Review: Perception by Lee Strauss

Title: Perception Author: Lee Strauss Publication Date: September 12, 2012
From Goodreads:
Seventeen year old Zoe Vanderveen is a GAP—a genetically altered person. She lives in the security of a walled city on prime water-front property along-side other equally beautiful people with extended life spans.

Her brother Liam is missing.

Noah Brody is a natural who lives on the outside. He leads protests against the GAPs and detests the widening chasm they’ve created between those who have and those who don’t. He doesn’t like girls like Zoe and he has good reason not to like her specifically.

Zoe’s carefree life takes a traumatic turn. She’s in trouble and it turns out that Noah, the last guy on earth she should trust, is the only one who can help her.
My Thoughts:
 Zoe is a seventeen-year-old GAP (genetically altered person) and lives in the protected Sol City, where only the GAP are permitted to live and enter unless a "natural" has been granted access by a GAP. Her brother, Liam, has gone missing. There has been no activity on his chip and he isn't answering his ComRing. Zoe knows something just isn't right. When she finds a mysterious piece of paper in his bedroom, Zoe decides to find out the truth for herself. This leads her to Noah, the son of her maid and the leader of protesters determined to stop the GAPS from multiplying. Only Zoe didn't realize just how deep she is getting herself, and she certainly didn't plan on growing closer to Noah.
The Characters: Can I just saw how much I love Noah? He is fierce, determined and strong. But at the same time, he is loving, sweet and sensitive. He loves his family and wants to help any way that he can, even if that means teaming up with spoiled Zoe Vandeerveen. I'll admit that she wasn't my favorite person when I first met her. I don't like snobby, perfect little blondes who think the world rotates just for them. But I will say that she surprised me. She knew something wasn't right and instead of going along with it, she took matters into her own hands even when that meant going against everyone she loved and everything she ever knew. And who can be mad at someone for sacrificing their entire life to make things right? I can't. Aside from Zoe and Noah, we meet some other worthy and unfavorable characters. Zoe's parents, Tim and Alison, are somewhat distant and completely oblivious to the world outside their city. Tim is controlling and Alison seems a little mentally unstable at times. Jackson, Zoe's boyfriend, also comes across as a little distant and moody. He has his moments, but he also kind of gave me the creeps.
The Setting: It is always important in dystopian type novels that the setting be described with great detail. Even though it is still our world, things have always changed. This story takes place mostly in two places: Sol City and the "outside", Los Angeles. I've never been to California so I couldn't base the city off of anything besides what I read, and since Sol City was not an actual place, I had nothing to base my ideas on that besides what I read as well. I was very pleased with the author's descriptions of both cities and I felt I knew them pretty well by the end of the book. There was a big difference between the two, Sol City always clean and fresh while Los Angeles was run down and dirty, and the parallels between them added a lot to the atmosphere of the story. 
The Storyline: This book has everything that you would want in a great story. Intrigue, deception, and even a little bit of love. There are also some big twists that will shock you and keep you on your toes. There's never a slow moment with the book starting out immediately with Liam's disappearance. Besides Zoe's search for her brother, there is another battle going on in this book on a much quieter level: science vs. religion. Zoe believes science is the key to everything while Noah is a strong believer in religion. Even though I am not a believer and hang more towards the science side, I still enjoyed this angle of the story. It showed that even though two people can disagree so strongly, it doesn't mean that they have to automatically hate each other. It's ok to have different beliefs and still respect each other's opinions. This is a hard message to get through to some people (trust me, I live it every day) and I commend the author for bringing it to light in this story.
The Writing: Lee Strauss definitely has some writing chops. Everything in this story is brilliant. She sucks you in immediately with Liam's disappearance and just keeps dragging you deeper and deeper into the story with every page. Zoe and Noah have their own voices that are displayed perfectly throughout the story and they are completely believable. The story flows wonderfully with perfect pace. 
Overall, I really only have one thing to add: READ. THIS. BOOK. With dystopian being quite a popular genre lately and more books being released than I can keep up with, it was so refreshing to come across such an original idea for a story. Zoe's story is a remarkable one and I am unbelievably desperate to get my hands on the next book in the series. I recommend this book to everyone! 
Want to check this book out for yourself? Read an excerpt here! And right now, Perception is only 99¢ on Amazon. Trust me, you NEED to read this! Buy it HERE!

For more about Lee Strauss and Perception, check out her website here.