False Memory

Gr 9 Up–“I don’t know who I am, but I might be a badass.” So says Miranda North when she wakes up on a park bench with no memory of who she is or where she came from. When she visits a mall, people react to her with stark fear, and in their haste to get away, they end up killing themselves. Peter explains that she is a Rose, a genetically enhanced human with super-soldier abilities and the power to inflict psychic fear on people. The purpose behind the Roses is to wield a new weapon in war, one that attains peace through chaos. Meanwhile, the creators of the Roses have a nefarious plan in mind; they want to release the Roses on Cleveland to see how much havoc can be wreaked. Peter is abducted by members of the Beta team–all clones of Miranda and her friends–and a rogue Rose named Rhys has plenty of unpleasant secrets up his sleeve. A love triangle adds to Miranda’s confusion in this fast-paced sci-fi adventure. After a clunky beginning, the story picks up, and the stakes are heightened with the appearance of the cloned Beta team. A plot twist two-thirds of the way in, however, throws readers off and makes for a bit of confusion. Miranda is somewhat of an ambivalent character who handles her memory loss with remarkable acceptance. For fans of surface-level fast-paced stories.-Jamie Kallio, Orland Park Public Library, IL