Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Jan 28, 2012

Wendy Darling rated it:

"When is the DNA surely human? When is it not?"

"I speak. I feel. I laugh and cry." She broke off and looked away briefly. "Some things I want so badly I think I'll die of it. I do worship the Infinite. But to be told everyday that I'm not human..."

In the 400 years since the end of Earth, human society is a vastly different place on the Planet Loka. There are levitating cars, strange monstrous creatures, and babies that are suddenly taken by t More...

37 comments like (60 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Maja rated it:

This is one of those very rare occasions when I feel comfortable recommending a book I didn’t enjoy myself. Tankborn is a story that raises some very important issues and manages to make all the necessary points while completely avoiding a condescending tone. It is a dystopian novel with elements of science fiction, and I think it’s safe to say that it stands out among the (too) many dystopian novels that seem to be growing like mushrooms these days.

There are three levels of society More...

7 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

prettybooks rated it:

Let’s just get straight to it: I loved Tankborn. If I’m being really, really honest, I wasn’t looking too forward to reading it. It’s the second to last book in my Dystopian August schedule and I had yet to come across a book that was mostly dystopian. I’ve had post-apocalyptic and science fiction, often with dystopian-type aspects (and some with none) but nothing like Matched, Divergent, The Giver or The Hunger Games – ‘traditional’ dystopian societies. The reason I was apprehensive about Tankb More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

Phoebe rated it:

Complete review at the Intergalactic Academy.

In Tankborn, Karen Sandler’s young adult debut with the new multicultural press Tu Books, we meet a genetically engineered girl named Kayla. She’s spending her last days of childhood living with her “nurture mother” in the overcrowded slums of her world while she waits for her job assignment. As she stresses over her eventual vocation–and for good reason; GENs like her are often sent far away from their families of origin–we learn more ab More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

JJ iReads added it

It's been a while since I've picked up a book that is mainly science fiction and enjoyed it so much. Karen Sandler introduces us to Loka, a planet that the people of Earth colonize in the future due to Earth's climate crumbling down, and in the process introduces us to a whole new vocabulary. Names of plants, animals, inanimate objects, all strange names for strange things. It is truly a fascinating new world. Fans of dystopia and a little known movie called "Avatar" will enjoy this.
More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Katy Book Corner rated it:

I'm really getting into dystopia types of books and really enjoyed reading this one. I liked the author's story of the future, DNA technology and the struggle to overcome matrix or appearance of what actually is reality.

However, I will say that it was not as an easy read as Delirium and XVI and a few others I have read. The beginning started really slow for me, and I almost lost interest. I understand the author was trying to describe the setting, but I found it really unnecessary (e More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

ananka rated it:

When earth became uninhabitable, the rich decided to pack up and head into space. Realizing they needed laborers to build the ships and their new homes, they brought along indentured servants creating instant hierarchy and discord. To placate the lowborn, the rich created another race to serve, these were the the Tankborn (rather than natural born). These new people were enhanced with animal dna and programmed with special skills that could help them in their labors. Kayla is a tankborn and a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Kimberly rated it:

Initial thoughts: slow moving in the first part, but that's a good thing for this book. A lot of the book involves very important (and interesting and creative) world-building, so it needs a patient reader. It picks up quite a bit later on and throws in a lot of things I didn't see coming. I would say this is not a book for a casual SF reader, mostly because the world takes a lot of dedication to understand. You've got to really enjoy that aspect of SF to enjoy the book.

I thought the r More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2011

Diana rated it:

Science fiction is definitely experiencing a renaissance. Kayla and Mishalla are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, best friends who know that when they reach fifteen they will probably never see each other again. After things on Earth fell apart, a colony of settlers moved to another planet. They instituted a strict caste system based on those who funded the migration and the people who indentured themselves to go. Several decades before the story starts, The Infinite(the GENs' deity) ins More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2011

Allizabeth rated it:

Tankborn by Karen Sandler begins with friends Kayla and Mishalla, two Genetically Engineered Non-humans, (GENs), and the futuristic caste society in which they live. Both girls live in the slumlands and are treated as vagrants because all GENs are created, modified, and born in tanks, not in a human mother's womb. Non-GENs get a choice in their upbringing and future, but for Kayla and Mishalla the future is bleak. The only assignment is that of slavery.[return][return] Kayla manages to be as More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

Pricky rated it:

At some point in the future, humans colonize the planet Loka. It is here on the continent of Svarga that different caste systems exist with True Humans at the top (gestated in the womb) while "Genetically Engineered Non-humans" exist to serve those above them. These GENS are born into tanks and fused with technology, a skill set (sket) and animal DNA.

As best friends Mishalla and Kayla embark on their separate assignments, new information comes to light to either destroy the More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2011

Jessie (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it:

Tankborn surprised me. What I initially assumed was simply a run-of-the-mill, churn-'em-out-quick young-adult dystopia, Tankborn emerges as a strong novel with compelling adult-ish themes about defining what humanity and beauty mean to every individual. Clocking in at a nice length of almost 400 pages, Karen Sandler creates a distinctive, dark and utterly readable world with her science fiction gem. I would put her indie-published Tankborn up there with The Hunger Games and The Demi-Monde: Winter More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 15, 2011

Skyla (Happy Go Lucky and Lost in Books) rated it:

http://happygolucky-skyla.blogspot.com/2...

This book was kindly provided by the publishers via netgalley.com for review.

So first things first, THE COVER! I’ll be honest and say that it was the cover that first drew me in. The girl with the funky face tattoo, the bubbles with babies in them, the wash of turquoise all over (which being my favorite colour, instantly drew my eye to the book on netgalley’s list). Plus I was intrigued by the summary given on Goodreads.com.
More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Rachael rated it:

Best friends Kayla and Mishalla were born GENs, or Genetically Engineered Non-humans, making them the lowest class in their society’s strict caste system. Because they don’t have entirely human DNA, they are viewed as essentially good for nothing except the jobs to which they are Assigned at age 15. Neither girl is ready to come of age and leave all they know behind, but they have no choice. They’ve both resigned themselves to dull if productive Assignments, but they’re both about to find themse More...

0 comments like

Nov 29, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Kayla is a GEN, Genetically Engineered Non-Human. Each Gen has a special skill they were engineered for and they are treated more like commodities than living creatures. Kayla’s GEN is strength. She is assigned to work for a trueborn, or wealthy, family as a caregiver for a mysterious elderly man, Zul. Surprisingly she starts becoming friends with his grandson. Meanwhile her close friend Mishalla is working in a nursery. Every few days someone comes and takes some of the children away in t More...

0 comments like

Feb 15, 2012

Jeanbooknerd rated it:

The energy behind Tankborn’s intriguing story had me glued to the pages from the beginning. We are introduced to a world where Genetically Engineered Non-humans, or GENs, are produced to perform designated jobs. In reality, they are slaves that are obligatory into subjection and at the mercy of a brutal caste system putting them at the very bottom. Karen Sandler’s very detailed and well thought-out society and the two different religions to which humans and GENs follow were very fascinating. The More...

0 comments like

Feb 09, 2012

Cindy rated it:

Tankborn is one of the first efforts put out by the new imprint of Lee & Low Publishers, Tu Books. Tu Books is an imprint to watch. Here's a snippet from their website:

"Fantasy, science fiction, and mystery: these genres draw in young readers like no other. Yet it is in these genres that readers of color might feel most like an outsider, given that such a large percentage features white characters (when they feature human characters). It is the goal of Tu Books to publish genre More...

0 comments like

Feb 08, 2012

Maureen rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jan 25, 2012

Heather rated it:

The people of Earth have escaped to a distant planet. Three social classes exist there. Trueborns are from human mothers, own land, and are the highest class citizens. Lowborns are humans without land who earned their passage to the new planet as slaves to the trueborns. GENs are genetically engineered nonhumans who are grown in a tank. They are the lowest of classes. Their DNA is part human part animal selected to give them a specific skill set that will be valuable later in their lifes. They a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Shaheen rated it:

Read the full review here.

This is a well executed science fiction novel with a riveting plot and many underlying themes that provoke thought long after the last page is turned. The world building is amazing - from the descriptions of the landscapes and arachnid based fauna (eep!), to the holograms which render the environment ‘Earth-like’, Sandler brings her world to life brilliantly. The reader is forced to learn the foreign terminology as they read - there are no overly contrived i More...

0 comments like

Dec 27, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

FIRST AND FOREMOST - didja check out that cover? Yay to POC. I adore that this is a dysfic and it's all about caste systems and allusions of discrimination and race WITHOUT being about race itself, but more about "who and what" defines humanity.

And yes, I'm all *fingers crossed* that this book is a hit because folks I'm not a huge dysfic kinda reader and I have to admit that in the beginning I almost stopped reading. Which would have been devastating because there is jus More...

0 comments like

Nov 27, 2011

Hylary rated it:

Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!

Best friends Kayla and Mishalla are both fifteen-years living in Chadi, one of the sectors home to GENs, or genetically engineered non-humans. Centuries earlier, the people of Earth fled their broken home planet and set up a new human colony on Loka. Since its creation, Loka’s society has developed into a rigid caste system with “trueborns” of various statuses at the top, and GENs at t More...

0 comments like

Nov 21, 2011

Pretty in Fiction rated it:

Review Originally Posted on Pretty in Fiction.

Title: Tankborn
Author: Karen Sandler
Publisher: Tu Books an imprint of Lee & Low Books, Inc.
Publish Date: September 15 2011
Rating: 4.7/5

Tankborn by Karen Sandler tells the story of fifteen year old Kayla and her best friend Mishalla. Kayla is waiting to be given an Assignment, something all GENs (Genetically Engineered Non-humans) receive when they turn fifteen. And then these GENs are sent away from More...

0 comments like

Nov 13, 2011

Lesley rated it:

As other reviewers have pointed out, Tankborn is a successfully straightforward sci-fi tale that is so refreshing after all the "sci-fi" dystopias we've seen lately that are really just melodramatic romances set in vaguely described futures. There's some great world-building, with lots of attention to the details of how the society on the new planet functions. The main themes of prejudice and unfairness will resonate with teen readers. There's a mystery to solve that had some good twis More...

2 comments like

Oct 09, 2011

Deborah rated it:

Move over "1984" and "Animal Farm" Karen Sandler has something to say, and we should listen! She could be compared to Margaret Atwood.

"Tankborn," refers to the quasi-people and animal mixes (GENs)
Sandler's new world produces by way of gene-DNA-splicing to birth "lowborns." These "lowborns" are made to be the workers, indeed the slaves, of the new world--and to set the lowest chaste of the society.

While the GENs th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2011

Jesse rated it:

Tankborn by Karen Sandler tells the story of fifteen year old Kayla and her best friend Mishalla. Kayla is waiting to be given an Assignment, something all GENs (Genetically Engineered Non-humans) receive when they turn fifteen. And then these GENs are sent away from their families, sometimes so far away they can never return, in order to complete these jobs. And, since GENs aren't allowed to use any form of communication except word of mouth, they usually never get the chance to speak to their More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2011

Krystal rated it:

http://livetoread-krystal.blogspot.com/2...

This is a great science fiction book for readers that normally don't read science fiction to ease into the genre. This book is not confusing in the slightest, the author explains quite well while still incorporating the facts into the novel.

Kayla is the first character the reader meets. She is a Tankborn, the part of society created to satisfy the desires of the lowborn-who did not want to be the lowest rung of soc More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Best friends Kayla and Mishalla know they will be separated when the time comes for their Assignments. They are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, and in their strict caste system, GENs are at the bottom rung of society. High-status trueborns and working-class lowborns, born naturally of a mother, are free to choose their own lives. But GENs are gestated in a tank, sequestered in slums, and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen.
When Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Tina rated it:

Original review posted at Nose in a Book

Oh, my goodness, is that a person of color on the cover of a YA novel? It is! And she’s beautiful, and Sandler is awesome for writing about women of color in a genre that is inundated with stories about white teenagers, their special powers and their absent parents. And that cover is beautiful by itself with all that green and blue. I would apologize for starting this review with a little politics, but seriously. This book is about two wom More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it:

Tankborn was definitely another reminder to me not to judge books by their covers, which I will undoubtedly continue to do ad infinitum. Still, I know I shouldn't. The only reason I requested this on NetGalley was because of the golden word dystopia in the description. If it says dystopia, I will read it. So yeah, the cover's not the best (and, yet again, does not seem to depict one of the main characters), but don't let that stop you.

The characters and the story both intrigued me righ More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)