Review: Contaminated By: Em Garner

Contaminated by Em Garner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is 3.5 stars

Velvet Ellis is surviving, trying to care for her sister Opal and searching for her mother in the containment kennels. An epidemic causing almost zombie behavior arose from drinking a contaminated diet drink called ThinPro. Their father was immediately hit, the anger, the madness, and then one afternoon while he was at work, he became one of the many that attacked and was never seen again.
Velvet held out hope. Her mother never drank that much, protected them when she began to see the symptoms coming on. When Velvet finally finds her mother in a kennel, the government collar has been placed around her neck to help prevent any anger outbursts or attacks. Unfortunately, not many people understand why she would even want her mother back, afterall her mother isn't at all what she used to be, she is a "Connie" or a monster.
Opal, Velvet's sister, is the one that opens the door to all that their mother is capable of. Soon, their mother hums, begins cleaning, even shows signs of worry. Velvet knows that despite what they have been told - their mother is coming back to them. It is at this point that the government has placed an order to destroy all "Connies", even those with the collar, they have become too dangerous. In minutes they will be at the door and the collar will have to come off and her mother will have to speak, something she hasn't done in some time - can she do it?

There is a beginning of a teen romance story within the story the helps add to the storyline and the buildup of the characters. I found the actual story really intense. Within the pages the reader will experience the isolation, abandonment, fear, need to connect, only to then have the bigotry and another fear takes it's place. Velvet is a survivor running on adrenaline fighting for her family. I found the concept of ThinPro very unique and believe that there is a link between them and the government -- but this is the first in a series and I will have to find out.

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