Zenn Scarlett

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

(Summary taken from the back cover) "Zenn Scarlett is a bright and occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17 year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. She specializes in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars was going well--until there were a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school that Zenn finds herself blamed for. As if this isn't enough to be dealing with, her father vanishes under strange circumstances, and Zenn is worried that she has started hearing the thoughts of the creatures around her...With the help of Liam, a towner boy, and Hamish, an alien bug also training at the clinic, Zenn must try to find her father, rescue the animals and unravel the mystery of who is behind the attacks on the school. And all without failing her first year."

I liked this book. I liked its uniqueness. I think it is great that sci-fi is making a comeback. I liked Zenn, Otha, Hamish, and all the interesting animals in the book. Those characters were developed well, and were likable. The animals were very interesting. I mean, dimension-jumping Indras, sandhogs, rikkasets, and whale-hounds....what could be better than that? I felt bad for Zenn because she lost her mom, and then her dad just disappeared. She did make a few rash decisions that made me a little crazy, but that's what teenagers do, right? I never figured Liam out. Good? Bad? Both? I'm still not sure about him. The story line in the book is creative with some crazy twists. What kid hasn't thought about what it would be like to live on Mars? And Mr. Schoon actually shows what it could be like. Even though some people make it there, I think I will keep my feet on Earth. I like my mountains, trees, water, and air too much to leave. But I guess you never know!

There is some language in this book. There isn't any intimacy, but there is some violence. You watch as a character dies quite violently, and it's gruesome. It's really sad too. Overall, I liked the book. The ending is a cliffhanger, so.........where's book two??? 

Rating: PG-13+ (Language, violence, death of a character)

Recommendation: 14 years-old and up.

Disclosure: I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.