I am thrilled to welcome YA (young adult) author, Hetty Waite to my blog today as part of the tour for the first book in her mew trilogy, Mutate. Thanks to Hetty and Lynsey Adams of Reading between the Lines for including me and sharing this gripping extract.
The Blurb
One change can be deadly
In the city of Galex, all that matters is your genetics. Living with a virus that only affects the Y chromosome, men – Ys – are at risk of death or mutation and considered too dangerous to live freely. Women – Xs- rule the city.
Cara must navigate a world where the one she loves isconsidered a deadly enemy. With her sister Myla in charge of Galex and driven by a hatred of Ys, Cara has a dangerous secret. If discovered, it will not only destroy her relationship with her sister, but will threaten the life of the Y she loves.
Brown has spent his life enslaved, knowing he could mutate at any moment. After seeing his best friend killed, he volunteers for a deadly mission. He is soon to face a difficult decision: protect Cara and sacrifice her sister, or betray his fellow Ysand place all his loyalty in the hands of an X.
The Excerpt
This Excerpt is from Brown’s perspective, giving an insight into what life is like for a Y in the city of Galex.
The morning alarm felt brutal. Bells rang loudly in the dorm every morning at six, giving us time to get up and report for duty. It must have felt the same for those teenage boys who were in the school so many years ago. Just like us, I’m sure they would have been reluctant to leave the warmth of their beds for a day’s work. Though, to be honest, I’d do anything to swap my day for one filled with advanced algebra and physics.
After what felt like only five minutes’ sleep, I dragged my body up and placed my feet squarely on the cold floor.
“You look like a corpse, Bro,” joked Blue.
“I feel like one too,” I answered, stretching my arms to hear them crack. I padded to the washroom to get cleaned up. Red and Orange were in there already, brushing their teeth.
“Hey,” they greeted.
“You Browns out today?” asked Red.
He meant the runners: our colour was Brown, then we each had a number to identify us. I was Brown 21. Reds were domestic, Blues hunters, Oranges cooks and Greens maintenance. We’d been allocated our colours and numbers when things had changed after the deaths of the Founders. My real name felt like a ghost: a faded reminder of the past. To my friends, I was Brown, the number only added if needed. In private, they called me Gonzales, after some cartoon mouse we had seen as kids, who could run really fast. The Boss didn’t like the whole nickname thing though, so we kept it on the down-low. Still, it felt like a small way we could assert some form of personal identity, a way of refusing to become just another faceless Y. We called Myla the Boss as it reminded us just how dangerous she was: the title never let us forget that she was in charge.
The Author
Hetty Waite lives in Derbyshire with her husband, daughter and cavapoo.
She is always looking to get lost in a good book and has spent years passing on her love of reading by teaching English to teenagers. Whilst no longer in the classroom, (and definitely not missing the marking), she is keen to continue helping young people engage with literature.
Nowadays, when not pandering to the whims of her demanding 4-year-old or tutoring GCSE students, she finds time to write YA fiction.
The Chromosome Trilogy Book 1: Mutate is her first novel.
The Links
WEBSITE - https://hettywaite.co.uk
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/hettywaite
X - @HettyWaite
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