Awaken – Katie Kacvinsky (Book #1)

Synopsis

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.

n this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

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My Review

I’ve been thinking about how I would write a review for this book since I read the first few pages and now I’ve finished it, it’s conjured all these thoughts inside me because who knows, this could actually become real life in a matter of years as technology is expanding all around the world each day.Computers, phones, iPods all have a massive role in our life today and everyday you see people attached to their technology whether it’s on public transport, walking through town, even whilst they are driving. I know I’ve become one of those people – twitter being number one.It’s becoming a world obsessed and dependent on technology and that is exactly what this book is about. It’s set in the year 2060 and People – due to conflicts in the past – are too afraid to go outside their home and socialize, who hide behind their computers to ‘make friends’, who go to school on their computer, who order food and clothes instead of going to the shops. Sound familiar at all?

But then you have the people who are opposed to this way of life, like Justin and his friends, who find and recruit people to rebel against the system and then you have Maddie, who- when she was younger hacked her dads computer system and was a part of the protesters bombing radio stations and is now on probation. She is dependent on technology but then she meets Justin and everything she’s known changes.
I don’t want to write spoilers about what happens during the book but as any ‘love interests’ go, Justin and Maddie made me so frustrated with the whole ‘will they won’t they’ and how Justin doesn’t think about himself, as he’s more concerned about other people. I did fall in love with Justin a little bit but his whole ‘computers are bad’ speeches did get annoying at times.
Saying all that, I cannot wait for the sequel.