The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books 

Released: 10th of January 2019 

When eleven-year-old Georgie befriends an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual-reality 3D version of the future.

But then a deadly disease threatens the life of every dog in the country and Georgie’s beloved dog, Mr Mash, gets sick. And that’s only the start of her troubles.

Soon, Georgie and Mr Mash must embark on a desperate quest: to save every dog on earth, and maybe even all of humanity …

… without actually leaving the room.

An extraordinary quest with the biggest stakes of all, and a huge idea at its heart, this is time travel – but not as you know it.

Trigger Warnings: Illness, animal death, dead parent 

What I Have to Say 

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE A DOG LOVER. From the title, my dog loving heart thought "oh good, a nice heart warming book about a dog saving the world." Never have I been so wrong. I mean, sure I read the blurb and therefore must have seen that there would be a deadly dog disease going around, but I guess I hadn't really connected it to the sort of mad cow disease sort of illness that means mass slaughter of animals. There were some really grim scenes in this book. And though the main character does warn you to look away at certain points, it's probably best not to read it if you get really upset about dogs being killed in books. 

Other than that though, it was fairly good. It left me with the same feeling that I'm coming to know well from Ross Welford though: Nothing quite lives up to the beauty that was Time Travelling With a Hamster. It's probably a case of a really amazing first book that other books just can't reach the same heights as, rather than anything lacking, but it leaves me deflated all the same. No matter how great the characters are, how quirky the story is, it's just not Time Travelling With a Hamster. 

If you push all that aside though, it really was a great book. Easy to read and with some really fun lighthearted moments. It's so interesting to see Welford's depiction of a near future where disease has changed our lives in so many ways, where UV lights and hand-sanitiser are part of the regular routine to keep these things at bay. The quirky professor with an AR machine was also great fun, though I really think eleven-year-old children should know better by now than to go visit a stranger just because they're invited! 

Basically, it's good, but potentially upsetting for dog-lovers. Maybe go read Time Travelling With a Hamster instead. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review. 

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 432

Publisher: Simon Pulse 

Released: 7th of November 2017 

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself? 

What I Have to Say 

This was an interesting take on the whole concept of zombies and eating people. I loved the idea of gene hacking and the way that Suvada developed the idea of smart phones and apps to include things that actually change the way people look. The way that medicines had transformed and the problems that Cat faced because of her illness were so realistic and interesting. 

There were also so many twists and turns that this book took. Just when you thought you knew where things were going it zoomed off in another direction with a shocking turn of events. This is definitely a book where you can't trust anyone and even they can't trust themselves. There's so many secrets and lies that are hidden away. 

I can't wait for the next book to see what Suvada decides to do next. 

My thanks go to Simon Pulse and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.