ARC Review: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

Title: Stung
Author: Bethany Wiggins
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2013
Genre: YA - Post Apocalyptic - Sci-Fi - Dystopian

"There is no cure for being stung.
Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right.
Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.
Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall." ~See it on Goodreads!

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Stung was definitely one of the most interesting and unique story concepts that I've come across so far this year. It was action packed and really sucked me in from the beginning.

In the world of Stung bees as we know them have gone extinct, and scientists have replaced them with a new genetically created species of bees. But while they were creating these new bees something went wrong (one of the risks when you start experimenting with things lol) and when the bees sting someone that person is infected with a deathly virus. So naturally the scientists start working towards a cure for the “Bee Flu” as it’s called, but unfortunately that doesn’t go as planned either. The so called cure that they developed has some pretty narly side effects, and the patients they give it to end up becoming wild, zombie-esque creatures, so it’s no surprise that chaos breaks lose soon after. Fiona wakes up after being in a coma, and nothing is the same for her. She’s alone and confused, with no memory as to how or why she was asleep in the first place.

There is a bit of romance in this story but suffice it to say I wasn’t very invested in it. I just felt like it was a little rushed and I’m sooo not a fan of the whole insta-love thing so that kind of put me off. I did wish there had been a little more to the world building and details in some areas, because I felt like there were some things that were only vaguely mentioned and I would have liked to see more information there.

Despite a few qualms, overall I did enjoy this one quite a bit. It kept my attention throughout and I never got bored with it. I thought the ending played out nicely but still left room for a possible sequel, which I would like to see because I’m interested to see what would come next.

3.5 Stars!