Uninvited {book review}.

One of my goals for the new year was to read more. So far, I'm failing because I've only read two books this month. If I keep this up, I only have read 24 books by the end of the year, which is 16 less than my goal for 2014. I need to get on it.

I received this book, Uninvited by Sophie Jordan, from Goodreads. I won one of their giveaways, making this the third book I've won from them, but the only one that I've actually read. I didn't know anything about this book before reading it (I just entered the contest because the cover looked intriguing), but once I read the first chapter, I couldn't put it down. The copy I was mailed was actually an Advance Reader's Edition, so I was able to finish the book before it's official release date.

Uninvited tells the story of a girl named Davy who has everything going for her - gorgeous, perfect boyfriend, musical prodigy, she's popular and her parents adore her. That's before she finds out she has HTS, aka "the kill gene." HTS is a disease that has been sweeping the nation, and more than half of the murders that have taken place in the U.S. have been associated with HTS carriers. 
When Davy finds out that she has the HTS gene, her life is turned upside down. She is "uninvited" from her private high school and forced to attend a public high school where she's locked in the "cage" with a few other carriers her age. Her boyfriend dumps her. Her friends disown her. Her parents are scared of her. Her life isn't really her life anymore. 
In the "cage," she meets Sean, another HTS carrier who has been marked with an "H" tattoo, which is something that is forced upon HTS carriers who have shown their aggression. Davy is sucked into her new life, not sure who she can trust, not even her family who looks at her like she's a grenade or Sean who she can't seem to figure out.
I read this book in just a few days. I lost sleep because it was too amazing to put down. Every chapter left me wanting more. This book is unlike any other that I've read. I found myself sympathizing with Davy, who just wanted to be normal and not be defined by this gene that hadn't affected her before. I think that's a good message to everyone. We can't help how we were born, but we can help how we choose to live our lives. Even though Davy was born with this gene, people acted like she was a different person overnight, but really, she had the gene in her the whole time and none of that mattered before.
Davy is challenged in ways that she never could have imagined. People labeled her even though she didn't live up to the stereotype of that label, and she was forced to do things that she'll regret for this rest of her life. This book is jam-packed full of action (for the boys) and is intertwined with an interesting love story (for the girls). 

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5. It made me want to read more by Sophie Jordan. The way this book was laid out was flawless, and the overall story was unpredictable and exciting. The book was officially for sale as of Tuesday, so go check it out! 
For more information on Sophie Jordan and her books, check out her website or follow her on Twitter or Facebook!

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