Book Review: Adaptation by Malinda Lo

June 19
Across the U.S. and Canada, thousands of birds suddenly and inexplicably fly directly into airplanes, causing at least seven government-acknowledged crashes, with as many as 23 more.  With no idea what is causing the birds to attack, killing hundreds of passengers, all flights are grounded and thousands are stranded.  Conspiracy theories go viral, but posts and videos of unreported crashes and bird attacks mysteriously vanish from the web minutes after they're posted.

Reese and her debate partner (and longtime crush), David, are at the Phoenix airport with their coach, Mr. Chapman, on their way home to San Francisco after a crushing loss at nationals when the first birds hit the tarmac.   Desperate to get home, they rent a car and drive west.  Forced north to Vegas, they find large parts of the city being evacuated by the National Guard, so Reese, David and Mr. Chapman stop for gas and to figure out their next step.  When a carjacking goes horribly wrong, Reese and David flee the city, heading north into Nevada.

Which is where, on a dark, deserted stretch of highway 318, not too far from Area 51, a bird flies directly at the car.  Reese loses control, flips the car, and everything goes black.

27 days later
When Reese wakes up, she finds herself in a secret government medical facility.  She and David are completely healed, though they both have mysterious scars.  Forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement due to the classified, experimental nature of their treatment, Reese and David are released and taken home to San Francisco.

Reese tries to return to normal, but it's pretty much impossible.  San Francisco is under curfew, and the government is exterminating birds as a national threat.  Her scars (and David's) have eerily vanished overnight, she's been having nightmares (memories?) about a yellow room with red dripping down the walls, and she experiences a bizarre, intense connection with people she comes in contact with.  Her best friend Julian, a huge conspiracy theory geek, is convinced that what happened to her is connected to the crashes, but Reese can't figure out how to talk to him about it since she'll sound crazy - and it's classified.

When Reese literally runs into Amber Gray, a girl with shocking pink hair and crystalline grey eyes who Reese feels an instant electric connection to, her search for the truth suddenly gains momentum.  Is her intense connection with Amber a result of whatever happened to her when she was in the coma?  Or something more?  What about the weirdly intense feelings she has for David, too?  Or is it all just a side effect of whatever is causing her body to heal abnormally quickly?  With Julian intent on uncovering the government's role in the bird crashes, Reese, David and Amber are all drawn into a vast network of secrets and cover-ups that, once revealed, will change the world as they know it completely.

If you're an X-Files fanatic (*cough* me *cough*), are suspicious of black helicopters and unmarked train cars, love to spend your Friday nights watching old school episodes of Roswell on DVD, have ever planned a vacation to Rachel, Nevada, or can't wait for all the Twilight hoopla to be done so you can go see The Host, this one's for you! The truth is out there, people - if you believe, check out Adaptation @the library!

Megan
(who can't wait to get to Barnes & Noble tonight to pick up my copy of Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor!!)