Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky
Age range: YA / Teen
The reader is welcomed to 2060, where every aspect of life has been digitalised. School, work, socialising and even exercising is all done in the digital world. People do not need to leave their home and if they do; they are still plugged in. Connected with their various devices, with their eyes permanently fixed onto the screens.
Madeline (Maddie) is seemingly ok with her life this way. She can exercise on her running machine, paint on her ceiling canvas and meet with her online friends to grab a virtual coffee, a movie or just to hang out.
She seemed content with life the way it was, that is until she meets Justin. He is the complete opposite of Maddie, he craves human interaction. He needs that face-to-face communication which has vanished from life.
When Maddie learns the truth about Justin's lifestyle and his intentions for finding her, she realises she needs to make a choice. A choice that means going against her parents beliefs. But it is up to herself alone to make that choice.
"You don't think there's more to life than that little screen? Believe me, if you shut it off for a little while, you'll life. Just in a different way."
Rating: 5 out of 5
I've had this book on my kindle for quite a while and never got around to reading it. I must have read the blurb to have picked it up; but it vanished in the midst of all my other books. Luckily ebooks can't gather dust!
I thought the concept of this book was intriguing; it definitely provokes thought and makes you look at your own life. Life has changed so much in my twenty odd years on this planet, we've been going this way for a while.
One example of this are online worlds, Secondlife more particularly. That is a world where you can do anything. Virtual shop. Be whoever you want to be. Visit Paris. Dance in clubs. Drink virtual coffee. Everything on a screen. I've know people who have put so much time into Second life that they have gone without showering, only leaving their chair to eat, or use the facilities. They stay indoors, locked away, talking to their virtual friends.
I've been guilty of this. Like Maddie, it is so easy to hide behind an online persona and get lost in cyberspace. She only realises she's unhappy about it when she's shown how amazing life can be.
Slightly digressing here, but it's all relevant. The world of Awaken, could happen. The worst part, I think for the most part we will go on with it. I'd suggest putting down my electronic devices for a week; but I'd go stir crazy. When Maddie goes through withdrawal of her devices, her information, her being plugged in ... I was actually surprised how calm she was. Yes, she complained of boredom but I moved house recently; I was without internet for a week. Just a week. I went totally mental. I was horrid to be around. All my games need an online connection, and you just can't get onto someone elses wireless like you used too! (I joke....*shifty eyes*).
Anyway, back to the book. My rating did fluctuate between a 4 and a 5, but I felt the issues were so minor that I could not take a star away from a book so good.
So my first, major issue that nearly did knock it down to four stars. Cars that can fly. Cars that can turn into a submarine. It was like Chitty Chitty bang bang 2.0. The rest of the book was so believable and it was such a realistic world; until those two incidents were thrown in.To some extent, I understand the underwater car. The author needed a way for everyone to escape. But Justin's flying car as a birthday present? I understand it's all about the world moving forward, seeing more of the world, it was just... a little too unrealistic to me.
Another, teeny tiny flaw, was that of Maddie herself. When she becomes unplugged and is in a safe house with Justin; she learns how to cook. While I understand cooking becoming redundant;
".....take a break during lunch for a protein fruit drink and either a Fibermix sandwich or a VeggieTray salad. The same meal every day. Healthy. Convenient. Fast."
I thought she would have a bit of a basic grasp. Seeing that the digital world did not fully invade her life until she was 5 and she still cooked up to the age of 10 with her Grandma, making a peanut and lettuce sandwich decorated with mustard (in the formation of stars and swirls) seemed like Maddie had gone completely bonkers. I suppose we could put it on the withdrawal, but, the situation was a little unbelievable. I could not picture her to be that naive even if it was incredibly funny.
Anyway, back to the positive. Very rarely do I enjoy the love side of a story. In Awaken, Justin and Maddie had this electricity that made it fantastic to read. Nothing too lovey-dovey but pure seductive passion. No love triangles either. So apart from those tiny issues, I really enjoyed the book. Rather kicking myself I let it fester on my kindle for so long. Now about to pick up book 2!
Price: £4.01
Buy it: Amazon
Still relevant: The world of the tomorrow... (good to see food is not redundant!)
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