REVIEW: Avant Nation (+$25 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Avant Nation

Author: C.D. Verhoff

Series: N/A

Pages: 301

Date Published: March 17th, 2015

Publisher: Misty Moon Media

Format: Ebook

Genre: Dystopian

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:
Like all Avants, Clara Spinner's genetic code, future occupation and date of death have been predetermined by the government. So when her innermost desires conflict with her rigidly planned life, she must hide them or risk losing everything.

Fresh out of the academy, she loathes her new assignment as a medical technician, but those who complain tend to disappear, so what can she do? Deciding to make the best of it, she works hard to become one of the top techs at the hospital, specializing in the use of memory retrieval equipment. As her skills gain recognition, she begins to make peace with the system until the day a loved one vanishes without a trace.

Seeking answers, Clara retrieves a memory that challenges everything she believes in and threatens her life. Suspense with a touch of romance—Avant Nation will take you on a thought-provoking ride into the near future.

~My Thoughts~

After a civil war has apparently split the country into two nations, the Avantica nation and the Liberty Union Democracy, the Avant's have progressed to a totalitarian and communistic society where everything is free but controlled by the government. Right from the beginning, you know that this world is going to be dark, twisted, and gritty. Clara, resident of Stillwater City in the Avant Nation, is a young Compassionate girl. On the eve of her assignment (Your work assignment for life), Clara is out being a reckless teenager. The twelve different divisions ranging from Rugged to Compassionate to Numberling. All of these kids have been bred to have certain features and traits to make them fit with the caste they were designed for. Strength. Brains. Compassion. It's every GMO opponent's worst nightmare.

Clara was a pretty great character overall. She's much more relatable and easy going than many heroines of the dystopian genre. (I remember it took me a long time to like Katniss, and even then I thought she was so mean to poor Peeta to be playing with his emotions in book two!). Clara is more on the relatable side of the spectrum and she seems nice,funny, and intelligent right from the get-go. 

This is much more "Sci-Fi" than a lot of dystopians lately. There's a whole lot of genetic cloning/testing/manipulating in this world, and it's really appealing to see the different side effects it has on these people and how they view disfigurements, mental issues, and other GM issues as just the everyday norm. The memory and brian manipulation was tense, and captivating. Clara's brain-implanted memories were terrifying, but seemed just as normal as sunshine to her. Very cool. 

One of the more interesting, if miniscule, things about this world that caught my attention was the "data bombs" that plague the children/teens of Stillwater City. You see, data bombs are when kids spout off random facts or trivia pieces without intending to. It's an unintended side effect of their virtual reality education received in utero.  How freaking terrifying is that? Yikes. We have people worried about vaccines and GMO food, and it kind of makes  you wonder how far away we as a culture really are from in utero education. Anything to get ahead that next step right? 

~Try an Excerpt!~

I watch Mel preparing the Synapse Machine. It’s a black box the size of a small suitcase with a computer screen on the front flanked by dials. On the top there’s a dome lens used to  create the 3D images in detail. Twenty-four red and yellow wires come out each end. Out the back comes a thick curly black cord attached to the most important part of the machine—the hippotroid—which gets attached to the base of the skull. When not in use, the hippotroid looks like a black inkpad. When powered on, thin needles shoot out of the flat surface to connect with the nervous system. 

“At the Population Factory they take images and place them in the brain, creating memories,” Mel explains as he takes out a bottle of adhesive from a drawer. “But here in the Cognitive Unit we do the opposite. The Synapse Stimulator takes memories from the brain and converts them into images. As history attests, achieving the latter has been surprisingly more complicated to achieve.

“The field of memory extraction is still in its infancy. Presently, there are only three hospitals in the world with this kind of technology. I hope you appreciate how lucky you are to be given the chance to be part of such cutting edge technology.”

~Meet C.D. Verhoff!~ 

C. D. Verhoff grew up in Indiana, the fourth of five sisters, and currently lives in rural Ohio with her husband and two children. In real life, she goes by her middle name, Deanna. Her resume includes retail, teaching, medical lab processor, the contemplative life, insurance and finance. Authors like Piers Anthony, Issac Asimov, Terry Brooks, Dean Koontz, Madeleine L'Engle, Anne McCaffrey and J.R.R. Tolkien were early influences, sparking a lifelong love of fantasy and science fiction. She says that writing fiction ranks somewhere between eating warm chocolate chip cookies and riding the Millennium roller coaster at Cedar Point. Her interests include weird trivia, landscaping, dogs, dragons, history, The Walking Dead, coffee and chocolate.

The Author will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host. Additionally, Goddess Fish Productions will be awarding a $5 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn host

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