Summary:
Clair and Libby are best friends in a world where technology rules everything. Teleportation is really just another part of life. Imagine what you want and the D-mat gets it for you. Everything seems to be going great until Libby gets a secret message about Improvement. It simply promises that you enter in a code and you can change your body to be whatever you want. Don't you want to be more beautiful? Clair warns Libby against it, stating that it is simply too good to be true and probably a scam, but Libby tries it anyways. Soon Libby doesn't seem quite like herself. She isn't feeling well and is missing school. Clair decides to find out exactly what is going on with this Improvement thing before she loses her friend. What Clair doesn't know is she begins to dig into a conspiracy that just may end up getting her killed. In order to save Libby and herself, she bands together with some unlikely friends to uncover just what's going on here.
My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this novel. The middle, which in my opinion should be one of the best parts, is slow. Part of this is to explain and describe characters and build the world, but Clair's racing against time, so pick up the pace! That being said, it was the only thing that I found lacking within the novel. Clair is an indepth character that goes through tremendous changes within the novel. She begins as a meek heroine but ends with more confidence. Libby begins super bubbly, so the changes in her personality are dramatic. Each character is pulled together well enough that the reader knows them throughout the novel. I was fairly certain that I understood the motives and choices without being left stunned at any point in time.
The highlight of this book is the world building. Every good science fiction novel has to have a good world building base that can bring the reader into the story and the author's imaginative world. Without that base, the rest of the novel is almost pointless. Williams does an excellent job of pulling us into this futuristic world where technology rules everything. It's almost to the point where technology has more of an affect on things than the people using them. While this is not a man versus machine novel, it does make you think about how much we rely on technological conveniences and where we may eventually end up. As a bit of a techie nerd, I enjoyed the rich descriptions about how things worked. I was immersed in the world wanting to reach out and play with the new gadgets. Everything seemed real enough that I could imagine our world using some of this tech just a few years down the road. The world building really makes the book stand out and I can't wait until the next in the series arrives.
Clair and Libby are best friends in a world where technology rules everything. Teleportation is really just another part of life. Imagine what you want and the D-mat gets it for you. Everything seems to be going great until Libby gets a secret message about Improvement. It simply promises that you enter in a code and you can change your body to be whatever you want. Don't you want to be more beautiful? Clair warns Libby against it, stating that it is simply too good to be true and probably a scam, but Libby tries it anyways. Soon Libby doesn't seem quite like herself. She isn't feeling well and is missing school. Clair decides to find out exactly what is going on with this Improvement thing before she loses her friend. What Clair doesn't know is she begins to dig into a conspiracy that just may end up getting her killed. In order to save Libby and herself, she bands together with some unlikely friends to uncover just what's going on here.
My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this novel. The middle, which in my opinion should be one of the best parts, is slow. Part of this is to explain and describe characters and build the world, but Clair's racing against time, so pick up the pace! That being said, it was the only thing that I found lacking within the novel. Clair is an indepth character that goes through tremendous changes within the novel. She begins as a meek heroine but ends with more confidence. Libby begins super bubbly, so the changes in her personality are dramatic. Each character is pulled together well enough that the reader knows them throughout the novel. I was fairly certain that I understood the motives and choices without being left stunned at any point in time.
The highlight of this book is the world building. Every good science fiction novel has to have a good world building base that can bring the reader into the story and the author's imaginative world. Without that base, the rest of the novel is almost pointless. Williams does an excellent job of pulling us into this futuristic world where technology rules everything. It's almost to the point where technology has more of an affect on things than the people using them. While this is not a man versus machine novel, it does make you think about how much we rely on technological conveniences and where we may eventually end up. As a bit of a techie nerd, I enjoyed the rich descriptions about how things worked. I was immersed in the world wanting to reach out and play with the new gadgets. Everything seemed real enough that I could imagine our world using some of this tech just a few years down the road. The world building really makes the book stand out and I can't wait until the next in the series arrives.
