Review: Altered (Altered #1) by Jennifer Rush

Title: Altered (Altered #1)
Author: Jennifer Rush
Published: January 1st 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Co.
My rating: 4 stars

When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?

Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.

Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.

Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Altered was definitely a very pleasant surprise for me. It's always such a lovely treat whenever I encounter a paranormal book with a fantastic, unpredictable plot yet with very likable characters. Not to mention, a number of hot, hot, hot boys. Altered was such an amazing and fantastic read. I enjoyed almost every part of it (especially Cas!).

And yes, I do think the Merrick brothers have finally found their competition. I remember Brigid Kemmerer saying something about the boys here too...

And they indeed are!

Anna was a character I appreciated quite a lot. She appears to be a bit vulnerable but she has very real and honest personality. What I admire most about her though was the genuineness of her relationship with the boys. She may not be a very kick-ass heroine and though sometimes, she tends to seem a bit of the damsel in distress, her faults and flaws where overshadowed by how much she treasures and loves Sam, Cas, Trev and even Nick. In the end it was her loyalty and love for the boys that pushed her to be brave and strong and do some pretty kick-ass moves too.

Now the boys. Let's start with Sam. He was aloof, mysterious, a bit standoffish but he was a great leader and friend. It was actually the opposite of what I had imagined of him but I still end up really liking his character. He seems so serious and distant most of the time but he always took great care of everyone. Nick was the gorgeous bad-boy in the group. He was rude to Anna and seems to really dislike her. He had a very bad and awful past that forced him to have that kind of attitude and thinking. Trev was the levelheaded, rational and smart one among the boys. He had a close relationship with Anna and considers him her best friend. He loves to read books and always ready to give advice and quotes for Anna. He was a character that was so easy to like and trust but... And last but not the least, my favorite, CAS! He was an easy-going, laid back kind of guy who never seems to get his stomach full, always demanding for food but he was also very sweet, funny and really really charming. He was the kind of friend that you would need when everything is just too intense and overwhelming. Who would make you laugh and put a smile on your face when thing started to feel too stressful. I remember asking Jennifer if I can have him and she said HE said YES!

So move over girls! Cas is mine. Hahaha! Just kidding. I'm really not that selfish. Contact me and maybe we could make some arrangements. Lol!

As for the plot, I just loved it! I love how it mixes some mysteries and actions.I enjoyed how they try to figure out what really happened through the small clues they had. It was fascinating and what made it more really good was the unpredictability of it. It was hard to guess or calculate what's gonna come out and what's gonna happen next so all you'll be able to do was just to continue reading. I just have some slight issue with the romance although I still enjoyed it and I do think that Anna and Sam were really great couple. However it was just that I wish a few more convictions were added that it was indeed real since it was hard not to worry that it might just have been caused by the alterations. But we're only on the first book so I think I can oversee it and I'm sure more explanations and developments will come of the following books.  

Overall, Jennifer Rush did an amazing job in delivering us a story with such fantastic yet unpredictable plot, awesome action-packed scenes, shocking twists and discoveries and lovely but amazing characters. I enjoyed it very much and I'll be sure to have an eye on this series. I highly recommend this.