“Finding the Gift” by Charis Jones

Finding the Gift

Charis Jones
Independently Published (2025)
ISBN: 979-8986384931
Reviewed by Demetria Head for Reader Views (01/2026)

Finding the Gift by Charis Jones is book two in The CRISPR Evolution series and is science fiction with elements of fantasy and speculative fiction. The story gets off to an interesting start. We come into a lab environment where a nine-year-old named Aurie is caring for two embryos that are being grown in artificial womb tanks. Readers will see from the very beginning how unusual Aurie’s life is, spending time in the lab and actually doing hands-on work. She’s mixing solutions, handling acids, and checking pH levels.

The embryos are named One Fish and Two Fish, and we really get to understand why they exist at all. They know how to communicate with Aurie’s mind; one will let her know if the water is too warm, and the other will ask her to entertain them with the book Mcelligot’s Pool. Aurie is just as unusual as the fish with her forearm threads. These are described as sensors and potential weapons that she used mainly to catch her food. Readers will find this story interesting, especially as more begins to unfold about god-encoding templates, the origins of the fish embryos, how Howard and Jacquiline ended up being pursued by the Federal Institute for Biomedical Research, and so much more.

I love the heavy scientific elements and how this family of scientists poses the question of how two fish embryos can develop without the need for fertilization. I also enjoyed how Aurie and the embryos are able to communicate with each other through some form of telepathy. Readers will begin to learn more about CRISPR-evo Change. Py experiences this when he realizes he can see auras through any object, and sometimes multiple auras. The story becomes even more interesting in my opinion when Jacqueline and Abel are discussing the human god templates attached to embryos and how they might detach at some point. It’s a complex idea, but readers who are heavily into science fiction will get it.

The part of this narrative that really hit hard for me was when Py and Aurie are in his room, and he feels another Change. His vision is slipping, but when he gets the mushroom that Aurie gave him for safety, this pairing and everything Py is going through feels like the door is beginning to swing wide open. I knew I was fully invested in reading more at this point. It’s getting deeper, whether readers are ready for it or not.

There is so much that I think is going to intrigue readers. There’s a point where Py’s god soul has retreated to the ant colony, but this stirs up a huge mess. When the god awakes, the woods have been turned upside down with dead animals, poisoned bird eggs, and everything is off. Aurie has been swarmed and stung, but she recognizes that the ants are giving off some form of neurotoxin. These scenes create urgency and chaos, and left my heart pounding. But I think I was in more shock when Py’s god soul is at the kitchen table with the family, and we realize he’s not just potentially dangerous, but judging humans. He questions why humans are worth saving. I found that very interesting as that scene closed.

As far as character development, Aurie is a highly competent nine-year-old who also harbors grief. Py is the character who shifts from absorbed to curious, and his connection with the ants seems to be leading to something much bigger. Howard is the parent who comes off as mission-first, but he soon has to face his own motives. Jacqueline is still protective and principled. Then there’s Abel, who is skeptical to some degree but also loyal and willing to help his family when they are in danger.

The pacing was very appropriate, slower where familial moments and times in the experimental environment took place. But very pulse-pounding during the chaotic and dangerous moments.

Overall, Finding the Gift by Charis Jones is a heavily science fiction novel with a mixture of fantastical elements, and I would go as far as saying some thriller elements were in there as well. It’s very high-concept. It makes you think about what it actually means to be human and survive, but also how important nature vs. nurture is. It can be compared to Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. The plot is similar, and there are strange biological and ecological forces present. It has the right amount of unsettling moments, especially in a living system that is rewriting all the rules.