Review: The House of the Scorpion

Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?

This has to one of the first book that has to do with creating children for a while. I cannot really remember a book like this and that is what excites me. I understand that this book is one that came out years ago but what is surprising is that I keep seeing it in places that I travel so I figured that this book must be good and after reading it, it was not what I was expecting but it was a book that I enjoyed.

This story follows a boy who was created from the DNA from El Patron. The purpose of this boy is to keep his provider alive and healthy. The reader follows what people think of the clone boy, Matteo, and how he goes about changing the country of Opium.

For me this book was an exciting read and it somewhat represents how people view other people who are different from them. This is something that we are exposed to in our lives and the actions that some people take are not ones that resemble that of those in this book but the idea of segregating people because they are different is something that we do.

Matteo for me was a special character. I loved him because of his curiosity and his willingness to keep going. I would have wanted to pull him from his troubles but I feel what he went through is a representation of struggles that we face. Farmer took a character and gave him a role that made him play a significant role that can impact those who read this book.

The ending was crazy and I know that there is a second book. I am willing to check it out and see what Farmer has done to keep the character of Matteo alive. I felt that this was a good read and I feel that people will enjoy this book as well.

I give this book 4 bites!