Uninvited

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

You can't change your DNA . . . even when it says you're a murderer.

When Davy tests positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome, aka "the kill gene," she loses everything. She doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day Davy will kill someone.

Uninvited from her prep school, Davy is thrown into a special class for HTS carriers. She couldn't be more different from her fellow classmates, especially Sean, whose "H" tattoo is proof of his violent past. But with no one else to turn to, Sean might be the only person she can trust. Maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Merging a contemporary setting with a believable speculative premise, Jordan (the Firelight series) introduces Davy Hamilton, who appears to have it all-a gorgeous boyfriend, a future at Julliard-until she is diagnosed with "Homicidal Tendency Syndrome," a genetic predisposition toward violence. She is "uninvited" from her private high school, assigned an unsympathetic caseworker, and forced to attend school in a "Cage" with other HTS kids. Among them are the sweet, smart Gil, and Sean, a lifetime "carrier" who's more protective than violent. Jordan skillfully hints at a rapidly disintegrating, near-future America, using chilling chapter interstitials-texts, fragments of interviews, lists-that illustrate a society prepared to sacrifice civil rights for an illusion of safety. Are those diagnosed with the HTS gene really destined to kill, or is their behavior the outcome of being treated like criminals? The first half is slow, as Davy feels the impact that the HTS label has on her privileged life, but the action becomes more immediate when Davy, Sean, and Gil are recruited for an elite government school designed to exploit their violent instincts. Ages 13-up. Agent: Maura Kye-Casella, Don Congdon Associates. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-High school senior Davy has her future all planned out until genetic testing determines that she has Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. In this near-future dystopia, people with this "kill gene" are more likely to commit murder and are isolated from the rest of the population. Essentially, those who possess the "kill gene" are treated in a manner that would inspire thoughts of murder in even the most mild mannered teens. Davy is expelled from her prep school and sent to a public school that is equipped to handle her condition. Her relationship with her boyfriend disintegrates slowly, and her relationship with her family changes. There is also a dangerous but attractive bad boy in her new school. The stakes are raised when those who have the kill gene are institutionalized, and Davy must, yet again, adjust to a very different life than she had planned. The inevitable sequel will no doubt uncover government corruption at the highest levels. While the author relies too heavily on telling rather than showing, this is an entertaining read once disbelief has been suspended. Jarringly, the romantic scenes, while not explicit, use the vocabulary of more adult romance. Teens hungry for this genre will not mind and, in fact, will eagerly await the sequel. Uninvited will be appreciated by fans of Suzanne Young's The Program (S. & S., 2013) and similar romantic dystopian titles.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Davy Hamilton has the perfect life, the perfect family, and the perfect boyfriend . . . until a medical test reveals that she is a carrier for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. Quickly, she loses her friends, her private school, her scholarship to Juilliard, and, soon, her freedom. Now Davy and her fellow carriers must fight for their survival before they become the killers they've been told they are. With Jordan's clear and heavy focus on Davy's feelings of oppression, this fast-paced story is a solid addition to the dystopian genre. The first part of the novel is full of quickly building suspense, and readers will be appalled at how easily Davy's life is dismantled. In part two, the story takes on a harder tone as Davy and other carriers are shipped off to a mysterious training facility. Astute readers will figure out faster than Davy why the teens are there, but that doesn't detract from the action and tension. A mild romance also doesn't get in the way, though readers might hope it will develop more in book two.--Wildsmith, Snow Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

Davina leads a charmed life until she tests positive for the Homicidal Tendency Gene. In her new cage-like classroom, Davy meets fellow carrier and bad boy Sean. Both tapped to attend the government-managed school, the seeming opposites must figure out how to survive abuse and discrimination--among potential killers. Predictable tropes partly dilute this fluid read with a gripping dystopian premise. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

She's tagged as a killer. But that's not so bad. Beautiful, blonde, wealthy 17-year-old Davy Hamilton attends a posh private school in her Texas hometown and spends page after page mooning over her rugby-playing, Zac Ephronesque boyfriend, Zac. All goes awry, however, when it's discovered that she has Homicidal Tendency Syndrome, which means she could grow up to be a serial killer (!!!!!). She's then whisked away from her school and social life and forced to attend a special juvielike school for students with the same diagnosis. At this point, readers might think that terrible things happen to Davythat she could be put into terrifying danger or might struggle against her own genetic code. But noshe goes to class, slaps her ex-boyfriend, gets tattooed as punishment for acting out and pines after another hot boy in her new school. This nonthriller is packed with more overwrought, lusty musings than a Harlequin romance. Some of the sentences actually work, while others are so preposterous they'll have readers giggling: "Closing my eyes, I savor the sensation of Zac's lips on my throat." But there's no vampire here, and there's not that much action. And Davy comes off as a weak, whiny, boy-chasing protagonist who makes Bella look like Lara Croft. A schlocky bodice-ripper disguised as a dystopian romance. (Dystopian romance. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.