Unknown Variant takes place in the future with all of civilization being classified by their DNA. There are the ‘Normies,’ those who are genetically pure, and the GIs, those who are genetically inferior. Everything is divided between the Normies and the GIs: cities, food, housing, work, health care etc.
Layla Mason is a GI working as a prostitute to Normies. It is a dangerous job, but it is what she must do to provide for her family.
On a trip to the market, she is rescued from an approaching car by Adonis Caraway. Adonis is a handsome young doctor and Layla can’t help but think he’s attractive. Adonis helps Layla home and offers her a job to be a maid in his parents home. Layla is shocked at his offer, but takes the job at her mother’s insistence.
The pair become very close and it’s obvious that they both like each other. Unfortunately, it is illegal for Normies and GIs to be together. Especially when the Normie Layla is in love with is Senator Caraway’s son, the man responsible for the divide between Normies and GIs. If they are caught, it could mean severe punishment for Adonis and death for Layla.
I really enjoyed Unknown Variant. I found it to be the perfect taste of sci-fi and dystopian without all the ‘fluff’ that some novels contain. My favorite part of reading this novel is that the writing is so clear. I was never bored and I felt the writer really used her words well. And I found myself laughing at the phrases she used (looky-loos is a word my mother always seemed to say!).
The plot is a true good versus evil theme and touches on topics that are relevant to society today. The discrimination of GIs is the largest example and how they try to live as normal humans under such great opression. We can’t pick our own DNA, so why punish those born differently?
My absolute favorite part that warmed my heart was Laylas’s and Adonis’s love. The love them was so sweet and simple, nothing complicated. But this is a world that doesn’t want them together, and they must fight for the life and family they greatly desire.
Unknown Variant by Sara Grover receives 4 stars.
*Trigger warning: rape, prostitution, mature content
