Want by Cindy Pon

To be published on June 13, 2017 by Simon Pulse

Source: eARC from publisher for review

Plot Summary for Want by Cindy Pon

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost. With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Review of Want by Cindy Pon

Want features a vivid, futuristic Taipei setting, a Scooby gang, and a romance. All in all, it was an excellent combination. 

I thought the setting was particularly well done - the story takes place in a polluted, socially-stratified Taipei. Pollution is so severe and disease so rampant that the elites (or yous) wear special suits that filter the air. The masses (or meis) are left to fend for themselves.

Zhou is an orphan who, along with his band of friends, is trying to do something about the situation -- mainly to stop an evil tycoon who doesn't want environmental protection or the prevention of disease that would harm the market for the protective suits his company manufactures. 

The group needs money, so they plan to kidnap a you girl for ransom. 

By coincidence, the girl they grab turns out to be Daiyu Jin, the daughter of aforementioned evil tycoon. After Zhou collects the ransom and erases her memory, he somewhat guiltily inserts himself in her world again, posing as a wealthy you named Jason in order to gain access to her father's company. Daiyu shouldn't remember him, as he wiped her memory, but he sort of wishes she would....

The futuristic world in Want was believable and absorbing.  

I wouldn't really call this a thriller - more like romantic suspense -  but I like that genre too. 

I also felt that Daiyu didn't have the chance to develop enough as a character until near the end of the book, and that development happened pretty quickly, so she seemed to change a lot within a few pages. 

I kept wondering whether I would have preferred the typical alternating first person (the story is told only from Zhou's first person POV).

But overall, I really enjoyed reading this - check it out!