Those That Wake (Those That Wake, #1)

Jan 09, 2012 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dysto-teque, why-yes-i-ya

here be f-bombs!!
in the book, not my review. i am a lady.

i don't know.
this book is all right, i just didn't really get caught up in it, despite my high expectations.

my annotation for the world's best RA group reads thusly:

Mal's brother has vanished. Laura's parents do not recognize her. People on the streets are glued to their devices and do not interact. A building that no one seems to notice, one which is bigger on the inside than the outside, contains doorways that lead to farflung places in...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: do-not-want

I know, I know, two-star again? Well, hear me out on this one. I was going to give it a one-star, as I really didn't like it, but there was enough promise in the premise that it could have been good, but wasn't, which is my criteria for a 2 star. It started out good, and there were some good points interspersed, but...my land... There was a major problem (along with some really 2-d characters and slightly off plotting), and it begins with an "F".

Books like this--books that include 'f this' and '...more I know, I know, two-star again? Well, hear me out on this one. I was going to give it a one-star, as I really didn't like it, but there was enough promise in the premise that it could have been good, but wasn't, which is my criteria for a 2 star. It started out good, and there were some good points interspersed, but...my land... There was a major problem (along with some really 2-d characters and slightly off plotting), and it begins with an "F".

Books like this--books that include 'f this' and 'f that' and 'f you' and 'ff-ity f f f' until I feel like it's a friggin' rage comic instead of a novel--really piss me off, and not because I don't personally employ expletives myself. It's a type of speech; you've got a freedom to use it. HOWEVER, cursing in YA is unique, in my opinion, because it tends to paint a picture of how the author views young adults/teenagers. Cursing should be character-driven. For instance, your street-rat-druggie-tough-guy prolly won't say 'oh golly gee' when and if he trips, where as your Evangelical-Christian-straight-laced-good-girl just might. Cursing serves a purpose, and should be used with judgement.

Making all of your characters use language like the 'mother of all swear words' does not make them come off as hardened gangster types (especially when the only thing we have for character development for the MMC is fighting and cursing), it, in the words of the inimitable Dorothy Parker, "add[s] neither vigor nor clarity; the effect is not of shock but of something far more dangerous--tedium."

To curse in excess is to invoke tedium. And tedium in books? That's the bell of death (the repeated, obnoxious, never-ending bell).

And that is why I can say that cursing in YA shows how authors think of young adults. If it's character driven, if it serves a purpose, then it shows that the author thinks of Y.A.s as people, as individuals. When cursing is done the way it is in TTW, it shows an incredible lack of understanding at best and an utter disdain at worst for the Y.A. population.

In short:

**Those That Wake, rated 14+, rated 2.2/5 stars.(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 Wendolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Youth

Recommended to Wendolyn by: Sadie

Shelves: young-adult

Very well written. The author has chosen every word carefully and has some eloquent insights. His thought process is clear and believable. I could relate to each individual character and their personality.

His social commentary on today's technology causing us to be out of touch with one another is quite timely, and necessary. Everything is colorless, and everyone is alone. The cell does everything - unlock the house, start the car, order and pay at Starbuck's. No human interaction required!

The...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Those That Wake is riveting and unnerving science fiction thriller. With first class world-building and character well-constructed characters, Karp’s debut novel grips the reader from the very beginning. It’s a frightening premise, to be forgotten and erased. While it is disturbing to know that we could die and/or disappear, having fallen prey to some terrible circumstance or evil deed, there is a sort of cold comfort in knowing that someone out there will be looking for us, missing us, loving u...more
Those That Wake is riveting and unnerving science fiction thriller. With first class world-building and character well-constructed characters, Karp’s debut novel grips the reader from the very beginning. It’s a frightening premise, to be forgotten and erased. While it is disturbing to know that we could die and/or disappear, having fallen prey to some terrible circumstance or evil deed, there is a sort of cold comfort in knowing that someone out there will be looking for us, missing us, loving us still. There is no such comfort for Laura. She finds herself in a nightmare, rejected and displaced, with no one to turn to. Karp’s adept hand at describing the strange events and settings paints a perpetually eerie mood that, at times, intensifies to become viscerally disturbing. The unseen and empty-but-not-empty office building is a tantalizing enigma that the reader wants to both explore and run from.

That being said, the novel does suffer from two weaknesses. First, while it is conceivable that Mal and Laura would bond under these harrowing circumstances, their immediate attraction (and it seems to be described as such, with all the glances and lingering gazes) does not ring true. Karp shows that he is able to portray the hidden feelings and motivations of characters but makes a minor misstep in not doing so with the relationship between these two and, as a result, their immediate connection feels contrived.

Also, there is some loss of tension in the last portion of the book. The story seems to shift gears rather suddenly from a horror/thriller to straight science fiction. There’s a bit too much exposition as the mystery is unraveled in long-winded monologues (think science lectures) given by Remak, The Librarian, and The Man in the Suit. And once we know what’s going on, the finest elements of the book lose their teeth. This is a common trap movies and novels fall into when they begin with unexplained phenomena; once the phenomena is explained, the imagined monster isn’t quite so scary anymore. Fortunately for Those That Wake, the “monster” turns out to be more complicated than most found in young adult science fiction. This novel addresses the human condition, corporate greed and how we soothe ourselves with mindless diversion. This is a true science fiction story, holding a mirror to society and challenging us to question the status-quo. If you like your sci-fi dark and thoughtful, there is plenty here to enjoy.

(less)

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Jan 03, 2012 Amanda (Born Bookish) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Dystopian is one of my favorite YA genres! One that I've become completely obsessed with over the summer. So when I read the synopsis for Those That Wake I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. A dystopian world plus cool futuristic technology, and memories being erased, what could be better? Or so I thought... this book was a huge disappointment and quite frankly not worth the time it took me to drag myself through all 336 pages.

The setting of a book is a huge part of the story. A well-thou...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Kristin Lundgren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, ya-teen

This was by far and above one of the better books I've read, esp, is you put it in the YA SF category. Not once did it lower itself to make it easy to understand. It's hard to explain without giving away the book, but I will say this: While in law school, I kept running across a word, meme, that I didn't really understand at all. I was rather shocked, because I considered my vocabulary skills to be on top - its one of the ways I always aced those GMAT, LSAT, PSAT, etc. It wasn't my math skills!...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Karly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

Those That Wake presents a society not too far off from our own where people are focused on their cells more than on the people they walk by. What they don’t realize is that there is a power that is taking control over their minds making them unaware of how many decisions are being made for them.

The main characters, Mal, Laura, Mike and Remak have become unplanned allies. Strangers, they all discover through one means or another that no one knows them anymore. As, or perhaps because, they try to...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Karthy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

I don't understand why there aren't that many favourable reviews of this book out there especially considering that it's a debut novel and the writing is really solid.

The cover grabbed me from the shelf and I was expecting a dystopian novel, but I feel like it's more aligned with the sci-fi genre than the dystopian genre. I decided this based on the absence of the conflict being centered on rising against oppression. The tone of the novel reminds me of film noir meets the Matrix.

The premise of t...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Bookworm rated it 2 of 5 stars

Those That Wake takes place in a dystopian New York City where an event called the Big Black has changed everyones lives forever.
This is a world where MCT (Metropolitan Counterterrorism Taskforce) watch everyone with special x-ray goggles. A giant black dome covers most of Manhattan, concealing nobody really knows what.

Everything is done via cellphone, and society is almost zombie-like as everyone walks around with their heads held down, eyes glued to their cell phones, sadly not unlike our wo...more Those That Wake takes place in a dystopian New York City where an event called the Big Black has changed everyones lives forever.
This is a world where MCT (Metropolitan Counterterrorism Taskforce) watch everyone with special x-ray goggles. A giant black dome covers most of Manhattan, concealing nobody really knows what.

Everything is done via cellphone, and society is almost zombie-like as everyone walks around with their heads held down, eyes glued to their cell phones, sadly not unlike our world today. Even fast food is ordered via cellphone so no one really has to have any kind of human contact.
Nothing is private anymore, people and their personal information can be tracked down via their cell phones and credit cards, again not unlike our world today.
We get the story from the perspective of four people.
Mal is in search of his brother who awoke him in the middle of the night with a call for help. Laura's parents go missing and when she finally tracks them down, they do not know her. Mike is an disgruntled inner city teacher. Remak is a government agent. Teens Laura and Mal seem to have literally lost their identities, their loved ones and families do not have any recollection of them.
When these people all come together, they find that their lives are intertwined. All of them have had similar strange occurrences happen to them in the past few days. They all try to figure out what is going on and who is behind it.

I've got mixed feelings about Those That Wake.
I really wanted to enjoy this book more. The cover is cool, the premise sounds good, I was in the mood for good dystopian fiction, but for some reason, it fell flat for me. The story seemed to grab me and hold my attention for a few chapters in the beginning, then it veered off and I lost interest. I'm stubborn and don't usually give up on books, so I read this one through.
I enjoy vivid descriptions when reading and I feel dystopian New York City has soooo much potential. I wanted to read about a gritty, grimy NYC, yet it was vague and at times confusing.

Now, what I liked was that there were elements of both science fiction and horror in the plot. The characters themselves were interesting. I liked that Mal was a street fighter and a foster child, you root for him from the start. Mal and Laura's characters and story lines were by far the most interesting in the book.
This is one of those books that you have to read all the way through to be rewarded with answers. The ending did give me some answers as to what was going on, but sadly I didn't really enjoy this one much.
That's not to say someone else might not love it, Those That Wake did get some good reviews on Amazon.com.
see my full review here
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/201...(less)

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May 15, 2011 Birgit rated it 4 of 5 stars

Presenting itself in a mix of dystopia and science-fiction Those That Wake by Jesse Karp could probably be best described as a combination of Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers and The Matrix.
On the search for his lost brother, Mal finds himself in a strange building, and Laura is at the same time suddenly confronted with her parents who don't remember her. The teenagers are not the only ones who share the fate of having been forgotten. In a small group they set out on a mind-bending journey trying t...more

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May 10, 2011 Rhiannon Ryder rated it 1 of 5 stars

Sunday, April 3, 2011Those That Wake, By Jesse Karp- Review
Kindly sent to me by the folks at Houghton Mifflin, Those That Wake was a book I had yet to hear about, which is always fun. I like the clean slate, no expectation reads. It's promoted as a YA Science Fiction novel, but I'd have to say it seemed more dystopian to me, and one of those odd YA/Adult hybrids that doesn't have a YA feel to it, but has YA characters.

Sign one I had troubles with this book-I'm so flummoxed by this story I can't...more Sunday, April 3, 2011Those That Wake, By Jesse Karp- Review
Kindly sent to me by the folks at Houghton Mifflin, Those That Wake was a book I had yet to hear about, which is always fun. I like the clean slate, no expectation reads. It's promoted as a YA Science Fiction novel, but I'd have to say it seemed more dystopian to me, and one of those odd YA/Adult hybrids that doesn't have a YA feel to it, but has YA characters.

Sign one I had troubles with this book-I'm so flummoxed by this story I can't even give my usual personal abbreviated blurb about it. So for the first time ever I'm falling back on a Goodreads summary:

New York City’s spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from one another and into the cold comfort of technology. Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They’ve never met. Seemingly, they never will.

But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts.
I have to admit, I wanted to play favorites when this arrived in the mail and bump it to the top of my list. I'm pretty picky about reading things in the order they're given to me when it comes to ARC's, and stack them according to arrival on my TBR shelf. But it sounded super fantastic and a bit scary/dystopian, and I was excited to dig in, so it was hard to sit on it while I caught up on a few other things.

When it was time to pick Those That Wake up, I was thrilled when the first part of the book did not disappoint. I was intrigued and interested in both Mal and Laura (the YA characters), and I was eager for the story revelations to start. But then out of nowhere, two new adult characters popped into the mix and the story took a sudden and unexpected turn into way left paranormal/scifi field. I'm not joking, they literally left the story and were plunked into some other dimension.

The good news is they did emerge, and Jesse Karp did send them on their way back into the story. The bad news is he'd lost my interest, and confused me with his odd segue, and after that point I didn't enjoy the story as much anymore. It was almost as if he'd attempted to become more philosophical about their circumstances but instead of working it into the story as a whole, it started a third of the way in. Whatever he was trying to achieve it ended up being lost on me, and I walked away from the ending feeling a bit mystified by the story as a whole, and just generally confused. Sort of the way I felt about the big reveal in the final Matrix movie, remember the white room scene with all the TVs and Colonel Sanders explain stuff to Neo? Yeah, that was the feeling I was left with, the "WHAT??" feeling.

I did really like some of his dystopian elements though. I especially found the reliability on technology and how it was wiping out basic human contact hit on issues I think society is really heading towards today. And while stopping in a little local coffee shop yesterday, I was forcefully reminded of his Starbucks scene when I looked around and realised the reason the coffee shop was so quiet was there wasn't a single table with more than one person and a laptop at it. In a full coffee shop. Not one table of friends chatting over coffee. Now that's creepy, maybe even more because it's getting so stereotypical.

I largely assume there was a greater, deeper, meaning to the book that was lost on me, and a general search of reviews for this book brings up a big mixed bag of folks who seemed as lost as I was, and others who found it creepy and profound. Check it out and let me know what you think, because if nothing else a book like this makes for great discussion(less)

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Mar 25, 2011 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sophisticated scifi/dystopian fans

Recommended to Liza by: bookstore lady

I have such mixed feelings about this book (Those That Wake). Really.
First off, let me say that despite it's three star rating it is definitely worth reading. It brings up really interesting ideas, and some of the relationships between the characters make for really great discussion. Plus, I read XVI, another dystopian kind of book just before this, and it felt SO refreshing to read a well-written book after such an--excuse my harsh criticism--piece of trash.
Yes. The writing was GREAT. I very...more I have such mixed feelings about this book (Those That Wake). Really.
First off, let me say that despite it's three star rating it is definitely worth reading. It brings up really interesting ideas, and some of the relationships between the characters make for really great discussion. Plus, I read XVI, another dystopian kind of book just before this, and it felt SO refreshing to read a well-written book after such an--excuse my harsh criticism--piece of trash.
Yes. The writing was GREAT. I very much disagree with the argument that the "tone was too bleak" or whatever. Here's why. The whole premise of the book (the world has basically been taken over by technology and the faceless corporations that operate such technology and control the media; nobody has hope; the story focuses on those few who still have a bit of hope left, etc. etc.) is, well, bleak. If that's not the kind of book you're interested in, fine, but the writing is subtle in tone yet very convincing. It was one of the best things about this book. See, there's nothing I despise more than bland narrating. And to achieve a subtle yet distinct (but NOT overwritten) narrating tone IN THIRD PERSON: that's really something. Yes. The writing was great.
However, the characters were rather one-dimensional. You could argue that this book focused on one group and didn't HAVE one main character, but I think it did. He was the only great character in this book. Mal. He's also the one that grows the most. Well, all the characters GROW a lot--but he's sort of the one who's the most developed and has the most interesting persona to begin with. The others aren't great. There's his crush, Laura, who basically is the logical, nice, pretty girl who misses her parents right up until the end. Then there's Remak, the geek, who's kind of a stiff, anti-social professor-type. He clearly has a violent side, as you'll see through actions that you later find out he committed, but it's not really used to strengthen his personality in any way, which could've been really interesting: giving him another side. The author sort of gave up a really good opportunity there.
There's also Mike, the "worthless" guy who teaches worthless kids at a worthless school....(sounding familiar?), and seems to find a way to incorporate somewhat obscene cussing into just about every sentence he speaks (isn't there a way to express that a person is lonely without giving them a ratty apartment and a vocabulary of swearing and anger? there must be!). However, he ends up being a "hero" at the end, which I found to be kind of a joke. Interesting idea, but again, the author didn't DO anything with it, really.
The plot was interesting. Very; and it was supported by really nice writing. I disagree that the beginning was slow--in fact, I thought it was kind of hauntingly mysterious--but toward the end, all the good things that came from the beginning: the haunting tone, the weird, unsolved mysteries, all got thrown into one huge, sloppy, evidently badly edited climax. If the climax had been even a LITTLE better, I assure you, the book would have been a MILLION times better!! But it wasn't. It was like the author had these great ideas--like fresh veggies--and at the end the veggies got chopped up, then put into the blender, then stirred so that you couldn't tell one from the other. There were some chapters that made NO sense with the ones surrounding them. The characters hopped from one place to another, saying things you were supposed to remember but couldn't, then doing things that had no purpose. The narrator went forward in time, then back again. It was an example of a first draft climax that was either badly edited--or just bad.
Overall, okay book with a lot of potential for discussion. If you rely on characters, 2 and a half stars. If you're a plot person, maybe four stars. If you're a setting person, a solid four, maybe four and a half. If you're all for writing, four and a half.
I'd say read it--but talk about it. Without someone to discuss it with, this book is nothing too special. (less)

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Feb 14, 2011 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopias, mind-control, science-fiction, survival, violence, ya

Note: This is a pre-pub. The book will be released on 3/21/2011. Galley provided by netgalley.com

There has been an upsurge in crime and suicide in the country recently, although it is difficult to detect since most citizens are tied to their cell phones 24/7. Very few people interact face to face now; only by phone. A young woman named Laura discovers that her parents don't even remember that she exists. A local fighter named Mal is urgently contacted by his brother, but the brother has now tota...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, fantasy, young-adult, cell-phones

Set in a near, darkly dystopian, future in and around New York City, "Those That Wake" takes the lives of 4 unconnected people and brings them together in a smoothly plotted story. Laura, after blowing an important interview while her parents are away for a weekend, finds that she has been erased from everyone's memory.Mal receives a call for help from a brother he hasn't seen for years, and finds that his brother has disappeared. In trying to find him, Mal discovers that his brother has been ma...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Kelli (I'd So Rather Be Reading) rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this dystopian novel. I have read other reviews complaining of the dark and desolate tone, but I think that Karp meant for Those That Wake to be a cautionary tale to today's society. At least, that's how I took it. How often do we pull out our phones to text instead of talking to the people around us? Think about how you'd feel if you couldn't have your cell phone or the Internet for several days. That's the kind of thing that this book left me thinking about.

Those That Wake is set in...more I enjoyed this dystopian novel. I have read other reviews complaining of the dark and desolate tone, but I think that Karp meant for Those That Wake to be a cautionary tale to today's society. At least, that's how I took it. How often do we pull out our phones to text instead of talking to the people around us? Think about how you'd feel if you couldn't have your cell phone or the Internet for several days. That's the kind of thing that this book left me thinking about.

Those That Wake is set in New York in the near future. People are consumed with their ever-present cell phones and never interact with each other or the world around them, choosing instead to interact with technology. The subways are in a state of total disrepair and neglect, and money meant to repair the cars has instead gone towards huge HD screens installed along the subway car walls playing advertisements that people mindlessly watch. The entire world is run by corporations trying to make money off of the hopeless unsuspecting public. A huge explosion and two-week long power outage in New York, called Big Black, has left a large area of destroyed land which is now covered by a dome that is a new part of the horizon. People believe the dome to be full of toxic chemicals. Big Black left people scared, and the corporations stepped in to capitalize on people's fear.

The characters in Those That Wake are drawn together by a series of unusual events: Mal is searching for his brother Tommy, Mike has found a door in his school's basement which disappears after he opens it, Laura has been forgotten by everyone she knows, and Remak is a secret agent trying to find the reason why people in Mike's neighborhood are committing suicide, murder, and theft. The four are unexpectedly thrown together and have to work together to discover the reason behind these strange events.

Those That Wake is a smart read: it will make you think and you have to pay close attention all the way through or you'll miss important plot devices. I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to fans of YA and dystopia.

Just One Gripe:
The ending felt confusing to me. I felt like I needed to re-read parts in order to "get" it.

The Best Thing About This Book:
The world-building.
Appropriate for a younger audience:
Yes

Score:
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Setting/Imagery: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Ending: 3/5
Total Score: 15/25(less)

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Oct 31, 2010 Sherrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books-assigned

In a New York City in the near future, "Big Black", a power plant explosion has destroyed 4 city blocks and plunged the city into a two week power blackout. The violence and fear following the apparent terrorist attack have squashed all the spirit that the city once held, making a city of desperate drones relying on their electronics rather than each other. Two teenagers discover that they have been erased from the memories of everyone they once knew, and their search for answers causes them to...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Silver Thistle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Set in a New York of the near future people are mostly oblivious of each other and the world around them. Instead they choose technology as a constant companion. Cell phones in particular have become essential in their day-to-day existance. Electronic devices have replaced human interaction and people are now reliant on digital media.

A terrorist attack some time after 9/11, called Big Black, caused huge explosions and power outages across New York and the resulting damage (both physical and ment...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sad, series, weird-life, absolutely-amazing, adventure, crazy-person, danger, death, famous-person, loss, murder, mystery, overcome-fear, paranormal, romance, sacrifices, use-effort

Whoa, this book fits into almost all my categories - and that's because this book is amazing! Wow, I just loved this book so much. I think one of Jesse Karp's most accomplishing things in the book is when she goes in depth about Mal's childhood. Usually when I start reading biographies, I get really bored, but Jesse made this really fascinating! I especially liked the ending of that chapter, which went somewhere along the lines that he didn't die due to cancer, but because he retired. AHHH. Wond...more

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Dec 24, 2011 ABookVacation rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel was completely new and different, and I enjoyed that aspect of it a lot. I was drawn into the story by the characters as they struggle through their daily lives until they realize they have been forgotten by all. At that point, all hell breaks loose and I liked that the characters reacted in much the same way that I imagine I would react, completely freaking out. It added validity to this fantastical novel, and I found it quite interesting as the characters began to piece everything t...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Nigarsan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: january2013, mystery, science-fiction, adventure

Those that Wake by Jesse Karp
In the beginning pg 69
This book is about how a boy named "Mal" and a girl named "Laura" who no one does ever know about them.That is because someone had erase the memory of them from everyone they had ever knew.It all started with Mal losing his older brother and Laura's parents never ever remembering her.This book is sounding amazing and interesting

In the Middle of the book pg 125
This book so far in the book is about how Mal and Laura team up with some other p...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Amber Carson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

Those that wake was a fairly quick read for me and I really liked it. The story started out very slow and I almost quit reading around 60 pages in But I'm glad i did not. The story picked up around 60 pages and I was totally hooked at that point. This is not a book that you will feel like you have read before, I felt it was a completely unique storyline and I enjoyed that. I thought this was a YA novel but I think most of the concepts in this book are far to advanced for young readers and there...more

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Sep 22, 2010 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, age-ya, sci-fi, dystopia, arcs

I read this ARC via NetGalley.

In the future, the world is desolate. The Big Black, a second terrorist attack after 9/11, has turned people into depressed, hopeless drones. After Mal's brother leaves a strange message on his cell phone, Mal tries to find Tommy but instead finds a mystery. Laura returns from a job interview only to find that her parents have forgotten that she existed. Mike, a teacher, discovers a doorway in the school basement that didn't exist before. Somehow, they are all conne...more

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May 29, 2011 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

This was one weird book. I mean, seriously odd. I was all disposed to like it, what with it being a dystopia and one of the main characters being named Mal (yay for Firefly and Nathan Fillion). Within a few chapters, things started getting strange.

To start with, there is all this stuff about technology, somewhat reminiscent of Awaken, in how dependent people are on television screens and cell phones. Okay, got it. There are also terrorists, apparently, who did something terrible to NYC during th...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Britney rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book started out with so much potential. I love dystopian novels and Karp did a great job of making this future world scary yet extremely relevant to today. It was an even stranger feeling reading about a world where people were always "hooked in" to the technological world on my Kindle. I was continuosly reminded of how just hooked in I am--e-readers, internet, iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, etc. It made me pause and look around me and enjoy the world we live in. I could see the world that Mal...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Ummmm... Huh?! Too many confusing elements towards the end. It seemed incongruent at times. Was I not paying close enough attention? Didn't that character get shot? How did they suddenly come to this conclusion? It seemed like I was questioning and confused for the last third of the book.

The plot was extremely disjointed, I still don't understand (from a scientific viewpoint) anything whatsoever about the evil presence or how or why it came to be, and I'm completely flummoxed re: why on earth a...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Laura (All of Everything) rated it 2 of 5 stars

It sounds interesting; this future city where people value their cells more than actual physical interaction. There's a sense of fear and hopelessness after 9/11 and 'The Big Black'. This conspiracy of sorts: wiped memories? Why? Who's behind it? Why these teens? It seems like a great mix of dystopia, mystery, maybe even a dash of possible romance. But the thing is there always seemed to be something missing.

What I didn't like:

* I had a hard time getting into it. The beginning was slow and didn...more It sounds interesting; this future city where people value their cells more than actual physical interaction. There's a sense of fear and hopelessness after 9/11 and 'The Big Black'. This conspiracy of sorts: wiped memories? Why? Who's behind it? Why these teens? It seems like a great mix of dystopia, mystery, maybe even a dash of possible romance. But the thing is there always seemed to be something missing.

What I didn't like:

* I had a hard time getting into it. The beginning was slow and didn't grab me right off the bat. I kept reading only to see if something better was coming.
* I found myself going back pages because I got confused. A lot."Wait, what?" went through my mind many times. There were jumps from one place to another, and where I felt an explanation would've been helpful, there wasn't.
* You're under the impression that the focus will be on Mal and Laura, but they find themselves with a 'specialized' IRS agent, and a very moody high school teacher who carries an ever present thunderstorm wherever he goes (metaphorical storm that is). I found it difficult to connect the characters because you never really got a thorough insight into them.

What I liked:

* Mal and Laura. I liked their characters, their backgrounds, but, and I've said this before, their relationship seems to move so fast. I don't know about any of you, but if I woke up in strange place with people I'd never seen/known before, I'd be feeling a little awkward/terrified for my life and not likely to be making googly eyes at someone cute. But hey, maybe it's just me.
* The setting and the circumstances. I love dystopia, so this devastated NYC, with the surplus of scary security, the futuristic tech, the withdrawal of human interaction, fascinated me. It always makes you imagine what our future will be like.

Bottom Line
I've read reviews where some people really liked this book, but I wasn't one of them. For the long time I spent reading this I just wasn't engaged in the story. I was mildly curious but there was a sense of something missing the whole time, and my confusion clouded my enjoyment.
By all means if you're a fan of dystopia or it sounds interesting to you, check it out, it does have some cool subject matter. You might like it more than I did.(less)

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Dec 23, 2012 Tenielle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, december-2012

I waited well over a month after purchasing this book before deciding to open it up. I really wasn't that excited to start it, already having a general idea what it was about and expecting it to not live up to the better of the dystopian books I've read.
This book was everything it didn't seem to be. It didn't appear to me as YA at all, the only "young" thing about it being its main characters. It was so much more than a dystopian setting that spent most of its pages focused on a cheesy romance....more

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Jun 06, 2011 Joy (joyous reads) rated it 3 of 5 stars

New York hasn't been the same since the Big Black. An explosion of catastrophic proportion plunged the entire state into disaster and darkness.

"The lights went back on but they never came out of the dark."

People lost their sense of humanity. Emotionless with empty stares, they walk around with their heads down, fiddling with their cell phones as if it held their life lines. And in some ways it did--much like it is now.

"The world was slipping away from them. They were forgetting to care. When t...more New York hasn't been the same since the Big Black. An explosion of catastrophic proportion plunged the entire state into disaster and darkness.

"The lights went back on but they never came out of the dark."

People lost their sense of humanity. Emotionless with empty stares, they walk around with their heads down, fiddling with their cell phones as if it held their life lines. And in some ways it did--much like it is now.

"The world was slipping away from them. They were forgetting to care. When they finally bothered to look up, there would be nothing to keep them going."

This story is dark, weird--very pyschological; unapologetic with its profanity and violence that was surprising for this genre. The world that the author created was typical of a dystopian novel except that there was no government that controlled everyone. Instead, you have a corporation which developed a "psychic virus", controlling everyone who was weak in the mind. The four characters weren't affected for one reason. Their will and purpose is stronger than everyone else's.

Mal is to find his lost brother, whose last phone call to him was worrisome. They'd been separated when they were young. Mal to their dead father who taught him everything he needed to know about bare-knuckle fighting but was a father-figure nonetheless. Tommy to their alcoholic, abusive mother. Because of that, Tommy had never forgiven Mal for abandoning him. And Mal felt like he owed it to his brother.

Laura is to her parents, whose memories were erased of everything about their daughter. She wanted them to rememer who they were--loving, caring parents whose world used to revolve around their daughter.

Mike is to his students. No matter how much he hated his life, his teaching career. He was still determined to teach because 'someone has to' and no one would bother with the kids in his God-forsaken neighborhood.

Remak is to find the cure. To rid the world of the virus that thrived on people's hopelessness and desolation.

I guess I understand why this book is not getting some sparkling reviews. At times, the explanation of what's happening to the people's psyche was hard to follow. The concept was mind blowing and maybe with a few more simplification, this story would have garnered more attention. It was like watching INCEPTION over again; in the end, my eyes were glazed over wondering just what the heck just happened. Even still, the book was written beautifully in a foreboding manner.

The ending. What can I say about the ending? Was it necessary? Only the author can answer that.

(less)

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Jan 01, 2011 Joli rated it 3 of 5 stars

After an event termed Big Black occurs in New York City, a sense of hopelessness and fear is overwhelms the people. Subliminal messages on cells, television and other electronic devices that contributed to the despair of the city. Crime, murder and suicide is increasing at alarming rates and there doesn't appear to be any slowing down. Those That Wake by Jesse Karp takes a look at the disconnection between people perpetuated by the one thing that is supposed to keep them connected - Technology.

I...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Olivia rated it 2 of 5 stars

For months, every time I entered the bookstore I'd pick this one up but never buy it. When I finally bought it, I was so excited and had very high expectations for it.

I was very disappointed. It sounded so interesting; dystopian, Hunger Games-esque. It was not really this at all. It's very predictable (view spoiler) I found this far too cheesy for my taste. (view spoiler)...more

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title link	preview: Those That Wake
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