Lab Rat One by Andrea K Höst is the second installment in the Touchstone trilogy. Followers of my blog will know how
much I loved the first book, Stray. Well, this is BETTER. I think that because the first book dealt so much with Cassandra getting lost, and then finding her way on the alien world, this book was able to focus more on the day-to-day of her new life as the ‘useful stray’. It is a bit like how Star Wars was an awesome film, and then along came Empire Strikes Back. However, I would NOT advise reading this without having read the first book. Höst has created such a complete and detailed world with its own language, customs and idiosyncrasies, most of which were introduced and explained in the first book, and unlike many authors of series she DOES NOT explain things over and over from one book to the next. She assumes you know.
This book carries on from where the first book broke off. The Tarens with the aid of Cassandra have discovered their lost world of Muina and are in the process of settling the new city of ‘Pandora’ (a name chosen by our heroine). They have begun exploring with teams of scientists studying flora and fauna, while their archeologists search for evidence of their ancestors and answers about the Pillars so that they might aid their own planet.
While this is happening Cass is settling into life with the black nanosuit wearing Setari (the flying ninjas) and developing strange new ‘talents’ . She is making friends, and falling in love. She has to deal with bullies and paparazzi as her existence becomes known outside the confides of KOTIS. Her special role in helping the Tarens find their old home make her of particular interest and curiosity.
As I said this book is FANTASTIC!!!! I found that when I got to the end I was devastated, because I wanted to know what would happen next, but I have to wait until the third and final installment is released. This series is great and I can’t wait to see how it ends.
Related articles
- Stray (Touchstone: Part 1)- Andrea Höst (bookblog76.com)
Selections from my tower of shame- Jacqueline Lademann 
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is excellent blog. A great read. I’ll definitely be back.
I completely agree with your review! I also liked this book better than her first and I’m dying to now how it ends. Oh well, only 20 days to go 😉