Author: Katie KacvinskyGenre: Young Adult - Dystopian
Publication Date: May 23rd 2011
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 352Date Scoot Read: November 2010
Source: Galley via netGalley & Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Scoot's Rating: 4- Mixed feelings.
Synopsis (via Goodreads): Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her.
Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking.
In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.
Scoot’s Review:
Hmm, well I was not all that impressed with this book. I feel like the author had a great concept, but didn’t really do much with it. At times the adventure was great and the digitally minded dystopian world seemed pretty believable. However, I feel this book was all a build-up to ... nothing. Or the second novel if there is going to be one. The main character Maddie did go through a lot of development as she learned that life in a digital world is not a real life. Yet, I still had the feeling of something missing. The story is told from Maddie’s perspective and is at times interspaced with her hand-written journal entries. The journal entries felt out of place, they didn’t flow well with the story. On the plus side I liked Justin, and his slowly building romance with Maddie didn’t seem forced. It was really sweet, and some of their scenes together were perfectly placed and written. I also love the cover art for this book! Awaken is an interesting read, but not one that I would be in any rush to purchase.
5 comments:
This cover is SO interesting...thx for the review.
Jen
I totally agree with you, Scoot. I haven't written my review for Awaken yet, but I wasn't terribly impressed with it. My issue really had to do with the build up. It had this great direction and then...nothing. Sure, the end left room for the sequel, but it could have been better. I really like the message that the book was making about social connections was great, though.
I was so, so sad that I missed this on NetGalley--you've made me feel a little bit better :)
I think now I'll wait to see if my library gets it and not necessarily buy it right away.
I've been hesitant about this book. I think I may still read it, but it will go to the bottom of my tbr pile.
I'm sorry to hear you didn't like it because I'm really looking forward to it. There seems to be a lot of books with a build-up to nothing lately.
Post a Comment