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blueloris's review
3.0
Ok, so on the one hand, I read this very fast and definitely was interested to see where it was going. However, the farther along I got, the less interested I was.
Proxy is yet another take on the "this is the future and it sucks" theme so prevalent right now. In a nutshell, there's only the very rich and the very poor, so rich "patrons" hire "proxies" to take their punishments for them; in this way proxies can then pay off part of the debt that virtually every poor person is burdened with.
Which brings me to our teen hero, Syd. He's been under contract to his patron, Knox, since they were kids, and unfortunately Knox is a jerk who gets in trouble all the time which leads to copious amounts of corporal punishment for poor Syd, who nevertheless, still has years of debt to pay off. But this time Knox has gone too far, and Syd's about to be shipped off to a labor camp, but through a series of lucky escapes and coincidences, Syd and Knox end up going on the lam.
This is where the book started to lose me and I find I can't write about it without spoilers galore so.
For a world in which high tech security and data literally streams in everyone's blood, it's pretty darn easy for Knox (conveniently a skilled hacker) and Syd to continually elude their trackers. Especially after Syd has made the boneheaded move of going STRAIGHT TO HIS HOME to warn his surrogate father, Mr. Baram, that he's in trouble.
But lo, Mr. Baram has a secret! He's been helping Syd all these years because Syd is the key to the revolution that will liberate the people from debt and oppression. There's a rebel camp that Syd needs to find in order to set this revolution in motion, so he helps Syd, Knox, and a girl who's been aiding them get away. The journey to the camp is treacherous, they almost die several times, but finally, finally, they make it to the camp, where.... Mr. Baram greets them.
Um, hey Mr. Baram, how'd you get there so fast and maybe you could've brought Syd with you instead of leaving him to deal with bandits, the desert and a flash flood. And actually, while we're at it, why did you wait until special savior Syd almost died at the hands of his patron before you sent him off to do his world saving?
Anyway, plot holes aside, we come to the twist that anyone who's seen Buffy probably already guessed, and while I like the idea in theory, it doesn't have much of an emotional impact because the character development/motivation all around has been lacking.
But in some ways, the most important thing about this book isn't the world-building or the twists and turns; it's that the main character is gay. I found this extremely refreshing, especially because while there's some homophobia throughout, Syd being gay isn't the point of the book. He's the hero, he's the key to changing the world, and he also happens to be gay.
So here's hoping that he'll get a love interest in the sequel, which yes, despite my misgivings, I'll probably read.
Proxy is yet another take on the "this is the future and it sucks" theme so prevalent right now. In a nutshell, there's only the very rich and the very poor, so rich "patrons" hire "proxies" to take their punishments for them; in this way proxies can then pay off part of the debt that virtually every poor person is burdened with.
Which brings me to our teen hero, Syd. He's been under contract to his patron, Knox, since they were kids, and unfortunately Knox is a jerk who gets in trouble all the time which leads to copious amounts of corporal punishment for poor Syd, who nevertheless, still has years of debt to pay off. But this time Knox has gone too far, and Syd's about to be shipped off to a labor camp, but through a series of lucky escapes and coincidences, Syd and Knox end up going on the lam.
This is where the book started to lose me and I find I can't write about it without spoilers galore so.
Spoiler
For a world in which high tech security and data literally streams in everyone's blood, it's pretty darn easy for Knox (conveniently a skilled hacker) and Syd to continually elude their trackers. Especially after Syd has made the boneheaded move of going STRAIGHT TO HIS HOME to warn his surrogate father, Mr. Baram, that he's in trouble.
But lo, Mr. Baram has a secret! He's been helping Syd all these years because Syd is the key to the revolution that will liberate the people from debt and oppression. There's a rebel camp that Syd needs to find in order to set this revolution in motion, so he helps Syd, Knox, and a girl who's been aiding them get away. The journey to the camp is treacherous, they almost die several times, but finally, finally, they make it to the camp, where.... Mr. Baram greets them.
Um, hey Mr. Baram, how'd you get there so fast and maybe you could've brought Syd with you instead of leaving him to deal with bandits, the desert and a flash flood. And actually, while we're at it, why did you wait until special savior Syd almost died at the hands of his patron before you sent him off to do his world saving?
Anyway, plot holes aside, we come to the twist that anyone who's seen Buffy probably already guessed, and while I like the idea in theory, it doesn't have much of an emotional impact because the character development/motivation all around has been lacking.
But in some ways, the most important thing about this book isn't the world-building or the twists and turns; it's that the main character is gay. I found this extremely refreshing, especially because while there's some homophobia throughout, Syd being gay isn't the point of the book. He's the hero, he's the key to changing the world, and he also happens to be gay.
So here's hoping that he'll get a love interest in the sequel, which yes, despite my misgivings, I'll probably read.
tclaussen's review
2.0
Most of this book was very predictable, like Egan unknowingly betraying Syd and that Syd would need to die in order to send out the virus. I appreciated the end but I don't feel compelled to immediately read the sequel. I usually like shifting points of view, but it was a little disorienting in this book. Also, I don't think Knox's character was really fleshed out. He seemed mentally not there for the majority of the book. I understand that he was supposed to be shallow, but he seemed "tweaked out" for most of the book.
goosemixtapes's review against another edition
2.0
(2022 monthly goals: whichever book has been on my TBR longest)
i mean, it's... fine? it's fine. it was entertaining. the political aspect was good for a YA novel (actual discussion of debt and capitalism and taking down systems in a dystopia! a dystopia that actually has teeth!) though even that could have used a bit more nuance. my issue is that the writing style just feels so unpolished. very first-draft. the head-hopping must have been on purpose, but it drove me fucking insane (please just let me settle into a POV please please). this reads like it has all the ingredients for a great story, but like it also needs a lot more editing, and i'm not sure how much interest i have in the sequel. shoutout to syd for the gay rights though (also knox is definitely bi idc)
i mean, it's... fine? it's fine. it was entertaining. the political aspect was good for a YA novel (actual discussion of debt and capitalism and taking down systems in a dystopia! a dystopia that actually has teeth!) though even that could have used a bit more nuance
Spoiler
uhhhhhh what was that thing about the virus at the end shutting down medical patches for people who need them? we're not even gonna debate about that?leeknow's review
3.0
i finished this book over a year ago but the let down of an ending still haunts me to this day. i loved the majority of it. the concept was great and the characters were interesting. it was messy at times, but i didn’t mind it.
then we got to the ending and i have never read a book where i was so against picking up the sequel. i was more disappointed in the ending than my mother was when i was failing an art class. dying as a form of redemption is the worst trope and i am honestly worried about picking up his other books out of fear that they’ll have that same shit. he had already redeemed himself decently and was getting better! i just sighed and took the sequel of my “to read.”
then we got to the ending and i have never read a book where i was so against picking up the sequel. i was more disappointed in the ending than my mother was when i was failing an art class. dying as a form of redemption is the worst trope and i am honestly worried about picking up his other books out of fear that they’ll have that same shit. he had already redeemed himself decently and was getting better! i just sighed and took the sequel of my “to read.”
ace_writes_words's review against another edition
4.0
Holy shit that ending though!!!!!!!
Review to come I'm sure :)
Review to come I'm sure :)
neglet's review
Lots of action and escalating predicaments/stakes, but I didn’t really connect to the MC so I don’t feel compelled to seek out the sequel.
sidneyellwood's review
5.0
i just finished this and oh my god it was so great. i was at first under the impression that it was a sci-fi novel, which put me off a little bit, but no. it’s dystopia. it’s definitely dystopia, and i love dystopia. also, there’s a trend in dystopia, with something wrong in the world and then a heterosexual white female (or of ambiguous race, which everyone assumes is white) does something to defy government structure and does everything for defying government structure while spending a lot of her time choosing between two boys.
like. this wasn’t it. this was different and refreshing and i really liked it. first off, the society. the society is shit. basically, a corporation runs the whole thing and patrons can pay for proxies, which means that the proxy gets a small benefit for taking the punishments of the patrons. it’s rich vs poor, and the rich are ignorant and the poor have no way to get out of it. this is where paying debts come in and it is a major theme of the novel - the phrase “paying debts” or “owing debts” and just debts in general are mentioned a lot. blood debts, life debts, money debts. (and i had to burst out with “a lannister always pays their debts,” at least in the beginning … later on, i got too involved in the story.) so i liked that. (i need to read divergent … wow.) it was a lot more technological and computerized than a lot of other dystopias i’ve read, which could put it under the sci-fi umbrella.
remember how i said that most other young adult dystopians involve a cishet white female? now i’m all for girls kicking ass and we get that in the form of marie, who is presumably heterosexual, but she’s also a poc. also, knox is a cisgender white guy. the heterosexual … that’s debatable. and syd, the main main character is a gay person of color whose identity is not consumed by the fact, which is PRETTY DAMN COOL. (the only other one i can think of is malinda lo’s books anD I NEED TO READ THEM TOO.)
so yeah. that made me really happy, and while homophobia is discussed and present, the characters don’t really give a shit because they are running for their fucking lives. and the romance isn’t really a big deal either, which, again, is refreshing. knox is a giant flirt. he flirts with tons and tons of girls (or at least he’s said to) and he even flirts with syd a bit, though it’s kind of on the fence to whether he’s joking or serious. marie pretty much likes both syd and knox, syd doesn’t really give a shit and knox just kind of likes both of them. but they’re running for their lives so it’s not a big concern - like it’s there, but it doesn’t completely take over and it’s not overbearing. wow. this is the book i was hoping for. and the stakes just kept getting raised higher and higher; there’s no going back. the plot escalated. and then it escalated more and more and moreandmoreandmore until the fricking ending which made me cry and laugh at the same time.
please don’t talk to me about the ending because i will cry on you and let me say that it was very similar to the last book i reviewed. like i said, i will cry on you.
i liked syd right from the beginning, and i liked marie from the time we met her. marie is definitely the most kickass of the trio, i think. syd is a close second. knox … eh. he’s all right. speaking of knox, i disliked him with a passion for a good half of the novel. i was rooting for syd to punch him in the face, or push him off the horse, or something. and then, later, i realized i liked him. i’m not entirely sure when i started liking knox, i just realized that i did like him after all, and that he was a good character. in my eyes, he had almost redeemed himself for putting syd through sixteen years of hell.
i’m definitely ready for the next book, and will be waiting anxiously.
i give this a 9.5/10, and i recommend this to anyone who likes dystopian or sci-fi, and definitely to anyone who is tired of seeing books about poc or queer people be about the fact that they are poc or queer because this book does not care the antagonists just want to kill the protags and even the protags want to kill the protags sometimes
like. this wasn’t it. this was different and refreshing and i really liked it. first off, the society. the society is shit. basically, a corporation runs the whole thing and patrons can pay for proxies, which means that the proxy gets a small benefit for taking the punishments of the patrons. it’s rich vs poor, and the rich are ignorant and the poor have no way to get out of it. this is where paying debts come in and it is a major theme of the novel - the phrase “paying debts” or “owing debts” and just debts in general are mentioned a lot. blood debts, life debts, money debts. (and i had to burst out with “a lannister always pays their debts,” at least in the beginning … later on, i got too involved in the story.) so i liked that. (i need to read divergent … wow.) it was a lot more technological and computerized than a lot of other dystopias i’ve read, which could put it under the sci-fi umbrella.
remember how i said that most other young adult dystopians involve a cishet white female? now i’m all for girls kicking ass and we get that in the form of marie, who is presumably heterosexual, but she’s also a poc. also, knox is a cisgender white guy. the heterosexual … that’s debatable. and syd, the main main character is a gay person of color whose identity is not consumed by the fact, which is PRETTY DAMN COOL. (the only other one i can think of is malinda lo’s books anD I NEED TO READ THEM TOO.)
so yeah. that made me really happy, and while homophobia is discussed and present, the characters don’t really give a shit because they are running for their fucking lives. and the romance isn’t really a big deal either, which, again, is refreshing. knox is a giant flirt. he flirts with tons and tons of girls (or at least he’s said to) and he even flirts with syd a bit, though it’s kind of on the fence to whether he’s joking or serious. marie pretty much likes both syd and knox, syd doesn’t really give a shit and knox just kind of likes both of them. but they’re running for their lives so it’s not a big concern - like it’s there, but it doesn’t completely take over and it’s not overbearing. wow. this is the book i was hoping for. and the stakes just kept getting raised higher and higher; there’s no going back. the plot escalated. and then it escalated more and more and moreandmoreandmore until the fricking ending which made me cry and laugh at the same time.
please don’t talk to me about the ending because i will cry on you and let me say that it was very similar to the last book i reviewed. like i said, i will cry on you.
i liked syd right from the beginning, and i liked marie from the time we met her. marie is definitely the most kickass of the trio, i think. syd is a close second. knox … eh. he’s all right. speaking of knox, i disliked him with a passion for a good half of the novel. i was rooting for syd to punch him in the face, or push him off the horse, or something. and then, later, i realized i liked him. i’m not entirely sure when i started liking knox, i just realized that i did like him after all, and that he was a good character. in my eyes, he had almost redeemed himself for putting syd through sixteen years of hell.
i’m definitely ready for the next book, and will be waiting anxiously.
i give this a 9.5/10, and i recommend this to anyone who likes dystopian or sci-fi, and definitely to anyone who is tired of seeing books about poc or queer people be about the fact that they are poc or queer because this book does not care the antagonists just want to kill the protags and even the protags want to kill the protags sometimes
prolocomotives's review
5.0
oh.my.god. this book is absolutely amazing. I need the next like right now. It was action packed filled with suspense to the brim,I recommend to any one who likes great dystopias.
teaoles's review
4.0
I haven't whipped through a book this fast in a while. It hooked me with it's interesting take on "The Whipping Boy" plot line.
A very updated version that maintains the message of the original story but keeps itself relevant for readers of this era.
A very updated version that maintains the message of the original story but keeps itself relevant for readers of this era.