Bluescreen (Mirador) (vuoden 2016 painos)

Los Angeles in 2050 is a city of open doors, as long as you have the right connections. One of those connections is a djinni—a smart device implanted right in a person’s head. In a world where virtually everyone is online twenty-four hours a day, this connection is like oxygen—and a world like that presents plenty of opportunities for someone who knows how to manipulate it.

Marisa Carneseca is one of those people. She might spend her days in Mirador, the small, vibrant LA neighborhood where her family owns a restaurant, but she lives on the net—going to school, playing games, hanging out, or doing things of more questionable legality with her friends Sahara and Anja. And it’s Anja who first gets her hands on Bluescreen—a virtual drug that plugs right into a person’s djinni and delivers a massive, non-chemical, completely safe high. But in this city, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and Mari and her friends soon find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy that is much bigger than they ever suspected.

Great dystopian fiction set in a future LA where a crime must be solved. ( )

Your life is controlled by a djinni, a smart device implanted in your brain. You can access the world - your friends, family, games, ads, money, everything. All with the blink of an eye. And it can all be manipulated, too, if you can hack into the system. Bluescreen is the hack - a "rich kid" drug you plug into your headjack. Bluescreen overloads your system and uploads code that turns you into a zombie, being controlled by a gang who wants power and control of the world. But Marisa wants to stop them. And she has figured out enough of what is going on, and has enough tech skills that she may be able to do it. This book reminds me of Feed by M.T. Andersen - the whole idea of being constantly connected through an implant in your brain. And honestly, the whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking, "We aren't that far away from this!" This book reminds me that being connected constantly is not always a good thing; we need to take a break from our technology every day so we can be human and connect with our human families. I did like the book; lots to think about! ( )

"Cherry Dogs Forever!"

Book Title: Bluescreen
Author: Dan Wells
Narration: Roxanne Hernandez
Source: Audiobook (Library)

WHY I PICKED THAT QUOTE:

Uhmmm…I don't really know, it's the battle cry of Marissa's online gaming team. Sadly, this book didn't inspire me to look further than that. Actually the gaming aspect of this really bored me.

OVERALL RATING: 3.3/5 STARS

BREAKDOWN OF RATING:

Plot: 3.5/5 --It was good concept, so-so execution. This book moved at a breakneck speed, with a lot of techy talk, but left me feeling meh.
Characters: 3/5 –While they were a very diverse cast of characters, I don’t feel like I know them. Just within Marissa's family alone, there were several differet names for each one of her siblings, of which I'm not sure how many siblings she even has. Basically, there is a lot of names to keep track of, and it made it difficult to actually know anyone and difficult to follow the story.
The Feels: 2.5/5
Theme: 4/5
Flow: 3/5 --Too much techno babble, it made it hard for me to enjoy it.
Backdrop (World Bu/ilding): 4/5 --The most noteworthy component to this story.
Originality: 4/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Sex Factor: None
Narration: 3/5 --This is one of those books, that would have been better for me to read rather than listen, but then the length of it would have done me in. A lot of Spanish terms flying around, that I couldn't follow that quickly. Sometimes I zoned out while listening, and didn't really care.
Ending: 4/5 Cliffhanger: No, but apparently this is a series…

Will I continue the series? Probably not

MY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:

I'm not computer illiterate but this book made me feel as if I am, at least sort of. This futuristic world that Dan Wells painted is one that seems totally plausible in the coming years. There are some interesting aspects to it. To the djinni, the cars that drive themselves, and the laundry bot. I really wanted to like this a lot more than I did, because I loved the Partials Sequence, but it just wasn't happening. Marissa is no Kira… ( )

Bluescreen is a science fiction thriller.

Marisa is a great coder--one of the best and plays online games in hopes of competing professionally with her team. This is the future where computers are embedded in your brain and you blink to select what you want. People are quite poor because machines do everything, from cleaning to delivering pizza. There’s nothing left. If you want a job, you need to move to Mexico. When one of Marisa’s teammates buys Bluescreen, a drug, Marisa realizes that the drug dealers are worth fighting because this drug is dangerous.

As they begin investigating, Marisa and her team learn that gangs are involved as well. Bluescreen takes over your mind and someone else can control your body. As this virus is being sold mainly to the rich, Marisa believes they are trying to control people who have power. Economically, this could cripple the world. With people willing to go to these lengths, Marisa and her friends are in a very perilous situation.

Overall, I liked the novel. It’s different. I thought it was odd that adults talked about Marisa as a bad influence; she’s not. She’s very talented in fact and has a moral and ethical conscience. The world is a scary world where humans are really not necessary except the rich. The poor struggle and have to resort to questionable activities to make money. Marisa’s brother is one of these people who belongs to a local gang, so the connection between the poor and rich is made to allow Marisa access to people who can help her. I think those of you who really like computers will particularly enjoy the novel, but anyone who likes futuristic thrillers, will enjoy it as well! ( )