Novella Review: Natural Selection (Adaptation 1.5) by Malinda Lo

Title: Natural Selection
Author: Malinda Lo
Series: Adaptation
Book #: 1.5
Pages: 80
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.22
Published: September 3rd, 2013

I was born on Earth, not Kurra. I'm not human,even though I try to be. My people, the Imria, think I'm a little unusual because of that. They call me an Earthsider: as if I've crossed a line, chosen a side. Gone native. 

Before she met her girlfriend Reese, before she knew the role she would play in the fate of two worlds, Amber was a fifteen-year-old Imrian torn between two identities. Imrian by blood, Amber was forced to hide her true self to pass as human during the time she spent on earth. And even when she returns to Kurra, her human experiences, including first love and heartache, still separate her from her fellow Imrians. But when Amber undergoes kibila, a traditional Imrian coming-of-age ceremony during which Amber will choose her name and identity for the next fifteen years, she will be forced to either accept her role in both worlds or forge her own path.

Taschima's POV:

If Dean Winchester approves who are we to say otherwise? ;)

This is why novellas are taking the world by storm and have become such an expected thing nowadays. In Natural Selection we get to see the world through Amber's eyes. While sometimes the format of the novella itself led to some headache (for some example when Amber was going from telling things from her past and then to the present) the story is one you don't want to miss, not if you plan to read Adaptation's sequel Inheritance.

"It was horrible at first. I missed my parents and my Imrian friends, and after four years on Kurra, Earth felt like an alien planet. The food was weird, the clothes were strange, and I had to speak English all the time, which meant I had to remember to call my parents mom and dad rather than ama, aba, and ada."

While Natural Selection isn't a bridge between novels it is still very much a must read. In Adaptation we didn't get to know Amber as much as I would have liked, something I made note of in my review. But with Natural Selection I feel like now I can properly root for Amber, I've come to care about her. We get to read about her past, how she was born on Earth and raised half here and half in her home planet, how she is kind of a celebrity but doesn't act like it, who she is and what she wants out of life. We also get to learn more about the planet Kurra. I now find myself appreciating more the kind of story Malinda Lo is trying to tell with these aliens who are not that different from us. Why do we always assume that if it's an alien story they must be extremely different from us (ala Futurama), why can't they be alike us but different at the same time?

"Humans were just so incredibly different from the Imria. Their emotions were so volatile that even though I tried to close myself off to them, sometimes they still broke through unexpectedly. At the beginning, it felt like I was trapped in an unending game of dogde ball, and I couldn't keep my defenses up 24/7."

Natural Selection is also really good in that it gives us a lot of information on the planet Kurra and the Imrians. It tells us about their traditions, their way of life, their interactions and their overall stand on visiting Earth. It shows us the kind of society they are. The only annoying thing I found was in the language- how they call their parents is ama, aba, and ada. Confusing? Definitely. Their family structure is also very interesting—Amber has two dads and a mother—but never fully explained. Has it always been this always? How does it exactly work? They seem to all live together happily, so I am just curious.

Now I am dying to read Inheritance. I want to re-evaluate the relationship between Amber and Reese, and I want to read more about Amber. It's a shame the book won't be written with her POV, I like her now more than I like Reese >.< I also want to see what is going to happen, will the humans embrace or retaliate against the aliens? Will Reese and David tell the press the truth? And yes I don't want to be that girl BUT, will Reese choose Amber or David at the end of the day? DYING TO KNOW!

*ARC provided via Netgalleyt in exchange for an honest review. Quotes subject to change.