Juniper Crescent by Tony Graff

10:42 pm 11 July 2014

	Oksanya has MS. In the hope that she will be able to overcome it, she opts for a new surgery where her DNA will be mixed with DNA from an animal. She chooses a cheetah because she likes to run. When she leaves the hospital it looks like the surgery was a success. Others are also having the surgery though not because of an illness or disease. What will happen with these people? Will the surgery enhance or destroy their lives? The premise of this story is interesting. In the beginning I was not sure if I would like it. Once I got past the prologue and the first few chapters it picked up. I really got into the story when Oksayna had her surgery and then went back home. As she adjusts to the changes in her body, she is treated to prejudice that she had never encountered before. She has to decide whether it will make or break her. I like that her dad and everyone tried to keep things as they were for her. She was no star in their eyes. She was just Oksanya. As she completes high school and goes to college the prejudice picks up. There are now protests against those who are called Isis (those having had the operation) and the Pro-Humans (humans who have not had the operation.) Oksanya's life is affected in ways she had never dealt with in the past. Through it all I liked the strength of character Oksanya showed. She was not cowardly. She did not run. She acted with dignity no matter what occurred. When it comes to a head she also acts with dignity, wisdom, and maturity beyond her years. The secondary characters are a mix. Some are good characters, namely Chloe, her best friend and Katrina, the housekeeper. Her dad left a lot to be desired. I thought that he too often left her to fend for herself while protecting himself. For as often as he said he loved her, she went through too much alone. He should have been by her side through all the problems. This work needed an editor. The beginning needed tightening up. The ending, which is a good set-up for the sequel, needed clarity. I was able to follow along but I would have liked to had the conflict set up better. I would also have liked the action of the scene to be clearer. I could not tell who was doing what to whom nor why. It did not make sense to have what seemed like the military turn up at the end. The very last scene in the book needed fleshing out and an explanation of why it was in a jail. I know some questions need to remain to be answered in the sequel but an explanation of what Isis was, its purpose, why the prejudice, why people not sick want the surgery, and how the major characters end up where they are would help a lot. For a first novel, however, it is an interesting story that I found hard to put down. I hope the sequel's story line is as interesting. I also hope that an editor and proofreader are used to keep the story moving along at a steady pace and to catch typos.

Oksanya has MS. In the hope that she will be able to overcome it, she opts for a new surgery where her DNA will be mixed with DNA from an animal. She chooses a cheetah because she likes to run. When she leaves the hospital it looks like the surgery was a success. Others are also having the surgery though not because of an illness or disease. What will happen with these people? Will the surgery enhance or destroy their lives?

The premise of this story is interesting. In the beginning I was not sure if I would like it. Once I got past the prologue and the first few chapters it picked up. I really got into the story when Oksayna had her surgery and then went back home. As she adjusts to the changes in her body, she is treated to prejudice that she had never encountered before. She has to decide whether it will make or break her. I like that her dad and everyone tried to keep things as they were for her. She was no star in their eyes. She was just Oksanya. As she completes high school and goes to college the prejudice picks up. There are now protests against those who are called Isis (those having had the operation) and the Pro-Humans (humans who have not had the operation.) Oksanya's life is affected in ways she had never dealt with in the past. Through it all I liked the strength of character Oksanya showed. She was not cowardly. She did not run. She acted with dignity no matter what occurred. When it comes to a head she also acts with dignity, wisdom, and maturity beyond her years.

The secondary characters are a mix. Some are good characters, namely Chloe, her best friend and Katrina, the housekeeper. Her dad left a lot to be desired. I thought that he too often left her to fend for herself while protecting himself. For as often as he said he loved her, she went through too much alone. He should have been by her side through all the problems.

This work needed an editor. The beginning needed tightening up. The ending, which is a good set-up for the sequel, needed clarity. I was able to follow along but I would have liked to had the conflict set up better. I would also have liked the action of the scene to be clearer. I could not tell who was doing what to whom nor why. It did not make sense to have what seemed like the military turn up at the end. The very last scene in the book needed fleshing out and an explanation of why it was in a jail. I know some questions need to remain to be answered in the sequel but an explanation of what Isis was, its purpose, why the prejudice, why people not sick want the surgery, and how the major characters end up where they are would help a lot.

For a first novel, however, it is an interesting story that I found hard to put down. I hope the sequel's story line is as interesting. I also hope that an editor and proofreader are used to keep the story moving along at a steady pace and to catch typos.

YA Genetic engineering

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Juniper Crescent by Tony Graff