I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.

Seventeen-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her.

Born in a lab, M0Rr1S was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They’re both breaking the rules for the love of art—and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does.

Ellie’s—and humanity’s—fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Short and Sweet Review

Two years ago after a misunderstanding between Earth’s leaders and the Ilori’s the Ilori ended up invading Earth and killing one third of the population. Janelle Baker lives in an Ilori controlled center in New York. Having things like art, books, or music are grounds for execution. Janelle has a secret library in the basement but when one of her books goes missing she’s afraid that it’ll get traced back to her and she’ll be killed. Morris is a lab made Ilori and he was made to be emotionless, but when Morris finds Janelles library he knows he has a duty to deliver her to her execution but he can’t bring himself to do it. Unlike most Ilori Morris actually likes music and wants more of it. The two end up going on a cross country road trip with a bag of books and some albums. I truly loved both of the characters Ellie has had a tough life being stuck in a building and having her favorite thing (books!) be considered illegal. Her parents have also become different people her father is under Ilori control and her mother has become an alcoholic. Morris is a lab made but he’s different he feels emotions and he likes music. He is also disliked by many of the other Ilori. During their road trip these two learned a lot about each other and their struggles. I think that the road trip and their love for books and music brought them closer. There were a few twists but they just kept me hooked. The ending was great and in the end I really loved this book!