ARC Review: Viral Nation - Shaunta Grimes

Title: Viral Nation
Author: Shaunta Grimes
Publication date: July 2nd 2013 by Berkley Trade
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Summary from goodreads: After a virus claimed nearly the entire global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed.

Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover’s refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future.

When one of Clover’s missions reveals that West’s life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West’s fate, they’ll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company’s rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined… and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever.

What I think: Dystopian novels are my favorites, when I got the opportunity to read this book I immediately grabbed it.

Clover Donovan is not as many other main characters in normal Dystopian Young Adult books. When reading the book description I didn't know what to aspect of an autistic main character, but Clover definitely surprised me. I liked her more than many of the other girls I’ve read about lately. She has a different way of thinking and this made her unique and loveable, it’s not often that disabilities are so well described in books. Even someone with no earlier experiences with autistic people can understand what it must feel like for someone like Clover.

West is Clover’s older brother, he is the one who has been taking care of his sister since their father started working for the company. West seems (and is) like the perfect older brother, with every step he takes he thinks about how it would affect his little sister. In my opinion he is often to overprotective, he doesn't seem to notice that eventhough his sister has a disability, she is still growing up, and with every day learns to take care of herself a little better. 

West has had a crush on Bridget for years, but since she is way out of his league he thinks he doesn’t stand a chance. Throughout the story there are some developments in this relationship. I think there could have been more about this love story. I know not every book needs a love story, but in this case it was there but on the other hand it wasn’t totally. Also the relationship between Jude and Clover could have been written in a little more detail, but this is in my opinion and I know that not everyone likes romance in every book. 

The story itself is not that unique, but has some nice twists throughout the book. I loved the parts about time travelling, gathering information on the future such as foreseeing a crime. But there are also people who use time traveling for their selves and not always use this information for the good. 

The end of the book makes you want to keep on reading into the next one, although there is no name for this series yet. I sincerely hope that a second book will be written and published soon.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.