Genre: YA Science fiction and Thriller
Synopsis:
How can you escape when you’re held hostage from the inside?
One in Vermilion May Live by Jennifer Jaxxon-Louis is a high-stakes near-future thriller that blends a deadly game, an outlaw motorcycle club’s civil war, near-futuristic inventions, and real-world locations in a fun, funny, and scary-as-hell ride down the slippery slope of AI and nanotechnology.
If you enjoy dark twisty intrigue and mystery, this novel is for you.
Dancer Mallory Rosenbaum dreams of Broadway, but her parents force her on a college tour up to Michigan Tech. When her tour bus is hijacked, she and eight other students are injected with super-advanced nanobots that take control of their bodies.
Now, they are unwilling contestants in Vermilion, a deadly game designed to entice criminal VIPs to invest in a terrifying new technology. Only one contestant can possibly win the antidote to dissolve their nanobots. The others will be eliminated — and disintegrated.
Desperate to save her, Mallory’s prudish twin Davina must infiltrate a violent biker gang invited as VIPs to Vermilion to score an invite to the next round. Can Davina become an unlikely hero and save Mallory in time?
Fans of The Hunger Games, The Squid Game, and Sons of Anarchy will be hooked.
My Review:
I haven’t read many science fiction novels or movies, but I wanted to change that this year. I’m sure “One in Vermilion May Live” by Jennifer Jaxxon-Louis is definitely a very good start. This book falls under YA science fiction survival thriller. The author did a very good job in fulfilling the genre.
The story is set in the near future, with much more advanced technologies. Technologies always have both good and bad sides, depending on the user. In this book, a group of people created nanobots that can control any organ in the body. They kidnapped a group of students and injected them with these nanobots to use them as test subjects. To spice it up, the students were forced to play a game called Vermilion. I cannot reveal “they” here, as it is a huge spoiler.
This whole game concept has a “Squid Game” vibe, but the book is much more than a game played by a bunch of high school kids. Mallory, one of the protagonists, is a player in the game. Mallory is not a very expressive character at first, but as she faces life-or-death situations in the game, she starts to realize a lot, especially how badly she treated her sister. Her character development throughout the book was extraordinary and very gradual.
Another protagonist is Davina, Mallory’s twin sister. This is one of the many things I love in this book: both the protagonists are sisters. Never have I ever read a book with sisters as a protagonist. There are moments where I dislike Mallory. But Davina’s character is my absolute favorite. I felt connected with her so much and at certain scenes in particular. At times, I even guessed her next move. As an animal lover myself, her love for animals is one of the main reasons I love her. I also admired how hard she tried to save her sister, even though she wasn’t the bravest person.
Both have their separate love stories, and of course, Davina’s is my favorite. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like Mallory’s. Mallory and Ollie’s relationship was so gradual and involved so much understanding. The enemies-to-lovers trope is my favorite, and Davina’s story falls under that trope. She and Riley were like-minded, and grew close while working together to save Mallory. The things he did for Davina were so sweet and they were absolute love.
Riley is the son of a leader of a biker gang called Rebel Demons. I don’t want to spoil anything by saying any more about Rebel Demons. In a nutshell, they are so dangerous people who do most of the illegal stuff. Riley is different from everyone in his family and refuses to follow in his father’s footsteps. Another thing I love about this book is its emphasis on family dynamics.
I like how the author gave importance to the family dynamics theme in such a complicated sci-fi thriller novel. The pressure parents place on their children to follow them into the family business was well portrayed through Riley.
On the other hand, Davina’s parents want her sister Mallory to attend tech school despite her telling them that her passion lies in dancing. It’s a heartbreaking reality that many parents fail to understand their children and push their own wishes on them, thinking it’s for the best. The author did very well in expressing the scenario.
The switching between POVs from Davina and Mallory makes the story more interesting. Each chapter ends with either Mallory trying to survive or Davina planning to save her sister. Nearing the climax, I guessed one of the twists but was completely shocked by another. Also, there were many betrayals that left me more shocked than the twists.
One thing I didn’t like was a chapter that felt like an info dump about the game rules. I felt like it would have been better if it was shorter, highlighting only the main elements of the game, since the author naturally explains the details during the gameplay and through the conversation between the players. The rules and game stuff were also at the end of the book, so that chapter felt unnecessary.
Other than that, the story has a perfect closure at the end, didn’t leave anything unanswered, which I loved, and also promises a next book in the series with an interesting plot.
As you can see from my review, this book is much more than a game. Overall, “One in Vermilion May Live” is a blend of themes like sisterhood, technology, love, family dynamics, and betrayal by those they trust. The fast-paced plot, emotional depth, and strong character growth make it an engaging read. If you’re looking for a YA sci-fi thriller that goes beyond just a deadly game, this is definitely worth picking up. I’m excited to see where the next book takes these characters.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
*Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of the book. I was compensated for the time and effort required to read and review the book, but my opinions remain honest and unaffected.*
Book links:
About the Author:
Jennifer Jaxxon-Louis is a college academic advisor and former math professor who writes young adult sci-fi thrillers to encourage teens’ interest in STEM areas. She has written eight young adult sci-fi thrillers, a memoir, and a novel of short stories, all of which she will be publishing. Besides writing, Jennifer loves her animals, anything to do with architecture and woodworking, and all things dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading. She can often be found building something out of wood, playing pool, poker, and tennis, riding her bike, and always listening to heavy metal music.
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