About the Book

Book: Augmented

Author: Candace Kade

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Lee Urban must win to survive.

After being sentenced to the banned list, half of the Asian Federation believes Lee Urban is a ticking time bomb that could end the world as they know it. They’re willing to do anything to erase her existence and silence her voice before she can take a stand.

There’s only one way to fight back: enroll in the Race to the Clouds. Winning the competition would garner global media attention and give Urban the coverage she needs to dismantle the enhancement programs. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the deadliest event of the year.

With less time to train than her rivals, Urban and her team must find a way to best the competition. But as enemies close in, riots erupt, and her homeland teeters on the brink of civil war, one thing is certain— she’s running out of time. Not just for herself, but for every Natural she represents.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Candace Kade is a recovering over-achiever who spends her time dreaming up stories typically involving tech, psychology, culture, and/or swords. She’s a certified Krav Maga assistant instructor and loves writing action-packed martial art scenes. A third culture kid, she considers Chengdu and OKC to be her homes.

When she’s not exploring new countries, she enjoys hiking in national parks, moving (again!), teaching her husband Mandarin, and keeping two baby humans alive. She can be bribed with boba tea, fluffy puppies, and breakfast tacos.

More from Candace

Have you ever broken a cherished possession?

I have. It was my porcelain mug that I bought while traveling through Ireland. The trip was so special and that cup always brought me happy memories as I sipped tea from it.

My husband tried to fix it for me, but the mug is not the same. It now sits tucked in the back of our cupboards too broken to be used but too precious to be throw away.

Being broken doesn’t mean something—or someone—loses purpose.

In kintsugi, the Japanese art form that involves intentionally breaking tea ware, the fragments left over are pieced back together with golden filling. The final result is more beautiful than the original unblemished version ever could be.

The brokenness enhances the tea ware’s beauty.

In my novel Augmented, I wanted to draw a comparison between brokenness and beauty. Just like kintsugi takes broken pottery and turns it into something beautiful, my protagonist Urban faces her own transformation. She is hopeless and feels like she can’t pick up the shattered pieces of her life. But as she tries out for the world’s most deadly race, she learns that being broken doesn’t mean what she thinks it does.

The things that happen to us have a purpose. If we let the Creator finish His masterpiece (us) He’ll use the fragmented pieces of our lives to make a beautiful finished work of art.

Urban feels the same way, believing her brokenness defines her. But through trial and grace, she discovers what it means to be made new.

No one is too broken to be saved or redeemed.

I wrote this book for anyone who’s ever felt lost, hopeless, or broken. We can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about what readers can expect from your books?
High-stakes action and adventure, plot twists you won’t see coming, epic world building, and romance, all paired with deeper themes of belonging, home, family, destiny and purpose.

What is the greatest advice you have ever been given about writing?
Live life to the fullest and then write about it. This advice was given to me when I was in college by a published author and I took it to heart. I’ve mountain biked in the Himalayan foothills, stayed up all night dancing at a wedding in Brazil, I’ve gone spear fishing in Belize, learned to make authentic chai while visiting India, gone hunting with my grandpa in Texas, taken dance classes in LA, and more. All of these experiences have helped me to write richer and fuller stories.

Can you share 5 random facts about this book?
Of course! Most of the names in the book are based of things in nature (Coral, Blossom, Ash, Everest, ect.). Book three is based off of a real race that exists today called Pikes Peak Race to the Clouds only I took creative liberties to extrapolate it to the future. The chapter headers in each book have easter eggs in them. The premise of the series, that the rich have genetic enhancements, is based off of real technology that exists today in the form of CRISPR. Urban, the main character, learns Jiu-jitsu in this series because I was dabbling in that martial art when I was living in Beijing and writing the first book.

What was the inspiration behind it?
I spent my early years growing up in China before leaving to attend college back in the US. A decade later, in 2018, I returned on a job relocation to Beijing, and it was as if I had stepped into a different world. Back when I left, smartphones weren’t part of everyday life, and the internet was something you accessed mostly in cafes. By the time I came back, mobile phones and laptops were everywhere—and people used them for nearly everything, from catching the morning train to paying for quick baozi snacks from a street vendor. The rapid change made me imagine what China might look like a century from now, and that thought became the initial idea for my book.

Can you share something interesting or surprising you learned while researching for the book?
The villains in my book came about when researching Dragon Boat Festival. I learned about the five deadly poisons in China’s history: snakes, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, and poisonous toads. It gave me the idea for a group of enhanced with those traits. I must say, the red centipede images I looked up were disgusting and still creep me out.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Before you go, where can readers keep up with what’s next?
They can sign up for my newsletter on my website (candacekade.com) where I give family-friendly book recommendations and bookish giveaways. Or they can connect with me on Instagram!