The Breeders Review Tour & Giveaway!

The Breeders by Katie French

Genre: Young Adult – Dystopian

Publication Date: August 1st 2012
Age Range: Young Adult
Book Source: eCopy for review from Kismet Book Touring & Author
 

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world’s last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches– moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders’ long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they’re hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender– a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley’s affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico– escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder’s hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she’ll share unless she can find a way out.

Scoot’s Review:

Riley lives in a dark and unforgiving world. A world where lives can be lost in the blink of an eye and being female makes life even more dangerous. Disguised as a bender Riley and her family have managed to eke out a simple existence, but when tragedy strikes she and her younger brother are thrust into that dark world they tried so hard to avoid. The Breeders is a well written, fast paced story that gets the reader sucked in from the start. You quickly empathize with Riley and her feelings, but can also relate to her family and why they do the things they do. I loved Riley’s protective relationship of her family and especially her younger brother Ethan. Riley is a strong character lead for the novel and she has a backbone of steel (which I always appreciate in a female lead!). The novel was well paced. I never lost interest in the story and read it all very quickly. The speaking style wasn’t necessarily grammatically correct, but it was clear and I never stumbled over any of the sentences. I was easily absorbed in the plot because I never felt pulled out of the world by tripping over the writing style. The characterization was good; there were a lot of unique characters introduced in the novel and they each had distinct personalities. Some of which you learned to love and others you learned to hate. The story was definitely gritty and intense, and honestly a little more gory than I prefer at times. There were a few violent scenes that had me cringing, but they didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel. It was easy to get attached to the characters and you often wanted to jump into the novel to protect one of them you loved. I am happy with the ending of the novel, but there is plenty of room for story growth if Katie decides to write a sequel. The Breeders has plenty of action, a bit of mystery and a sweet romance. So if you are looking for a new dystopian read, The Breeders is a great one to go with!

Notable Quotable:

   

"He looks up at me, his face searching mine for reassurance. I squeeze his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

What a terrible liar I am. "

                - Katie French, The Breeders 

Grade:

Find The Breeders online:
Goodreads 
Amazon
Lulu

About Katie French  
Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher.

In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English.

Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she’s ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.

Enter to win one of 10 eCopies of the Breeders!

a Rafflecopter giveaway