Insignia by S.J. Kincaid is outside my comfort zone. Way outside my comfort zone. There’s something about sci-fi that puts me off. At least that was what I thought before. I picked up Insignia because it was there and people were raving about it. I thought ‘Well, I’ll give it a chance’. Next thing I knew I was 150 pages into it and in love. I can’t tell you just how much I loved this book!

Insignia has that undeniable quality that makes a spectacular book. I’m never good at pinpointing what exactly that is, I guess it’s just a combination of things. In this case it was a group of characters so likable that you wanted to be best friends with them and a world that was mind blowing unique. The world that Tom lives in is very different from ours, but it’s also shockingly similar. There’s tons of crazy technology and wars in space. There’s creepy controlling super corporations. They control all the Earth’s resources, therefore they control the government. It took me just a little while to get used to the lingo and fully understand the situation the world was in. Once I did I was in awe of the creativity.

Tom, Vik, and Wyatt were some of the best written characters I’ve read in a long, long time. Tom was completely likable. He was honest and realistic. He came from a not so great background and that made him sympathetic. He was the type of character that you can’t help but love and root for. The bond between all the characters felt very….Harry Potter-ish to me. They stood up for each other. Their banter was fabulous and I laughed out loud so many times. I was actually reading one scene while on my exercise bike that made me laugh so hard I had to stop. It makes me laugh just think about it again.

There’s really too many elements that made me love Insignia. I can’t possibly name them all. The school was awesome! The programing wars with other students were hilarious. The futuristic dystopian world was like no other. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say that this is a incredible book.

If you’re like me, and think that Insignia isn’t your thing, I urge you to give it a chance. It’s definitely one of my favorites of the year. It has something for everyone. Great friendships, an amazing world, and it’s unputdownable. READ IT!