Genre: Political Thriller, Science
Fiction, Adult
Source: I received a copy to
facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This book took me longer than usual to read. The author has done a fantastic job of
creating a technological language that takes a while to get used to. For this reason I would recommend anyone
reading this book continue on when they start feeling frustrated with the
language. Your brain eventually picks it
up. You can also go to their website where they have a glossary of the words used in the book. You can check it out here. An example from the beginning is the
title. I kept wanting to capitalize the
first letter, thinking there had been a mistake. There was no mistake. We find words like “eyeVids”, “SIMrooms”. I will say that I have trouble reading science
fiction because of the science/technology aspect. I understood this one quite a bit. This one
made me realize that this could actually be our future. Teens today would probably have no problem
getting used to this type of talk or world.
The worlds created by this author are fascinating and scary
at the same time. Teens don’t need to
physically go to a party because they can show up virtually. For me, being older, the idea of having
implants in your brain so that you can be wired into the Web is scary. Another
scary aspect was the fact that your identity could be completely wiped out as
if you never existed.
The story takes another turn when Milan, whose mother is a politician,
goes missing during a solar storm. Milan finds himself in “The Other Side”. In
this world there isn’t any technology. Things are done the old fashioned way.
Milan finds his grandparents in this world. They had disappeared five years
earlier. He will need to make a decision
though. With his grandparents and all of his new friends in one world and his
old friends an mother in the other world, he will have to decide where he
really belongs.
For those people who just need a bit of romance to their
stories, this book has that as well. Audrey and Milan’s mother both find
romance. However, as you read this book the lines between reality and what is
not real begin to blur. The books begs
you to ask yourself if all this technology is for the best. Remember with technology, you have to have
those who police it and we know that those people can take it too far. We are always talking about “Big Brother”. In
a world like this, I’m afraid “Big Brother” would really take over. Then you must ask yourself the question. Is
this really the best life?
Although this book is a science fiction book, the issues it
brings up in each of the worlds are real world issues and something this book
makes you think about. For me if a book can make me emotional or make me
question things in society; mine, the future, or made-up, then the book has
successfully done its job. Well done,
Mars Dumont.
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