Awaken

This one is worth picking up! It's impossible not to compare it to Brave New World and 1984, but this is a much NICER scary future. At the heart of the story is a very smart girl who has to decide what is real, and what is worth fighting for. I really liked Maddie, and it is nice to see a male main character who is a rebel WITH a cause (instead of just standing around looking broody). Some of the technology in this book is really, really cool, but I loved how the descriptions of things in everyday life (the ocean, fire) were so special because they were being viewed by someone who had never seen them before. I hope Kacvinsky writes more!

Now that I've read this book the cover makes so much more sense! Wow. I'm pretty sure that about sums up how I feel about Awaken, unless you'll permit me to say FREAKIN' WOW! Yup. That's more accurate.

I think what most drew me in about the world that Katie Kacvinsky builds is how close to home it hits. In Maddie's world, everyone is trapped behind computer screens. Constantly plugged in, because that is the best way to stay “safe”. For a long time Maddie has seen this as the norm, and a happy existence. Then Justin enters her life and everything is thrown upside down. Don't think that the irony is lost on me that I'm sitting at a computer screen typing this review. Watching Maddie's life change, and her story unfold hit really close to home. It made me think about how much time I spend behind these devices. If she wasn't living, am I? Thank you Katie Kacvinsky for making me think about that.

Maddie is a character I fell into step with instantly. Her questioning attitude, her need to please her parents despite how she feels, her inability to voice her own opinion, it's all woven into a girl who has been trapped for too long. I felt for her. Then sweet, reserved, and life changing Justin comes onto the scene. The Maddie that exists after this happens is entirely different, and yet the same person at the same time. It's a metamorphosis of the best kind. I promise that if you fall in love with her in the beginning, you'll love her even more as you watch her be born all over again.

It also needs to be said that this is one of the sweetest and most frustrating romances I've read. Justin keeps to himself because that's how he has always been. Maddie used to, but Justin breaks her out of that and now the one person she wants she can't seem to have. Frustrating right? However lest you think that this is another book with a girl pining hopelessly after a boy, Maddie is different. It made my heart soar when one of the characters in the book explained to her that pining never did anyone an ounce of good (not her exact words but I'm paraphrasing here). She tells Maddie that we must learn to love ourselves and feel whole alone, before we can truly be invested in someone else. Are you floored? I was! Thank you to an author for finally saying that! Thank you for showing us a girl who knows she needs to learn to be alone! I'll end my slightly feminist rant here, but that made me fall in love with Awaken even more than I already had.

Point being, if you couldn't tell from my incoherent thoughts above, I completely adored this book. The message is clear, and I fully agree. Maddie and Justin teach us how important it is to get out there and really live, and to do it for yourself and no one else. Awaken crawled into my mind and made me think, and if a book can do that then I'm sold. Pure and honest love is all I have for this book.

I sincerely enjoyed Awaken because while the romance was a bit predictable, the originality of the plot was entertaining enough to keep me reading.

Cons: It is a short read that could have had a more fulfilling ending and the uneven pacing left me a little disoriented when the main character went from running away from the authorities to walks on the beach. The pacing resembled an erratic heart beat with multiple roller coaster dives and inclines that were, to say the least, a bit dizzying. Sadly, while reading the book, I tended to shift toward the negative aspects more than the positive. There were too many elements that I couldn't overlook because of their frequency. One thing that was constantly annoying me was the preaching. It is made clear throughout the novel that the main character, Madeline, is intelligent academically and has a knack for technology. A very useful capability in her world. However, this was negated by the fact that she was being preached at every other page by Justin, the love interest and quasi leader of the rebels against Digital School. It really made Madeline look stupid and naive whenever Justin explained things to her. I can understand that she was inexperienced in many things due to her “grounding” but there's a huge difference between teaching someone things normally foreign to them and treating them like an invalid. That was exceptionally annoying. In addition to that, there were many moral cliches being thrown around in the book plus a repetition of previously stated concepts or opinions.

Pros: I know you're probably wondering why I gave this book three stars instead of one, and I have to admit that it has to do with the story line and the future the author created that was detailed and realistically relatable. I also admired Maddie's character for being as daring as she was to go against her own father for what she believed was right for her country. She had the drive and tenacity to support a rebellion even after seeing the effects it had on her family and especially to the relationship between her and her father. She also admitted to herself that she was in love with Justin because he was her savior in a sense that he was reintroducing the outside world to her in a whole new light. And for all of Justin's condescending flaws I can at least say that he was a decent person and was generous with his time to gradually transform America back to a nation whose citizens were motivated, independent and uniquely amazing.

As for whether or not I'm going to attempt the sequel, Middle Ground, I don't think I'm going to run out for a copy any time soon. Because even though I found the story rich and thorough, it doesn't make up for what I found lacking in Awaken.