Received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest reviewI'll be honest, the blurb wasn't that awe inspiring, and the plot really isn't anything new, and it was pretty straightforward. With that said, I was totally engrossed by this one. What really stood out for me was the writing and the characters, and if you have been reading some of my reviews you would already know that characters are very important for me. I loved Russ and how he narrated the story, he was a very down to earth 15-year-old kid. He would sometimes come across as a loner and some people might think that he was a bit of a coward cause he doesn't like conflict, but when the going gets tough he does what needs to be done. I liked the character development as well, it was beautifully done. We get to see how Russ starts growing into himself. I liked how he was willing to listen to everyone but at the same time maintained a certain suspicion about everything that he was being told, and how he followed his instincts. Not many YA MCs like that out there, they usually end up being incredibly naive just to add conflict to the story. Speaking of which, there was action almost from the get-go, and kept happening throughout the book, which gave it an excellent pace. The kind where you just have to keep reading and can't put the book down, because even though everything is fairly predictable, it just has that air of suspense and edge-of-your-seat thrill that grips you and keeps your eyes glued to the pages.We also see some romance taking place, which considering all their ages, it was really well done and realistic, but it wasn't the focus of the book which I am so grateful for. As much as I like my romance, it's refreshing to see how well a book can hold up without the silly love triangles and relationship problems.This first book in the series was told from Russ' point of view. From the teaser of the second one it will be told from Nadia's pov, which I am definitely looking forward to. I always did like her best. She is the shy girl who keeps to herself, but has so much going on inside, and I have to admit I love her powers, and I'm pretty sure she will be kicking some ass in the second book.There were also the secondary characters, Carly, Russ' sister. I liked how she started taking a more important role in the book, loved her spunk. Mallory the pretty, genius girl, who I like but don't feel really strongly about. Jameson the nerdy guy, who I can already tell is going to mess up and bring down a world of trouble for the rest of the kids. All in all, this was an incredibly enjoyable read, if you like books about psychic powers, DNA, and cosmic occurrences then you definitely won't want to miss this one.
