Spark

The 2014 novel Spark by New Zealand author Rachael Craw is the first in a series of young adult science fiction books set in a modern world where a shadowy organization has manipulated the DNA of test subjects in a quest to create super soldiers. The story centers on a teenager who is unaware that she carries this mutated DNA until a dormant gene activates, making her into a super-powered protector.

In a near-future United States, the Affinity Project has been undertaken by an organization bent on creating genetically advanced fighters. Although they succeed in manipulating genes, the results aren’t exactly what they expected. Instead, they have created three kinds of mutants: Sparks, whose genes are key for producing the enzyme that unlocks the “Optimal” gene in the other two kinds; Shields, generally superior fighters whose Optimal gene makes them into protectors – each becomes the defender of the Spark that activated them; and Strays, superior fighters whose Optimal gene makes them attack the Sparks that activate them. Usually, these mutants form into Spark/Shield/Stray triads, with the Sparks caught in the middle of the Strays’ ongoing attempt to kill them and the Shields’ ongoing attempt to protect them.



Seventeen-year-old Evangeline Everton, who goes by Evie, has recently become an orphan after the death of her mother, and so has gone to New Hampshire to live with her Aunt Miriam, her mother’s twin sister. As she starts her junior year in high school, there is only one good thing about moving: her best friend from childhood, Kitty Gallagher is there too.

Evie starts undergoing a strangely painful growth spurt, with fizzing pins and needles in her spine, insomnia, and a loss of appetite. She has become very obsessed with making sure that Kitty is safe. Seeing what is happening, Miriam realizes that she has to tell Evie the truth: not only are Miriam and Evie both part of the Affinity Project, but both are also Shields. The reason Evie has been feeling so strange lately is that her synthetic Optimal gene has just been activated by her first Spark: Kitty.

However, this means that Kitty’s Stray has also been activated, and the danger could come from anywhere at any time. Still, at this point, neither we nor Evie nor Kitty know exactly who Kitty’s Stray actually is – this lack of knowledge heightens the tension. Still, Evie is genetically programmed to be unable to ignore the instinct to protect her best friend from what will most likely be a fight to the death – to the point that she panics if Kitty is not within a certain distance. As a result, Evie moves in with Kitty’s family in order to be close to her Spark at all times, to the mild consternation of Leonard and Barb, Kitty and Jaime’s parents. The move highlights the class differences between Evie’s working-class roots and the Gallaghers’ wealth.



Evie’s transformation into a super soldier has come with an added benefit – she is supermodel gorgeous, as are all the subjects of the Affinity Project. Kitty is beautiful too, but Evie is interested in Jaime, Kitty’s twin brother. They are clearly both attracted to one another, but the obstacles standing in the way of the relationship include both normal teenage stuff (the awkwardness of dating the brother of a friend), and genetic-mutation stuff (Evie’s interest in Jaime interferes with her ability to concentrate on protecting Kitty).

Nevertheless, they eventually get together and share their first kiss. What they realize when their lips touch is that not only does Jaime also have the mutated gene, but he and Evie have a very rare Synergist bond which boosts and amplifies all their mental and physical abilities when near each other. From here, their relationship progresses in supportive and emotionally beneficial ways, especially as Jaime is deeply respectful of Evie’s superior abilities, allowing her the space to figure out what she wants and needs without trying to control her decisions.

The climactic twist of the novel is a double reveal that sets Evie’s world spinning because everything she thought she knew about herself is actually wrong. It turns out that the woman who raised Evie wasn’t actually her mother – instead, her real mother is Miriam, who tried to keep her daughter at arms’ length because she was worried for her safety. Part of her concern is that Evie has a twin brother, Aidan; he is the Stray who is hunting Kitty – the person who will stop at nothing to ensure that Kitty dies.



In the end, although Evie prevents Aidan from killing Kitty, the truth about her family alienates Kitty’s family – including Jaime. After Evie foils his attack, representatives of the Affinity Project take Aidan to lock him away. In a shocking turn, Jaime hands Evie over to Affinity as well. During her interactions with Aidan, Evie started to doubt what she had been told about the Strays. The story continues in the two sequels to this novel.