Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM\u2014Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue created by the scientists of Gathos City as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, he was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and into the Withers\u2014a quarantined, lawless region. Nate manages to survive by using his engineering skills to become a Tinker, fixing broken tech in exchange for food or a safe place to sleep. When he meets Reed, a kind and fiercely protective boy that makes his heart race, and his misfit gang of scavengers, Nate finds the family he\u2019s always longed for\u2014even if he can\u2019t risk telling them what he is.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Gathos created a genetic failsafe in their GEMs\u2014a flaw that causes their health to rapidly deteriorate as they age unless they are regularly dosed with medication controlled by Gathos City. As Nate\u2019s health declines, his hard-won freedom is put in jeopardy. Violence erupts across the Withers, his illegal supply of medicine is cut off, and a vicious attack on Reed threatens to expose his secret. With time running out, Nate is left with only two options: work for a shadowy terrorist organization that has the means to keep him alive, or stay \u2014 and die \u2014 with the boy he loves.<\/p>\n

Representation Includes<\/h4>\n

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• Gay protagonist (Nate)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
  Content Warnings<\/div>

  depictions of living in poverty, major character death, terminal illness, drug abuse and addiction, implied human experimentation, abuse, descriptions of gore, suicidal ideation, terrorism, kidnapping\/captivity, vomiting, human trafficking, blood\/bleeding\u00a0 \u00a0<\/div>