Blog Tour Review & Excerpt: The Blemished by Sarah Dalton

Title: The Blemished
Author: Sarah Dalton
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Science Fiction/Dystopian
Release date: August 2012
Pages: 328 (e-book)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Blog Tour
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A beautiful world comes at a price... 

In a world filled with stunning clones Mina Hart is Blemished. Her genes are worthless and that takes away her rights: her right to an Education, her right to a normal life and her right to have a child. 

Mina keeps a dangerous secret which she never thought she could share until she meets Angela on her first day at St Jude's School. But their friendship is soon complicated by Angela’s adoptive brother Daniel. Mina finds herself drawn to his mysterious powers and impulsive nature. Then there is the gorgeous clone Sebastian who Mina is forbidden from even speaking to…

In Mina's world, those like you and I would be considered "Blemished".  The government has taken over and found a way to genetically modify humans so that they don't have to worry about disease or anything that could possibly make life more difficult.  These "clones" are called GEMs and it seems as though they run the world, now.  Poor Mina is forced to dress in drab clothing and become nothing more than a slave to those higher than her, but what no one else knows is that she holds an incredible power within.

The author did a fantastic job with creating such a horrifying world, where those who were born with "bad genes" were more likely to be harmed and less likely to live a free life.  Their right to bear children is taken away and they undergo operation to make sure that they will not pass their genes on to anyone else.  Just the thought of that sickens me, to be forced to live a life where you have no say in what happens to you.  Mina is sick of walking on eggshells just because she's Blemished.  When a gorgeous GEM boy named Sebastian takes interest in her, everything changes and she becomes more of a target than ever before.

Mina isn't the only one with a gift, though.  When she meets another Blemished boy, Daniel, with a similarly unique power, she grows closer to him and his sister as if they were her own family.  Together, they dream that they can change it all, but first they have to find a way out.  Many of the characters were likable and some will definitely boil your blood.  I have to say that Daniel was my favorite, and his loyalty to both Angela and Mina was heartwarming.

Overall, The Blemished was a raw and shocking book.  Though the idea of genetically modified people has been done before, Sarah Dalton gave it a fresh take.  The action runs high and keeps your heart racing as you read on in order to find out if Mina stays safe or risks it all.

Excerpt

He lifted his head from his hands and looked at me. Even in the dimmest of lights his eyes seemed to shine. They took me, whole-heartedly, all of me. They took every bit of my attention, swallowing me up. Even if at that moment we were hit by a meteor I wouldn’t have noticed. Everything was Daniel. Daniel was everything.

“Um….” I faltered. “I don’t know, I erm…”

He leaned towards me, his face just inches from mine. Tingles ran down my spine and I heard the rushing noise of blood in my ears. I held my breath. He tilted his head, angled so that our mouths would fit together. Our lips touched just for a moment and then I heard Angela stir. I pulled back, my breath rasping out of my body. Panicked I jumped to my feet. Daniel stared up at me, wounded.

“What’s going on?” Angela said sleepily.

“It’s time to leave,” I answered.

About the Author

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Sarah grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside of Derbyshire and as a result has an over-active imagination. She has been an avid reader for most of her life, taking inspiration from the stories she read as a child, and the novels she devoured as an adult. 

Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a Young Adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the Medulla Literary Review, PANK magazine, Apex Magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication Fangtales. The Blemished is her first full-length novel.