Awaken (edition 2011)

This was a remarkable story about a girl who is struggling with her relationship with her father in a dystopian society. It takes a look at what could happen with our society if we become too focused on social media and technology that allows us to live our lives behind closed doors with very little physical interaction with others. I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. ( )

Maddie lives in a digital world. It's 2060, and everyone lives behind their computer screens. It's the safest way to live, and no one seems to question it. All of Maddie's friendships are digital, and everything is done online--school, social interactions, dates. When Maddie meets Justin at a rare, actual tutoring session, he brings doubt into her life. Suddenly, Maddie is questioning everything she believes about her reliance on computers and technology. As her world becomes increasingly non-digital, she faces off against long-held beliefs, her family, and society's expectations.

Awaken is Katie Kacvinsky's first novel, and it's not a bad start to what I expect will be a good career. The novel is uneven; and there's certainly room for Kacvinsky to grow as a writer, but that doesn't mean the book is without merit. At times, Kacvinsky's writing is genuinely funny and often poignant. She captures the uncertainty of a new crush especially well.

The world-building in Awaken is mostly good. The future that Maddie lives in is certainly plausible, and certainly one that readers can relate to. The descriptions of computers and how the humans in Maddie's world relate to them is believable. As we inch closer to a world wherein all of our interactions can be made via computers, it is important to question what we give up in the process. Kacvinsky's book explores this thoroughly. However, the information given to readers about the catalysts that spurred the rapid change to society come so late in the story that they don't serve the plot so much as drag it down.

This is a problem that occurs throughout the book. The overarching plot is compelling enough, but the interspersed diary entries cut up the pace and muddle the storyline. Not enough time is given to secondary characters in order for the reader to care for them. We are supposed to root for Maddie and her crush Justin, but I couldn't help but feel as though I barely knew who he was. While I realize that part of that was intentional, it doesn't completely work. I have to connect with characters to care about their outcomes, and it was difficult in this book.

Pacing problems aside, there's an interesting story here. Kacvinsky is a capable writer, and she is particularly adept at getting in the mind of Maddie. The problem for me is that she tries to hit on the theme and message of the novel too much: characters go on and on about how bad an over-reliance on computers is that it becomes almost comical. There's no subtlety to the story. It is at times so heavy-handed that I found myself rolling my eyes.

However, it's still a solid debut. Many readers will connect with Maddie and even more will find her romance with Justin enough to keep turning the pages. I'll definitely pick up the next effort of Kacvinsky. This book is best for fans of futuristic stories grounded in reality.

Full Disclosure: Accepted electronic review copy from publisher. ( )

The scariest part of AWAKEN is that the scenario is so very plausible.

Increased numbers of school shootings across the US caused schools to become almost like fortresses, so the bombings started, frantic parents started to homeschool their children and almost overnight the Digital School (DS) commenced. Now it is 2060 and no-one leaves their homes as there is no need. Processed food and artificial trees mean that no-one needs to go out shopping or into the garden. Socialization is all done on line with the occasional and increasingly rare face to face events. It is a virtual existence in a real world.

Far-fetched you think? Well, consider how much time you spend with computers right now – 8 hours at work, then another few hours at home doing personal stuff. Catching up with friends, playing games, watching movies – almost sounds like Maddie’s world doesn’t it?

AWAKEN makes you think. Just how much virtual reality is good for us? Would your life come to an end if you couldn’t get onto Facebook today? The online world is not all evil, there are many good things about virtual technology, but it shouldn’t be our whole life either. There is one very poignant scenario where Maddie is asked out on a date – the date means using simulation screens and treadmills to go for a walk; or watching a movie on the computer and chatting while watching it – not going to a real theatre to watch it. When Maddie sees a real sunset for the first time she is amazed, So much more enjoyable than the destination of virtual date she had been asked out on.

AWAKEN is well written, believable and not as totalitarian or gloomy as other books of this genre. There is a second book in the series out now – ‘Middle Ground’

Awaken has an intriguing backstory that could easily happen five or ten years from now. School violence forces a radical change - to move all education online, to the safety of one's home. The fallout of this change is that soon everything moves online. You meet in virtual coffee shops while drinking coffee from your own house, you "screen" movies with friends from your bedroom, alone. The dominoes begin to fall as living becomes more and more obsolete.

Don't get me wrong - people do get out in the book. People go out for work, they go out for occasional social events, it's just not the norm. And it is rather sad. Maddie's responses to finally interacting with the real world are so naive, they're almost heartbreaking.

I also really liked the love story in this one. It didn't jump off the page, like other dystopian relationships in other books, but it grew rather nicely. Maddie questions many things about the boy she likes, instead of just letting him steamroll her own thoughts and ideas down.

I had two issues and both issues are small. 1. I didn't find the big, climactic confrontation scene to be that climactic. Maybe I'm crazy, but it didn't seem like Maddie put forth too much of an effort. 2. While I thought the backstory was well developed, I could have used a bit more current world building. I never really grasped what society was really like in this changed environment. (Which, now that I type that, maybe I couldn't know because Maddie was so in her own world she didn't know? Perhaps?)

This one was on my TBR pile for a good, long while and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. Does it top my list of favorite dystopian novels? No. But it's a good, interesting read if you're a fan of the genre. ( )

I received an ebook ARC for review via NetGalley, and I was super excited because one of my GR besties raved about this book. She loved it... Me? Not so much.

I had some large issues with this, and I just couldn't really lose myself in the book like I would have liked to. As I was reading, I couldn't help drawing comparisons between present day, and how we're gradually shifting to a more "connected" lifestyle than not, so in that respect, the book did speak to me. But, there's a fine line to be walked between getting your point across and proselytizing, and unfortunately, I felt that Kacvinsky crossed the line into preachiness.

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did like it. I think that it had enormous potential to be great. I wanted to like the characters, but I just couldn't stop drawing comparisons to OTHER characters from other books and TV shows and movies, and so I didn't feel that these characters stood on their own.

I felt like this book lacked focus. There was no real central point to the story aside from the warning to not forget to live real lives away from technology once in a while and to think for ourselves. I did feel like this was set up for a sequel -- at least I hope so, since nothing really happened at all. I kept waiting for something, some epiphany, some catalyst to set things off... but it just never came.

This one just didn't do much for me, although I would still be willing to give a sequel a try in the hopes that some rebellion and civil disobedience make an appearance! ( )