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Hybrids
Jonny and Kestrella are hybrids, victims of 'Creep', a pandemic that causes sufferers to merge with items of technology when over-exposed to their use. On a mission to locate Kestrella's mother, the two must first escape from the Gene Police.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
6 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
David Thorpe
16 books14 followersDavid is a novelist, comics writer, environmental writer, journalist and consultant, and editor. He is the winner of the 2006 HarperCollins/Saga Magazine contest to find a major new children's writer with his novel Hybrids, published in 2007. In March 2008 it also won the Lewisham Schools Book Award.
"Essential reading for the cyberspace generation."
David runs his own media company, Cyberium (a marriage of delirium and cybernetics)! He lives in beautiful Wales but was born in Robin Hood country - Nottingham. He is married to musician and composer Helen Adam.
His career includes tv and film scriptwriting, interactive scriptwriting. And being the only person in the world (probably) to hold a degree in Dada and Surrealism!
David is the author of Doc Chaos, the comics, tv scripts and novella, and has written many comics and cartoon strips such as Captain Britain, Public Servants and Managing Hell.
He was also a co-founder and committee member of the London Screenwriters Workshop, and co-wrote The Fastest Forward for Comic Relief, a feature film starring Jerry Hall.
"Essential reading for the cyberspace generation."
David runs his own media company, Cyberium (a marriage of delirium and cybernetics)! He lives in beautiful Wales but was born in Robin Hood country - Nottingham. He is married to musician and composer Helen Adam.
His career includes tv and film scriptwriting, interactive scriptwriting. And being the only person in the world (probably) to hold a degree in Dada and Surrealism!
David is the author of Doc Chaos, the comics, tv scripts and novella, and has written many comics and cartoon strips such as Captain Britain, Public Servants and Managing Hell.
He was also a co-founder and committee member of the London Screenwriters Workshop, and co-wrote The Fastest Forward for Comic Relief, a feature film starring Jerry Hall.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 30, 2017
4.5/5 stats
I only give 5 stars to the books that I really loved and Hybrids wasn't one of them. But I decide to rate it with the full 5 stars because of the bad reviews that it have and I thought a lot of people would love this book but maybe reading reviews it have they wouldn't give it a chance.
So, where I may start? The book have an impressive and innovative idea. People becoming cyborgs due to a strange and creepy new desease? Man, that's mad.
The book it's narrated in a multiple view point, but have two main characters Kestrella, a girl with a phone as hand, and Jonny (or whatever he want to call himself) a half computer boy.
The events through the story happens kind of fast and maybe that's why some people find the end quite abrupt. But it liked it, maybe in part because I came from reading a really slow book, but also because I think this made the book less "serious" and that make me feel more connected with the characters. For example, you never know a lot of things that seems to be important and that may make you fell uncomfortable, but at the same time this is exactly how the characters must feel at the moment so you can connect better with them.
[ENDING SPOILER ALERT]
There's was only a few thing I really didn't liked. I felt like the author could have write a lot more about this world and it's like the book it's just scratching the surface. And the ending, I don't know, but I hated how Kestrella's mother just magically redeemed and realised she was being manipulated (like a too much happy ending). And why Lionel? Why "little lion"? because it's an English a French name? Because he feels like a lion now? I just can't find any kind of connection with the boy he was after everything that had happened and his new name.
I only give 5 stars to the books that I really loved and Hybrids wasn't one of them. But I decide to rate it with the full 5 stars because of the bad reviews that it have and I thought a lot of people would love this book but maybe reading reviews it have they wouldn't give it a chance.
So, where I may start? The book have an impressive and innovative idea. People becoming cyborgs due to a strange and creepy new desease? Man, that's mad.
The book it's narrated in a multiple view point, but have two main characters Kestrella, a girl with a phone as hand, and Jonny (or whatever he want to call himself) a half computer boy.
The events through the story happens kind of fast and maybe that's why some people find the end quite abrupt. But it liked it, maybe in part because I came from reading a really slow book, but also because I think this made the book less "serious" and that make me feel more connected with the characters. For example, you never know a lot of things that seems to be important and that may make you fell uncomfortable, but at the same time this is exactly how the characters must feel at the moment so you can connect better with them.
[ENDING SPOILER ALERT]
There's was only a few thing I really didn't liked. I felt like the author could have write a lot more about this world and it's like the book it's just scratching the surface. And the ending, I don't know, but I hated how Kestrella's mother just magically redeemed and realised she was being manipulated (like a too much happy ending). And why Lionel? Why "little lion"? because it's an English a French name? Because he feels like a lion now? I just can't find any kind of connection with the boy he was after everything that had happened and his new name.
January 6, 2021
I finished this book today and it’s the by far one of my favourites. The book is fast paced and compelling, and alternately narrated from the viewpoints of Kestrella and Johnny (And his various other names). The book is about a disease called Creep, which fuses electrical components/devices to unlucky people who are overexposed to them.
*spoiler warning*
As people here haven’t all understood everything, the blues are hybrids who have been tagged and registered, the greys are hybrids that are not registered and hide from the gene police, and the reds are hybrids taken to ‘The zone’ or the genetic rehabilitation centre.
The ending was a bit abrupt in my opinion, but left me shook for quite a while-
Basically Johnny has been taken over by Lionel Smith, he hasn’t just adopted this name.
*spoiler warning*
As people here haven’t all understood everything, the blues are hybrids who have been tagged and registered, the greys are hybrids that are not registered and hide from the gene police, and the reds are hybrids taken to ‘The zone’ or the genetic rehabilitation centre.
The ending was a bit abrupt in my opinion, but left me shook for quite a while-
Basically Johnny has been taken over by Lionel Smith, he hasn’t just adopted this name.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2018
I can see where it would win a prize because it hits the right buttons as far as tech/alienation/authority goes for the youff. For me ... well, perhaps I'm not the right audience. Still - an enjoyable read and an interesting way to pass the time.
November 22, 2017
Really good concept, just not my thing.
January 24, 2025
Tem uma coisa descritiva poética nele, mas eu não sei desenvolver
June 22, 2025
Li por conta da escola, mas esse não gostei
February 17, 2013
When I read the summary, I knew that I had to read it right away. The cover also caught my eyes. It looked very...creepy... later I would know that it is actually Johnny who is a hybrid.
Anyway, the concept of of hybrids - humans who were caught with a virus called the Creep which mutates human's DNA to be merged with technology like phones, mp3s, ipods etc to be both fascinating and creepy. Anyhow, I might not explain the whole scientific process very well but you'll understand it better when you read it. But yeah, this disease affected most of the teenage population and some adults. The story begins when Johnny Online and Kestrella met because Kestrella wanted Johnny's help to find her mother was missing a while ago.
Johnny and Kestrella are very interesting characters, both are hybrids. Johnny is cynical because his parents left him because he would the Creep and he had to live on the streets, in fear of being caught by Gene Police to be sent to Genetic Rehabilitation. So at first he didn't trust anyone but of course, Kestrella changed that. Kestrella is more opened and isn't scared because her father had her registered her to be a 'Blue' hybrid. Anyway, I do like Johnny and Kestrella's relationship although it seem to be too fast for them to fall in love.
As for how the Creep came to exist and the cure for it. There are many opinions to it. Of course, politics, propaganda and profit comes into play. All of these issues are what we are facing right now so it makes this book more realistic.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I can now understand why 'Hybrids' author competition. It is very well-written and the ideas are very deep. We can easily relate to these issues about technology. I look forward to reading more of David Thorpe's work!
Anyway, the concept of of hybrids - humans who were caught with a virus called the Creep which mutates human's DNA to be merged with technology like phones, mp3s, ipods etc to be both fascinating and creepy. Anyhow, I might not explain the whole scientific process very well but you'll understand it better when you read it. But yeah, this disease affected most of the teenage population and some adults. The story begins when Johnny Online and Kestrella met because Kestrella wanted Johnny's help to find her mother was missing a while ago.
Johnny and Kestrella are very interesting characters, both are hybrids. Johnny is cynical because his parents left him because he would the Creep and he had to live on the streets, in fear of being caught by Gene Police to be sent to Genetic Rehabilitation. So at first he didn't trust anyone but of course, Kestrella changed that. Kestrella is more opened and isn't scared because her father had her registered her to be a 'Blue' hybrid. Anyway, I do like Johnny and Kestrella's relationship although it seem to be too fast for them to fall in love.
As for how the Creep came to exist and the cure for it. There are many opinions to it. Of course, politics, propaganda and profit comes into play. All of these issues are what we are facing right now so it makes this book more realistic.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I can now understand why 'Hybrids' author competition. It is very well-written and the ideas are very deep. We can easily relate to these issues about technology. I look forward to reading more of David Thorpe's work!
July 30, 2014
It was hard to decide if this book was a three or a four. The ending really disappointed me when I read this years ago. It was too abrupt, too depressing, and it seemed like I had lost the last 20 or thirty pages of the actual book. On the back cover, it mentions that this book was submitted in a contest and won the right to be published, perhaps there was a 300 page limit, and that could explain the rushed, anticlimactic, non-cathartic ending. So, yeah, the ending kinda ruined it for me, and if you would have asked me seven years ago (when I read the book) if it was worth checking out, I would have said "no". So why did I give it a four? Well, while looking at my bookshelf through some of my older books, I picked this one up and remembered it. I remembered hating the ending, but I also remembered really liking it up until the end. The plot had plenty of twists and turns, and the character of Johnny really goes through a significant arc throughout the 300-ish pages. I remembered feeling connected to the characters, I mean, I guess I would've had to be if I felt so kicked in the feelings at the ending. I remembered being confused about how the virus actually worked. Thorpe was kind of vague about the actual science, I seem to remember the explanation being "If you hold on to you phone too long or if you fall asleep at your computer monitor, you will end up fused to it".
I would recommend this book to fans of darker young-adult books like the house of the scorpion, and for people who aren't too put-off too much by a poor resolution to a story.
3.8/5
I would recommend this book to fans of darker young-adult books like the house of the scorpion, and for people who aren't too put-off too much by a poor resolution to a story.
3.8/5
May 31, 2011
Ok, I picked this book up thinking it would be something like iBoy. It sounded like it should be like iBoy, but it was completly different. But first what is a Red, a Blue and a Grey? They were never explained!
Anyway, it was easy to tell whose point of view each chapter was from. I think something like that is quite hard to pull off, but when you do, it can help explain each character's background and feelings better. So why did I give it a three star? To me, the story didn't really go anywhere. I didn't really know what the characters were out to achieve, and when they were trying to find Kestrella's mother, I didn't really sound like care much. THERE WAS ALMOST NO SENSE OF URGENCY AT ALL. And what's with the end "My name is Lionel."? Is there gonna be another one?
Anyway, it was easy to tell whose point of view each chapter was from. I think something like that is quite hard to pull off, but when you do, it can help explain each character's background and feelings better. So why did I give it a three star? To me, the story didn't really go anywhere. I didn't really know what the characters were out to achieve, and when they were trying to find Kestrella's mother, I didn't really sound like care much. THERE WAS ALMOST NO SENSE OF URGENCY AT ALL. And what's with the end "My name is Lionel."? Is there gonna be another one?
August 1, 2011
Can't believe no one else has reviewed this - wierd! Very 'creepy' (!) if slightly (ok, very) unbelievable premis. I like how Johnny changes throughout the book, and evolves as well as it being really wierd. You think you start to know him and then he changrs, I am not quite sure how or why Kestrella loves him but this is a fun read if you just go with the flow and suspend disbelief. I recommend it.
February 12, 2012
Not a book I'd usually go for, but I'm glad i did! A friend recommended this and I couldn't put it down. An abstract concept but a believable one, I liked the different perspectives and the style of writing flowed well, though i will admit the ending felt quite abrupt and I really wanted to carry on reading. Some of the characters were a little frustrating but generally, a nice book if you want a change.
May 1, 2020
A plague that slowly turns people into technology is a really interesting idea, and makes an interesting book.
The plot was interesting, the characters were good. The ending was a little annoying - clearly this wasnt intended to be a stand alone novel. Despite that, I would definitely recommend this, particularly to teen readers looking for something a little different to the popular scifi/fantasy books in the young adult category.
The plot was interesting, the characters were good. The ending was a little annoying - clearly this wasnt intended to be a stand alone novel. Despite that, I would definitely recommend this, particularly to teen readers looking for something a little different to the popular scifi/fantasy books in the young adult category.
March 5, 2010
could have been better. the idea was far out, and the author could have worked it more. abrupt ending, too.
February 26, 2013
didn't finish.
November 10, 2014
Worst book I've ever read. It has a great concept and the potential for a great story was there, but I honestly wish I hadn't wasted my time or money on this book.
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March 27, 2015Jonny and Kestrella are hybrids, victims of a pandemic that causes suffers to merge with items of technology. They're on a mission.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews