Review: Antidote by Taylor Hondos

Published: June 2016

Pages: 214

Synopsis: “Life sucks, and then you rot. No one knows how Dermadecatis is contracted, but its existence has changed everything for 18-year-old Lena, in this riveting debut from Taylor Hondos.No contact with other people.

Masks must be worn in public at all times.

Four months ago men, women and children alike began to rot from the inside out, and the world as we know it changed forever. Life goes on, but now everything revolves around the need to survive and find a cure for Dermadecatis, the disease that Lena Alona's father discovered.

Unfortunately for Lena and everyone else who is desperate to survive, her father's secrets died when he did.”

Rating: ***

Antidote started strongly, but then unfortunately tailed off. The plot did progress, but I felt without any firm direction or major insights into the back story which made the plot feel rudderless.

There were times that I felt the dialogue between characters was stilted, but on the whole this was written well with believable characters. At times I felt the description could have gone into more precise detail.

Antidote wasn’t for me personally, but was a good start to a very interesting YA trilogy.