Inspection

I enjoyed this creepy young adult horror novel. The premise was unique and compelling. The first 75% moved along at a steady pace with all of the fast-paced action happening in the latter part of the book. The ending was satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital advance review copy.

I made the mistake of reading some reviews before I started Inspection, and I regret it. I think it may have tainted my impression of this story. I'm not sure. In the end, I still think it was pretty good but I am a reader who likes weird stories that take place in weird places and Inspection fit the bill! I didn't go in expecting Bird Box and I close the cover having experienced The Parenthood. Fair enough.

As a very long time fan of speculative fiction, I'm gonna say something.

This is not a horror book.

Now maybe some more hard core horror fans might disagree, but having glanced through reviews after having finished, I suspect at least some of the lower rated reviews are because of misled expectations. Because this is not a horror book.

This is a Science Fiction book.

All through the book I kept waiting for horror elements. Other than a couple of very minor things early on, and the very very last bit, there really didn't seem to be any. And the entire time I kept thinking that I felt like I was reading a SF dystopia novel instead.

Yeah, its not in the future. There's no advanced tech or space travel. No robots or alien intelligences. There is nothing that says this could not be happening at this very instant in our very real world. But the ideas seem very SF to me.

I recommend this book. I enjoyed it. But check your expectations at the door.