Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

Awaken
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.

At First Sight:
The first thing that caught my eye was the cover and then I read the description over at NetGalley. I am a fan for futuristic/post-apocalypic books with a romance twist and it was natural for me to request this book. I finally got around to reading it a few weeks (maybe months, who knows, I've been so absent from this blogging world I've lost track of time). Unsurprisingly, I was hooked right off the bat.

My Thoughts:
Maddie is like us: dependant on technology to live. And although her world is much more drastic than ours, you really can't mistake the path we're heading to. She lives, breathes, and even socializes through computer screens.

But inside, Maddie's always been some sort of rebel, never fully satisfied with what the cyber-world has given her. All this is proven when Maddie reveals her past.

She meets this boy that seems to change everything for her (again). This boy is the typical swoon-worthy hero named Justin (hey, I now realized that his name has some meaning...) who challenges her to think out of the box and to question what really goes around her.

Filled with romance and adventure, Awaken takes your through a labyrinth of situations, every corner asking you if we're leaving our real lives behind when we enter the cyber-world.

Awaken is an amazing book with a great protagonist, an amazing boy (who's a bit too good for my taste but oh, well), and a plot that really hits home. Although the book can seem preachy (well, it kind of is) you forget about it as you move along and start to unravel the truths about the world Maddie lives in and the world we live in.

In One Sentence:
"Fun, fast, and definitely a must read!"

Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Writing: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 5
Average: 5

My first book in the Debut Author Challenge for this year (finally!).