Forgotten City by Michael Ford

My name is Kobi, and Seattle's been overrun by the Waste. Scientists thought they were solving the world's problems, but they only managed to create genetically freaky plants and animals. My father's been gone for too long now, so I ventured into the streets in search of him. I wasn't successful, but I never expected to come upon other survivors! The three kids said they live with a bunch of doctors, but the most surprising thing was learning about their abilities. They said the spores have endowed each of them with unique abilities, and they asked about mine. Do I have one? Now, I'm torn by new information about CLAWS. Are they saviors and guardians like the kids have told me, or are they the terrifying enemy I've learned to fear?

As you've probably guessed, this is a dystopian novel where scientists were messing with genetics to solve the problem of future food production. The streets were full of mutant plants and animals, and Snatchers patrolled the area in search of infected lifeforms. The premise of Waste and dangerous plants and animals weren't overly imaginative, but the author offered a few elements to spice things up. The kids introduced a positive view of CLAWS that created an immediate conflict for Harry. Was the apparent antagonist actually bad? Also, Harry's dad kept secrets from him, but that's not totally unexpected in these kinds of books. Adults often hide the truth and their motivations. The lack of character depth was my biggest issue to fully enjoying the book. While I learned something about Harry, there were still questions about his past and family. Surface-level descriptions of the other characters made it difficult to make any connections with them, and once again, there were questions about their pasts. The end of the book became a more exciting adventure and revealed much about the characters' importance. I would have enjoyed the whole book more if it had been written like the last fourth. The final pages opened the door to a sequel, but I'm not sure I'll go on to read it. We'll see.