Contagion

Dark Matter #1

by Teri Terry

The first book in the spine-tingling Dark Matter trilogy about the frightening effects of a biological experiment gone wrong.

An epidemic is sweeping the country. It spreads fast, mercilessly. Everyone will be infected. . . . It is only a matter of time. You are now under quarantine.

Young teen Callie might have been one of the first to survive the disease, but unfortunately she didn't survive the so-called treatment. She was kidnapped and experimented upon at a secret lab, one that works with antimatter. When she breaks free of her prison, she unleashes a wave of destruction. Meanwhile her older brother Kai is looking for her, along with his smart new friend Shay, who was the last to see Callie alive.

Amid the chaos of the spreading epidemic, the teens must find the source of disease. Could Callie have been part of an experiment in biological warfare? Who is behind the research? And more importantly, is there a cure?

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2017

About the author

Teri has lived in France, Canada, Australia and England at more addresses than she can count, acquiring three degrees, a selection of passports and a silly name along the way. Past careers have included scientist, lawyer, optometrist, and, in England, various jobs in schools, libraries and an audiobook charity. The footpaths and canal ways of the Buckinghamshire Chilterns where she now lives inspired much of the setting of Slated. She hates broccoli, likes cats, and has finally worked out what she wants to do when she grows up.

Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/TeriTerryAuthor
Notes from the Slushpile: group blog on writing for children http://notesfromtheslushpile.blogspot...

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Reviews

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25* Contagion is a fast paced, unpredictable and gripping read. It's unlike anything I've read in a while and totally unexpected and surprising in the best way. I couldn't put it down. I loved the structure of the super short chapters and the way the dual perspectives flowed from one to the other. I found myself warming to the characters and loved the different and intriguing sides to each of them. The only thing I didn't enjoy it the fact that I will now have a long wait for the next book, I need to know what happens next!

[Anne Goldschrift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Och nö, das Buch ist gar kein Einzelband?? Mega nervig 🙄

Alles in allem bin ich nicht sehr begeistert. Ich fand die Geschichte einfach viel zu schräg. Der Klappentext ließ nicht ansatzweise erahnen, dass es um Geister und Gedankenlesen gehen würde. Sowas ist einfach nicht mein Fall. Und auch der Verlauf war soooo vorhersehbar. Schon nach wenigen Seiten weiß man wie und warum sich die Epidemie verbreitet, auch wer Dr. 1 ist, ist denke ich ziemlich offensichtlich und die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Shay und Kai ging mir nicht nur zu plötzlich sondern ist auch extrem oberflächlich.
Deshalb nur 2,5 - 3 Sterne von mir.

[˙⋆✮ Anny ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This didn't go the way I expected it to, but I loved it nevertheless! Contagion is an interesting, at times weird book (but not in a bad way) with many interesting themes that I definitely enjoyed! 4 stars and recommended!

First of all, as a little fun fact, this takes place in Scotland (yay, finally a ya book not set in the US). During summer vacation two years ago I went to Scotland with my parents and we've actually been to many places mentioned in the book - and I'm not talking cities like Edinburgh here, I'm talking small villages like Killin, the hometown of the main character. I have seen the bridge through town and the lake that were mentioned several times, and it was great because while reading the book, I could picture everything and it felt like I was actually there with the characters.


(Welcome to Killin, population 700-something)

The story is told from two POVs. We have Shay, our female MC who one day comes across this flyer about a girl who went missing a year ago, and she remembers seeing that girl on the day she disappeared. The second POV is Callie's, who is actually the missing girl. We get to know piece by piece what happened to Callie and also what Shay and Kai, Callie's brother, do to find out what happened to her.

Shay was an ok MC, she's neither extremely likeable nor dumb. One thing that stands out about her is her photographic memory which was pretty cool though.
I liked reading from Callie's perspective, even though she's an annoying little girl at times. But (without giving away any spoilers) her perspective was different and it was interesting to read.
Kai, Callie's older brother and the male MC in this book, wasn't particularly interesting imo, but he was likeable enough and had some good qualities. There were also some interesting side characters (the most interesting one, at least imo, had to die of course *sighs*). There was no insta-love and no love triangle, but still the book could've been done without the romance I guess. But since this wasn't a major aspect in the book it was okay.

So whereas the characters weren't outstanding, the plot was great! The pacing was steady, it was a good mix between action scenes and calmer moments. What I would've never expected from the synopsis were themes like telepathy, ghosts (yet after having finished the book I'm not so sure about that) and special powers, but I was positively surprised with these! It made for a great mix of science fiction and supernatural stuff. The sci-fi (or I should rather say post apocalyptic, since I'm very picky about the differences) aspect was awsome, it centered around this plague and what happens to humanity after it breaks out. The setting was very grim and post apocalyptic indeed and it was exactly my kind of thing. But towards the end there was also actual science in this book! I could've guessed it since the trilogie's title is 'Dark Matter', but it was so well done and came as a surprise and I loved it! :)

Sometimes there were some lenghts in the plot - it was never boring, but the whole middle part could've been told in less pages. But that's a minor complaint and didn't stop me from enjoying the book. The twist in the end was a nice one and made me very curious for the sequel (and the awful cliffhanger too of course).

Contagion was a great book with many surprise aspects and many themes I love, and I will definitely be reading the sequel! Recommended for sure!

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Donna at Charlesbridge Teen for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

"There is pain, like no other pain before. It sears not just flesh but every through and feeling from my mind... Am I dead? I must be. Right?

Now that I think of it... I probably shouldn't have read this book about a deadly pandemic in the midst of a deadly pandemic... oh, well. It's too late now and I am shooketh.

So, what's this book about?
Young teen Callie might have been one of the first to survive the disease, but unfortunately she didn't survive the so-called treatment. She was kidnapped and experimented upon at a secret lab, one that works with antimatter. When she breaks free of her prison, she unleashes a wave of destruction. Meanwhile her older brother Kai is looking for her, along with his smart new friend Shay, who was the last to see Callie alive.

Amid the chaos of the spreading epidemic, the teens must find the source of disease. Could Callie have been part of an experiment in biological warfare? Who is behind the research? And more importantly, is there a cure?

This book was perfect in that it perfectly encapsulated that feeling of unsettling dread that most apocalyptic science fiction novels do which I loved.

Unfortunately, like most apocalyptic science fiction novels, there was a romance subplot. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE romance but when it's combined with science fiction specifically, I am not a fan. I really only want to hear about all the science and spooky stuff and the romance is usually overpowering and/or not well written. The romance between Kai and Shay wasn't horrible but I think the book could have done fine without it.

As far as the science fiction goes, this book did amazing. It was sciency and very very spooky. Pandemics and diseases are one of my favorite types of science fiction!

I think my favorite part of this book was Callie. She reminded me a lot of the Enchanted Girl from Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

I was going to say "you know except less evil" but um... Callie is a very morally grey character. Her motives aren't 100% clear yet and I'm super excited to see where her character goes.

Overall, this book spooky, fascinating and I can't wait to continue in this series!

Bottom Line:
4 stars
Age Rating - [ PG-13 ]
Content Screening (Mild Spoilers)
Positive Messages (2/5) - [Sacrifice for the greater good]
Violence (4.5/5) - [Gore, Death, Guns, Fights]
Sex (1/5) - [Kissing]
Language (1/5) - [Mild language]
Drinking/Drugs (2/5) - [Medicinal drugs, Alcohol consumption]
Trigger and Content Warning - Disease, Loss of a loved one, Body horror, Pain, Injury, Death
Publication Date: July 9th, 2019
Publisher: Charlesbridge Teen
Genre: Science Fiction

------------------

Really enjoyed this one! Review to come

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[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to Hachette Children's Group and NetGalley.)

“They say I’m sick, and I need to be cured. But I don’t feel sick. Not any more.”

This was a YA sci-fi story about a mysterious killer flu epidemic.

Shay was an okay character, and I liked Kai too. Callie was also an interesting character, and it was bad what she had gone through, I understood her frustration when she wasn’t able to communicate with anyone too.

The storyline in this was about Shay remembering seeing a girl who had gone missing a year ago (Callie) and contacting her brother Kai with the information. We then got a storyline about a disease known as ‘Aberdeen Flu’ spreading across Scotland and then the UK and causing masses of deaths. Parts of Scotland were under quarantine, and Shay and Kai were caught up in it, trying to help those dying, and trying to work out the source of the disease. The pace in this was pretty slow though, and the second half seemed to drag quite badly.

The ending to this was a cliff-hanger.



6.25 out of 10

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Words: Family, secrets, lies, betrayal, hope.

I actually read Contagion during #SundayYAthon, and it stood out as the best of a great bunch of books.

I found that I was a little confused as the story started, but this is completely understandable when you discover more about Callie. This is a sci-fi/dystopia that I had to suspend disbelief for a little, but I ended up completely lost in the story and the characters,

This book had me feeling a roller-coaster of emotions - from fear to happiness to anger to love, and everything in between. It was quite an exhilarating read and a bit of a tour of the North of Britain, and it was nice to see some familiar places described.

Teri Terry's female characters are some of my favourite ever. They always push themselves and are so inspiring to read. And they always make me want to run (I can't run).

Part of me wishes that I hadn't read this until nearer the publication of book two, because THAT ENDING. I read 95% of this book in one sitting, then I put it down and read something else for two days because I didn't want it to end. Because I knew from the author's previous books that there would be a huge cliffhanger.

[☾⋆charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Igaf about shay or callie but kai???
He owns a bike😱😱 and he's rlly handsome too😃

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need this book so bad that I can't even put it into words.

[rachel, x · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.50 ★

Contagion was a fast-paced, somewhat entertaining dystopian read that failed to capture me. I had heard only amazing things about Terry’s debut trilogy so I had high expectations for her latest series. The story did start off on the right foot but my disconnection with the characters made the story’s pace slow down considerably. The plot never had the sense of urgency it needed and the characters were either underdeveloped or not particularly likeable.

My biggest problem with Contagion was the writing that was completely unemotive. I felt disconnected from the story because I felt nothing toward the characters or their relationships. Terry had the opportunity to write a gritty, compelling story about a scarily plausible apocalyptic situation but she didn’t manage to capture that sense of urgency. There were a lot of things happening in this book and a lot of those things were dark and gruesome. I wanted to fear for the safety of the characters. I wanted to be disgusted by the scientists’ actions and the government’s shifty, self-serving policies. I wanted to be sickened by the very idea that something so horrific could happen in modern-day Europe but Terry failed to hit that mark. It really took me out of the story.

Also, the character’s reactions to the events were so… toned down? I never felt that Shay’s grief was genuine and Kai’s reaction to his sister’s “altered state” was underplayed. They witnessed so much death and destruction at such a tender age. It would have been traumatic! Yet, we never explored that.

As I said, the characters were dull. Shay was dull. She had… no personality. She claimed to like science but her knowledge of it, particularly her fascination with physics, seemed rudimentary at best. She only talked about facts that are common knowledge. Schrödinger's cat paradox is pretty well-known. Hell, if you’d only watched Big Bang Theory you’d be familiar with it! Maybe the science of the epidemic was simplified for a broader audience to enjoy.

Callie was not much better. She had the glorified role of playing Shay’s walking, talking pair of binoculars. That said, Callie did have a bit more oomph to her. She was more transparent and emotional. I didn’t quite connect with her as I wanted. Kai was definitely my favourite character. He had the most realistic approach to the situation and seemed genuinely sweet and good-natured. His relationship with Shay was out of the blue though. They had no time to connect before they were thrown together and I just did not ship it. It was underdeveloped and for some reason, the age gap - even though it’s literally just two years - bothered me.

The plot had its moment. I wanted to know more about the epidemic, especially how Shay and Kai were going to survive it. It felt rushed and tropey for its majority. The beginning set the tone for an entirely different book. I (probably) would have preferred if it had been a straight-out thriller, rather than a sci-fi/apocalyptic story. From here, the rushed relationship between Shay and Kai pulled the story in weird directions. I never felt truly on board. I enjoyed Callie’s storyline pin the end. However, there were too many loose ends and unanswered questions. I wanted something more logical and clear-cut. Terry tried to set herself apart from the dystopian game by introducing some odd, unique elements but she definitely lost me.

Overall? It was an okay read that fell a little flat. Maybe my expectations were too high but I never connected to the story or the characters. The pacing felt off and my disinterest in the narrating characters cost me my enjoyment of the story as a whole. I liked that Terry attempted to do something different but the little errors all added up in the end. I just did not click with Contagion.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book through the Teen Advisory Council at Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

When I first read the back cover for Teri Terry's Contagion, I was drawn in by the appeal of an apocalyptic end-of-days brought about by disease, with a smattering of paranormal in ghosts and speaking to the dead. In fact, I was greatly reminded of Stung, one of my favorite post-apocalyptic stories, which theorizes that the declining bee population would be the end of us all and carried similar themes of lost siblings and scientific discoveries ultimately lying at the root of it.

I expected a thrilling ride through Scotland as a boy, his dead sister, and his new friend tried to track down the epicenter of the disease killing thousands by the day-- and the doctor at fault, the very doctor responsible for his sister's death. I expected adventure with plucky, survivalist protagonists, including a thirteen-year-old ghost who would surely be the source of inside information, as well as the occasional reminder that they are children.

Instead, I received a blandly-told, stereotypical apocalypse story that regretfully fails to truly excite at any turn. But let's get into the particulars, shall we?

-The Characters: Contagion is narrated through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Sharona "Shay" McCalister and ghostly thirteen-year-old Calista "Callie" Tanzer, with Callie's older brother Kai playing what one could call major role. Having recently watched Netflix's adaptation of "The Umbrella Academy", I suspected Callie's character in particular to go one of two ways:
1. She could've been angsty, brooding, and vengeful, bitter about her life cut short.
2. She could've been over it swiftly, especially after realizing the stakes of the virus, coping with her obvious trauma by making light of the situation (fellow fans of "The Umbrella Academy" will recognize this as Ben's feelings on his death, though he's had many more years to get over it).
This, I suspect, was Teri Terry's reaction when faced with this character choice:

Immediately after her death (and, fear not, this is hardly a spoiler. It's emblazoned on the back and happens within chapters), Callie is surprisingly okay with it all. She figures out her newfound ghostly powers in moments and even has a little fun with them, before abruptly turning around and gleefully watching people painfully die of the same disease she suffered from before her death (despite most of them being completely uninvolved with her death).
She goes through several more of these unspurred, almost random emotional shifts throughout the book and, even in chapter she narrates, there's no insight as to what caused them. If this was the only issue, I'd be apt to say that it's simply Terry attempting to write a victim of trauma and not doing enough research, but...
Shay. I've seen complaints of this in other reviews, and I totally agree, in which it was a tad difficult to tell whether Shay was a boy or a girl until several chapters in. I'd like to chalk that up to the fact that Shay is introduced in the middle of getting bullied, a scene very reminiscent of the stereotypical 80s movies where "big dumb jock bullies small meek nerd for a really inane reason", which I'm sure you've seen a hundred times (in this particular case, the "inane reason" is the fact that Shay's name is Sharona, as in "My Sharona, which-- really? That's the best reason you could come up with? I've seen about three people suggest that if Shay had really been a boy, it would've made more sense and a better story, and I honestly think I agree). It was obviously an attempt to make Shay a more sympathetic character, as everyone's been incessantly mocked and almost sexually assaulted by their peers for having a name from a song that virtually nobody in their generation knows, right?
From there, Shay proceeds to morph into your classic "loner nerd girl with bizarre interests who just moved to a no-name town and doesn't to be here at all". She doesn't fit in, she hides in the woods (which: mood), and she doesn't seem to have any friends. Until she suddenly does. Iona, an aspiring journalist (and much more compelling character) who proceeds to lend Shay her phone and then it's later revealed that Shay edits her conspiracy theories?
If Callie had inconsistent emotions (which, I realize now, isn't necessarily true: she was consistently whiny and jealous of Shay being even the slightest bit close to her brother, which grew to be quite tiring after the fiftieth chapter), then Shay had inconsistent relationships.
She develops lifelong friends out of nowhere after being a "loner", her bully turns out to have been in love with her the whole time (What year is this? We're not in first grade anymore, we don't tell girls that the boys who pick on them like them. We tell girls that boys who pick on them are dicks and shouldn't be talked to.), and her relationship with Kai... well, I'll just get into that later.
Now, for Kai. Kai is another painful stereotype. Brooding bad boy on a motorcycle who's stand-offish and harsh, but once you warm his heart in literally a day, he because fiercely protective (to the point of "swoon-worthy" bursts of anger and "loving" misogyny). He doesn't really have much of a personality beyond wanting to find out what happened to Callie, though apparently he finds time to shift that to "protect this random girl who saw her a year ago and never told anyway".
Ever read Divergent? He's basically Four.

-The Writing: The back of the book really should've been my first warning, but I'm fairly certain that Teri Terry never learned how to write complex sentences. Or empathetically. Or emotions. Or at all.
The entirety of the book felt like a flashback to fifth grade and reading scintillating dialogue that all looks like this:

"I want to apologize," he says.
"What for?"
He shakes his head, as if the words aren't there. But I wait, saying nothing.
"For losing control," he says finally. "Both of my temper and..." And he shrugs, doesn't finish the sentence.
"While I appreciate you punching that loser, once was probably enough."
"I know. While I am here, calm, I know this." He frowns. "But somehow, inside, I was confusing you and my sister; what happened to her, and today."
"I'm not a child, you know. I can take care of myself."
"Sure you can'" He grins, a trace of a twinkly in his eyes. (page 82)

That's... the whole book is like that. (And please note that I changed none of the punctuation or anything. That is a direct quote, which made it through an entire editing process without anyone suggesting more tonal variety, or, I don't know pointing out the blatant punctuation mistake.
Also, how romantic. Comparing the girl you're "falling in love with" (please keep in mind, it's been maybe one day) to your missing and dead thirteen-year-old sister. Way to woo a gal, Tanzer. (And that's not even including the fact that Shay is later revealed to be his half-sister's half-sister-- aka, the oldest daughter of his stepfather, Callie's dad.).
Squick you out a bit? Yeah, me too.
Seeing as I'm this train of thought, however, I might as well go ahead and jump into that.

-Kai and Shay's Relationship: Aside from the pseudo-incestuous implications of comparing your girlfriend to your sister, Kai and Shay never really had the chance to really develop the kind of relationship they're "supposed" to have. I've already pointed out Shay's utter inability to have a sensical relationships with another character, and with Kai, it's that much clearer.
They meet to figure out what happened to Callie, and by the next day, he's prepared to kill someone for her, and next thing you know, he's crossing the country to check on her when she doesn't pick up the phone.

This is starting to drag on, so I'll make one more point and be done with my whining, yeah?

-The Plot: Let me start this section off by saying there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a predictable plot? A good, well-written story is able to be predicted, because the author takes the time to drop the readers little hints about what might be happening and clue them in. That would be called foreshadowing and... Contagion has none of that. The plot began and I'd already been able to guess that Callie was the carrier. And then on the exact opposite end of the spectrum, there were "twists", like the one I mentioned before, that were completely unfounded and wholly for shock value (or to set up another book, though the chances of me reading the next is absolutely zilch, which is what "twists" like that are supposed to do. The twist Terry was attempting to accomplish could've been an interesting way to work a book two, especially if my assumption that Dr. 1 is Callie and Shay's father is correct, as that would open a route to explain why both Callie and Shay were able to survive. But, as I said, the book totally failed to get me invested enough to read a second book, so... Guess I"ll never find out).
It's with that kind of plot behavior that the readers were never given and opportunity to piece together the ending themselves, which is arguably one of the best parts of reading a book (Who doesn't love to try and figure out what's going to happen, crackheaded theories or not?).
The ending is meant to be a cliffhanger, but it completely lacks the stakes, suspense, or character empathy or investment to make it any bit of interesting or excitable, and the "reveal" of how the disease works is rooted in two throwaway lines from the very beginning that had absolutely nothing to do with each other and by this, I'm saying that there was never any way to indicate that what Callie had seen was a particle accelerator, nor any sort of hint about auras or anti-matter or LITERALLY ANYTHING that was thrown in with the last five pages to make the idea seem "original".
All-in-all, this book had promise in concept. I am here for a paranormal apocalypse, but I think this book ultimately needed to be written with better sense of characters, personality, and emotion, as that's where it really fell flat. People are more apt to excuse gaping plot holes when the characters are lovable and empathetic, but this book just... completely lacked anything to make you feel for them. Callie was inconsistent and whiny and Shay and Kai were stereotypical and utterly one-dimensional.
And honestly? Diversity. You'd be surprised how much better this book could've been with some well-written diversity, and I'm not just talking racially or sexually. I'm talking diversity in character voice or view, because I swear there were some times where I just couldn't tell if the chapter was supposed to be from Shay or Callie's point of view.

Step one to improving for your next book, Teri Terry? Write with feeling. That'll solve half your problems.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Contagion from Hachette New Zealand to review. I’ve read a few of Terry’s books so I was really excited to read her new book.

The start of this was unexpected. I know the tag line was something like ‘not everything can be cured’ but I didn’t think it would be so obvious at the beginning of the book. I can’t say too much without giving things away. This might be a difficult book to review because I don’t want to spoil things…

There was one thing I thought was really obvious from the start of the story. That was the cause of this virus or whatever it is and why it was spreading so fast. Well, not why it was spreading so fast because I don’t even know what the virus is or how it happened. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be to talk about. It was obvious to me who patient zero was. Yes, that’s what I was trying to say. But of course no one else could figure it out. You’ll understand if you’ve read the book. What I don’t understand why how Shay and Kai were so oblivious to the path the virus was taking. I understand how they wouldn’t have figured out the cause.

I liked Shay and Kai. Some things they did annoyed me but I can’t say what those things were because spoilers. I did think they “fell in love” kind of fast but then I don’t do the whole love at first sight thing so…

I wasn’t really sure what to think of Callie. I felt bad for what had happened to her but I also thought her decision at the end of the book and what she did was really selfish. I don’t know how many people had already died in Contagion and now even more may die. Well, more people probably will die. I can understand her motivations but there’s only a small chance she’ll even find the person she’s looking for. So, really selfish decision.

I really enjoyed Contagion and all the mystery in it. I still have some questions about the virus that I’m hoping will be answered in the next book which I can’t wait to read.

I’d definitely recommend Contagion if you like mystery, diseases and lots of death. Oh and cover-ups. I almost forgot about that.

[h i n d · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm very generous so here's a 1.5 stars (nah jk you deserve a 0.5 stars)

Warning this review might be a lil harsh.
I'm so disappointed, to the point where this book has officially changed my very stubborn point of view of not dnfing books. Good job.

Absolute waste of time.
1) I didn't like any of the characters, Callie is SO annoying and selfish, I felt no connection to them whatsoever.
2) The writing was mediocre at best, awful at worst
3) The plot itself was nothing new, neither was the ending
4) No world building
5) THE POWERS you guys, there is nothing the 'survivors' can't do ! They talk to the dead, read minds, can control them, see auras, heal, and that's not even all of it. Like next she would tell me she can fly and I wouldn't be surprised.

You get the point, I won't waste more of your or my time.

[Figgy]

Review to come.

Overall a bit of a fun epidemic read, though certain "twists" were SUPER obvious to me right from the start, one of which the characters only realised right near the end, in the final handful of chapters.

Reasonably run-of-the-mill, but not so much as to be boring or uninteresting.

I'll continue on with the series, but am not expecting anything earth-shattering from it.

The red edged pages (to match the red on the cover) are cool, though... and the next one has a blue cover and blue edges on the pages!

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings)]

Won in the Goodreads Giveaways

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on Friday night with the intention of checking it out. You know, to get a feel for the story? I ended up reading over 100 pages in one sitting!

So yeah, I was instantly hooked. :)

Something strange is happening to Callie in the facility she lives in. Shay is trying to escape bullies when she stumbles on a flyer that sparks a forgotten memory. Kai is desperate to find his missing sister, so when he gets a call out of nowhere from a girl who claims she saw Calista a year ago, he rushes to gather information.

When Shay and Kai meet, they realise there's an instant connection between them, but neither realise just how deep it really is. Or that they're not alone, because someone is shadowing their every move. When a deadly epidemic hits out of nowhere and spreads across the country faster than it can be contained, they find themselves in serious danger. And in the middle of a terrible secret capable of destroying everyone in their path...

Wow. This is one addictive book. It's also very trippy--in the best way possible. I loved how the author blended science and New Age ideas in such creative ways, and fills the reader with so much wonder you HAVE to keep going forward.

I'm serious. As I said above, I grabbed it on Friday night and was so captivated by what was going on that I was finished by Sunday afternoon. I couldn't stop reading. I had to know where the first book in the trilogy was going to take me.

The story is told in the alternating POV of two characters--Callie and Shay. It's written in such a fast-paced way that the volatile events and tension mount to fever pitch very quickly. The stakes keep getting higher, and don't stop. Not even when you reach the shocking conclusion!

Shay is a great narrator. A smart girl with an understanding mother whose entire life changes from ordinary to extraordinary because of one seemingly forgotten, and very random, moment a year before. This changes her life in a wonderful way because she meets the handsome Kai, and in him finds a kindred spirit. Yet at the same time fills her with devastation because she stands to lose everything, including herself. I loved her POV. And her interactions with Kai were awesome.

I always love when two lost characters find strength in each other.

Callie gives an amazing, and very unexpected angle to the story. She's a girl who's suffered so much cruelty and destruction, without truly understanding why she got there in the first place. Her POV was fascinating and I can't wait to see how she evolves.

You might have noticed that I haven't mentioned much about the actual story, and that's on purpose. I remember the first time I read the blurb and wondered why the details were so vague, but once I started reading I totally got it. This is one of those books that is better enjoyed the less you know going in. Trust me. At first it might seem disorienting, but it doesn't take long to get your bearings.

And when you do, you won't want to stop

Contagion is an awesome and super clever book full of sciency goodness, and a lot of heart. It's scary, creepy, mysterious, interesting and a definite page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. There's just something very special about Teri Terry's writing style, and the concept is captivating.

Loved this book. What a fun, thrilling and melancholy ride!

BTW, the cover captures the story perfectly. And the red edge pages are cool, plus add to the urgency of this story.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .

Contagion started off a bit confusing for me. To be fair, the formatting of the eARC didn't help, but I also can't help that I was a bit lost. But as the story picked up, I became more invested. Shay was a decent MC, though not particularly memorable. Callie was certainly more sympathetic, but also a bit less likable- not that I faulted her for it necessarily (talk about being dealt a crappy hand!) but alas. Basically, the gist of the story is that our characters are travelling around their Scotland hometowns to (at first) try to find Callie, and then to try to figure out what exactly the deal is with the plague. 

I love plagues, and by "love" I don't mean I wish to obtain one. I love reading about them, because of the lengths characters will go to during them. True colors always come out when the stakes are highest, and that is no exception here. There's a lot of action, and I was never bored. 

I was a little underwhelmed with a few of the twists, however. I found them to be a bit (okay fine, maybe more than a bit) predictable. And because of that, some of the time our characters took to reach said twists was a little too much, since the reader can generally parse what will happen. And yes, I'd have also liked to have more connection with the main characters. That said, I was invested enough to want to read the second book, because there are a lot of unanswered questions that I really need answers to! 

Bottom Line: Pretty typical plague fare, but entertaining enough to keep me interested in continuing the series!

[Queen Cronut · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a good sci-fi dystopian book and when I saw Contagion's cover and read the description, I thought I was in for an epic post-apocalyptic thriller. Unfortunately, the execution of the book wasn't as great as the cover and the synopsis.

In Contagion, Kai and Shay are searching for Kai's missing sister, Callie, in the midst of a deadly epidemic sweeping the nation. While this sounds like a solid one-line premise, Contagion was very underdeveloped from its characters to its plot to its science fiction jargon.

The plot is so slow paced and I cared about none of the characters so this was a very boring book for me. The plot lacks a sense of urgency and intrigue- actions and events seem almost passive and on top of this, the writing style felt choppy and awkward in some parts. And the "twist" towards the ending was very predictable.

The characters felt very one dimensional. Contagion follows the dual narratives of Shay and Callie. Callie was a smidge better than Shay because Callie had more going for her and was actually a decent character (though her POV was a bit confusing in the beginning). Shay... disliked her because she was such a cookie cutter character, made selfish and unsmart decisions, and utterly not interesting. Also, the romance between Shay and Kai literally came out of nowhere and had zero chemistry. I feel like I would've Shay if the romance was turned down a notch because she could've developed without needing the romance to fill in her character arc.

Overall, I wasn't very impressed by Contagion but am anticipating the sequel be better.

[Sarah ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW HERE; https://weavinglife.wordpress.com/201...

3 star rating! I'm keeping this snappy as a review is going up on my blog but I recieved this from HachetteNZ and I have to say, it was rather dissapointing. Contagion started off strong, with likable characters but as the plot moved on, I found myself more bored that feeling worried for the characters and I ended up really disliking one of the main three characters. All in all, this book started off strong but fell flat for me and I don't think I'll be picking up the sequel. If you're into sci-fi multi perspective books, then I think this is the one for you!

[Gedankenlabor · Rating 4 out of 5]

>>Selbst wen es dich verschont, wirst du nie wieder sein wie zuvor!<<
„INFIZIERT“ von Teri Terry – ein wie ich finde gelungener Auftakt, der für mich persönlich durch seine Dynamik besticht! Denn durch kurze Kapitel mit wechselnden Perspektiven konnte mich persönlich das Buch unheimlich fesseln und die Spannung blieb stetig bestehen. Schnell merkt man hier natürlich, dass diese Geschichte sich eher an jüngere Leser richtet, denn brutale Szenen oder Details zu diversen Experimenten etc. werden hier nicht näher beschrieben. Haupt Augenmerk liegt hier auch tatsächlich eher auf Callie, Shay und Kai, die durch das Schicksal verbunden auch als Team und Freunde eng zusammen wachsen und einige Rätsel zu lösen und Hürden zu meistern haben. Mir persönlich hat das wirklich gut gefallen, jedoch hätte ich mir ein bisschen mehr wissenschaftliche Perspektiven gewünscht. Alles in allem war es aber eine runde und gelungene Geschichte mit Cliffhanger! Es schreit also förmlich alles danach ganz bald Band zwei zu beginnen ….

[Kelsie Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contagion by Teri Terry is the first book in her Dark Matter trilogy. The trilogy is billed as young adult, but don’t let age stop you. It’s an interesting read for all adults, young or otherwise.

Callie has been abducted and subjected to horrific scientific experiments. She’s escaped, but things are going from bad to worse.

Kai and his family have been looking for his younger sister, Callie, who’s been missing for a year. He’s recently been contacted by Shay, who is the last person to have seen his sister alive. The teenagers form a bond and are actively searching for Callie, even though the country has been overtaken by a deadly epidemic. Is this how the world ends?

Contagion is very well written. The story is told through the alternating viewpoints of Callie and Shay, which the author handles nicely with appropriate chapter headers. Scotland is an excellent choice of location and is strongly featured throughout the story. The characters are fully fleshed and the dialogue is strong. The plot and it’s twists completely grab and hold the reader’s attention. The ending satisfies but also sets the stage for the second installment of the trilogy, which I will definitely be reading. This novel has earned a 4 out of 5 star rating. I recommend it to young adult readers and anyone who likes a well-written mystery/thriller.

My thanks to Charlesbridge and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

[Marochka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Я вообще очень люблю антиутопии и апокалиптику, но в них почти никогда нет ничего нового. Тем не менее, эту книгу мне было читать интересно. Не скажу, что идея прямо-таки нова, но что-то оригинальное в ней все-таки есть. Автор «намешала» в жанрах все подряд и, на удивление, получилось весьма неплохо. Единственное, я абсолютно была уверенна, что главная интрига книги ясна была всем с самого начала. Что это было настолько очевидно, что автор даже не сочла нужным это упоминать. И когда в конце это оказалось как бы «сюрпризом», я совсем не оценила такую «интригу». То ли автор совсем своих читателей за дурачков держит, то ли я столько такого читала, что для меня такие вещи абсолютно очевидны.
Но, в целом, довольно динамично и интересно.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

from reading other reviews this is a 'love it or hate it' book

What l liked about it . . . .
- story from two points of view, nice and clear
- short (very short) chapters which kept me reading just one more chapter
- storyline which maybe did not fulfil its potential

What l didn't like about it
- abrupt cliffhanger ending, l will not be rushing out to buy the sequel
- strangers to lovers in almost the click of an eye
- hhhmmm a killer virus and yet there is still internet / electricity / food / television etc which all
need human input . . . .would you go to work if it may be your last day alive?

so, 2 1/2 stars from me

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also posted on Eva Lucias blog

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Nedtælling af Teri Terry væltede mig bagover, fik mig til at tabe pulsen, fik mig til at bide negle og kunne mærke mit hjerte banke hurtigere end nogensinde. Om den var god? HOLD NU KÆFT, hvor var den god!

Faktisk allerede fra første side vidste jeg bare, at det ville blive en fed læsning og det er ikke tit, at det sker, at man er hooked så tidligt i læsningen. Men Teri Terry kan bare noget helt særligt og jeg vil skynde mig at skaffe mig alle hendes bøger, så jeg kan læse dem hurtigst muligt. Og ja, hvorfor er den så god? Jeg skal prøve at forklare det:

Sproget er skarpt, dialogerne er gode og skift af synsvinkel i hvert kapitel fungerer eminent godt ift., at det ofte kan skabe problemer. Historien er egentlig ikke særlig original, men bliver taget et skridt videre pga. den grundige plot-planlægning. Der er tænkt over hvert ord, over hver et element i historien og alle karakterer kommer tydeligt til udtryk. Man kan naturligvis ikke sammenligne, men man kan sagtens stille Teri Terry på samme linje som enten J.K. Rowling eller Erin Morgenstern ift. til detaljerne og sprogets grundighed, selvom disse udgivelser slet ikke kan sammenlignes med hensyn til genre.

Vi befinder os i en verden, hvor en skrækkelig virus er brudt ud. Folk dør som fluer. Vores tre hovedpersoner: Shay (som altid har følt sig anderledes), Kai (som har en indædt vrede og en usikkerhed, som præger ham grundet et savn til en forsvundet søster og Callie (søsteren – som forsøger at guide Shay og Kai igennem dette dystopiske/sci-fi mareridt. Shay og Kai lever efter Callie og allerede fra starten af denne søgen bryder helvede løs.

Det er en fortælling med spænding, utallige cliffhangers, fantastiske og næsten uhyggelige levende beskrivelser, og karakterer, som kravler ind under huden. Jeg holder allerede af dem. Det gik hurtigt, selvom bogen er på 442 sider. Det er samtidig en roman, som udover sit skrækkelige fremtidsscenarie, præsenterer mange emner: venskab, kærlighed, savn, tab, accept og frygt, og alle disse kommer tydeligt til udtryk via Teri Terrys fantastiske og fængende sprog.

Nedtælling er simpelthen én af de bedste dystopiske romaner, som jeg har læst længe og da jeg fandt ud af, at det bliver en trilogi, åndede jeg lettet op. Jeg kan ikke få nok. Udgiv 2’eren nu!!!!!!!!!

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[Jenniely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was brilliant. I love virus narratives and I was not disappointed with this one. There were definitely more than a few surprises in this book, needless to say you're kept guessing a lot in it.
It combined the very real threat of virus outbreak with futuristic theories on dark matter and physics which was really interesting.

I've always been fascinated by the curing and creating of disease in fiction - where science is messed around with to disastrous consequences. This fits the bill completely. Definitely add it to your TBR pile!

The only negative I have about this book is the ending. It is a severe cliff hanger, almost to the point where they story feels cut off short. I definitely cannot wait for the next installment!

[Kate Ormand]

A deadly virus is spreading fast through Scotland and the UK—but where did it come from and how did it start? Teri Terry is brilliant at bringing a unique and in-depth sci-fi element to her stories. I’m always impressed by the level of detail and thought behind this author’s books. I loved the Slated trilogy so I was excited to start this new journey with Shay, Kai and Callie. Contagion was a great mystery and adventure story, with a touch of supernatural. I was glued its pages. A good pick for fans of Emma Pass and Lauren James.

[Elli *Fanatical.Fantasy* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this hasn't been officially released yet, but I was lucky enough to get a copy at YALC 2016. I have to say, I quite liked this story. It was a great young adult book, definitely aimed at under 15 or 16 I'd say. It has a good storyline, good characters and the writing is great.

[Lulai · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so great, I love almost everything. Shay et Kai are a great team, I love their relationship. It was such a smart decision to had Callie POV, I love the mystery about her story.
I still have a lot of questions but sequel are made for this.

[QueenFra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dnf but still counting it in my reading challenge cause why not. It’s was a bit weird and slow ngl probably give it 2.25 stars (mixing it up )

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Charlesbridge Teen, and Teri Terry for the opportunity to read Contagion in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fast-paced start to the thrilling Dark Matter trilogy about a mysteriously quick-spreading epidemic.

Set in Scotland, this book follows two perspectives: Callie and Shay.

In Callie’s perspectives, we see that she is merely a number, one of many experiments. From the way it is told, it sounds like she is a ghost following around the laboratory workers, trying to reclaim her memory and find out just what happened to her. But what can she do if she is a ghost? She cannot go through walls, like one might think with a ghost, so she has to travel through hallways and doors just like any person. Perhaps finding her family will help her figure things out, but some memories are too torturous to revisit. Callie is a rather vengeful ghost in her hunt for Dr. 1.

Shay finds a missing person flyer, and she recognizes the girl and the date. It’s Callie, but she last saw the girl getting into a car over a year ago. Even though it’s been so long, her photographic memory spikes, and she knows she needs to tell someone about what she has seen. Shay meets Kai, Callie’s brother, and together they investigate what may have happened to Callie. When the local detectives turn out to be a little less than helpful, the two take matters into their own hands. And of course, there is an almost immediate attraction to each other that starts off very fun and flirtatious.

After an underground explosion being covered up by the media, a disease begins to spread across the country. With the fast-spreading Aberdeen Flu, people are swiftly quarantined. Kai soon finds out he is immune, and Shay survives when there is an extremely low survival rate. And apparently, any survivors are found to be missing or have killed themselves. Shay can understand why as she is able to talk to ghosts, conveniently becoming friends with the deceased Callie. As she learns what surviving the flu means, Shay also discovers some newfound abilities, such as mind manipulation. No wonder there are some government soldiers (are they really?) trying to find and kill Shay!

Together, Shay, Callie, and Kai aim to put the pieces together and discover the origin of the disease, how it spreads, and through that, hopefully, a way to stop it before it leaves the British Isles and devastates the planet.

I love Terry’s writing style. It’s easy, fast, fun, and well-done. The structure of the novel was interesting but somewhat confusing at times. It alternates between Shay and Callie, and sometimes the chapters are exceedingly short. It made the two voices sound too similar at times and I would forget which character perspective I was reading. The book is paced in parts, and in Part One there is a time stamp of hours that I never quite understood what it was leading down to…the explosion, perhaps? I devoured this book, but the end didn’t quite leave me with the right feeling. It felt as if it needed just a tad more, to end in the lab where everything began. Now that would be an interesting cliffhanger! But nope!

Anyway…

For a YA audience, I find the plot and characters just right! Overall, a quick, fun read that was rather hard to put down, and I am eager for the second one!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very intriguing start to this new trilogy. The story starts with a girl called Callie or SUBJECT 369X and she is institutionalised in Shetland because of a rare disease. She thinks the doctors are taking her to be 'cured' but they take her to a locked room where there is only pain and death.
Then there is a girl called Shay (Sharona) who lives with her Mum in Killin, Scotland and has a photographic memory. Shay's narrative starts when she is in the library being bullied by a boy called Duncan and his mates. As she is running out of the library to escape them, she sees a poster on a bulletin board of a missing girl called Calista (Callie). She tears the poster off the board as she runs past because she remembers vividly seeing the girl in the photo get into a car with a man almost a year ago, just before Shay and her Mother go on holiday. She relives the brief encounter in her mind and decides to do something about it. This decision sets off a chain reaction in which her life becomes unreal as while Shay connects with Callie's brother Kai to explain about her seeing his Sister, in Shetland where Callie is living her unbearable last few moments, the disease becomes a viral epidemic, unleashed on society.
Told in short chapters alternatively between Callie and Shay, the story builds up with breathless suspense. The characters are solid, if a little unusual, and as Shay changes with the disease and becomes closer to Kai and Callie with the army hunting them down, the story becomes more complex as they make their fugitive way back to Shetland to find out the cause of the outbreak. What they discover, is unexpected and shocking and I am desperate to find out what will happen to Shay. Written with the unique and compelling writing style of the Slated trilogy and Mind Games, this book is an excellent read and fans of these earlier books will absolutely not be disappointed!