Review for Outside In by Breanna Hughes

Some books just beg to be turned into movies. This is one of them.

Since her father died when she was fourteen, Cali Evans has been surviving on her own. On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, she meets Owen Bray, a gorgeous genius doctor, who gives her a push towards a new start. The new start never happens as Cali next wakes up in a bunker-like facility where she is told a plague is quickly ravaging the world and she’s one of a few people seemingly immune to it.

I understood what was really happening faster than Cali did but, like in Remember Me, Synthetica by K. Aten, I’m not sure it’s supposed to be a mystery. What matters most is the events, the lies, the characters’ reactions to everything. Outside In is fast-paced, chock-full of tension and twists. Cali is – figuratively – running for her life and the reader is running with her. The writing is very visual, I had no trouble seeing the scenes happening or the setting, everything except the characters (but that’s me, I never visualize characters).

The story is told in first person from Cali’s point of view, which adds to the thrill, as we feel her confusion and how she reacts to the oppressive atmosphere, her doubts as to who she can or cannot trust. Outside In is on the shorter side, which isn’t an issue in itself since nothing feels rushed (except maybe the epilogue), but I didn’t want to put it down. I had never read anything by Breanna Hughes before, I’m looking forward to discovering her other novels.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.