After the humans ignored the fact that the robots they had created were starting to gain their own thoughts, Tins took control of the world. Lexi019 has been in the Tin-run Compound for 12 years of her life. At 17, she is preparing to move on to the Electric Garden. Life in the Compound is strictly controlled by the Tins. If the human children break too many rules, they receive a glitch and are forced to go to “jail” for several days. 3 glitches at seventeen means that you will be Meshed, or have half of your brain turned into wires, and put under complete Tin control. Lexi is looking forward to moving to the Electric Gardens, but she doesn’t want to go without her best friend Kyle53. After Kyle’s sister was Meshed a short time ago, he has been getting in a lot of trouble with the Tins and is on his way to a third Glitch. When they meet someone they thought they would never see again, Lexi and Kyle must work through the change of events and take their chances on escaping the Compound.
I had no expectations when starting to read this book, and I think that was for the best. I didn’t read a single review, and I made sure not to pick up too much from the synopsis. By going in empty, every single twist and turn of this story was new to me.
The most important piece of a science fiction/dystopian novel is its world-building. If people cannot understand the world that the story takes place in, or they don’t feel connected to it, they lose interest. This world definitely brings the readers in, and it is well-explained throughout the book. The Tins came to power because the humans refused to acknowledge that the robots were changing. They also refused to acknowledge the fact that their environment was slowly being destroyed, and now the humans feel either too hot or too cold living in environments that aren’t controlled by the Tins. These two things truly seem like something that could happen in real life, and/or could possibly be happening right now. The fact that this book was so realistic made it relatable.
Lexi was also a likable character. Even though she originally didn’t want to fight back, we do find out about a lot of her childhood in this novel. She didn’t always back down and be quiet. She knew when to stand up for what is right, and when to hold her tongue in order to keep her cover. Kyle had a bit of romance with her in this novel, but this was by no means a typical teen romance novel. The story is about the humans versus the Tins, not Kyle and Lexi. I definitely appreciated this, as I was getting tired of reading the same teen romance novels over and over again. Kyle seems to take the place of the girl in this novel, the girl who does dumb stuff because of her “emotions” due to a loss, and Lexi is the one who talks him down and reminds him of their real purpose.
All in all, this book was amazing. There are a lot of twists and turns plot-wise, the characters are three dimensional, the world-building is relatable with a hint of fantasy, and the plot is fast-paced.
I would recommend this book to lovers of YA science fiction and fantasy novels.
I received an advanced copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 5/5
