REVIEW: Deviation (The Sophisticates Book #1) By, Christine Manzari

Being a Sophisticate of the Program seems like it’d be a pretty sweet deal: a little genetic alteration and anyone can be smarter, faster, and stronger. It’s a dream come true. All you have to give up is your freedom. 

Cleo is a Sophisticate and she has a bright future in the Program. But she has a secret. When she gets upset, bad things happen. Explosive things. Things she can’t control. 

When her secret is discovered, she’s sent to the Academy to train in the military branch of the Program. She’s destined to be a human weapon in the war that’s been going on since Wormwood occurred nearly 30 years ago. She soon learns that although her ability is unique, there are others like her — other Sophisticates with lethal skills and odd code names like Archerfish and Mimic Octopus.

Immersed in a dangerous game of supernatural powers and dubious motives, Cleo doesn’t know who to trust. Ozzy, the annoyingly attractive cadet who has perfect aim in weapons class and deviant lips behind closed doors, begs her not to use her powers. He’s the golden boy of the Program, but can she trust him? Or will she find herself a target, caught in his crosshairs?

Let me start by saying this. If you love great writing, character building, and story line this book will be great for you. This is a new dystopian story that has some elements of science put in there.

Cleo is a sophisticate. She was genetically altered to be better than your average human. She is desperate to find out who her parents/ donors are. She hates not having a choice. Being the property of The Program is becoming harder for Cleo to swallow and now she has something else she needs to worry about. When she gets mad things blow up. Now the school has found out and sent her to the one place that might be worse than the University. Cleo is in another school that might as well be a whole other world. They are the soldiers. The protectors. She is a book worm. She has never been physical in her life but not she has to because she was made to be a weapon.

This book demands your attention right from the beginning. The very first time we meet Cleo she is blowing up her entire room. This is definitely a new dystopian and Christine did it so well. The character and world building were done beautifully. Christine manages to suck you into the book and keep you turning pages.

We meet a handful of people throughout the book. There are her new friends Arabella and Sterling. They are great they each have a banter with each other that makes reading their scenes hilarious. They are also very protective and welcoming of Cleo. There’s Quinnie the evil witch. She tries to make Cleo’s time at St. Ignatius miserable. There is Cassie. Her best friend for as long as she can remember. The Program doesn’t allow you to have family but Cassie is the closest Cleo gets. We don’t see much of her in this book but hopefully the next one we get to know her better. Then there is Ozzy. I am still not sure where I stand with him. I really don’t know if he is trying to help her or is working for The Program. But that is also something that makes reading this book fun. He’s cute and caring when it comes to Cleo but we still can’t decide if trusting him is a good thing.

Overall this book was done really well. The book was a page turner. There were new things that kept you hooked even after hours of reading this book. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!