“ I wasn’t allowed in the lab. But that didn’t stop me from sneaking down there”. Anna, a 17 year old girl, whose life is just like everyone else's, except for the fact that she has four genetically engineered guys who live in her basement that just so happens to be a secret lab. Everyday to Anna is ordinary; check on the guys vitals, organize papers for her dad, and at night, sneak down as quiet as a mouse to see Sam and have one of their late night talks. Little did Anna know that her daily routine and whole life would be flipped when the Branch comes to take her boys away.

Four years ago Anna discovered the secret her father was keeping in the basement. Four boys, four genetically engineered boys that that each suffer from a amnesia that renders their ability to remember their lives before.
Through the years, Anna has gotten to know each boy pretty well and what makes them unique in their own way. First is Trev, who has an infinite amount of memorized quotes from his favorite historical figures stocked in that witty brain of his, and is probably one of Anna’s closet friends. Next, is the fun-loving comical Cas, who has a sharp wit and a love for all things food. Then, theres Nick, who Anna doesn't particularly feel comfortable with, most likely from all the glares he shoots her way. Finally Sam, the intense, quiet, and sweet Sam(Insert heart eye emoji). The one that Anna is concealing a little crush on.

The life Anna once loved and knew changes when her father, who lays on the lab floor, with a bullet in his right leg tells Anna to “Stay with Sam. Don’t come back. Ever. Do you understand me?”

Now on the run with the four boys, Anna’s life begins to unravel as she discovers things she never would have imagined. Things that include her life before, her parents, and the boys who she thought she knew oh-so-well. To her surprise and his too, Anna begins to discover that her and Sam are connected in more ways than both could have thought.

If all this information wasn’t hard enough to take in, try having a target on your back while discovering these things. Every step they take must be careful and planned out and each clue they find along the way is just as confusing as the one before. The tasks they face are difficult, yet if anyone can solve the mystery it’s Anna and her four boys.

Jennifer Rush, the writer of Altered, writes with such a crisp passion, that you forget you are reading, and begin to feel like you are Anna and the boys are your boys. Rush lets the reader know a little at each time, in turn keeping the reader on the hook through the novel. 

In all honestly, I would give this novel a nine out of ten, the only reason being that their are multiple books in the series and after just one I feel a strong attachment to the characters, one that if anything were to happen to the characters I would be heartbroken. A great novel to read under a tree, or in bed, especially considering that fact it was only one dollar. That is what I call and altered price right there. (get it? :)