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Halfway through the book it went the way of Dune, where obvious bad guy who already sold off one of the good guy's sisters into servitude is also a gay rapist with a penchant for pretty faces and younger men. It's bad enough the one female representative up to that point is a one-note woman who only exists to be the acquisition of the main character and also only wishes to be the main character's acquisition. (There is Joanna, but she shows up for 5 minutes and serves only as the "Mom" role.)

Because of the above noted, this isn't a YA novel. Hiero grabs and tries to cut off one of the character's penises in an attempt to demasculate him (first sign of this not being a LGBT-friendly work (and the first clue that this author is anti-LGBT. Wish I'd known earlier before buying it.)). And as I've only gotten halfway... It was clearly noted that a boy was in sexual service of a lord. That in turn said slightly older version of that same character included noted groping. Later, more rape of another character, and then the explicit detail of that character's hands being forced onto the noted "hard" penis of the antagonizing villain and stroking. There's probably more. I was done. Age range on Amazon is recommended as 13-18. NO! Absolutely not.

Rep here is just bad. The age range is misadvertized. Had to put it down.

*After this post, the book was removed from the YA category and the 13-18 age range.

Other world science fiction. A small "first contact" collective lands on a habitable world several light years away from Earth in hopes of discovery. What they find is a psychic planet plagued by the omnipresent All and a peoples and ecosystem exploited.

I like this genre of science fiction because it's always interesting to see what lifeforms and ecosystems the authors can come up with, and this one was no exception. The struggles of communication and connection with the crew were an ongoing theme and felt realistic as any other. Through their willingness to eventually connect with the world around them, they learn what is really driving the sentience of the planet and who is in it for keeps.

Premise wise, great. Writing wise, not so awesome. This needs proofreading, particularly in the quotes, commas, and paragraphs category. Sometimes I couldn't figure out who was talking because one of the three went missing plus the head hopping. Other vexation, the speed of the story. It plods at the start and ramps up with new events and new antagonists so rapidly towards the end that they are barely introduced before the narrative twists again. This meant I couldn't be invested in any particular character narratives outside the first few introduced by chapter 2.

The world building is intriguing. The linguistic struggles are realistic. If you're the type to be interested in a novel for those constructs, you'll be pretty happy reading this.

Super viruses that make people immortal, but not invincible. Wesley so happens to be one of those blessed/cursed with this condition that makes him one of the Children of the Yew. He outlives those around him, including friends and family. The events of the story begin when he meets up with a virologist daughter of a recently-deceased friend who helps garner insight into this mysterious condition and the even greater plot that surrounds it.

Torzillo is a confident storyteller of virology and senses of place. The pacing however is a whirlwind. Starts off slow, goes faster, and faster, and faster and leaves the reader breathless and gasping by the end. Moments of respite and human connection are absent, but here's a kitten! Everyone is a comical and random failure, the good guys and the bad ones, to the point where one of the characters putzed themselves into a door, George of the Jungle swinging into it. To say the least, I was constantly surprised, and the various incompetencies of the characters made guessing the outcome of the story a veritable dice throw of possibilities.

If you're the type who likes being left guessing and going on wild, unpredictable rides, this story is great. If you want consistent pacing and deep character interactions, this story isn't the best fit for you.