Book Review: Extreme Makeover

Extreme MakeoverExtreme Makeover by Dan Wells

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s rare that I come across a book that’s unique. As in, something unlike anything I’ve ever read before. But an apocalyptic science fiction book where the world is destroyed by a hand cream lotion?

Yeah. I dare you to find me another one like it.

The concept sounds ridiculous, and Dan Wells clearly knows it is. He plays it for laughs now and then, winking to his audience, but the amazing thing to me about this book is that he managed to think through the implications well enough to make the rest of the book (other than those occasional winks) play out realistically enough to cause me to question if something like this could actually happen.

Maybe I’m just becoming paranoid.

The concept is straightforward: a cosmetics company scientist stumbles across a lotion that switches the DNA of anyone it comes into contact with. So if an Asian man puts on some that had been imprinted with the DNA of an Irish woman, then he becomes a copy of that Irish woman. (He retains his memories and personality, though.) And the cosmetic company (naturally) tries to figure out the best way to make as much money off this (potentially illegal, and not properly tested at all yet) product.

Disaster ensues.

It’s a fast read, and yet thought provoking at the same time. Denisa is always telling me how skeptical she is of all the beauty products out there, and this books makes a great case for why she has cause for concern. It’s made even more real by the fact that Wells worked in the beauty industry for about a decade, so he knows about what he’s writing.

I loved the book and finished it in under a day. If you’re looking for something fun, disturbing, and unique, check it out!

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