Type of read: Commuter Read

What made me pick it up: Book Lover's United January book club pick.

Overall rating: I hate that I liked 'Variation' as much as I did. I feel like Yarros tried to pack too many things into one storyline

death of a sibling, overbearing parents, long lost love, deception, chasing dreams, hidden childbirth, adoption, mysterious requirements for closed adoptions, sibling sabotage, a military man with an overarching sense of duty...the list goes on and on.

and it could have been more concise if they paired it down a bit and focused on the actual content of the story and not all the extras. There was a point about halfway through where I was like 'ok, come on now, we all know what's going to happen, why are there like twenty more chapters.' Maybe I was trying to compare 'Variation' to other Yarros books *cough, Fourth Wing, cough* and make it fit into what I wanted it to be that made me just wish for a little bit more substance and a little less extra, unnecessary fluff. I will say, I didn't end up figuring out the ending exactly as it was written, but I was pretty darn close. I did appreciate the few little twists that showed up. Overall, I think I'm just mad that it reminded me so much of a Colleen Hoover book and that's why I have beef.

Reader's Note: 'Variation' includes themes of sex; intense athletic training environments including verbal and emotional abuse as tactics for success; death; dying; blood; adoption; and mental health discussions.