Alien: Echo by Mira Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Okay. I like it.
I’m pleased I read it.
Fun, quick and gory.
Definitely a solid creature feature. If you are looking for a book with monsters this month, this would definitely fulfill that desire.
ALIEN monsters!
This story follows twins, Olivia and Violet, who have recently moved to a new colony on a distant planet. Their parents are xenobiologists and they travel frequently, getting called to far off places to research new found alien life.
Violet is suffering from a debilitating illness that keeps her secluded in their home and sends Olivia out to navigate the new landscape on her own.
Attending school without her twin, Olivia is just trying to fit in and make the best of things. She has her first crush on a girl in her class so is pretty much dealing with things any teen would deal with.
Well, maybe a little more than that. She has always wanted to be more involved in her parent’s work and feels disappointed that they seem to still be treating her like a child. When her parents receive a call to explore an abandoned ship, they again tell her she is not to participate.
Luckily for her, she doesn’t. Things don’t end so well for a lot of others however.
An apex predator is introduced to this colony world via the abandoned ship. Even if you aren’t a xenobiologist, you probably understand that is not a good thing. Before they know it, the girls are literally fighting for their lives trying to escape the planet.
This little book has a lot of action and a ton of graphic gore and violence. Let that fact determine whether or not this book is for you. I personally enjoyed that aspect of it.
I wasn’t as crazy about the length. It was really short. I think the entirety of the book takes place in a day or two therefore I never felt fully immersed. Also, it definitely gets a bit romance heavy toward the end and in a way that was a little jarring, it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the story.
Grant’s writing is excellent though, there is no denying that. Overall, there was nothing outstanding about this but it was a quick, fun read. I think this would be an ideal book to pick up for a readathon because of its length and it could potentially fit a lot of varying prompts.