Recommended: STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL by Arwen Elys Dayton

Cover of Stronger Faster and More Beautiful, Arwen Elys Dayton, young adult, sci fiPublisher’s Description of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

For fans of television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, this compelling, mind-bending novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring the lengths we’ll go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

The future is curious.

STRONGER

Today our bodies define us. We color our hair; tattoo our skin; pierce our ears, brows, noses. We lift weights, run miles, break records. We are flesh and blood and bone.

FASTER

Tomorrow has different rules. The future is no longer about who we are–it’s about who we want to be. If you can dream it, you can be it. Science will make us smarter, healthier, flawless in every way. Our future is boundless.

MORE BEAUTIFUL

This is a story that begins tomorrow. It’s a story about us. It’s a story about who comes after us. And it’s a story about perfection. Because perfection has a way of getting ugly.

 

Rebecca’s Thoughts

I requested this book from NetGalley based on a recommendation from an author I love:

“An alternately charming and horrifying exploration of what it means to be human and how far we’ll go in pursuit of personal and societal ‘perfection.’ I devoured this book.” –Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

It lived up to that! The book is a series of short stories, each with a different set of characters living out possible futures that employ today’s emerging technologies more broadly. The stories range from the near-future with small changes to the human body driving heart-felt debates on morality and policy, to hundreds of years from now when “human” bodies are markedly different from what they are now. Each story stands on its own, yet as a whole, they hold together to give the book a satisfying end.

Each story highlights one aspect of emerging technology: genetic manipulation, organ transplant, extreme modification of the human body. As a writer of science fiction, I found the possibilities fascinating. As a reader and mom, I found them terrifying. This is a great book to get teens thinking through their point of view on how we should use the technology currently being developed.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful will be released on December 4th. You can check it out on Goodreads or order from Indiebound, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

I requested an advanced reader copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Need more book suggestions? If Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful sounds good, you might also like these young adult sci fi books discussed on The Winged Pen.

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff
Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
The Takedown by Corrie Wang
Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack – contributors to this short story anthology include Halli Gomez
Brave New Girls: Stories of Girls Who Science and Scheme– contributors to this short story anthology include Michelle Leonard

What do you think? Leave questions or comments below!