As the name suggests, this book has everything to be a terrifying read during the time we are living in. Although it’s not. Despite the name, Contagion by Teri Terry has little to no similarities to real life – and I’m glad it doesn’t, or the author can predict the future! This piece of light fantasy is highly addictive and has infected me to read the rest of the series – now I see where the name comes from!

Author: Teri Terry Pages: 480 Genre: Fantasy, YA, Mystery, Apocalyptic Publication: 2017

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Synopsis:

Callie is missing. Her brother Kai is losing hope of ever seeing her again. Then he meets Shay, a girl who saw Callie the day she disappeared, and his hope is reignited.

Their search leads them to the heart of a terrifying epidemic that is raging through the country. Can Kai and Shay escape death and find Callie?

My review:

There is so much more than the synopsis leads on to be. But that’s a good thing. Not knowing what I was going to find improved my experience. I was being surprised by the first 50 pages. I had my heart in my hands, and I had no clue how the story was progressing. So for the sake of allowing you to get the best experience, I’m not going to spoil anything.

The story is told in two PoVs: Shay and Callie. At first, it makes a lot of sense to alternate between the two perspectives. We get to meet Shay and see how she gets intertwined with the disappearance of Callie while seeing Callie’s perspective after it. Even though we follow along with Callie, her disappearance, how and why it happens is still a mystery. Both characters have distinct voices, and I found it easy to tell them apart.

Shay completely stole my heart. She is a force of nature. That kind of girl who will find the strength she doesn’t think she has. The typical apocalyptic survivor protagonist, but not less loveable. She is curious, and having a cute boy around helps to keep her interested in finding Callie. Shay is being bullied and still can keep her head up high. And throughout the story, she just gets stronger and stronger.

Meanwhile, Callie is a girl harder to like. She is younger, only 11 years old and behaves like one. She only cares about her big brother and doesn’t like when any girl steals her brother’s attention. So sometimes, I just wanted to tell her off to stop being spoiled. But I get it. She acts according to her age, although that doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy it.

From start to finish, the story keeps an addictive fast pace. So much is changing, so many details are building up the mysterious disappearance of Callie, this sudden contagious disease, and I just kept turning page after page. For a book almost 500 pages long, it doesn’t feel like it. Although no matter how many pages I would turn, I barely got any answers. Only more questions. I’m already waiting for the next books in the series to arrive in the mail because I need to know how this whole story ends.

The romance was flowering slowly, but due to the fast pace of the story and how much it was changing, the romance ended up being ruched. I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I wanted. Although this is not a romance novel is a post-apocalyptic story, so the romance was always a secondary plot.

It has been a while since I’ve found a book I wanted to devour this quickly. Now I have a whole new series and a new author to dive into that ticks off so many aspects I enjoy in a story. I can’t wait to read the rest and discover the answer to all my questions.

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