SUMMARY
Inconsequential: not important or significant.
Synonyms: insignificant, unimportant, nonessential, irrelevant
In the world of genetic mutation, Gypsy’s talent of knowing a person’s age of death is considered a failure. Her peers, the other Cavies, have powers that range from curdling a blood still in the vein to being able to overhear a conversation taking place three miles away, but when they’re taken from the sanctuary where they grew up and forced into the real world, Gypsy, with her all-but-invisible gift, is the one with the advantage.
The only one who’s safe, if the world finds out what they can do.
When the Cavies are attacked and inoculated with an unidentified virus, that illusion is shattered. Whatever was attached to the virus causes their abilities to change. Grow. In some cases, to escape their control.
Gypsy dreamed of normal high school, normal friends, a normal life, for years. Instead, the Cavies are sucked under a sea of government intrigue, weaponized genetic mutation, and crushing secrets that will reframe everything they’ve ever been told about how their “talents” came to be in the first place.
When they find out one of their own has been appropriated by the government, mistreated and forced to run dangerous missions, their desire for information becomes a pressing need. With only a series of guesses about their origins, the path to the truth becomes quickly littered with friends, enemies, and in the end, the Cavies ability to trust anyone at all.
ABOUT TRISHA
Trisha Leigh is a product of the Midwest, which means it’s pop, not soda, garage sales, not tag sales, and you guys as opposed to y’all. Most of the time. She’s been writing seriously for five years now, and has published 4 young adult novels and 4 new adult novels (under her pen name Lyla Payne). Her favorite things, in no particular order, include: reading, Game of Thrones, Hershey’s kisses, reading, her dogs (Yoda and Jilly), summer, movies, reading, Jude Law, coffee, and rewatching WB series from the 90’s-00’s.
Her family is made up of farmers and/or almost rock stars from Iowa, people who numerous, loud, full of love, and the kind of people that make the world better. Trisha tries her best to honor them, and the lessons they’ve taught, through characters and stories—made up, of course, but true enough in their way.
Trisha is the author of THE LAST YEAR series and the WHITMAN UNIVERSITY books. She’s represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
Jaime’s Thoughts
Gypsy by Trisha Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Are you looking for a new paranormal/sci-fi series to sink your teeth into? Look no further because Trisha Leigh has the perfect start to one!
Gypsy has grown up as an orphan in a private sanctuary… one where she is among others of her kind … kids with genetic mutations that can affect them in many different ways. Those in charge have labeled them “The Cavies.” Her talent is what puts her into a category that those same people refer to as “inconsequential”. Her talent you ask? When she touches someone she can see the age they will be when they die. While a useful tool, it’s definitely not as significant as the talents of her friends who can be invisible, or have super speed, or could even kill you if they wanted to. But she feels at home amongst the others even if she doesn’t have as much power as some of them.
Suddenly, her world is rocked when the home she grew up in is found and secrets are revealed. Suddenly her and her friends are pushed into the real world to meet families they never knew, and adjust to a new life where no one knows about the powers they have… yet. But Gypsy has dreamed for as long as she can remember about experiencing a normal life … one where she isn’t tested and poked and prodded on a daily basis. One where she gets to attend a real high school and make normal friends, and among her small group, she’s the one most likely to succeed … she just has to make sure she doesn’t touch anyone and no one finds out what they can do.
Of course things don’t necessarily go that smoothly.
Someone knows all about them, and what they can do, and after each of them is attacked and injected with something their powers begin to change … some in ways they can’t seem to control.
When the cavies decide they need to know more… more about their origins, more about their history and more about the place they grew up, they find themselves in a web of lies and deceit not knowing who they can trust to help them unravel the truth, and then one of their own goes missing and it’s a race against time to rescue them that will have you on the edge of your seat!
I’ve been waiting patiently … (maybe not so patiently) for a new YA series from Trisha Leigh since the last page of her The Last Year Series. So when I begged her to let me read this one I was so excited when she said yes! Let me start by saying that this book has a definite X-Men feel to it, especially at the very beginning and I loved it. Our protagonist Gypsy, was so easy to like… she values her friendships and the relationships she grew up with, but you can feel her yearning for more with every page. When she finally gets her wish, she doesn’t just bail on those who have been such a big part of her life. She still treasures those connections and while she ends up making new friends, she never bails on those who are struggling to fit in.
I really loved both the old friendships that Gypsy has and the new ones she ends up making … And her relationship with her father was so wonderful! I loved watching them both kind of acclimate to this new position in their lives, forming that bond and learning to trust each other.
My only complaint… and I’m going to just get it out of the way, the first fourth of this book is a bit slow moving. Unfortunately I don’t think that there would be any way around this. Trisha Leigh does a wonderful job of building and creating the background and providing the information you need for the story, but I feel like that is what slowed the pace of the story. That said, once the action & suspense kicks in, it doesn’t really stop and it will have you turning pages as quick as you can.
There is a tiny bit of a romance that pops up in this story and even a bit of what MAY end up being a love triangle, but I say a bit of a romance because it’s just little teases here and there. Nothing full-fledged. But can I confide in you all… I wanted more kissing!! I know I know… part of the issue is Gypsy’s talent, which doesn’t really help with the romance. But I truly loved seeing her navigate and try to understand her feelings for both of the guys involved.
With a fun and interesting story, engaging, layered characters, and a mystery that will have you trying to figure out which team to be cheering for, Trisha Leigh has the start of an amazing new series that I can’t wait for more of. This one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger my friends, so consider that your warning, but you must pick this one up as soon as you can… I think you’ll love the amazing story that you’ll find!
View all my reviews
Recent Comments