Altered by Jennifer Rush

Altered is definitely one of those books that I definitely judged by its cover. I mean, it has a hot dude on the front, but it looks completely cheesy. Even the synopsis on the back sounded cheese, so this was just never a book I planned on picking up. Angela included in our bookswap bag, so I decided that if she thought I would like it, I may as well give it a shot. I was actually pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! Yes, it is a little cheese, but it is a fast, fun read.

Anna lives out in the country in a farmhouse with her dad who is a scientist for a government supported program called The Branch. In her basement there are four guys who are living in little rooms and being experimented on, basically. They all have amnesia and have no idea anything about their past lives or why they are there. Her dad runs tests on them and reports the results back to The Branch, but the why's are all top secret. Anna has know that the boys being there for five years, so she has developed a relationship with each one of them as the years have gone. Trev is the nerdy poetic type who is her best friend that she tells all her secrets to. Cas is the clown of the group but has the big bro/little sis relationship with Anna. Nick, well she doesn't have much of a relationship other than mutual dislike so they pretty much steer clear of each other unless absolutely necessary. Sam is the one she is in love with, and she spends as much time as she can talking with him and even sneaking down in the middle of the night to play games of chess with him. Everything is good as normal until the director and his possee show up at their doorstep one day, and the boys launch into escape mode with a plan they have been plotting for a long time. One second the boys are safely in their little rooms, the next all of them plus Anna are on the run from The Branch. The book follows their story as they are on the run and trying to figure out who they are and why The Branch has them.

Pictured right to left: Anna and Sam (Top)
Nick and Cas (Middle)

 Trev (Bottom)

What really surprised me the most about the book is a twist that comes closer to the end when things start falling into place about all of their backgrounds. I didn't see this twist coming, and I really liked what it added to the story. Nothing is what it seems and pretty much everyone has been living a lie. 

I definitely want to read book two to see what happens, since the first book got super intense right before it ended. I think I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fast paced action stories that also have a little bit of romance. Overall, I am really glad I gave this book a chance.

4/5 stars