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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was all ready for a Truman Show, Black Mirror, celebrity culture mashup, and this book definitely scratches that itch, but at the same time just barely skims the surface. It does that thing where plots and characters follow a flimsy logic only meant to get from A —> B (and worse, sometimes, only as an excuse for an out-of-place writing flourish), and ignoring any realism in the characters or world they’ve created. In most fiction that’s enough for me to put a book down early on, so credit to Angelo’s concept and consistently engaging writing that I never even considered that here. But loose logic and lack of depth is REALLY frustrating in speculative fiction, particularly when exploring ideas that demand complexity, depth, genuine humanity, etc. File under “might work better as a TV mini-series”?
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting premise but I felt like it dragged on and also tried to be some many things at once.
Marvelous. Brava!!
Truman Show meets Handmaids Tale meets Ready Player One. You need to read this book. It’s a dystopian look into the “future” of social media, celebrities, and regrowth. You follow two friends as they climb the social rankings to celebrity status in present time; all the while following the time-line of a futuristic celebrity. This book will make you rethink the way you see people online, and make you second guess if you ever wanted to be famous to begin with. It’s a twisted and honest work of fiction that has me mind-blown. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (Also, the cover art
Truman Show meets Handmaids Tale meets Ready Player One. You need to read this book. It’s a dystopian look into the “future” of social media, celebrities, and regrowth. You follow two friends as they climb the social rankings to celebrity status in present time; all the while following the time-line of a futuristic celebrity. This book will make you rethink the way you see people online, and make you second guess if you ever wanted to be famous to begin with. It’s a twisted and honest work of fiction that has me mind-blown. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (Also, the cover art
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a terrifying, dystopian - yet feasible - take on our internet dependent culture
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.
I can appreciate the irony of taking about this book when I received it in digital form and am encouraged to talk about it on social media in order to promote it. While reading this, I couldn't help feeling like I was reading a Black Mirror episode. In fact, if they don't option for this to be adapted into one of their episodes or even a movie, I'd be very surprised. This sort of premise is right up their alley: technology and the internet has evolved in such a way that it's inside a person's head, and it communicates in the first person. Moreover, reality TV has gotten to where a person's entire life is on display with only small spaces as private-- with the network reminding them to go into an on-camera area if they stay away too long.
This book is pretty brilliant in that it feels so true in what it's portraying. The way these people's lives are scripted from who they marry to when they have children, how some of them are sponsored and are expected to have a certain image, how outsiders view celebrities and how quickly they can turn on someone. It also does great with social media and how quickly something can escalate from those platforms. It's also not entirely unbelievable for the government to control the internet, though I think the reaction to the Spill was maybe a little too over-the-top? Though it's hard to say how people would actually react to such a thing.
I like how there is no villain in this. Not even the network and the Spill feels like a villain, more like antagonists. They're just forces working in opposition to our characters' goals. Bad things certainly happen, but none of it feels truly evil. They're all just flawed humans trying to make this world work in their favor, and it's all very relateable. It feels more like a story of self-discovery and finding peace with yourself and your life than anything. I don't want to say more and influence how people read this book. I also liked the different ways the term "follower" was used in the story. Again I don't want to say too much, but I saw three different definitions of the word playing out, and that's clever.
The book is clearly taking place in an alternate universe, but it's one that's close enough to our reality that I think we can glean something valuable from it if we want.
I can appreciate the irony of taking about this book when I received it in digital form and am encouraged to talk about it on social media in order to promote it. While reading this, I couldn't help feeling like I was reading a Black Mirror episode. In fact, if they don't option for this to be adapted into one of their episodes or even a movie, I'd be very surprised. This sort of premise is right up their alley: technology and the internet has evolved in such a way that it's inside a person's head, and it communicates in the first person. Moreover, reality TV has gotten to where a person's entire life is on display with only small spaces as private-- with the network reminding them to go into an on-camera area if they stay away too long.
This book is pretty brilliant in that it feels so true in what it's portraying. The way these people's lives are scripted from who they marry to when they have children, how some of them are sponsored and are expected to have a certain image, how outsiders view celebrities and how quickly they can turn on someone. It also does great with social media and how quickly something can escalate from those platforms. It's also not entirely unbelievable for the government to control the internet, though I think the reaction to the Spill was maybe a little too over-the-top? Though it's hard to say how people would actually react to such a thing.
I like how there is no villain in this. Not even the network and the Spill feels like a villain, more like antagonists. They're just forces working in opposition to our characters' goals. Bad things certainly happen, but none of it feels truly evil. They're all just flawed humans trying to make this world work in their favor, and it's all very relateable. It feels more like a story of self-discovery and finding peace with yourself and your life than anything. I don't want to say more and influence how people read this book. I also liked the different ways the term "follower" was used in the story. Again I don't want to say too much, but I saw three different definitions of the word playing out, and that's clever.
The book is clearly taking place in an alternate universe, but it's one that's close enough to our reality that I think we can glean something valuable from it if we want.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated