Review of "Inhuman"

"Now that I was actually on the roof of the skyscraper, I was having second thoughts."

     In Kat Falls' Inhuman, we get a glimpse into a world where humanity is subjective. West of the Mississippi River and the Titan wall, the term refers to the people who live and breathe cleanliness; to the east, it refers to those who have yet to succumb to their inner animal. Delaney Park McEvoy and her father live a comfortable, clean life right by the wall, careful to keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in their back pockets and their hands to themselves. Lane grew up on stories about the manimals and chimpacabras that supposedly live across the wall, but she never believed the creatures actually existed--until her father disappears, and she is tasked with the retrieval of an artifact from the Feral Zone. With the help of two people she isn't sure she can trust, Lane must complete her task as quickly as possible, or risk losing her father forever.

     If there's one thing Inhuman has going for it, it's the premise. Striking and original, Falls' world opens with a splash and promises to deliver an action-packed story about family, love, and what it means to be human. And, in a sense, it does. Throughout the novel, Lane makes allies and friends, uncovers secrets, and grows from a cautious, clean-palmed girl to one willing to take dangerous chances to save the ones she loves. However, although her world is well-developed, Lane is severely lacking in the backstory department, which lends her a two-dimensional angle that is not exactly flattering.

     One of the YA genre's most common tropes is the missing father. He's a major figure in the protagonist's life, he holds the key to overthrowing the government or otherwise saving the main character from death or ruin, and otherwise acts as a great plot device with which to motivate the characters. Written well, this can be a good thing. In this case, it isn't. Mr. McEvoy is a faceless name when Lane sets out on her quest, and continues in this line throughout most of the story. He isn't so much a person as a cardboard cutout, which is extremely disappointing. And when he is, at last, introduced, Falls wastes few words to describe him, so that his appearance is a bit of a letdown.

     However, don't think this is merely a train wreck with a cover. Falls builds her characters, and her worlds, with a writing style that leaves you begging for more. From the passage of time to sneaking Lane into a military camp, the author does a great job of painting her story for her readers--people, places, animals, manimals. Everything is written with raw emotion, making it easy to connect with Lane and her companions as they set out to save her father.

     The protagonist develops a good deal over the course of the book, and not just in her views on cleanliness. Delaney Park starts out as a blank sheet with only the barest details filled in, and winds up battling for survival in a brutal wilderness, her personality shaped by the monsters she fights and the hard choices she is forced to make. Although Lane's journey is one of science fiction, it classifies as more of a "mutated enemies" book than an "evil robots" one. While it's mostly about the manimals and their place in society, plenty of the action is bloody and chilling. There is a romantic subplot that is quite sweet, but the love triangle feels a little forced. Characters are, in general, clean-mouthed.

     I would recommend this book to teenagers and young adults looking for a spot of adventure. While the background of the protagonist and her friends is rather shallow, the storytelling is solid and the action believable. Sadly, the novel is rather short and contains a love triangle that isn't exactly realistic. For a good, well-written book with simple characters, a plot device with too little presence, and a beautiful premise, I give Kat Falls' Inhuman three stars.