Review: Altered by Jennifer Rush

Altered (Altered #1)
by Jennifer Rush
Published: January 1st 2013

When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe? Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.
Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities. Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

"Hope is a waking dream. I let the words echo in my head. The quote reminded me of that feeling you get when you start to wake from a dream you don't want to leave. That crushing sensation in the center of your chest, like you are losing an important piece of yourself you won't ever get back." 

Altered was full of action and adventure. There wasn't a moment that left me bored. The characters were amazing, the story intriguing, and the pacing was perfect.

I completely fell in love with the characters. Nick, Cas, Trev, Sam and Anna, were all interesting characters. The author did an amazing job giving all these characters their own distinct personalities. Anna was a strong character, who could seriously kick some ass. This was something I really loved. She didn't need one of the boys to protect her. Speaking of the boys, Anna was closest to Sam and Trev. Trev was her best friend, someone she could always talk to. Sam, is who Anna is in love with. He has more of a quiet and brooding personality. Nick was a bit high strung, he doesn't really like Anna, but feels the need to protect her, like all the boys do. Cas, was my favorite. He was energetic and fun. I wish there was more of him in the book, but hopefully we get to see more in the second book! I enjoyed the relationship Anna had with all the boys, even Nick!

I'm not usually a huge fan of books with lots of action, but with Altered I enjoyed it immensely! There was a lot of fighting and shooting. Altered was non-stop excitement. The ending was satisfying. It ended with no cliff hanger, but still managed to make me excited for the sequel!

Overall, Altered was an action-packed adventurous read, filled with amazing characters you can't help but fall in love with. It was a unique read I enjoyed every minute of! And would definitely recommend it!

Rating: 4/5