Beta

Rachel Cohn

Disney-Hyperion, Oct 16, 2012 - Juvenile Fiction - 336 pages

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist.

Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers?soulless clones like Elysia?are immune to.

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under­current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care?so why are overpowering sensations cloud­ing Elysia's mind?

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi­ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

The first in a dazzlingly original science fiction series from best-selling author Rachel Cohn, Beta is a haunting, unforgettable story of courage and love in a cor­rupted world. Praise for Beta: "A terrific premise that is equally well executed...Readers can only hope [the sequel] will be as thrilling as this series kickoff."--Los Angles Times

What people are saying

Review: Beta (Annex #1)

User Review  - Mimi - Goodreads

I picked up Beta after flipping through the first chapter. What struck me first about the book is the clinically cold and awkward way in which it is written. I'm pretty sure this is to mimic the way ...

Review: Beta (Annex #1)

User Review  - Suneha - Goodreads

4 STARS!!!! Beta is a such a capturing novel! It had so many twists and turns which managed to baffle me every time. I could easily relate to Elysia and I found myself attached to this book. The way ...

About the author

Rachel Cohn is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven young adult novels, including Gingerbread, Shrimp and Cupcake and, with David Levithan, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Beta; Beta (Hyperion)
• Author: Rachel Cohn
• Publisher: Disney-Hyperion, 2012
• ISBN: 1423157192, 9781423157199
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Fiction / Dystopian; Juvenile Fiction / Family / General; Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic; Juvenile Fiction / Love & Romance; Juvenile Fiction / Nature & the Natural World / General; Juvenile Fiction / Science & Technology; Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction