New Release, Giveaway, and Review! THE TRANSHUMAN PROJECT, by Erin Rhew

It's sci-fi and social media vs. the Pentad, in this YA adventure! YOUR LIFE IS NO LONGER YOUR OWN...

The Transhuman Project by Erin Rhew Publication date: January 15, 2019 Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

When a video of Molly Richards is taken out of context and goes viral, she’s thrust into the upper echelons of social media stardom and becomes an overnight success in a country where Life Channel ratings reign supreme. As Kadar’s fastest-rising celebrity, her life becomes a media circus, a show put on for the shallow national audience salivating for the next new thing. But in a world where image is king, danger and death hide among the shadows. In the nearby country of Pacifica, the brutal Caezar turns his citizens into robotic weapons who infiltrate Kadar as sleeper transhumans. They walk among the populace, unaware they are pawns in the madman’s personal arsenal. Only Molly, her friends, and an elite group of Kadarian fighters known as the Cyber Knights fully understand the transhuman threat, and only they can break the Caezar's terrorist grip on both Pacifica and Kadar. Battling Fire Bots and humanoid agents, they seek to put a stop to the Caezar's tyranny by unraveling the secrets buried between layers of deception. And they have to do it all while smiling and waving for the cameras. As Molly and her friends peer behind the glitz and glamour, they discover something more frightening and more sinister than anything they’ve encountered yet...the truth.

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MY REVIEW

Erin Rhew is one of my favorite YA authors, starting with The Fulfillment Series, and now THE TRANSHUMAN PROJECT. In this new sci-fi release, we meet the group known as "the Pentad": Molly (who I'd label the main character), Ryder, Mac, Tash, and Jason.

The Transhuman Project itself is a plan put into action by the Caezar, Pacifica's evil ruler, to turn humans into weapons. The Pentad don't know who to trust with the information they've learned about the Project, but they know that the Caezar must be stopped.

With good intentions, they escape Pacfica, with Pacifica's plans for the weapon in hand, to Kadar, a country ruled by social media ratings. In Kadar, every moment of every day is being recorded and broadcast, and the most powerful, famous people in the country are the highest-ranking Life Channel stars, playing it up for the masses.

Molly's just a regular, tough, kickass chick who wears cargo pants and T-shirts, not sequins and heels like the Life Channel stars in Kadar. But when she reluctantly becomes the top-rated Life Channel celebrity, she's thrust into the spotlight, and even has to fake a romantic interest in her friend, Jason (even though she kind of digs fellow badass, Ryder), to keep up appearances. All while trying to stay in favor with Kadar's rulers, deal with the betrayal of a friend, and save the world.

In addition to Molly's story in Kadar, Mac carries a story of his own, leaving the group to partake a special mission. Mac's a smart-ass who enjoys the history of the world before, and who talks in old-fashioned cliches. His loyalty and love for his friends knows no bounds. (Note: As much as I love the characters of the Pentad, I could have read an entire book on Mac!).

THE TRANSHUMAN PROJECT is one of those books that encourages you to think and reflect on our own world. Not only will you fall in love with the characters, the adventure and mission, and the friendship and drama of the story, but you'll see that life in Kadar is scary-close to what we have now, with social media influencers, advertisers, and celebrities. The difference, of course, being that Molly wants no part of the celebrity life, while the influencers we watch clearly do.

A skilled and artful author, Ms. Rhew has created an amazing world with stand-out characters, that hopefully will continue as a series. I highly recommend this YA sci-fi for its spin on social media, and for the action, adventure, friendship, and love that this group encompasses and endures in their attempt to rid their world of evil.

To celebrate her release, Erin is giving away a paperback copy of THE TRANSHUMAN PROJECT and a $25 Amazon Gift Card! TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY, click HERE to be redirected to Rafflecopter!

AUTHOR BIO

Erin Rhew is an editor, the operations manager for a small press, and a YA fantasy and sci-fi author. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the "Grammar Police." A Southern girl by blood and birth, Erin spent years in a rainy pocket of the Pacific Northwest before returning to her roots in the land of hushpuppies, sweet tea, and pig pickin’. She’s married to fellow author, the amazingly talented (and totally handsome) Deek Rhew, and spends her time writing side-by-side with him under the watchful eye of their patient-as-a-saint writing assistant, a tabby cat named Trinity. Erin and Deek enjoy taking long walks, drinking coffee, lifting, boxing, eating pizza, staying up late into the night talking, and adventuring together.

Find Erin HERE or on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter!