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Touchstone #2
Lab Rat One
In the months since Cassandra Devlin walked onto another planet, she has grappled with everything from making blankets to helping psychics battle the memories of monsters. Not able to find a way home, she has instead gained friends and a purpose. Unfortunately, that purpose brings with it the pressure of being more than a little valuable, and those she has befriended are also her guards, ordered to explore and control her abilities to find out just what it is a touchstone can do.Test subject was not the career path Cass had been planning.With no privacy, too-frequent injuries, and the painful knowledge that she must always be an assignment to her Setari companions, Cass can only wish for some semblance of normality and control.And as her abilities become more and more dangerous, tests and training may be the only thing capable of protecting Cass from herself.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2011
96 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Andrea K. Höst
24 books811 followersBorn in Sweden and raised in Australia, Andrea K Höst currently lives in Sydney. She writes fantasy, but wanders occasionally into science fantasy.
Her novel "The Silence of Medair" was a finalist for the 2010 Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel. Her novella "Forfeit" won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella.
She also occasionally publishes romance under the name Karan K Anders.
Her novel "The Silence of Medair" was a finalist for the 2010 Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel. Her novella "Forfeit" won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella.
She also occasionally publishes romance under the name Karan K Anders.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
July 16, 2024
Here we are, merrily running down the road, doing our sci-fi thing and boom! A deer crosses right in front and I have to slam on the brakes. Welcome to my emotional parallel for Lab Rat One, the second book in a previously fascinating story about a woman who is pulled through a wormhole to another planet. As an aside, now that I think about it, it is definitely the sci-fi equivalent to a portal fantasy, which I've seen popping up more and more, which could probably be interpreted a cultural statement for our times.
"And tried not to look at the smooth white scar of the new settlement. I don't like to think too much about the impact I've had on this world."
Which is actually one of the most interesting things about this series to date, the introspection this young person brings to her experiences. It is, I suppose, a coming-of-age story, if in the sense of coming-of-age one means 'wrestle with identity and meaning.' Personally, I did it in my teens, in my twenties, in my forties, and, well, yesterday, so I prefer to thinking of it as 'a thinking person ponders existence.'
At any rate, our Cassandra (oh, yes, no subtlety here) continues to work with the elite squad of psychic Setari, as her own ability is to amplify those talents. The Setari are continuing to worry about the rifts that allow incursions from other places, similar to what Cass herself experienced, only in most cases the creatures are Lovecraftian. At the same time, wider world politics start to come into play as the Tarens (oh, yes!) want to re-open their ancestral planet, Muina, the planet where Cass emerged and they encountered her. As the world-building opens up, we start to discover why the Tarens are so similar to Earth people, and you know, I think it worked for me. Cass speculates about her new world using cultural references and I appreciate the context. A pet peeve of mine is when people in books are discovering the extraordinary and it takes a suspiciously long time, as if they never heard of zombies or wormholes.
"I was already too aware of how little I knew, and particularly worried about mixing up what was history, what was mythology, and what were things I'd seen on Stargate."
So much of the story is actually in the relationship-building, of Cass learning to interact with the highly-skilled, regimented Setari, and them in turn understanding her personhood. Such a good metaphor for life, no? Cass expands her connections in both small and life-threatening ways, and I thought the balance worked very well, both in plotting and in narrative voice. While Cass engages in a lot of self-reflection, she also has humor about her navel-gazing and her role among the Terans.
"I sure as hell don't want to play Helen in a space-aged Trojan War."
What didn't work was the ending. All along, Cass has wrestled with very strong feelings for Ruuel, one of the Setari Squad leaders, but at a low, persistent, one-sided level. It abruptly accelerates from country drive to highway race and while it would make eventual sense, the pace change doesn't.
Or maybe it does; I was eighteen once and made abrupt decisions.
However, the transition was complicated enough that it turned me off reading further, instead investigating what book 3 in the trilogy would look like and electing to stop here for awhile. It's a pity, because Host's writing is very engaging and Cassandra's voice equally so. Nonetheless, I recommend it.
"I guess, in a stressed, periodically lonely and uncertain of the future way, I'm happy here."
"And tried not to look at the smooth white scar of the new settlement. I don't like to think too much about the impact I've had on this world."
Which is actually one of the most interesting things about this series to date, the introspection this young person brings to her experiences. It is, I suppose, a coming-of-age story, if in the sense of coming-of-age one means 'wrestle with identity and meaning.' Personally, I did it in my teens, in my twenties, in my forties, and, well, yesterday, so I prefer to thinking of it as 'a thinking person ponders existence.'
At any rate, our Cassandra (oh, yes, no subtlety here) continues to work with the elite squad of psychic Setari, as her own ability is to amplify those talents. The Setari are continuing to worry about the rifts that allow incursions from other places, similar to what Cass herself experienced, only in most cases the creatures are Lovecraftian. At the same time, wider world politics start to come into play as the Tarens (oh, yes!) want to re-open their ancestral planet, Muina, the planet where Cass emerged and they encountered her. As the world-building opens up, we start to discover why the Tarens are so similar to Earth people, and you know, I think it worked for me. Cass speculates about her new world using cultural references and I appreciate the context. A pet peeve of mine is when people in books are discovering the extraordinary and it takes a suspiciously long time, as if they never heard of zombies or wormholes.
"I was already too aware of how little I knew, and particularly worried about mixing up what was history, what was mythology, and what were things I'd seen on Stargate."
So much of the story is actually in the relationship-building, of Cass learning to interact with the highly-skilled, regimented Setari, and them in turn understanding her personhood. Such a good metaphor for life, no? Cass expands her connections in both small and life-threatening ways, and I thought the balance worked very well, both in plotting and in narrative voice. While Cass engages in a lot of self-reflection, she also has humor about her navel-gazing and her role among the Terans.
"I sure as hell don't want to play Helen in a space-aged Trojan War."
What didn't work was the ending. All along, Cass has wrestled with very strong feelings for Ruuel, one of the Setari Squad leaders, but at a low, persistent, one-sided level. It abruptly accelerates from country drive to highway race and while it would make eventual sense, the pace change doesn't.
Or maybe it does; I was eighteen once and made abrupt decisions.
However, the transition was complicated enough that it turned me off reading further, instead investigating what book 3 in the trilogy would look like and electing to stop here for awhile. It's a pity, because Host's writing is very engaging and Cassandra's voice equally so. Nonetheless, I recommend it.
"I guess, in a stressed, periodically lonely and uncertain of the future way, I'm happy here."
July 8, 2011
4.5 stars but I'm giving it 5 to make up for having rounded down the last time.
Okay, at this point I don't think anyone, least of all me, expects an unbiased review for this one. I won't even try, so I'll just keep it (relatively) short. This is my third Andrea Höst book and there's something about the way she writes that just clicks right in my head. Does she make mistakes? Is she the best writer on the whole planet? Does she prepare good sandwiches? I.just.don't.know.
This is like when you hear the same comment in exactly the same tone and expression from your best friend and your worst enemy (I'm exaggerating with the adjectives here; everyone knows that there's no such thing as a best friend, of course) and, for some reason, you take the message to mean completely opposite things. When your friend says something, you recognize the wisdom in it. When that person you don't like says the same thing, it just rubs you the wrong way and you think they're just trying to upset you.
Well, I consider Andrea's writing a friend by now. It could probably leap out of the page, form a fist of letters and punch me on the nose and get away with it. (3D books. Come on! You know they're coming.)
This one continues Cassy's story after stepping through a wormhole and landing in another planet (one full of awesome). It's written as a diary, so you get a daily entry or two—unless she's unconscious, of course—and this makes it pretty cool to follow Cassy's changes. This is not one of those books where the heroine finds out that she can fight like Buffy without training, or that she can pull a Neo/Chuck move and download Kung Fu directly into her brain. She has to improve in all areas as a normal person would. And there's not a fast-forward button that can let you skip 6 months to see how she turned out. Nope, daily entries. And, even though I tried to find some inconsistencies with the rate of progress in some areas I'm familiar with (e.g., language and fitness training), I couldn't.
Well, one thing that changed from the first book is that, this time, I do want to know what happens next right now. Ending it that day was just eeeevil.
(Anyone considering reading these books can try several chapters on smashwords.)
Okay, at this point I don't think anyone, least of all me, expects an unbiased review for this one. I won't even try, so I'll just keep it (relatively) short. This is my third Andrea Höst book and there's something about the way she writes that just clicks right in my head. Does she make mistakes? Is she the best writer on the whole planet? Does she prepare good sandwiches? I.just.don't.know.
This is like when you hear the same comment in exactly the same tone and expression from your best friend and your worst enemy (I'm exaggerating with the adjectives here; everyone knows that there's no such thing as a best friend, of course) and, for some reason, you take the message to mean completely opposite things. When your friend says something, you recognize the wisdom in it. When that person you don't like says the same thing, it just rubs you the wrong way and you think they're just trying to upset you.
Well, I consider Andrea's writing a friend by now. It could probably leap out of the page, form a fist of letters and punch me on the nose and get away with it. (3D books. Come on! You know they're coming.)
This one continues Cassy's story after stepping through a wormhole and landing in another planet (one full of awesome). It's written as a diary, so you get a daily entry or two—unless she's unconscious, of course—and this makes it pretty cool to follow Cassy's changes. This is not one of those books where the heroine finds out that she can fight like Buffy without training, or that she can pull a Neo/Chuck move and download Kung Fu directly into her brain. She has to improve in all areas as a normal person would. And there's not a fast-forward button that can let you skip 6 months to see how she turned out. Nope, daily entries. And, even though I tried to find some inconsistencies with the rate of progress in some areas I'm familiar with (e.g., language and fitness training), I couldn't.
Well, one thing that changed from the first book is that, this time, I do want to know what happens next right now. Ending it that day was just eeeevil.
(Anyone considering reading these books can try several chapters on smashwords.)
January 10, 2021
1/10/21-brief re-read review. Sigh. I needed this more than I knew. So good I want to cry.
4/18/18-re-read. I just love this series so much! I really needed it now and can’t wait to read the fifth book! SO GOOD!!!
Original review follows:
Second book of only, unfortunately, a trilogy. I picked up the first book because it was offered for free on the Kindle and read it because a friend of mine did the same thing and read it and LOVED it. She raved so much, I moved it up in my queue of books to read and then immediately picked up the rest of the trilogy and the "Gratuitous Epilogue". One of the rare times I have been thankful for an eReader so I could indulge in instant gratification. Also one of the rare times a free book on Kindle was so fantastic that I am going to get all of her other books and read them as soon as possible.
Seriously, check this series out. Just try the first one and I promise you, you will be hooked!
I HATE sagas that go on forever, even after the author has died, but this trilogy is so amazing, I kind of wish it went on forever. Kind of like how I felt about Harry Potter after I finished reading it.
This is a bucket-list book trilogy to read.
Re-read it. It's still amazing!
4/18/18-re-read. I just love this series so much! I really needed it now and can’t wait to read the fifth book! SO GOOD!!!
Original review follows:
Second book of only, unfortunately, a trilogy. I picked up the first book because it was offered for free on the Kindle and read it because a friend of mine did the same thing and read it and LOVED it. She raved so much, I moved it up in my queue of books to read and then immediately picked up the rest of the trilogy and the "Gratuitous Epilogue". One of the rare times I have been thankful for an eReader so I could indulge in instant gratification. Also one of the rare times a free book on Kindle was so fantastic that I am going to get all of her other books and read them as soon as possible.
Seriously, check this series out. Just try the first one and I promise you, you will be hooked!
I HATE sagas that go on forever, even after the author has died, but this trilogy is so amazing, I kind of wish it went on forever. Kind of like how I felt about Harry Potter after I finished reading it.
This is a bucket-list book trilogy to read.
Re-read it. It's still amazing!
July 23, 2021
5/5; 5 stars; A+
This was a great instalment in the Touchstone Trilogy. We learned more about Cassandra's psychic talents and the ongoing war against the lonoth and massives. The mystery of the planet Muina and various evil goings on was expanded. I really enjoyed the further development of Cassandra's character as well as those around her. I found her obsessing over her love interest really annoying but the context of an 18 year old it was probably a pretty accurate representation of what she would put in her diary!
This was a great instalment in the Touchstone Trilogy. We learned more about Cassandra's psychic talents and the ongoing war against the lonoth and massives. The mystery of the planet Muina and various evil goings on was expanded. I really enjoyed the further development of Cassandra's character as well as those around her. I found her obsessing over her love interest really annoying but the context of an 18 year old it was probably a pretty accurate representation of what she would put in her diary!
October 22, 2024
3.75
Still enjoying this series, and how the world is expanding and characters are growing.
Also, even though Cass is kind of a speshul girl considering her extremely unique abilities, and the fact that everything kind of revolves around her- I do like that it feels different from other books in this regard. Instead of reveling in her one of a kind powers and seeking to get stronger she actually gets quite dismayed about that fact-bc it means that it just brings more attention and expectations from a world of people that aren't her own.
Thats not to say that Cass isn't growing or trying to get better-but it just feels more realistic when you think about her being a regular teenager who has been thrust into the spotlight, and not quite wanting to be there.
However, I kind of wish she would give people some kind of push back at really any point in the last two books. The amount of stuff they are pilling on her is getting ridiculous and even with the I want to see Cass angry for once.
Also, the Cass/Ruuel romance...
Still enjoying this series, and how the world is expanding and characters are growing.
Also, even though Cass is kind of a speshul girl considering her extremely unique abilities, and the fact that everything kind of revolves around her- I do like that it feels different from other books in this regard. Instead of reveling in her one of a kind powers and seeking to get stronger she actually gets quite dismayed about that fact-bc it means that it just brings more attention and expectations from a world of people that aren't her own.
Thats not to say that Cass isn't growing or trying to get better-but it just feels more realistic when you think about her being a regular teenager who has been thrust into the spotlight, and not quite wanting to be there.
However, I kind of wish she would give people some kind of push back at really any point in the last two books. The amount of stuff they are pilling on her is getting ridiculous and even with the I want to see Cass angry for once.
Also, the Cass/Ruuel romance...
July 4, 2023
After 16 reads (really?!?) I can say that this book is my favorite of the series.
Thanks to Goodreads Reread function I no longer have to mark in my review that this is the millionth time I'm reading this...
10th Read: 03/07/17
I'm not sure if I should continue to include the times read in the body of my review or not, thanks to the lovely new re-read function.
9th Read: 12/16/16
8th Read: 09/28/16
7th Read: 07/07/16
6th Read: 1/9/16
I seriously read this series entirely too much, it's a weird comfort food thing, when I'm sick or melancholy or bored. This is a new record for me though, I don't think I ever read an entire series again in less than 3 months. That's just weird, even for me. I think because this series (and Höst's writing in general) is so intricate and complex that it never gets old...)
5th Read: 8/18/15
4th Read:5/31/15
3rd read: 03/03/15
2nd Read: 08/28/14
Original Read: 02/7/14
Thanks to Goodreads Reread function I no longer have to mark in my review that this is the millionth time I'm reading this...
10th Read: 03/07/17
I'm not sure if I should continue to include the times read in the body of my review or not, thanks to the lovely new re-read function.
9th Read: 12/16/16
8th Read: 09/28/16
7th Read: 07/07/16
6th Read: 1/9/16
I seriously read this series entirely too much, it's a weird comfort food thing, when I'm sick or melancholy or bored. This is a new record for me though, I don't think I ever read an entire series again in less than 3 months. That's just weird, even for me. I think because this series (and Höst's writing in general) is so intricate and complex that it never gets old...)
5th Read: 8/18/15
4th Read:5/31/15
3rd read: 03/03/15
2nd Read: 08/28/14
Original Read: 02/7/14
July 20, 2018
July 2018: Love, love, love. This world has grown on me so much. I really appreciate how the first book is this narrow story of Cass learning more about her new world, and once she becomes more comfortable and accepts her place in it, the world widens. Kolar - Muina - The Hidden War: it's impressive stuff. And because of the groundwork laid in book one, she also has more of a support system in place to help her face everything. I mean, it's Plotting 101, but it's also good writing.
AND THE CHARACTERS! Cass, and Ruuel and Maze, and First and Fourth Squads in general, are so great! They really do illustrate the balanced squads the Setari aim for. I love how they bounce off their world - especially the upheavals in their world - in such a fundamentally human way, a way that reveals the decency or ego or nastiness that was always there. Look at one thing that comes out of it - that scene with Ninth and the watch - where Ninth gets sent back to Tare to be reformed, which apparently was always necessary, but that Fifth and Seventh don't. The powers that be know that Fifth and Seventh have an attitude problem but that they're effective, and it's not that the new kid on the block is exposing massive institutional problems that these smart people (with their Sights!) should have seen long before Cass shows up. It goes a long way to making Cass part of the world instead of this super special force that comes along and changes it. It gives the world a weight and a centrality that do so much to make it real.
And the way Cass thinks about everyone, and her place among them, and her relationships with them! She likes Ruuel because he doesn't hesitate to criticize her! She thinks Maze treats her like a little sister (and is surprised, later, to find that people have seen that differently)!
And there are all these little moments that are PERFECTLY in character and make me so happy: Ruuel being woken up to get her from the bottom of the pool (the way this scene is written is TOP-NOTCH) - Ruuel being tough on Fourth in training to stop them from thinking about the show, "which is the same tactic Mara uses on me when she thinks I'm fretting," thinks Cass (the diary format dovetails with her voice SO WELL) - the way every so often Cass takes a step back to really notice who she's hanging out with, like when Nils and Ruuel come to escort the intrepid girl reporter out and Cass notes that the girl is totally unfazed by "six-foot-something, black-suited, uber-dangerous psychics" - Ruuel being the "clutchee" (lol) during the dreams (I shouldn't laugh; those dreams are disturbing - in a really good way) - Ruuel and Taarel going through Sights training, with the Kalrani's commentary -
- notice a theme here? Like Melissa said in her review of the series, naturally, I am completely in love with Kaoren Ruuel. He's such a specific, compelling character from the moment he first shows up, when he uses Symbol Sight to interpret Cass's lab rat t-shirt. He's so entirely himself and at the same time demonstrates why the stereotype persists; he's grim and broody and keeps to himself, but it's because of Place and Sight Sight, which grounds his character. It also allows me to really believe that he and Cass can make a go of it, considering how abrupt their relationship is - because that physicality is established as so meaningful in advance.
And because Ruuel is so specific, he moves beyond that wish-fulfillment type and becomes part of the even better wish fulfillment of finding someone whose flaws exactly complement yours. IT'S JUST SO WELL DONE.
And then there are Lohn and Nils and Zan and Mara and Mori and Glade and Taarel and Eeli and Els Harel and I JUST LOVE EVERYONE. (Except for Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Squads, I guess.)
March 2013: This one is initially the same old, same old, predictable story, but the dream revelation shook it up quite a bit. Interestingly, the writing is strongest when Cass is afraid. She comes across as more human, as less of an impartial narrator of a strange world. I really liked those scenes - they were exactly the right sort of disturbing - and I loved the leak. Way to break it up.
And I predicted that final scene, although its - swift progression, as it were, surprised me a little. And what is that ending. (Hint: it's not an ending at all.)
Off to purchase Caszandra immediately.
AND THE CHARACTERS! Cass, and Ruuel and Maze, and First and Fourth Squads in general, are so great! They really do illustrate the balanced squads the Setari aim for. I love how they bounce off their world - especially the upheavals in their world - in such a fundamentally human way, a way that reveals the decency or ego or nastiness that was always there. Look at one thing that comes out of it - that scene with Ninth and the watch - where Ninth gets sent back to Tare to be reformed, which apparently was always necessary, but that Fifth and Seventh don't. The powers that be know that Fifth and Seventh have an attitude problem but that they're effective, and it's not that the new kid on the block is exposing massive institutional problems that these smart people (with their Sights!) should have seen long before Cass shows up. It goes a long way to making Cass part of the world instead of this super special force that comes along and changes it. It gives the world a weight and a centrality that do so much to make it real.
And the way Cass thinks about everyone, and her place among them, and her relationships with them! She likes Ruuel because he doesn't hesitate to criticize her! She thinks Maze treats her like a little sister (and is surprised, later, to find that people have seen that differently)!
And there are all these little moments that are PERFECTLY in character and make me so happy: Ruuel being woken up to get her from the bottom of the pool (the way this scene is written is TOP-NOTCH) - Ruuel being tough on Fourth in training to stop them from thinking about the show, "which is the same tactic Mara uses on me when she thinks I'm fretting," thinks Cass (the diary format dovetails with her voice SO WELL) - the way every so often Cass takes a step back to really notice who she's hanging out with, like when Nils and Ruuel come to escort the intrepid girl reporter out and Cass notes that the girl is totally unfazed by "six-foot-something, black-suited, uber-dangerous psychics" - Ruuel being the "clutchee" (lol) during the dreams (I shouldn't laugh; those dreams are disturbing - in a really good way) - Ruuel and Taarel going through Sights training, with the Kalrani's commentary -
- notice a theme here? Like Melissa said in her review of the series, naturally, I am completely in love with Kaoren Ruuel. He's such a specific, compelling character from the moment he first shows up, when he uses Symbol Sight to interpret Cass's lab rat t-shirt. He's so entirely himself and at the same time demonstrates why the stereotype persists; he's grim and broody and keeps to himself, but it's because of Place and Sight Sight, which grounds his character. It also allows me to really believe that he and Cass can make a go of it, considering how abrupt their relationship is - because that physicality is established as so meaningful in advance.
And because Ruuel is so specific, he moves beyond that wish-fulfillment type and becomes part of the even better wish fulfillment of finding someone whose flaws exactly complement yours. IT'S JUST SO WELL DONE.
And then there are Lohn and Nils and Zan and Mara and Mori and Glade and Taarel and Eeli and Els Harel and I JUST LOVE EVERYONE. (Except for Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Squads, I guess.)
March 2013: This one is initially the same old, same old, predictable story, but the dream revelation shook it up quite a bit. Interestingly, the writing is strongest when Cass is afraid. She comes across as more human, as less of an impartial narrator of a strange world. I really liked those scenes - they were exactly the right sort of disturbing - and I loved the leak. Way to break it up.
And I predicted that final scene, although its - swift progression, as it were, surprised me a little. And what is that ending. (Hint: it's not an ending at all.)
Off to purchase Caszandra immediately.
April 26, 2017
Oh my gosh - this book is driving me bananas!! Ruuel this and Ruuel that and waking up thinking of Ruuel and what is Ruuel doing. I swear that his name is mentioned at least every other paragraph of this book. I know the author wants us to realize that Ruuel is important but this is ridiculous, even for a teenager!!
This review is going to be full of complaints (wrongly or not). Another thing that I'm tired of is the constant headaches and falling asleep. Then a long inner monologue about Ruuel, falling asleep, a dream, a headache, repeat, repeat, repeat.
If about 1/3 of these scenes were taken out and about 1/2 of the thinking about Ruuel, I would enjoy the book so much more. The plot was a good one when it wasn't bogged down with sleep, headaches and Ruuel. The ending was good, so with the hope that the next book won't have the same problems I will be requesting it from library.
This review is going to be full of complaints (wrongly or not). Another thing that I'm tired of is the constant headaches and falling asleep. Then a long inner monologue about Ruuel, falling asleep, a dream, a headache, repeat, repeat, repeat.
If about 1/3 of these scenes were taken out and about 1/2 of the thinking about Ruuel, I would enjoy the book so much more. The plot was a good one when it wasn't bogged down with sleep, headaches and Ruuel. The ending was good, so with the hope that the next book won't have the same problems I will be requesting it from library.
April 12, 2019
Ahhhhhh THAT ENDING - !!!! <3 <3 <3 <3
On to Book 3. :)
On to Book 3. :)
January 19, 2013
So
Lab Rat One
shows how Cass finds her own place in Tare and Setari life, how she manages to balance cooperation and communication of her own needs so that the Setari have an interest in accommodating her wishes - as a matter of fact she cooperates a whole lot because she has common sense enough to know that she wouldn't have survived long on Muina on her own (although she can be annoyed at the testing and exasperated, going as far as decorating her clothes with a drawing of a lab rat), and while the tests and the inclusion into Setari work are dangerous, they are dangerous for the Setari, too. Some of them start building a personal relationship with Cass.
There's this one guy - very repressed to everyone, not just Cass, very perfectionist - who was one of the two Setari who found her and who saves Cass from making a mistake and letting the memory/dream space monsters -the Ionoth, which the Setari fight - into Earth space when she dreams herself into her old home. After that he starts being someone she is very aware of and grows to long to be with, but Cass is shy and she's starting to be empathetic (I think she NEEDs to become so, because her life now depends on interpreting what others want from her): she realizes that he is NOT interested, and that his powers make him aware of her longing and he avoids her.
This is one of my kink buttons, because that's exactly what I did as a teenager: fall in love with one guy and only getting my nerve together to confess to him after knowing him for roughly two and a half years. And when he wasn't interested, trying and succeeding in elegantly fading into the background (I don't believe in forcing your love onto people who aren't interested). I would have been as mortified about Cass's dream powers, as she was.
So Cass slowly develops various personal friendships, the Setari and Tare slowly realise how important her powers are and the stakes get higher with the work she does, which leads to more recuperation in sickbay. Her increased skill in the development of her powers and the outward threat of the Ionoth led by the self-aware Crutzach (who don't seem to be memories or dreams) eventually lead to her kidnapping, to Cass accidentally paving the way to opening Muina for resettlement and discovery of major bits of the problematic past for Tare, their fellow former Muinans Kolar and Nura. This will become another fascinating strand of the story: discovery, research and resettlement of Muina.
During that time there is this subtle giving of more agency to Cass, of her not feeling so totally at the mercy of her rescuers, but being of value. Of being able to speak the language well enough that she can back up her complaints about certain ways she is treated with explanations and of another really quite nice Setari becoming interested in her.
At the end of Lab Rat One - at the end of half a year of Cass living on Tare - the boy she has fallen so deeply for finally changes his mind about what he wants - he had fallen for her much later, but very deeply and he never had that deep a relationship before and his exacting standards didn't really like what his emotions did to him (it reminded me a bit of the idea of the original Spock being in love ^^, very uncomfortable feeling).
I like the fact that neither Cass nor Kaoren Ruuel change a lot for the other, really. They just find to their surprise that they fit far better than either of them thought, that the other can give them a level of emotional support that they haven't had before. Cass powers seem to lighten the load that Ruuel's sight powers give him, and for Cass the total devotion that the single-mindedness of Ruuel brings into their love removes most of her loneliness.
She really comes first with him (which his teenage sister can't handle at all, really) Also, he may be arrogant of nature, but time has tempered that even before he met Cass, and she doesn't mind his willingness to excel as long as he doesn't force her to do the same.
There's this one guy - very repressed to everyone, not just Cass, very perfectionist - who was one of the two Setari who found her and who saves Cass from making a mistake and letting the memory/dream space monsters -the Ionoth, which the Setari fight - into Earth space when she dreams herself into her old home. After that he starts being someone she is very aware of and grows to long to be with, but Cass is shy and she's starting to be empathetic (I think she NEEDs to become so, because her life now depends on interpreting what others want from her): she realizes that he is NOT interested, and that his powers make him aware of her longing and he avoids her.
This is one of my kink buttons, because that's exactly what I did as a teenager: fall in love with one guy and only getting my nerve together to confess to him after knowing him for roughly two and a half years. And when he wasn't interested, trying and succeeding in elegantly fading into the background (I don't believe in forcing your love onto people who aren't interested). I would have been as mortified about Cass's dream powers, as she was.
So Cass slowly develops various personal friendships, the Setari and Tare slowly realise how important her powers are and the stakes get higher with the work she does, which leads to more recuperation in sickbay. Her increased skill in the development of her powers and the outward threat of the Ionoth led by the self-aware Crutzach (who don't seem to be memories or dreams) eventually lead to her kidnapping, to Cass accidentally paving the way to opening Muina for resettlement and discovery of major bits of the problematic past for Tare, their fellow former Muinans Kolar and Nura. This will become another fascinating strand of the story: discovery, research and resettlement of Muina.
During that time there is this subtle giving of more agency to Cass, of her not feeling so totally at the mercy of her rescuers, but being of value. Of being able to speak the language well enough that she can back up her complaints about certain ways she is treated with explanations and of another really quite nice Setari becoming interested in her.
At the end of Lab Rat One - at the end of half a year of Cass living on Tare - the boy she has fallen so deeply for finally changes his mind about what he wants - he had fallen for her much later, but very deeply and he never had that deep a relationship before and his exacting standards didn't really like what his emotions did to him (it reminded me a bit of the idea of the original Spock being in love ^^, very uncomfortable feeling).
I like the fact that neither Cass nor Kaoren Ruuel change a lot for the other, really. They just find to their surprise that they fit far better than either of them thought, that the other can give them a level of emotional support that they haven't had before. Cass powers seem to lighten the load that Ruuel's sight powers give him, and for Cass the total devotion that the single-mindedness of Ruuel brings into their love removes most of her loneliness.
She really comes first with him (which his teenage sister can't handle at all, really) Also, he may be arrogant of nature, but time has tempered that even before he met Cass, and she doesn't mind his willingness to excel as long as he doesn't force her to do the same.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2015
My favorite thing: One of the newly-introduced secondary characters is named Inisar. Can I just say that I have been called this so many times that I burst out laughing and had an immediate connection with this guy? I so wish he had a bigger role in the story (though he may yet in Book 3).
I enjoyed this second book in the Touchstone series almost as much as Book 1 -- Cass is the kind of person who rolls with the punches. She doesn't make a big fuss except when she really has to, and even then, she isn't throwing a hissy fit. I really kind of wanted her to throw a hissy fit at one point (granted, she almost did, which is saying a lot for her). I also wanted her to start taking more agency in her story, instead of passively going where pointed. She did this once in a big way, brilliantly, but I wanted *more.* But you see I still gave this story four stars because, frankly, my preferences are my preferences. Who am I to ding an author for writing a character who's true to herself? ;) And Cass is true to herself, and she's a very like-able self. And man, things just keep happening in this story, and her powers just keep changing and building and...whew! That poor girl is best friends with the medical peeps, and not because she likes them.
I am holding out hope that Cass is going to start taking charge of her life, or at least taking a more active role, in the next book.
Also, loved the romance line that Cass had an internal fight against herself (rather hopelessly) for the whole book... yeah for slow-burn romances!
I enjoyed this second book in the Touchstone series almost as much as Book 1 -- Cass is the kind of person who rolls with the punches. She doesn't make a big fuss except when she really has to, and even then, she isn't throwing a hissy fit. I really kind of wanted her to throw a hissy fit at one point (granted, she almost did, which is saying a lot for her). I also wanted her to start taking more agency in her story, instead of passively going where pointed. She did this once in a big way, brilliantly, but I wanted *more.* But you see I still gave this story four stars because, frankly, my preferences are my preferences. Who am I to ding an author for writing a character who's true to herself? ;) And Cass is true to herself, and she's a very like-able self. And man, things just keep happening in this story, and her powers just keep changing and building and...whew! That poor girl is best friends with the medical peeps, and not because she likes them.
I am holding out hope that Cass is going to start taking charge of her life, or at least taking a more active role, in the next book.
Also, loved the romance line that Cass had an internal fight against herself (rather hopelessly) for the whole book... yeah for slow-burn romances!
November 7, 2022
I’m continuing to really enjoy this slightly slow but weirdly enthralling story! Love Cass, her character and interaction with others are what make this such an unforgettable read. I do take one exception, however. That SUPER weird placement of a sex (not graphic at all) scene near the end was…. Well, I don’t even know what or why it was. Made no sense, there was absolutely NO relationship before, then suddenly, tada!! REALLY needed more interaction (of any good kind) first.
July 22, 2016
О-о-о, вторая книга просто не отпускает. Хорошо, что я на больничном была и могла читать, не отрываясь.
На долю Касс выпало уже столько ужасов и кошмаров, что хочется обнять ребенка, прижать к груди и никуда не отпускать. От переживаний сгрызла себе все ногти, пальцы, ладони и почти дошла до локтей... А ей еще несколько планет спасать. Ужас! )))
У Рууэла просто железные нервы, если он все это выдержал и ни словом, ни жестом не выдал, что его это каким-то образом волнует. Вот зараза! Читать о страданиях Касс по утрам, когда она просыпалась и первое, о чем думала, что его нет рядом... У меня просто сердце разрывалось. Хорошо, что под конец она начала хоть немного огрызаться, а то ну сколько же можно!
Очень радостно читать, что сетари приняли Касс, что у нее появились очень близкие друзья, которым она доверяет, на которых может положиться, которые ее ценят и за нее переживают. Эпичная снежная баталия была просто прекрасна!
Ну и конец, о-о-о!!!!..
Вот теперь я засну.))))
На долю Касс выпало уже столько ужасов и кошмаров, что хочется обнять ребенка, прижать к груди и никуда не отпускать. От переживаний сгрызла себе все ногти, пальцы, ладони и почти дошла до локтей... А ей еще несколько планет спасать. Ужас! )))
У Рууэла просто железные нервы, если он все это выдержал и ни словом, ни жестом не выдал, что его это каким-то образом волнует. Вот зараза! Читать о страданиях Касс по утрам, когда она просыпалась и первое, о чем думала, что его нет рядом... У меня просто сердце разрывалось. Хорошо, что под конец она начала хоть немного огрызаться, а то ну сколько же можно!
Очень радостно читать, что сетари приняли Касс, что у нее появились очень близкие друзья, которым она доверяет, на которых может положиться, которые ее ценят и за нее переживают. Эпичная снежная баталия была просто прекрасна!
Ну и конец, о-о-о!!!!..
Вот теперь я засну.))))
December 29, 2022
If I seemed a little wishy-washy on whether I liked this series after reading the first book, I am now fully of the OHMYGOSHIFUCKINGLOVETHISSERIES opinion.
This book is so well written, but I needed to adjust my perspective due to the epistolary narrative of journaling in a diary. At times, it felt like nothing was happening, but of course everything is happening—action, dull, romantic, and otherwise—it’s just all couched as "a review of the day." Once I wrapped my brain around that, I could then just enjoy the brilliant story.
With the romance, it helped if I thought of it as a slow burn type of thing as it was completely one-sided for most of the book. I give Cass credit for not pining away. Instead, she was trying to control her feelings in a mature and adult fashion. Which made the romantic payoff… Really. Really. Good.
Okay, jumping right into Book 3, Caszandra. Cheers, and bravo so far.
This book is so well written, but I needed to adjust my perspective due to the epistolary narrative of journaling in a diary. At times, it felt like nothing was happening, but of course everything is happening—action, dull, romantic, and otherwise—it’s just all couched as "a review of the day." Once I wrapped my brain around that, I could then just enjoy the brilliant story.
With the romance, it helped if I thought of it as a slow burn type of thing as it was completely one-sided for most of the book. I give Cass credit for not pining away. Instead, she was trying to control her feelings in a mature and adult fashion. Which made the romantic payoff… Really. Really. Good.
Okay, jumping right into Book 3, Caszandra. Cheers, and bravo so far.
November 30, 2013
This book was even better than the first one. I finished it and immediately purchased the third in the series.
I loved Cass's development throughout this book. I loved the insights into the Setari, and the gradually unfolding plot line, and more than anything, I really enjoyed the diary style writing. Cassandra is such a likeable protagonist, who just gets on with life despite the awful situations she finds herself in.
A particular highlight for me was the way she and simply gets on with doing her best to cope with life. It was a refreshing change from the way relationships are usually dealt with in YA books. Just a note here - this book really does move into the NA category. There's nothing graphic, but there is some more adult content.
I enjoyed the patches of humour in this book, as they provided moments of light relief in an otherwise serious book. The pacing was essentially perfect, and I was encouraged to read on at night when I really should have been sleeping, or writing myself!
There was plenty of action in this book, as Cass and the Setari cope with Ionoth, exploring a planet and fighting a Massive. We get to see Cass develop not only as a person, but some further skills of her own, and really become more of an active player in her own life. There are moments of poignancy when she is able to share some of her own life more vividly with her friends.
Another excellent read, and tonight I'll be dipping into Caszandra, because I just have to!
I loved Cass's development throughout this book. I loved the insights into the Setari, and the gradually unfolding plot line, and more than anything, I really enjoyed the diary style writing. Cassandra is such a likeable protagonist, who just gets on with life despite the awful situations she finds herself in.
A particular highlight for me was the way she and simply gets on with doing her best to cope with life. It was a refreshing change from the way relationships are usually dealt with in YA books. Just a note here - this book really does move into the NA category. There's nothing graphic, but there is some more adult content.
I enjoyed the patches of humour in this book, as they provided moments of light relief in an otherwise serious book. The pacing was essentially perfect, and I was encouraged to read on at night when I really should have been sleeping, or writing myself!
There was plenty of action in this book, as Cass and the Setari cope with Ionoth, exploring a planet and fighting a Massive. We get to see Cass develop not only as a person, but some further skills of her own, and really become more of an active player in her own life. There are moments of poignancy when she is able to share some of her own life more vividly with her friends.
Another excellent read, and tonight I'll be dipping into Caszandra, because I just have to!
December 3, 2023
As I read the second and third book back to back, it's kind of difficult for me to differentiate between all of the events. Therefore I decided to make it really easy for me and write a dual review for these two. If interested, you can read all about my thoughts on my book blog The Book Challengers HERE.
October 11, 2024
Good story! Enjoyed the "dreaming", especially that ceremony! Still too many characters to remember!
2020 re-read! I wanted to read about that ancient ceremony again! And the beginning relationship of Cass and Ruuel.
2024 reread! I really enjoy this series!
2020 re-read! I wanted to read about that ancient ceremony again! And the beginning relationship of Cass and Ruuel.
2024 reread! I really enjoy this series!
October 30, 2017
4.5/5
3rd re-read. Still just as good. It totally needs to be a Japanese TV series.
3rd re-read. Still just as good. It totally needs to be a Japanese TV series.
January 31, 2017
stream-of-consciousness review:
"Ok, the world and everything is starting to make a whole lot more sense now but wow there's a lot of romantic angsting and no, not a love triangle omg !!!!!!11!! LOVE LOVE LOVE what is happening how is it the end already?!"
"Ok, the world and everything is starting to make a whole lot more sense now but wow there's a lot of romantic angsting and no, not a love triangle omg !!!!!!11!! LOVE LOVE LOVE what is happening how is it the end already?!"
June 9, 2025
In the Touchstone series, Cass has been forcibly conscripted to an alien war because of her unheard of psychic augmenting ability. Most people I think would seriously consider returning back to earth by the 2nd book when your life has been put in risk several times at the benefit of the aliens. She is not a solider or a citizen but they treat her like lab rat, undergoing a battery of life threatening tests and she is fully cognizant of this. But given the opportunity to return home , and having actually expressing and experiencing the loneliness and shame of being thought of as just a tool, she doesnt go. She gives legitimate reason for staying, the aliens saving her life, but when you weigh that against them almost killing her several times integrating her into their neural network and saving their lives by boasting their psychic powers, the thought of fighting an endless war just for the adventure and gratitude feels to me a little false and naive.
I tried to give Cass the benefit of the doubt in the first book because really she doesn't know what they can do to her, but again when the offer to go home to SAFETY she remains. She doesn't even complain about what they are doing to her even she learns how valuable she is to them. Evidently the hardest line for her is cloning her , and she'll do what exactly? Cry in her shower and swim.
And wouldn't you know it the love interest from absolutely nowhere comes AT THE END of the book and suddenly she finally thinks maybe she should try to control her unbelievable power not to save herself (like we think she could have done from day one but noooo....let's let alien read my memory, control where I eat, train, fight endlessly with no actual defense) but the man she's been stalking, obsessing over because he treats her like the tool-object-lab rat that she is. Yes that makes perfect sense....not..
I read this knowing that Andrea K host's 2nd book in her series tend to be less than great for me. I've read Mediar series and the 2nd book was, less just say, horrendous with the whole lost all the tensionand all. Even having read the Darest series it's the same thing, the second book loses all the angst of the first book.
What has been also been glaringly consistent as well is the misuse of romance in the 2nd book in her series. It's like the female leads just cave in and become obsessed with a male character and you just didn't see in the first 200+ pages in books.
It isn't worth the disappointment reading the 2nd book when the 1st is sooooooooo good. Especially this book when I found myself skipping most of the chapters because it was a dry reiteration of the 1st with added love interest.
Not worth it.
Re-read 2025
I don't know why I gave this book 5 stars. I can barely stomach how much Cass obsesses over one guy and does very little to save herself except for cry, swim and do what she is told EVERY SINGLE TIME. I think what annoys me the most even when I was mentally prepared for the obsessive love interest is how much less of a character she becomes. Suddenly she has almost encyclopedic knowledge about everything but turns herself inside out for a love interest who actively ignores her. At least the author acknowledges that there might be some PTSD and trauma response but still just have her stay ignorant and powerless even if she is the most powerful player in this drama.
And please, please, please enough with the rehashing of the Cass's story- not only are we getting the review with that inane TV show later we get it again when she reads her diary to her love interest. Why author why? We are reading it already, do we really need two other reminders of the story.
Blegh. I'm flipping through pages just to get to the main story.
I tried to give Cass the benefit of the doubt in the first book because really she doesn't know what they can do to her, but again when the offer to go home to SAFETY she remains. She doesn't even complain about what they are doing to her even she learns how valuable she is to them. Evidently the hardest line for her is cloning her , and she'll do what exactly? Cry in her shower and swim.
And wouldn't you know it the love interest from absolutely nowhere comes AT THE END of the book and suddenly she finally thinks maybe she should try to control her unbelievable power not to save herself (like we think she could have done from day one but noooo....let's let alien read my memory, control where I eat, train, fight endlessly with no actual defense) but the man she's been stalking, obsessing over because he treats her like the tool-object-lab rat that she is. Yes that makes perfect sense....not..
I read this knowing that Andrea K host's 2nd book in her series tend to be less than great for me. I've read Mediar series and the 2nd book was, less just say, horrendous with the whole lost all the tensionand all. Even having read the Darest series it's the same thing, the second book loses all the angst of the first book.
What has been also been glaringly consistent as well is the misuse of romance in the 2nd book in her series. It's like the female leads just cave in and become obsessed with a male character and you just didn't see in the first 200+ pages in books.
It isn't worth the disappointment reading the 2nd book when the 1st is sooooooooo good. Especially this book when I found myself skipping most of the chapters because it was a dry reiteration of the 1st with added love interest.
Not worth it.
Re-read 2025
I don't know why I gave this book 5 stars. I can barely stomach how much Cass obsesses over one guy and does very little to save herself except for cry, swim and do what she is told EVERY SINGLE TIME. I think what annoys me the most even when I was mentally prepared for the obsessive love interest is how much less of a character she becomes. Suddenly she has almost encyclopedic knowledge about everything but turns herself inside out for a love interest who actively ignores her. At least the author acknowledges that there might be some PTSD and trauma response but still just have her stay ignorant and powerless even if she is the most powerful player in this drama.
And please, please, please enough with the rehashing of the Cass's story- not only are we getting the review with that inane TV show later we get it again when she reads her diary to her love interest. Why author why? We are reading it already, do we really need two other reminders of the story.
Blegh. I'm flipping through pages just to get to the main story.
October 16, 2012
Copied from my blog (this content is also in my review for Caszandra):
Life being what it is, I just haven’t managed to write up any kind of review for either Lab Rat One or Caszandra, the second and third books in Andrea K. Höst’s Touchstone trilogy. Today, I added comments to my Goodreads entry for the epilogue to this trilogy, so I thought I’d better say something here before posting that.
The bottom line is that I really loved this trilogy. It’s quick and pacey and has an engaging protagonist in Cass. I love a science fiction mystery, and there’s a lot of that in these books, which made me very happy. It’s also a good coming-of-age story that manages to touch on a bit of teenage angst (and every teenager has some) without dwelling on it. Instead, Cass is both realistic and at times self-deprecating and I really liked her for both those things.
I had been planning to read these two books alternating between the Liaden series, reading one of one, then one of the other and so on. Instead, I read straight through, buying Caszandra as soon as I finished Lab Rat One (or possibly a bit before) and then the Gratuitous Epilogue as soon as (or before) I finished Caszandra. I had to keep going and I had to know how it ended. Also, what happened after it ended.
This is really one story cut into three books, which means that there is next to no recap on previous volumes when you get to the next one. That’s fine if you’ve got a good memory, but I don’t, so if you’re like me, I recommend having all three books (and the epilogue) ready and waiting and keeping right on reading.
There are a few formatting errors in these self-published books, but they are very few and don’t interfere with the story. I am most impressed with Andrea K. Höst and I am sure I’ll be reading more of her books. In fact, I bought her latest, And All the Stars, on release day and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I hope that gives you a good idea of how much I really enjoyed these books and highly recommend the series. The first one is Stray and you need to begin there.
Life being what it is, I just haven’t managed to write up any kind of review for either Lab Rat One or Caszandra, the second and third books in Andrea K. Höst’s Touchstone trilogy. Today, I added comments to my Goodreads entry for the epilogue to this trilogy, so I thought I’d better say something here before posting that.
The bottom line is that I really loved this trilogy. It’s quick and pacey and has an engaging protagonist in Cass. I love a science fiction mystery, and there’s a lot of that in these books, which made me very happy. It’s also a good coming-of-age story that manages to touch on a bit of teenage angst (and every teenager has some) without dwelling on it. Instead, Cass is both realistic and at times self-deprecating and I really liked her for both those things.
I had been planning to read these two books alternating between the Liaden series, reading one of one, then one of the other and so on. Instead, I read straight through, buying Caszandra as soon as I finished Lab Rat One (or possibly a bit before) and then the Gratuitous Epilogue as soon as (or before) I finished Caszandra. I had to keep going and I had to know how it ended. Also, what happened after it ended.
This is really one story cut into three books, which means that there is next to no recap on previous volumes when you get to the next one. That’s fine if you’ve got a good memory, but I don’t, so if you’re like me, I recommend having all three books (and the epilogue) ready and waiting and keeping right on reading.
There are a few formatting errors in these self-published books, but they are very few and don’t interfere with the story. I am most impressed with Andrea K. Höst and I am sure I’ll be reading more of her books. In fact, I bought her latest, And All the Stars, on release day and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I hope that gives you a good idea of how much I really enjoyed these books and highly recommend the series. The first one is Stray and you need to begin there.
February 29, 2012
Like any good sequel, Lab Rat One raises the stakes from the first book, deepens the characters but continues to deliver solid worldbuilding, exciting action and fully-realized characters. This is definitely a series that does not suffer from ‘saggy middle’. Cassandra begins to develop powers of her own, in a slow and painful kind of way. Her relationships also deepen.
She also must deal with unwanted fame and the unending surveillance of the Tare State. Still a virtual prisoner, Cassandra tries to adapt to the world she is increasingly thinking of as her new home.
What I liked:
The main characters are well realized. The action is good with vivid battle scenes and inventive use of the Setari’s psychic powers. Cassandra is easy to sympathize with, the first person POV is immersive. The story pulls you along. The stakes are high and you do want the ‘good guys’ to win.
Cassandra’s new-found power and her struggle to learn how to use it is handled well. She does not suddenly gain great power and skillful mastery of it. She is not an action hero, more like a regular girl who becomes important.
The short story chunks of each diary entry keep the story moving. The worldbuilding is very good, showing a sci-fi world that feels more contemporary than futuristic. The technology’s impact on this culture is very clearly depicted.
The relationship evolution between characters is handled fairly well. There isn’t any sudden, grand passion that sweeps the main character off her feet. Though I did wonder from time to time if Cassandra was falling for the object of her desire or if their respective powers were pulling them together, though that thought only occurred to me after I’d finished the series.
What I didn’t like:
Cassandra remains far too passive as character. She is slow to speak up for herself, something even the characters in the novel comment on. (The author’s subconscious speaking to her and us?) Things mostly happen to her, she rarely makes things happen. She also seems to spend half the book in the hospital, which sort of makes the ‘Lab Rat One’ reference make sense, though strictly speaking that was more appropriate in the first book, Stray.
The society remains problematic for me. This may well be realistic, when everyone is interconnected via implants and computers, universal surveillance is a wonderful gift to any government. To the author’s credit, one of the major plot points shows how this can be abused. But there are no consequences to it. The author raises the point but doesn’t follow it through. Cassandra is a virtual and literal prisoner for the entire book. First because she is helpless then later because she is valuable. She belongs to the State, not to herself. I could go on at length but I'll stop there.
There is also a LOT of Cassandra longing for Kaoren Ruuel. I’ll buy that it’s realistic and might ring true to teenaged girls. But I’m not a teenaged girl, I found it a little tiresome, though I know what it’s like to long for someone.
I whole-heartedly recommend this book. It is an excellent example of a sequel done right (though I suspect the whole trilogy was written as one, large work). Good characters, great conflict, cool powers and a well-thought out setting.
May 18, 2012
Again, I'm just so conflicted about how to rate or review this series. On the one hand... It's sort of boring.
No, wait, that's not quite right.
The story is interesting and clever and quite a mystery. Yet, again, I hate that it's written as a diary because it lacks fire and emotion and a sense that characters are fragile and something bad can happen to them. You always know everything is basically going to be okay because if anything truly bad had happened, the main character wouldn't be able to write an account of it anymore. Major battle scenes have the same generic tone as the everyday.
It also felt very repetitive with lots of the main character having small mini adventures, then passing out or falling asleep and then having tests done on her. Although it supported the story title somewhat, a lot of that could have probably been cut out entirely.
Speaking of the title, it had a much more ominous tone than what was actual, leaving me waiting for horrible mind altering things to happen which never occurred. The first one in the series should have been called Lab Rat One and the second should have been Touchstone.
BUT! (Here is that but again.)
I liked it. I really did, and I can't wait to read the next one. It felt like a bad Syfy series on a rainy Sunday. It's easy and comforting and low key while juuuust keeping your interest at a level that makes you want more. I've already started the next one, regardless of the issues and I'm not sorry I own it. Soooo, yeah. 3.5 stars for me.
No, wait, that's not quite right.
The story is interesting and clever and quite a mystery. Yet, again, I hate that it's written as a diary because it lacks fire and emotion and a sense that characters are fragile and something bad can happen to them. You always know everything is basically going to be okay because if anything truly bad had happened, the main character wouldn't be able to write an account of it anymore. Major battle scenes have the same generic tone as the everyday.
It also felt very repetitive with lots of the main character having small mini adventures, then passing out or falling asleep and then having tests done on her. Although it supported the story title somewhat, a lot of that could have probably been cut out entirely.
Speaking of the title, it had a much more ominous tone than what was actual, leaving me waiting for horrible mind altering things to happen which never occurred. The first one in the series should have been called Lab Rat One and the second should have been Touchstone.
BUT! (Here is that but again.)
I liked it. I really did, and I can't wait to read the next one. It felt like a bad Syfy series on a rainy Sunday. It's easy and comforting and low key while juuuust keeping your interest at a level that makes you want more. I've already started the next one, regardless of the issues and I'm not sorry I own it. Soooo, yeah. 3.5 stars for me.
April 2, 2016
4.5 stars (because vindication)
Cassandra is still a lab rat, still living with the Setari but now she gets to explore Muina, their home planet.
As much as I liked the first book, I liked the second even better, because Cassandra is not so passive here and actually takes part in the action and gets in trouble. She is a more active participant in the exploration of this new planet and discovers that she has a psychic power of her own!
I loved the new planet, and Cassandra’s part in it. She gets more comfortable with her position, with who she is and the people around her. She is a Touchstone after all.
Loved her humour:
“I was already too aware of how little I knew, and particularly worried about mixing up what was history, what was mythology, and what were things I’d seen on Stargate.”
“Not just a useful stray: I’m a multi-purpose stray. I enhance, hear LOUD noises, act as a key to lost civilisations, and see blurry!”
The huge crash of hers becomes a humongous crash and there is some angst in her diary entries. But, I admired her levelheadedness and acceptance of her one-sided attraction. Her crash became my crash as well (cold as a fish though he is)! And, let’s just say that I absolutely loved the ending of this book!
Review of Stray
Review of Caszandra
Cassandra is still a lab rat, still living with the Setari but now she gets to explore Muina, their home planet.
As much as I liked the first book, I liked the second even better, because Cassandra is not so passive here and actually takes part in the action and gets in trouble. She is a more active participant in the exploration of this new planet and discovers that she has a psychic power of her own!
I loved the new planet, and Cassandra’s part in it. She gets more comfortable with her position, with who she is and the people around her. She is a Touchstone after all.
Loved her humour:
“I was already too aware of how little I knew, and particularly worried about mixing up what was history, what was mythology, and what were things I’d seen on Stargate.”
“Not just a useful stray: I’m a multi-purpose stray. I enhance, hear LOUD noises, act as a key to lost civilisations, and see blurry!”
The huge crash of hers becomes a humongous crash and there is some angst in her diary entries. But, I admired her levelheadedness and acceptance of her one-sided attraction. Her crash became my crash as well (cold as a fish though he is)! And, let’s just say that I absolutely loved the ending of this book!
Review of Stray
Review of Caszandra
September 25, 2011
In this sequel to “Stray,” Höst continues the Touchstone series with Cassandra having become a sort of honorary member of the Setari – the group of psychic talents who fight the Ionoth in the Ena – due to her enhancing abilities. However, she has also assisted in re-opening Muina, the planet on which she had found herself way back at the beginning, to allow Tarens back onto the planet. It seems she has a whole range of talents and abilities that are extremely rare and all planets that started out with refugees from Muina wants her to come live with them. She is drawn to Ruuel, however, the captain of Fourth Squad, and also feels obligated to the Tarens for saving her, so she chooses to stay and help them. Will she be able to survive and learn to control her talents?
Many “bridging” novels in trilogies end up bogged down – not this one! It moves at a good pace and continues building on the characters met before, as well as introducing us to new one. I am incredibly impressed with this series and am looking forward to the third book in the series, which Andrea K Höst has told me is tentatively scheduled for release as early as November, 2011. If you haven’t read “Stray” and “Lab Rat One” yet, be sure to do so as quickly as possible, and then watch for “Caszandra” and get it as soon as it comes out. You will not be disappointed!
Many “bridging” novels in trilogies end up bogged down – not this one! It moves at a good pace and continues building on the characters met before, as well as introducing us to new one. I am incredibly impressed with this series and am looking forward to the third book in the series, which Andrea K Höst has told me is tentatively scheduled for release as early as November, 2011. If you haven’t read “Stray” and “Lab Rat One” yet, be sure to do so as quickly as possible, and then watch for “Caszandra” and get it as soon as it comes out. You will not be disappointed!
October 30, 2011
Congratulations Ms Host!
Most middle-books-in-a-trilogy seem to be the low point of the story. Book one is shiny and new, book three has a climactic conclusion to the tale, but book two just sits in the middle trying to keep everything going. Not so with Lab Rat One. The interesting twists keep coming, and we delve deeper into the world of the Muinans and their history.
There's more boy-watching in this book than the first, but it's still not *romance*. In fact, the object of the protagonist's crush is quite likely unavailable, and she spends a lot of time wishing she could suppress those feelings because they make her feel more vulnerable in a situation where she doesn't have a lot of control to start with. Quite reasonable. Also, based on my experience of the author so far, I'm assuming that by the end of the series there will turn out to be a very good, external (likely psychic) reason for this fascination to be occurring.
Thanks for another great read!
Most middle-books-in-a-trilogy seem to be the low point of the story. Book one is shiny and new, book three has a climactic conclusion to the tale, but book two just sits in the middle trying to keep everything going. Not so with Lab Rat One. The interesting twists keep coming, and we delve deeper into the world of the Muinans and their history.
There's more boy-watching in this book than the first, but it's still not *romance*. In fact, the object of the protagonist's crush is quite likely unavailable, and she spends a lot of time wishing she could suppress those feelings because they make her feel more vulnerable in a situation where she doesn't have a lot of control to start with. Quite reasonable. Also, based on my experience of the author so far, I'm assuming that by the end of the series there will turn out to be a very good, external (likely psychic) reason for this fascination to be occurring.
Thanks for another great read!
March 19, 2017
Cass’s voice remains as engaging as ever, and this Touchstone installment takes the story in some really surprising directions. It continues to be such fun to watch Cass as she learns more about what she can do.
I felt as totally engrossed in the story as I was in the first read and went straight on to Caszandra .
I felt as totally engrossed in the story as I was in the first read and went straight on to Caszandra .
May 13, 2015
!!! Really pretty stoked after that ending. Very happy with this second installment in the series. Not at all the let down of most YA trilogy book twos. The plot advanced in major ways, the romance (or longing for thereof) was about as non angsty as you could hope for, and the heroine remains pretty thoughtful and awesome. Excited to finish it up!
March 1, 2013
Hahaha - I KNEW it.
And I bet those who have read this know exactly what I mean.
Must go and start Caszandra now, more later.
And I bet those who have read this know exactly what I mean.
Must go and start Caszandra now, more later.
August 27, 2015
Read my review of the trilogy here. (I must have re-read the ending of this book five or six times. Woohoo!)
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