He studied the tree trunk. “This planet will outlive us all. People are just lucky enough to pass through. But we’re so self-absorbed - we don’t get it. People are deluded enough to think we can conquer the planet. Or that we’re powerful enough to destroy it.” Justin shook his head and stepped back. “But we’ll never have that kind of power. Humans are like every other species. We’ll come and go. We’re just passing through.”
When I first saw the cover of awaken it was sitting on a book stand, something about the jar with the flowers caught my attention. I opened it up and read the first chapter, I was hooked. There is something to be said about a book that grabs your attention from the very first words.
When Madeline was in her early years of school suddenly the world around her changed drastically. High School shootings had lead to mass shoots, which then lead to mass bombings. Trying to make a radical change, to save the lives of thousands of children, the world around her began to move their children to Digital Schools. Fast forward twelve or so years and Madeline is almost 18, and about to attend her first ever tutor class with real people. Most of her time is spent securely in her house, attending digital school, painting on her digital canvas, plugging into different social chat rooms or going on scenic runs (on the treadmill in her basement). Each year her (old skool) mum (who reads printed magazines instead of digital ones! THE HORROR!) hands down real paper books to Madeline, from years gone by, before trees were plastic and needed their leaves painted for the fall.
It’s terrifying to read something that is so close, and could in fact become our reality. Awaken follows Madeline’s journey as she makes friends, and meets people who hide in the shadows of society. People who aren't as ‘plugged in’ as most of the zombies existing in society she ‘lives’ in. Although it comes with the traditional teen angst of first love and dealing with authoritative parents. I really enjoyed reading about the world through Madeline’s eyes as she begins to relish the sound of her name and starts to wonder and think about the things she has been taught and the things she starts to see. It really made me think about all the technology we plug kids into at such an early age. Education & technology are moving so fast, we no longer have a where to next, we are standing on the edge of a cliff waiting to see what hurdles come at us next. Highly recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian fiction. I also just realised there's a sequal so I can't wait to see where that leads.
No comments:
Post a Comment