Katie Kacvinsky
Pages: 320
Ages: 12+
Ages: 12+
When Maddie gets invited to a face-to-face tutoring session, she's not sure she wants to go. It's comfortable here, behind her screen. She can attend DS (Digital School) and go on dates and exercise just like all the other teens her age: in the safety of her own home. With all the violence in the old schools, it's better they were shut down. It's better that people have less face to face contact. But something about Justin, and his eagerness to bend the rules attracts her. After all, it was just two years ago that she tried to sabotage her father's DS empire herself. Maybe it was just an impulse at the time, but she's wondering if she should trust her instincts.
I loved the premise of the story. Set in a not-so-distant future America, the dystopia that Kacvinsky has created is entirely believable. More and more people have retreated to interactions behind the privacy of their computer screens. Why would there be a reason to leave the safety of your house when everything is right there at your fingertips? The story was an interesting tale of a girl's run-in with the rebels she once inadvertently helped and her struggle to decide if she'd rather remain in the comfort of her digital world or be a part of the increasingly enticing "real" one. The book was well written, the characters likable and the romantic elements blissfully toned down. I did sometimes wish that the world the author built wasn't quite so strikingly similar to our own, as I felt it masked the power of the critique she was making. Looking back, I'm not sure why I felt that way but there it is.
I loved the premise of the story. Set in a not-so-distant future America, the dystopia that Kacvinsky has created is entirely believable. More and more people have retreated to interactions behind the privacy of their computer screens. Why would there be a reason to leave the safety of your house when everything is right there at your fingertips? The story was an interesting tale of a girl's run-in with the rebels she once inadvertently helped and her struggle to decide if she'd rather remain in the comfort of her digital world or be a part of the increasingly enticing "real" one. The book was well written, the characters likable and the romantic elements blissfully toned down. I did sometimes wish that the world the author built wasn't quite so strikingly similar to our own, as I felt it masked the power of the critique she was making. Looking back, I'm not sure why I felt that way but there it is.
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