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Jan 21, 2012

Janina rated it:

Katie Kacvinsky’s debut novel, Awaken, takes the reader to the year 2060, when every aspect of life has become digitalized. People hardly go out anymore; they have confined themselves to their homes after tragic incidents in the past and live through their computer, socializing only in online communities. Young people even go to school online. Madeline is one of them, yet different. Since a rebellion and betrayal against her father, the founder of digital school, Maddie has been kept under const More...

34 comments like (30 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Reynje rated it:

Conceptually, I liked this book. The subject matter is topical, and I feel that the arguments presented are valid and worth discussion. The issues Kacvinsky conflates to build her future world will resonate with anyone who has even half a finger on the current technological pulse, or an interest in social anthropology in general.

In execution, however, this novel left me with fairly lukewarm feelings.

Fast forward to 2060, when escalating violence and rapid advancements More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2010

Kim rated it:

I often wonder what life will be like in 10, 15 years from now. If I look in the past, it seems like nothing has really changed, besides the fact that I grew up. But when I look more closely, I see technology evolved in ways I didn't think were possible. 15 years ago I would have laughed if somebody would have told me people would be online, constantly. Computers, laptops, phones,... The possibilities become more and more endless, the opportunities become bigger and bigger, the future is looking More...

29 comments like (27 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2010

oliviasbooks rated it:

**** includes some "light" spoilering ****
I was very excited when my request to read an ARC of Katie Kacvinsky’s debut Awaken was approved of. It is young adult dystopia, it has a gorgeous cover that stands out, it contains some kind of a boy-girl-story and it deals with a possible negative outcome of our present trend of living part of our lives connected to the web, of working as teleworkers straight from home or from far away of our employers.

My excitement deflate More...

41 comments like (19 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2010

Jessica rated it:

Awaken is set in 2060, a future not too far away. Interpersonal relationships have been reduced to a minimum due to the fact that almost everything can be done online. Kids attend digital school, so they don’t have to leave the house for that anymore, people don’t meet their friends the old-fashioned way by going out, they only meet up virtually in chat rooms. People’s understanding of going to the movies together is actually only watching a movie on their PCs while simultaneously chatting with More...

76 comments like (15 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2010

Morgan rated it:

17 yr old Maddie lives in the year 2060, where everything, from dating, schooling, and going to the movies, is done online. Ever since her disastrous rebellion two years before nearly caused her and her father to go to jail, Maddie has lived compliantly with this life, never complaining or yearning for actual physical contact. One day Maddie meets a boy online in school chatroom, and he invites her to actual go to a real tutor session. Maddie agrees and that is how Justin enters her life. Ju More...

8 comments like (9 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Awaken is one of those books you pick up, are instantly drawn in, and want to live in that world. Awaken was so good, I’m still considering rereading it immediately, now, when I’m done with my review.

Awaken is both futuristic and present. Kacvinsky illustrates how people in 2060 (and today) choose to be almost solely connected to the digital world. Everywhere people are plugged in. Face to face interaction is almost nonexistent. Madeleine, heiress of the digital school empire, l More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 22, 2011

Laura rated it:

The first thing that attracted me to Awaken was the cover—as it is for me with most books. The more I stare at this cover, the more I understand what it represents. You can’t jar nature; you can’t put plants or animals in a box and expect them to live. Really, that’s not living at all, now is it? But that’s exactly what’s happening in Awaken. Maddie, the lead character, is used to being inside, going to school via the internet, holing away and being someone she’s not online. She’s an avatar. A p More...

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2010

Mari rated it:

The year is 2060 and everything is digital. People do everything - hang out with friends, study, work, shop, even go on dates - on the computer. Online, everything is safe, easy and controllable. Seventeen year old Maddie has grown used to this life but she often feels something is missing. Then she meets Justin who prefers face-to-face interaction and she starts to question if this "digital" life is as perfect as some people make it to be.

I liked the premise of this novel. More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

Esther rated it:

I picked up Awaken looking for an easy read, something that I wouldn’t have to think too hard about. It ended up being an easy read, but it sucked me in more than I expected. Awaken is part love story and part rebellion. What makes it different, however, is that the rebellion is not against the government so much as it is against the national education system. Kacvinsky, a former educator, makes some interesting points about the real purpose of education and that, in itself, is a good enough r More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2011

Tasos rated it:

How different can the world be in almost 50 years from now...? Will technology evolve in such a way as Kacvinsky describes in her book? I am sure that being a high school teacher herself makes her a person that really enjoys the authentic way of education the one that includes immediate contact between the tutors and the students, she is well aware that a lesson, a course in every possible subject doesn't mean just to equip you with knowledge about what is mentioned inside the book that's been g More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2011

Sandy rated it:

The premise for Katie Kacvinsky's Awaken is very timely with today's technology-minded culture: Imagine a world in the future so technology-obsessed and fearful that people no longer leave their homes. How would people interact? How would they learn, live, and love? I admit that I love dystopian romance, and Awaken has some beautiful passages and quotes that I wanted to immediately write down. However, the world in Awaken lacked consistency in its design, which overshadowed other positive aspect More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Heidi rated it:

Believe me when I tell you, I read a lot of books. It isn't often that I get a book that makes me take a step back and say ... huh? Author Katie Kacvinsky, does just that with AWAKEN.

Set in the year 2060, AWAKEN follows Maddie Freeman, your average teen. She goes to school, out on dates, enjoys the outdoors and loves meeting her friends for coffee. The only thing is she does this from the comfort of her own home. In fact, Maddie never has to leave the house if she doesn't want to. Than More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 30, 2011

BookWhisperer rated it:

Awaken is a very unique story set in the year of 2060. This incredible story realistic portrays the digital age which physical human contact has become the rarity. Education, socializing, and business has all be corporated into computer networking. In this world it is no longer necessary to leave the comfort of your home for anything. Convience is the means which everything is built, and in creating this world society can safely hide from the world. [return][return][return][return]Maggie is a se More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Alyssa rated it:

My thoughts for AWAKEN are still in a jumble, having just finished this. One thing is clear, though. AWAKEN is one of the most fantastic debut novels I've ever read.

Maddie Freeman is the daughter of the murderer of what we know of society today. Her father created "digital school," meaning that 95% of the time, everyone is communicating through the computer and not face-to-face. Because the outside world is scary.

The world of 2060 is frightening - school killers ar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Jessica rated it:

Now that I've read this book the cover makes so much more sense! Wow. I'm pretty sure that about sums up how I feel about Awaken, unless you'll permit me to say FREAKIN' WOW! Yup. That's more accurate.

I think what most drew me in about the world that Katie Kacvinsky builds is how close to home it hits. In Maddie's world, everyone is trapped behind computer screens. Constantly plugged in, because that is the best way to stay "safe". For a long time Maddie has seen this as th More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2011

Nicole added it

When I first opened this book, I immediately liked the concept. A world of fake trees, computers everywhere, and books are rare. Yikes! Maddie has been paying for past consequences by being locked up in her house and constantly watched. In a world where everything is digital, going outside is uncommon and having social get-togethers are strange. But Justin gets her to hang out with him in the real world and tries to show her the beauty of living life outside a computer and your own home.

More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

Lea rated it:

Das Leben ist zu kurz um vielleicht zu sagen!....Die Rebellion der Maddie Freeman ist ein faszienierendes Buch. Es handelt von einem Thema das garnicht so weit hergeholt ist, so könnte unsere Welt in 50 Jahren wirklich aussehen, oder zumindestens so ähnlich!Auch die Beziehung zwischen den beiden hauptpersonen ist gut beschrieben: Justin, der nicht viel von der DG, den Flipscreens und alldem hält und Maddie, die so ihr ganzes Leben gelebt hat und langsam begreift dass das nicht das wahre Leben is More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Amanda (Born Bookish) rated it:

This book was AMAZING! Definitely one of my favorite dystopian novels ever! The author did such a great job at creating a futuristic world that is completely driven by technology and completely believable. She painted this world so vividly across the pages that I really felt like I was there, living the story alongside the characters.

All the characters in this book, from the main ones to the ones who only played minor roles, were all such strong characters. Maddie is such an incre More...

0 comments like

Dec 29, 2011

Cat rated it:

Inhalt:
“Aber diese ganze Technik kann süchtig machen, wenn man sich nicht vorsieht. Wie eine Droge, von der man nicht mehr loskommt, wenn man sie erst einmal im Blut hat. Irgendwann kann man nicht mehr ohne sie leben und die Droge kontrolliert einen völlig. So ist es auch mit Computern. Inzwischen sind wir dermaßen abhängig geworden, dass wir uns nicht mehr von ihnen abnabeln können.” (Seite 173)
USA, 2060: Maddie ist die Tochter des Digital School-Gründers Kevin Freeman und lebt wie al More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Michelle rated it:

This was like a study in what the world could be like in the not to distant future. After terrorist attacks on schools result in the deaths of thousands of children, a digital school system is created. However that contributes to people rarely leaving their homes, instead they are plugged into a digital world all the time. The main character Maddie ends up getting involved with Justin, a young man who is fighting against the digital system and encouraging a return to being physically present More...

0 comments like

Feb 19, 2012

Afza rated it:

If I saw a book like this in my school library, I probably wouldn't have picked it up or read it. (I have this horrible habit of judging books by their covers ....)

So, anyway, it was a nice day and I had no new books to read. My sister is the type that picks up those ... kiddish books. Like, she doesn't read anything that's out of her league, such as YA books.

I don't think I would've read it, but then I read the summary, and being this technology nerd I am, I wanted to r More...

0 comments like

Jan 06, 2012

Misty rated it:

Normally, when I finish a book I immediately write a review, with so many projects going at once, it’s the easiest way for me to keep things straight in my own head, but with “Awaken” by Katie Kacvinvsky I couldn’t do that. I’m not sure if it was my conscience that was screaming at me, or the moral of the story, but something had my brain shifted slightly to the left. See, “Awaken” is considered to be a dystopian novel, but when I took a moment to pause and reflect this weekend I realized it’s n More...

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Dec 09, 2011

TheDancingReader added it

I was completely INTRIGUED when I read the synopsis! It is unlike any other book that I’ve read. I think I would consider it a science fiction, but there is definitely some hot romance woven in between those pages. And that cover! I like how it actually means something. My interpretation of the cover: Since it’s set in 2060, the natures of the world are scarce, and technology is getting so strong it is dominating nature. Grass and trees are replaced with plastic look-alikes. While nature is trap More...

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Nov 30, 2011

Kate rated it:

First Impression:
Dystopian, baby! Do I really need to say more?

While Reading:
Awaken takes place about fifty years in the future, in the year 2060. This society has given up on social, person to person, interaction in favor of technology. Every aspect of one's daily life involves using a computer for something. Need to go to school? There is a computer for that. Want to go hang out or go on a date? There is a virtual world for that.

While this world is not over the to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2011

Railani rated it:

Awaken provides the readers with a techie feel. The book talks about a future world where everything is done in front of a computer. Going to school, or strolling the park, watching a movie, you complete the list--and oh, yeah, even DATING! The fact that this dystopian society happened not in the very far future got me hooked. If I'm not mistaken, Awaken is set in 2060. There are a lot that happened before that period and those incidents made people transform the world into a very safe place (bu More...

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Oct 29, 2011

Sherre rated it:

In Awaken, Katie Kacvinsky really opened our eyes to what would happen if the world let technology, and our dependence on it, get too out of control. This book is full of love interests, coming of age stories, and has a main character you cant help but fall in love with.

Madeline, a.k.a Maddie is easy to understand. She felt similar to me in some ways. On one hand, she is okay with the life she lives. Excluding the brief digression into adolescent rebellion that caused her to be basical More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Daphne rated it:

I started this book really optimistically, thinking that it would be another book that I just can't put down. It turned out to be quite a big disappointment, I was quite skeptical about this world that the author created. For example, Maddie found a pair of old Converses in the closet. Now here's where I started questioning the whole idea of this society. This is about 50 years in the future, would Converse really still be found so commonly? And would it be so popular that a teenager would know More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 13, 2011

Tess rated it:

Only a few chapters in, I knew that Awaken shared similarities with many other dystopias I’ve read lately, who have put too much focus on a romance, and much too little into an actual plot and a believable world-building.

The signs were there, namely:

1) Romance with a mysterious Boy – an outcast who wants to change the current world they live in: Check!

2) Upon meeting the Boy, the Girl who thought she was content with said world, starts to awaken: Check!

3) More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Kendra rated it:

Pros: Excellent world-building. I loved the easily visible dystopian future, where everyone is too plugged in to look around them, have real conversations. I liked the romance, too, in that Kacvinsky is really good at describing attraction; I could feel myself being drawn in along with the heroine, Maddie. Cons: I have difficulty with the love interest, Justin. Yes, he's hot, smart, and believes in what he does, in the resistance. Great. But he's also a little bit of a mysogenist control freak. More...

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