Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

Awaken 
by Kat Kacvinsky
Pages: 320

Released: May 23, 2011

Awaken
Summary: 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. In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

My Thoughts: I like how this book parallels our world.

What I liked: The book started out showing us Maddie's 'techie' lifestyle and I was hooked within the first few pages. It was interesting to see what the year 2060 was like and how technology was taking over people's lives. When they say everything is done online, they do mean everything. Kacvinsky does a superb job showing readers why we should not let technology control us and remind us that we are humans, not machines. This book really made me think a lot about society and more specifically how I am affected by technology. Like the book says, it's a drug and we're all becoming addicts. My favorite part of this book was Justin, he had a troubling past, he's very likable, and was an awesome love interest. I've seen GoodReads reviews and some say the book was slow, but it didn't seem that way to me--I couldn't put it down, the writing style was lovely too.

What I disliked: Argh, I was about to give this book a 5 star rating but then came the last ~15 pages of the book. the author did such a great job telling pulling us into this huge debate and I thought the ending was going to be a huge finale, but it was anticlimactic. It seemed a bit rushed and an arbitrary way to end things.

Conclusion: Despite the, ending I still enjoyed this book and would read it again because the author does a great job analyzing technology and our increasing consumption of it.

Cover translated: The Rebellion of Maddie Freeman

4/5 stars

Source: Library.

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Check out the German book cover (right). I never would have thought they were for the same book, very cool. ----->
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I had no idea this was a series, it didn't say so on Goodreads, might have to reevaluate my rating. For now it'll be fluctuating between a 4 and 5.