This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (review)

Since a plague ravaged the world and her geneticist father was kidnapped by the ruling corporation of Cartaxus, seventeen-year-old Catarina Agatta has been surviving on her own, working as a hacker for the resistance movement known as the Skies. Her father's been gone for two years when Cole, an AWOL Cartaxus soldier, shows up at her cabin with news of her father's death and a message from him: he succeeded in creating a vaccine, and he wants Cat and Cole to work together to decrypt it and release it to the public. Suvada sets up a familiar opposition in this post-apocalyptic future and then quickly upends it. Cole is hardly the corporate goon Cat expected, and she soon realizes that Cartaxus isn't quite the oppressive regime she's been led to believe, either; Cat also learns that the father she'd idolized as a hero had spent years conducting cruel experiments on children—including Cole—in the service of what he believed was the greater good. She's forced to reckon with both her own and her father's motives when it becomes clear that decrypting the vaccine is going to come at a terrible cost to her. Cat and Cole's relationship develops in a satisfying slow burn as they follow Cat's father's breadcrumb trail, complicated by both of their lingering feelings for others. Swift, intense action sequences balance more intimate and philosophical moments, and stunning twists and turns make for a nail-biting final act. The conclusion puts the most urgent threat to rest, but the final scenes see Cat and Cole hitting the road again to deal with the more insidious menace that's been revealed. Readers will eagerly anticipate delving further into Cat and Cole's world and adventures. SS