Good idea. Poor execution.

I hesitate to call Uninvited dystopian. It references a few things that clearly exist within our own present-day society (like "Glee") but exists in a world where murder runs rampant (yes, moreso than it does now) the cause of which has been identified as a gene. As can be expected, our heroine, Davy, is identified as a carrier and her life pretty much sucks from then on.

The summary made me think I'd like this one. Trouble is, once I actually began to realize the circumstances of this story, all promise fell apart. I cannot imagine that a government would so quickly deal with "HTC" carriers the way they do in this novel. It doesn't seem like HTC is something that's been around for decades; it seems like a fairly recent discovery. Yet the president listens to the advice of one particular doctor and everything seems to revolve around things like forced tattoos and detention centers and the prospect of death... I just cannot imagine that this would happen so easily in modern America. I mean, it takes forever for our government to get anything done. Is the Senate just--gone?

The gene itself is really confusing and honestly, I lost interest in the entire situation by the time Davy's new supervisor (if you can call him that) started making sexual advances. I'm really sick of teens in dystopians that focus on mental illness being taken advantage of by authority figures. (See: The Program.) It's not only disgusting but overused as a plot device.

The reactions of Davy's parents and in particular her mother seem completely ridiculous. Especially--again--considering the fact that the new vibe the gene gives off indicates to me that these people did not grow up in an HTC-aware culture. Her friends were offenders along the same lines. They turn against her so quickly that it seems unnatural and unearned.

The book does pick up in its second half, and there is chemistry between Davy and her male lead. But it's too little too late. I didn't hate Uninvited. It just didn't compel me at all, and some if it seemed ridiculous.