♥Donnie Darko Girl♥: Synthetica by Rachel Pattinson ~ Blog Tour: #Review & #Giveaway @REPattinson1

Hey Donnie Darlings! Welcome to my stop on the Synthetica Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours! Click here to follow along with the tour stops.

Title: Synthetica
Series: Synthetica #1
Author: Rachel Pattinson
Release Date: April 1, 2015
Source: Copy for review

Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis

This city is falling.

Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.

But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth, especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker' before he commits his most appalling crime yet...

I can resist a terrific-sounding science fiction story, and one that's YA, too? Yes, yes, and yes! Synthetica is a story that gave me a lot to think about with technology and how it could fit - or not fit - into daily life. There'd be both positives and negatives as with anything. Honestly, I don't think I'd want a chip implanted in my skin with my ID and info all there for just anyone to scan. The thought kind of freaks me out, but on the other hand, it'd be cool not to have to worry about losing my driver's license or something.

I anticipated seeing what Pattinson's vision of the future would be like. Some aspects of Anais' life made me feel jealous while others made me glad I'm not her. I loved that people had such colorful hair! Anais was born with pink hair - her parents chose it. How cool would that be?? But then again, I wouldn't want to be stuck in a job I had no passion for with little to zero chance of moving on to something better. But I knew Anais was strong and if anyone could move upward, it would be her.

Synthetica is well written with plenty of action and a touch of romance. I wasn't quite sold on Anais and Xander's relationship because they seemed to function better as friends than romantic partners in my opinion. Anais and her friend, Dalla, are total opposites, so it was interesting to see their interactions. Sometimes Dalla seemed to be so immersed in her own world that she didn't notice Anais' pain, but I think we all have at least one friend who can be like that, right?

On the plus side, I was anxious to find out what the Hacker was up to and if he'd be found and stopped. I liked the mystery of what he was doing added to the sci-fi. There were times I was shouting (in my mind) to Dalla and Anais not to do what they were about to do. I wouldn't say I was totally attached to the characters, but I still didn't want them to do something dumb.

What drew me to read Synthetica more than anything was the vision of the future as well as the Hacker. There are dystopian elements to this story, although I think Synthetica leans more toward sci-fi than dystopia. The society isn't completely abysmal for people. Places are kept neat and clean, and the citizens didn't seem to be under the heavy-duty control of a dictator-like ruler.

If you're a fan of YA sci-fi with some mystery woven in and like thinking about what society would be like in the future, Synthetica is a book I'd recommend to you.

About the Author

So what qualifies me to be a writer? Well, ever since an early age I've been more interested in the worlds in my head, than the real one - so I thought it was finally time to do something about it. I went to uni, got a degree in publishing, worked in an office for a while, decided I hated it, went to China, came back...and now I'm a teaching assistant by day and a YA writer by night. Phew! It's been quite a journey, but I wouldn't change it for the world.