Exceptional: Exceptional Series, Book 1

By: Jess Petosa

Narrated by: Emily Durante

In 2022, the United States commissioned a group of scientists to experiment with genetic mutations. Their goal was to create a serum that would alter the human genetic code, making the subject stronger and faster. But not only had they created a super serum, but also an airborne virus. By 2025, 75 percent of the world's population had perished. Ally is an Ordinary - a human who is immune to the virus. She lives in a settlement outside the City with her mother and twin brother, but lately it doesn't seem to be enough. She is wrestling between being with her family and volunteering to move to the City, where she can work for the Exceptionals. Luke is an Exceptional, a superior human being. His ancestors were infected with the virus and lived through it, leaving their super human strength and special abilities to him. He has never given much thought to Ordinarys, despite pressure from his father to choose one from the ORC. But all of that changes when he meets Ally....

©2012 Jess Petosa (P)2014 Tantor

Similar to the others

It was similar to the other dystopian trilogies.
I just personally wasn't thrilled with the readers voice. If you liked divergent you will like this.

Way too predictable and simple

This is clearly written in the "Teenager in the post-apocalypse" genre, which I tend to enjoy. However, the author didn't seem to have any genuinely new ideas worth exploring, and instead pulled way to heavily from standard tropes for this kind of book. I'm normally pretty accepting of books (this may be only my 2nd or 3rd negative review in over a decade) for what they are, but this one is just not good.

The whole first chapter was an on-going stream of world-building vomit. Instead of peppering the book with a slow reveal of how things came to be, Jess simply dumps it all on us in the 3rd person omniscient like you would if describing the setting to a potential editor you are hoping will buy your book.

The characters had no real depth. The teenagers were way to accepting of injustice to be believable. The villains are straight out of a bad cartoon.

It's possible the book would turn things around later on, I don't know. I stopped listening with just under 3 hours remaining. But I didn't come across anything in the first 4 hours to make me give good odds. If you've never read this kind of book, or watched this kind of movie, then maybe this book will feel fresh to you, but if you've ever read anything similar (Hunger Games, The Reckoners , The Red Queen Series, The Lotus War, etc.) this will feel trite, rushed, and ill done.