I had so much fun with this book — it’s fast-paced, entertaining, unique, and features sincere character dynamics.

We're reading about bioengineered dinosaur/human hybrids, created with the goal of eventually developing an unstoppable army of Dna modified soldiers.
Eddie, the perfect poster child of the hybrids, to show an unexpected display cannibalism, a condition referred to as the Blood burn.

weeks before the hybrids are expected to be made public, harsh measures are put into place to ensure everything goes smoothly- That’s when Addie comes in, With her unorthodox methods, she aims to keep Eddie’s urges at bay.

The book is being compared Jurassic park— I mean, with dinosaurs involved it’s not that far-fetched. However, as I read it, I found myself drawing more comparisons to a T.J. Klune book.

I went into Scales expecting more action, we do start with a rescue mission, and we’re dealing with dinosaur hybrids being created for an army. But instead, I found the heart of this novel is just living life with Eddie and experiencing his humanity.
We watch how he’s expected to act as nothing more than a product or soldier, and how things change when he has a bit more freedom, only to experience prejudice from the outside world.
We explore his growth as an individual, self discovery and protectiveness over his other hybrids.

There are still plenty of great action-packed scenes throughout, which were well-executed and thrilling to read.

Thank you Angry Robot for the review copy, this book is a solid 4.5-star read for me!

Having a big media push unraveled by a cannibalism scandal is a new one. Bit of a grey area if it applies to soldiers altered with a new filed of science with dinosaur traits. Either way it's a bad look. With billions on the line the definitely not evil mega Corp hires a shunned psychiatry doctor to "shock" these urges out of the lead for the project, Eddie. Things break down further when certain non-issues get under the skin of those in charge.

Reasons to read:
-The asides by Wesk on human nature are interesting. And it's a good way to have a view of things characters wouldn't have knowledge of
-While I know it would be nice for governments to care about protecting the life of the individual soldier this much.... Yea...
-A long con
-Some reptile facts

Cons:
-Didn't touch on the science aspects as much as I was hoping
-That's a big ethical red flag from me

Scales is a scifi thriller about a dinosaur-human hybrid soldier. Eddie Boka is one of only four of the military and Blayvine Industries’ secret new experimental super-soldiers. When he is overcome with a compulsion to eat an enemy combatant during his first otherwise successful mission, the corporation hires unconventional therapist Addi LaTour to manage his cannibalistic tendencies before the upcoming public media unveiling. Complications arise when sparks fly between them and further experiments are going awry. The powers-that-be aren’t afraid of doing damage control including eliminating those that aren’t going along with their plan.

This was just a really fun, action-packed read. As a comparison, I’d describe this as more Jurassic World than Jurassic Park (yes, there is a difference) meets an offbeat romance. The story is steadily paced and always entertaining, and I can totally see this being a movie. It does not go exactly where you expect with the pieces it set up while simultaneously also delivering exactly what it promises with its premise—a dino-human hero who beats up bad guys, rescues his friends, and gets the girl. There’s just way more gore with the action, quirkiness with the media blitz campaign, and a forbidden romance that comes with a side of electroshock therapy.

Eddie Boka is the likable everyman with his upbeat charm and geniality so he is easy to root for. Addi is the tough gal with a lot going on. Their romance, while forbidden, never actually feels too taboo with the patient-therapist relationship. I thought it fit well in between the action sequences, and the romance never fell far from the thriller aspect. There are also some interesting side characters who I do wish we got more of, but I think they may play bigger roles should there ever be any sequels.

Scales is a fun action-heavy scifi thriller that feels very Jurassic World with a more military bend.

*Thank you to Angry Robot Books for the early copy

This was such a fun book! I am a massive nerd for dinosaurs in general and absolutely love Jurassic Park. Action packed, with some great little twists. A very thought provoking book, I think the premise of the book is very believable and could definitely happen in real life (or maybe it already is!!)

This is a really fun book that channels Michael Crichton in a thrilling story. It has shades of Jurassic Park & Terminal man and the narrative is rocket powered. Dino-humans with a side of cannibalism is the genre I never knew I needed. The pyschotherapy angle introduced a layer of eroticism this book needed and the author is cognizant enough that he doesnt spend much time on the process and let the deed directly happen. The action sequences are fun and urgent and the thrills keep coming a mile a minute. For a book dealing with monsters, it makes sense that the real monsters are human beings.

That said, I do think the characters are just a little more than skin-deep but that is to be expected. While this is quite a solid book, I am a bit disappointed given this could have been so much more given the premise. There were so many ways where the author could have gone genuinely wild or expanded the scope, and while it doesnt detract from the current book, there is a fabulously wild book in there which is left on the table. A tad more embrace of ambition and scope could have elevated this from a buy-in-the-airport-and-forget book to something special

Unfortunately had to DNF at 47%.
Spoilers ahead







The typical racial stereotyping in the beginning never got better than referring to two men having sex as a “gay mess”…incredibly disappointing. I was SO excited as someone who loves Jurassic Park annd xenotyping sci fi and I’m gutted this was the execution.

This was an action-packed read that is a little outside of my comfort zone but I liked it! The pacing was fast but not too break-neck. The characters were fleshed out nicely without too much unnecessary details. If you love science fiction thrillers that explore “man vs nature” themes then this is a perfect pick for you! I see the comparisons to Jurassic Park but for me it didn’t feel like a perfect fit. You may feel different though!

Big thanks to Christopher Hinz, NetGalley, and Angry Robot for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*4.5 stars*

Scales is a great book for Jurassic Park fans looking for something new! I’m a big fan of the sci-fi creature feature, and this story checked all the boxes I was hoping for.

Blayvine Industries is secretly injecting soldiers with dinosaur DNA to create “super soldiers”, and it seems to be going well until one of their test subjects begins displaying cannibalistic tendencies. Desperate to figure out the issue so they can start selling their new “product”, Blayvine hires a therapist to treat the soldier. You can’t control nature, even if it’s been genetically modified; but Blayvine is determined to try anyways. What could go wrong?

This book is a really fun read. It’s fast-paced, with everything I enjoy about these types of stories: science gone wrong, capitalistic hubris exposed, and the inevitable fall out that occurs when man tries to control or mess with nature. Stories like this feel more relevant today than ever before, and I appreciated that the author didn’t pull any punches in his depiction of the corporation that puts money and profit over both human lives and the natural world. The main characters in the story aren’t always as developed as they could be, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story at all; I’ll be real, I was here to read about humans being injected with dinosaur DNA, and that’s what I got, so I’m perfectly happy with the story the way it is.

I would recommend Scales to any readers who love Jurassic Park and similar stories, as well as fans of sci-fi thrillers and creature features.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot Books for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

Tense, imaginative, and totally believable - moral and ethical boundaries explode amid power hungry and greedy narcissists and climbers - yep, corrupt scientists partnered with tunnel vision military cross the lines, could definitely happen in reality, or is it already happening? Action packed and thought provoking, a must read!

This book has a fun and interesting sci fi premise that it delivers on nicely. The characters are engaging and realistic in their choices and motivations. The pacing is excellent. There is plenty of action, and some surprising twists I didn't see coming. This was a fun book to read and it avoided some common pitfalls that genre fiction can fall into.

Once of my favorite aspects was the way the author introduced and described the characters just enough to flesh them out and didn't go into every little detail. They all had distinct believable personalities and motives that made sense. None of them felt like stereotypes.

I also felt the pacing was excellent. The story moved forward and flowed nicely, but it wasn't over too quickly. It was fun to keep reading just to see what would happen next, and have that to look forward too whenever I took a break from reading.

This book had a fun premise - human soldiers volunteer to have dinosaur DNA spliced internally their genetic structure in order to make the perfect soldier, and of course, things go awry. I wanted to like this but unfortunately I felt the characters were extremely one dimensional and this made it difficult to connect with thie story. This might make a good movie but just didn’t work in book form for me. Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book!

This book had me on the edge of my seat its action packed with plot twists a little romance

A solider gets his dna mixed with a dinosaur and becomes a Dino hybrid but his tendency for cannibalism is an issue he needs to get under control before they create an army of dinosaurs hybrids

Perfect for any Jurassic park fans