Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Synopsis: Welcome to Dominion City.
After the great Plague descended, the world population was decimated…and their genetics damaged beyond repair.
The Lasters wait hopelessly for their genes to self-destruct. The Splicers pay for expensive treatments that might prolong their lives. The plague-resistant True Borns are as mysterious as they are feared…
And then there’s Lucy Fox and her identical twin sister Margot. After endless tests, no one wants to reveal what they are.
When Margot disappears, a desperate Lucy has no choice but to put her faith in the True Borns, led by the charismatic Nolan Storm and the beautiful but deadly Jared Price. As Lucy and the True Borns set out to rescue her sister, they stumble upon a vast conspiracy stretching from Dominion’s street preachers to shady Russian tycoons. But why target the Fox sisters?
As they say in Dominion, it’s in the blood.
If I’m going to be completely honest, it was the cover of True Born that drew me in. Those of you who have been visiting me for a while know I have a weakness in this regard. Sometimes it’s worked out for me and other times it hasn’t. Happily this is one of the times that what lies within definitely lives up to the cover. The story starts off a little slowly, but it doesn’t take long for the pace to pick up. The narrative is told in Lucy’s voice which makes everything that unfolds quite personal. She’s a character that many will be able to relate to. Despite her growing up rich and sheltered, Lucy is very much aware of the suffering going on beyond her privileged world. The biggest strength of the book lies with the unique bond shared between Lucy and her twin, Margot. They are so close it even transcends the relationships most twins share. There’s the beginning of a romance between Lucy and True Born Jared Price, but it’s just in it’s beginning stages. They actually spend most of the book snarking at each other but it never gets annoying. Also absolutely fascinating is the enigmatic Nolan Storm. He’s the leader of a faction of the True Borns, and how obviously cares about the girls, but his true motivations remain unclear. The world-building is complex, but never confusing. Sterling has taken the idea of the plague story and given it a whole new twist. It’s actually a mix of dystopian fiction with fantasy. It even has the intriguing mystery of who Lucy and Margot are. Are they Lasters, Splicers, True Borns, or something entirely new that no one has seen before. Sterling also does a wonderful job creating a world close to extinction. She brings in many social issues that we’re dealing with in the here and now: the growing divide between the rich and the poor, environmental pollution, and religious fanaticism. True Born is an exciting beginning to this new trilogy. Fans of dystopian fiction and fantasy should definitely check it out!
By Hook Or By Book 
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