As It Always Was

"A fascinating dive into what it means to be human-the good and the bad-and how life is still worth living in spite of it all." - BookLife In Palpine, emotion is considered a disease-and sixteen-year-old Damon Baxter may be the most dangerous boy alive. Comparable to The Giver and Divergent, As It Always Was is a thought-provoking story about the cost of a painless world. Branded an outsider with the highest genetic variation in his class, Damon is watched closely by officials who fear he'll spiral into the same mysterious condition that claimed his mother's life. Within humanity's last city after a devastating global war, every day is the same: tasteless meals, monochrome clothing, and emotionless interactions. But when a mysterious book marked with a strange Eye symbol appears in his locker, Damon makes a choice that shatters his gray reality. Now he must live a double life-pretending all is usual while secretly awakening to a vivid and sensational new world with Kayla, the red-haired girl who stirs more than just his senses. When officials schedule him for "Alignment"-a surgical procedure that will permanently strip away his newfound humanity-the clock begins to tick. To survive, Damon must decide: sacrifice the very thing that makes him human, or risk everything for the person he loves most. To feel anything is to feel everything.