Review: Awaken

The irony of posting this online does not escape me.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky is one of the most believable dystopian novels I have ever read. Unlike some authors, who exaggerate to the point of absurdity and/or horror (I’m looking at you, Huxley and Orwell), Kacvinsky’s world is just a few logical (and still unnerving) steps away from ours.

We had 9/11. They have M28, short for March 28, 2048, a day on which a terrorist group (not an Islamic one though; that would complicate the story even further) bombed 17 elementary schools as a protest against overpopulation. The result? Digital School, a free online program developed by lawyer and educator Kevin Freeman, which has become mandatory throughout the U.S.

We depend on the Internet. (I know I do.) In Kacvinsky’s future, that hasn’t changed. On the contrary, it’s gotten to the point where Madeline Freeman, Kevin’s daughter and the story’s heroine, is really shocked to see her new friend Justin Solvi standing at her door instead of texting her like a civilized person.

In our world, even in “first world’ countries, state-sanctioned violence happens more often than many of us care to admit. Workers at a juvenile detention center in Australia were recently found to have abused their charges (see this article). So when Madeline learns that Justin spends his life rescuing teenagers who are being brought to detention centers for refusing Digital School – they need to be rescued beforehand, because once they leave the centers, they refuse any human contact – I was somewhat less surprised than she was.

Justin’s mission is to make Digital School a choice again. To that end, he does everything in his power to get Madeline on his side, so she can hack into her father’s confidential files – again. Madeline is not your average dystopian YA heroine, the innocent follower of the system who needs her eyes opened by a charismatic rebel. She already knows she disagrees with her father’s education policy. The only question is whether her father – whom, despite their polar-opposite beliefs, she still loves – matters more to her than personal freedom.

Justin’s recruitment tactics are, of course, highly effective: fresh-baked chocolate cake (as opposed to ready-made meals, which are ubiquitous in Maddie’s world), live music, sunsets on the beach, a witty and warm-hearted group of fellow rebels – who wouldn’t give up the Internet for that? The trouble is, his efforts to make her fall in love with reality have the side effect of making her fall in love with him. Sparks fly, physically and intellectually, as the highly self-controlled resistance leader has his own arguments for living life to the fullest turned back on him by a girl as smart and stubborn as he is. Their growing relationship is the driving force of this novel; since Maddie narrates in first person, we see Justin through her eyes, and when he challenges her to think for herself and question authority, you might just find yourself doing the same.

Kacvinsky is not anti-tech. If she were, the book wouldn’t be half as interesting. Kevin Freeman’s motives for creating Digital School, though misguided, are both logical and compelling: no one can deny that teen violence, pregnancy and drug use would go down if teenagers didn’t leave their houses. Some of the anti-Digital School rebellion’s most valued supporters are computer experts, following the precept of “know your enemy”. Justin himself enjoys new technology; the cars he drives on his rescue missions can swim and even fly. The author’s message, though clumsily and didactically expressed, is simple:

“You can see all of this online. But that's cheating. No computer program can compare to the physical experience. It's like learning how to play a virtual sports game. You're not really playing anything, against anyone. You're just a spectator. People are becoming spectators of their own lives instead of living them. But the best part is getting in the game. That's when it's all worth it.” (e-book, ch. 5, p. 14).

On that note, let me just go cross-post this to my four different social media accounts …

Seriously. We need more books like these. Please read it.