Inheritance--"I’m not going to waste my time thinking about people who hate me"

Title: Inheritance

Author: Malinda Lo (I am doing an in-depth author study on Malinda Lo as a final paper for a class, and this is the fourth of five fiction novels I am reviewing)


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): In this sequel to Adaptation, David and Reese are struggling to figure out whom to trust. Should they trust the Imria, the alien race who wants to help humanity become better? Should they trust the government, who claim to protect them from humanity-using aliens? Also, do the special powers they have mean they are now aliens, too? Plus, Reese's new relationship with David is tested because Reese still has feelings for Amber, her Imrian ex-girlfriend.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Inheritance was more intense and less predictable than Adaptation, which I appreciated. I honestly could not figure out who the "good guys" were. The Imria want to "fix" humanity, but it would be a risky procedure, and the ethical question is, does humanity really need to be fixed?



The government keeps lying and covering up sketchy experiments they've been doing with the alien DNA, which have resulted in attack birds and mentally unstable super-soldiers. Plus, Reese and David keep getting approached by different groups, all claiming to know the answers and requesting that Reese and David double-cross the other groups.

While dating David, Reese experiences a realization about her white privilege that she had always taken for granted. A part of the book I really appreciated Julian and Reese talking about biphobia. I thought it was well done to have Reese say that she identifies as bisexual, but still acknowledge that she is uncomfortable with misconceptions about bisexuality.

I hope that having characters like Reese identify as bisexual will help stop bisexual erasure. Inheritance is not preachy or political, but the issues addressed in the book might lead to important discussions that need to happen.

Meanwhile, there's the love triangle of Reese, David, and Amber. They do come up with a solution to this problem. I don't know if their solution would be for me, but then again, I've never had two fabulous people in love with me at the same time, so who knows? 😉


My final takeaway: I'd like to see what happens next, but the ending was pretty final and I do not see Lo writing a sequel. These two books are definitely worth reading.


My favorite quotes:

• "Besides, you have to look at the big picture. Those racist comments are coming from a minority of haters in the US. There are way more people on the planet who look like me than like you. I’m not going to waste my time thinking about people who hate me because I’m Asian" (p. 94).
     
• “'Male and female Imrians still have different physical bodies, and you can never escape that, but susum’urda allows you to see that the physical differences are really superficial when it comes to who you are as a person . . .'
  [Reese asked] 'If sharing consciousness lets you see that physical differences are so minor, how come you said you don’t like guys?'
  Amber’s cheeks turned a little pink. 'You can’t escape your body. I mean, you live in it everyday. And I like female bodies'" (paperback edition, p. 127-128).
     
• "She [Reese] had never thought of herself as white until she walked through Eric Chung’s crowded living room. It wasn’t that she thought of herself as not white; she simply never thought about it. She realized that was probably the biggest sign of all that she was white." (p. 150).
     
• “'Maybe I’m being selfish for not wanting to deal with the homophobes, but think about what they would say about David, too, for dating me. I know what people think about bisexuals. That we can’t make up our minds or that we’re nymphomaniacs or that we’re doing it for attention . . .'
  'So you’re bisexual?'
  She [Reese] threw up her hands. 'Whatever. Yeah, I’m bisexual. Are you satisfied?'” (p. 234).

Other reviews: The Book Smugglers and The Lesbrary.

This book is NOT available in the Greensboro Public Library.  To request that it be added to their collection, fill out this form.