A sci-fi young adult trilogy by Dan Krokos.
Miranda North wakes up on a park bench with no memory other than her name and age. After wandering around a mall for a while, she decides to ask for help from a security guard. Only she manages to accidentally trigger a mysterious ability she has, which unleashes an energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her, except for a guy her age. His name is Peter, and he claims that he knows her and can explain everything.
Left with no choice but to trust him, Miranda goes with him to the base he lives at. There she finds out that she's a part of a team of genetically enhanced teenagers trained their whole lives to be weapons called 'Roses' because a side effect of their abilities is that it causes people to smell roses when they use them because of how they affect the brain.
Oh, also that she's dating one of them. . .and it's not Peter.
She tries to adjust back to the life that she was living before, only to uncover a Dark Secret about the team that sends them on the run, which turns out to not even be the worst of the they all don't know about themselves.
This series provides examples of:
- Amnesiac Lover:
- Miranda, who was dating Noah before losing her memory.
- Peter is this to Miranda at the end of the series.
- Atrocious Alias: Rhys jokingly calls the clone of Miranda they take into the group 'the Sequel', and it catches on to the point where everyone calls her 'Sequel'.
- Big Damn Kiss: When Miranda and Peter are reunited after she's brought back to life.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Rhys. He killed the members of his Alpha Team to keep them from being forced into becoming monsters.
- Last Request: Moments from death, Noah asks for Miranda to kiss him. Despite everything, she does.
- Lying to Protect Your Feelings: Noah asks Miranda if she's really his Miranda and not a clone of her while he's dying and Miranda assures him she is.
- Kirk Summation:Albin: And I’m sick because of this planet. A planet full of people who willingly destroy themselves. How many people — actual citizens of this world — would end it all if they could? If they could press a button and end erase everything? A hundred? A thousand? Millions, maybe. What do you think?Miranda: I think you should tell me exactly what you want from me and stop trying to rationalize mass murder.
- My Greatest Failure: Noah regards his erasing Miranda's memory in an effort to keep her safe as this.
- For Miranda it's letting Noah enter a room first, a simple action which resulted in his death.
- Sleight of Tongue: A bit more complex than normal: Noah kisses Miranda to give her two of the four capsules of the medicine that keeps them from losing their memory he had in his mouth. Then Noah kisses Olive to give her one of the two in his mouth while Miranda does the same with Peter. They play it off like it's their tearful goodbyes before losing their memories.
- Afterwards one of the people who had been watching via security cameras enters the room, and this exchange ensues:
Tobias: You guys are pretty weird.Noah: You have no idea.Tobias: Hopefully that goes away when you lose your memories.Olive: Doubt it.
- Replacement Goldfish: Noah starts dating a clone of Miranda, all the while very aware that this is happening.
- The Reveal: Miranda's Identity Amnesia was caused by her boyfriend, Noah.
- Miranda is a clone of the Miranda that was a part of Alpha Team.
- True Earth is the future, not an alternate universe.
- The members of Alpha Team were not raised as children to be weapons. Only the last three years of training were real.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After talking with a man who explains that he went grocery shopping and came back to find his wife was murdered, Miranda briefly wonders how Peter would respond to that, and feels bad for the imaginary people who killed her.
- Would Hit a Girl: Peter.Peter: You didn’t break my nose.Miranda: Too bad.Peter: No, that’s good. Because I would’ve broken yours.Miranda: You’d hit a girl?Peter: We fight all the time.
- Wrong-Name Outburst: Sequel cut and dyed her hair in response to one.
