Discover the mysterious and troubling world of Lydia Kang’s new novel, TOXIC!
Hana was never meant to exist, but she does. The world around her shouldn’t be dying, but it is. Abandoned on a high tech biological ship called the Cyclo, Hana has no point of contact but a boy named Fennec, who was assigned to watch her. As the Cyclo begins to crumble, Hana and Fenn are desperate to find a way to survive, but it won’t be easy given the dangerous anomaly Hana truly is.
We’re thrilled to present an exclusive excerpt from this smart sci-fi thriller with an environmental edge thanks to Entangled Teen! In this snippet, we see Hana’s first moments of being alone with Cyclo, realizing that perhaps her mother’s promises weren’t in good faith. Take a look!
She abandoned me.
I have been kneeling on the floor of my mother’s laboratory between empty incubators, crying, choking through hyperventilations. Through the fog of despair, my mind races around disparate things. Why? Why did everyone leave? Why did I have to be such a terrible burden that I was left behind?
Mother—wasn’t I worth bringing with you?
Always, there was the idea that someday Mother would tell me that the rules by which we lived had changed. She would present me to her world with pride instead of this brand of concealment and shame that I’ve been woven into. Mother had even thought of pretending I was a stowaway on one of the rare supply ships. She was ready for the time that this might happen. Excited, even, to think that I could be formally accepted and adopted. Me, a girl of no nation, no people, no past.
Then, I could begin to live. Truly live.
“She told me,” I hiccupped through tears. “She told me that very soon, she would tell them about me. She promised.”
“Yes,” Cyclo said, speaking again through the walls now that she has composed herself as well. “I remember when you spoke of it. Several times. I sensed your mother’s…hesitancy…to bring up the subject.”
Hesitancy.
Can Hana survive in a brutal dying world she’s never known? Find out when you pick up Toxic by Lydia Kang! The book is out now and you can order it via…
Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Indiebound | Kobo | Entangled Publishing
Hana isn’t supposed to exist. She’s grown up hidden by her mother in a secret room of the bioship Cyclo until the day her mother is simply gone—along with the entire crew. Cyclo tells her she was abandoned, but she’s certain her mother wouldn’t leave her there to die. And Hana isn’t ready to die yet. She’s never really had a chance to live.
Fenn is supposed to die. He and a crew of hired mercenaries are there to monitor Cyclo as she expires, and the payment for the suicide mission will mean Fenn’s sister is able to live. But when he meets Hana, he’s not sure how to save them both.
As Cyclo grows sicker by the day, they unearth more secrets about the ship and the crew. But the more time they spend together, the more Hana and Fenn realize that falling for each other is what could ultimately kill them both.
