Bluescreen Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

 

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for BLUESCREEN! Today I have my review of the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, check out the schedule at the bottom of the post.

Bluescreen (Mirador #1)

Author: Dan Wells
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopia
Release Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
352 pages
Formats: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks 

Description:

Los Angeles in 2050 is a city of open doors, as long as you have the right connections. That connection 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. 

Dan Wells, author of the New York Times bestselling Partials Sequence, returns with a stunning new vision of the near future—a breathless cyber-thriller where privacy is the world’s most rare resource and nothing, not even the thoughts in our heads, is safe. 

Bluescreen is the mesmerizing first book in a new young adult dystopian series that will leave readers begging for more. It follows our main character, Marisa, as she goes about her normal teenage life in LA, in the year 2050. Just about everyone has a djinni - a device implanted in their brains that does just about everything - especially online, where the majority of people spend their time. Marisa basically lives online - takes school classes, plays realistic virtual reality games, and hangs out with her friends from around the world. Soon a new virtual drug hits the scene - Bluescreen - that plugs right into someone's djinni and gives them a huge high that's completely safe. But the old saying is true - if something appears too good to be true, it usually is - and Marisa and her friends find themselves deep in the middle of a conspiracy bigger than they ever thought.

This book was nothing short of amazing for me. Every single aspect was expertly done, and if I had to think of something that didn't blow me away, I would have to go with the author's use of the third person point of view. Don't get me wrong - it worked great for this book and didn't detract from my reading experience at all. I'm just a huge fan of first person POV and the deep connection that the reader can develop with the narrator. Other than that small personal detail, this book exceeded any hopes or expectations I might have had. I've read several other books by the author and have adored each one. This was no exception. 

The characters were all well written with distinct personalities, especially our main character, Marisa. The secondary characters were decently well rounded, and I suspect that we'll get to know a couple of them even better in the coming books. The story line wasn't exactly unique or completely original - there have been other books very similar in plot. The thing that made this novel stand out for me was the incredible world building. Since the story takes place in the not so distant future (the year 2050), a lot of the objects and situations were familiar - so it didn't feel unrealistic or out of the question. When we're introduced to all the new technology - like the djinni, for example - it didn't feel like it was out of the realm of possibility. I could actually see a world like this in the year 2050, which made it so much cooler and fun to think about - as well as to picture in my mind. Because of the natural blend of present and future societies, I found myself slipping inside Marisa's world right from the very first page of the book - and I didn't come back out until the very last word. I could go on for a long time about all of the various technology and changes that are in this future world, but that still wouldn't be able to convey all of the sheer awesomeness packed inside this novel. The pace was pretty normal at first and then picked up speed as the plot thickened and things got heavy. By that point I was reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen. I can't wait to see where the story's going to go and what all might happen. With the author's immense storytelling abilities, I know that this series is going to be epic. Do yourself a favor and READ. THIS. BOOK. NOW. You're not going to want to miss out on this one! Very highly recommended!!

Dan Wells is a thriller and science fiction writer. Born in Utah, he spent his early years reading and writing. He is he author of the Partials series (Partials, Isolation, Fragments, and Ruins), the John Cleaver series (I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don't Want To Kill You), and a few others (The Hollow City, A Night of Blacker Darkness, etc). He was a Campbell nomine for best new writer, and has won a Hugo award for his work on the podcast Writing Excuses; the podcast is also a multiple winner of the Parsec Award. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

(3) winners will receive a finished copy of BLUESCREEN - US Only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:
Week 1:
2/8/2016- Fire and Ice- Interview 
2/9/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Review 
2/10/2016- One Night Book Stand- Guest Post 
2/11/2016- 5 Girls Book Reviews- Review 
2/12/2016- Kindle and Me- Guest Post


Week 2: 
2/15/2016- Fangirlish- Review 
2/16/2016- Two Chicks on Books- Interview 
2/17/2016- Ryan's Bookish Confessions- Review 
2/18/2016- Wishful Endings- Interview 
2/19/2016- Downright Dystopian- Review