them.

There is so many things in here to discover and talk about. Some of the twists I saw coming, and the big twist I only had half correct, so that was a nice surprise. I see parallels to our own current world. The same discussions that people have no about gender identity and expression, are had in this book but to the degree of “What makes us human?”

I read something the author wrote on twitter that said she was told not to write STEM stories because she does not work in a STEM field. That is a bunch of bull. Yes my brain has lots of questions about the science behind this book. Such as how can a boy grow wire. Are we feeding kids heavy metal? Etc. I like this book because it goes beyond what we know. I don't expect the author to have all the answers as they make for great debate questions, and maybe even some really cool science experiments.

I am looking forward to the next books in the series to see what crazy ideas the author has and how they are implemented. Thank goodness it’s already out.