Bluescreen

Mirador #1

by Dan Wells

Los Angeles in 2050 is a city of open doors, as long as you have the right connections. That connection is a djinni—a smart device implanted right in a person’s head. In a world where virtually everyone is online twenty-four hours a day, this connection is like oxygen—and a world like that presents plenty of opportunities for someone who knows how to manipulate it.

Marisa Carneseca is one of those people. She might spend her days in Mirador, the small, vibrant LA neighborhood where her family owns a restaurant, but she lives on the net—going to school, playing games, hanging out, or doing things of more questionable legality with her friends Sahara and Anja. And it’s Anja who first gets her hands on Bluescreen—a virtual drug that plugs right into a person’s djinni and delivers a massive, non-chemical, completely safe high. But in this city, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and Mari and her friends soon find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy that is much bigger than they ever suspected.

Dan Wells, author of the New York Times bestselling Partials Sequence, returns with a stunning new vision of the near future—a breathless cyber-thriller where privacy is the world’s most rare resource and nothing, not even the thoughts in our heads, is safe.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction, Audiobook, Cyberpunk, Fantasy

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2016

About the author

Dan Wells is a thriller and science fiction writer. Born in Utah, he spent his early years reading and writing. He is he author of the Partials series (Partials, Isolation, Fragments, and Ruins), the John Cleaver series (I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don't Want To Kill You), and a few others (The Hollow City, A Night of Blacker Darkness, etc). He was a Campbell nomine for best new writer, and has won a Hugo award for his work on the podcast Writing Excuses; the podcast is also a multiple winner of the Parsec Award.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your parents can't tell you to get off the computer if the computer is in your head

"Play Crazy!"

Marisa and her best friends are the Cherry Dogs - an all-girl group of virtual reality gamers mostly based in Mirador, a suburb of LA.

The Cherry Dogs aren't the best but they are moving up the ranks fast. They connect to the net via a djinni - a computer with direct access to their brain.

The djinni lets them access everything - from low level hacking to the most realistic VR games. Anja - one of the Cherry Dogs - found something incredible. Bluescreen. It's the latest drug - a VR drug - no side effects, no addiction, no problem...right?

When Anja takes a trip in front of her friends, something strange happens:

"Stop focusing on the blackout," she said, "The buzz is the whole point. The blackout just means it's time for another dose."

Only when she does black out, she sleepwalks and tried to give her snoozing dad a dose of Bluescreen too.

Suddenly, things aren't as safe as they were - the local gangs are itching for a fight, Anja can't get rid of a computer virus (in her head), and there's a mysterious Grendle on the web who seems to know everything about everyone.

It's up to the Cherry Dogs to figure this out before someone else gets killed.

I really, really, really enjoyed this one. I love Dan Well's I Am Not A Serial Killer and his other standalone The Hollow City but those two are very limited in scope - only a few key people are mentioned.

This one had such a vast (and diverse) cast along with so much of world-building. Normally, I get completely lost in the steampunk, cyberpunk, punkpunk books but this one blended the technology and augmented reality really well.

Definitely going to reread this one!


Thank you to Audrey for sending me a signed copy. My very first Dan Wells novel on my bookshelves. I'm in heaven.

The 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge - A cyberpunk book

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[Eric Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this is Dan Wells' worst book by far. It lacks the compelling or even likable characters of his other two series, the good plotting, well conceived mysteries, and original plots. I had a really, REALLY hard time even getting past the first chapter because all the characters are vapid walking examples of everything I hate about gaming and internet culture. I mean, really, live streaming your entire life... who gives a crap? The fact that people actually do give enough of a crap to watch them that it's actually a thing hits me right in the faith in humanity. Yeah, yeah, I know #firstworldproblems. I'm sorry family living in Africa dodging militias and warlords and wondering if you will find water that won't kill you to drink sometime this week, but god damn these characters annoy me. I mean, sure, you young people can tell me to get with the times old man, but my reply to that is Dadgummit ya damn youngsters, get off my lawn. Young people these days ain't got no respect, I say. No respect at all. Why, when I was your age... I was playing Nintendo... the original Nintendo... In the '80s... So sue me.

But it goes much deeper than a dislike for the characters. It takes an entire third of the book passing until something actually happens that's not video game garbage, inept and excessive infodumping, or characters talking about how awesome they are, while being horrible people. The book starts off with this sort of battle thing that Wells tries to pass off as actually happening when it's actually just a video game. I have read this exact same opening in four books in the last year, and it was stupid then too. Authors, please, stop using this as an opener. It really sucks. I mean, two sentences in I said to myself. "Ahg, this is video game, isn't it?" And you want to know what happened immediately afterward? All tension and drama in the scene completely vanished because no matter what happens there is absolutely no consequence whatsoever. It's not really happening, so there's really no reason to care. It's an incredibly annoying gimmick that seems to be taking the place of the opening with a dream or nightmare cliche that was old when the world was young, and really, it kinda needs to stop. Added into the mix are my personal dislikes of entitled, foul-mouthed little spoiled brats who think the universe revolves around them because they can kill me 87 times on Call of Duty or Halo online (A.K.A. Hardcore Gamers), and you've got a completely pointless opening where I don't care about anything that's happening, acted out by characters I hate by association with my own experience with hardcore gamers. Seriously, Dan, you do not want me to think about the thirteen year old shit stains who do nothing but play Call of Duty all day long and scream profanities at anyone that isn't up to their standards while you are introducing your characters to me. That was an enormous mistake, buddy. And it pretty well taints those characters for the rest of the story. It doesn't help that these characters all turn out to be horrible, spoiled, vapid assholes without anything resembling brains or common sense either. The beginning of this book did just about everything possible to make me hate it right out of the gate.

On top of that there's the fact that this book is HIGHLY derivative of other work. There is absolutely nothing new or original about this book. I mean, we're talking almost to the point of plagiarism here. Yes, Dan, I saw Ghost in the Shell SAC, Serial Experiments Lain, .Hack//Sign and the Matrix too. Could you be a little less blatant in borrowing ideas, worldbuilding, plot points, villains, etc etc etc from them please? Plus there's a lot of gamer and Spanish slang used in this book, and very little of it is explained to those without a working knowledge of gamer or Spanish slang.

I really don't want to read a book about horrible people playing a glorified version of Call of Duty, because it's exactly as boring and pointless as you might think. You think watching someone else play video games is boring? Yeah, try reading about someone playing video games. It's even worse.

The book DOES get better around the halfway point... slightly. It goes from unbearable to just interesting enough to keep me from screaming obscenities at it and taking it back to the store for a refund.

So yeah, not only is Marissa an entitled, spoiled brat, she's also dumb as a post. I mean, sure, she's an expert hacker and all... but she has zero common sense and even less in the way of deductive reasoning. I am constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY, connecting the dots in this book's mystery far before she has her AHAH moments. Which doesn't speak too well to the quality of the mystery either. And from a man that started his writing career with a series of supernatural murder mysteries that are pretty damn good, that's kinda pathetic. Just sayin'. And on the common sense front, let me give you an example. Marissa tells one drug dealing gang that another drug dealing gang is selling drugs on their turf. Then says "oh, I hope that doesn't start a gang war or anything." Next day, GANG WAR!!! Yeah, um, DUH!!! You grew up in this neighborhood, girl. How can you be this utterly and completely oblivious to reality? There is no way that you are this naive, having lived in this place all your life. WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!! Got both her brother AND her father shot on that one. The sheer stupidity of this character is astounding. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, and forced drama is forced... and drama that feels forced DOES NOT FEEL DRAMATIC!!! Suspension of disbelief? What's that? Good job there little miss hacking genius. And you think I can't tell that you're constantly skipping school?

And speaking of that... Wells kind of glorifies Marissa's constant ditching of school. I don't know about you, but this is not the sort of role model I want my daughters looking up to. I want them to get a good education, so they can move the hell out of my house and never move back into it. I want them to get careers that they truly enjoy, so that, if they decide to marry, they're not dependent on their husbands should things go bad. I am ALL for women pursuing higher education and enjoyable careers, bucking off that pesky (and very outdated) social stigma of a woman's proper place in society, but you don't get those things without paying your dues in high school first, and making it into a good college and/or apprenticeship. You have to work for the career you want, and unfortunately, even in this day and age, women have to work twice as hard as men to get that career. I don't want my girls reading books about girls who are constantly ditching class and blowing off responsibility so they can go play video games and hang out with drug dealers. Seriously Dan? THIS is the sort of example you think my kids should be looking up to? I've got two words to say to that. Fuck you. Did you even THINK of the sort of example you're setting for your target audience while writing this garbage? I don't know what's worse, if you didn't even connect the dots at all, or if you did and still wrote the character this way. She doesn't even learn the error of her ways by the end of the book, so as to make it a learning experience for readers. She's still the same school-ditching irresponsible mess at the end as she is in the beginning. Dan, buddy, do you understand that when you write a character like this, and make her the hero of the story, without showing a single consequence for her absolutely stupid actions except a brief telling-off by her father that is pretty much forgotten in the very next chapter, you basically tell every teenaged girl who reads about her that it's all right to do all of the stupid shit she does?

And

OH
MY
GOD...

Did I just say all of that? God damn, I sound like a responsible adult... What is the world coming to? Dammit, I miss the days when having been born in the '70s was cool. Or, wait... was it ever? I can't remember, you know, the memory is one of the first things to go. Excuse me for a second, I need to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

Another thing that kind of bothered me is that there is a lot of extra, unnecessary description in this book. I get it, you're proud of the world that you borrowed from several different Anime series and duct taped together, Dan, but do you have to go on, and on, and on, and on, and on describing it to me? I mean, even Robert Jordan would tell you to lay off it a little. This book has Dan Wells' style to it, but it doesn't have any of his normal skill or passion. It feels really phoned in. Especially in the character and mystery departments.

I was really hoping that he would have raised the bar for himself after Partials and John Cleaver... but he really didn't. The characters are horrible, annoying and stupid, and the world and plot are borrowed from other series I'm quite familiar with. When bad things happen to these characters, most of the time I think to myself that they deserve it for how absolutely idiotic they are acting. The "just say no to drugs" is STROOOOONG with this one. There's a scene where Marissa gets yelled at by her dad, and it's written in a way that we're supposed to feel that she's being put upon... but everything her dad said was true and absolutely valid. I was more on his side than hers. Yeah, yeah, get off my lawn, etc etc etc. There's a part earlier where her robot arm gets smashed up doing something stupid after she sneaks out of her house after being grounded, goes clubbing with a dude she knows is a drug dealer, drinks underage and then whines about it for the next forty pages because everyone is picking on her. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen. And the author expects us to feel sorry for her? Riiiiiiiight. That's going to happen. I was no genius when I was seventeen either, but I could usually figure out that drinking with drug dealers and clubbing while I'm supposed to be grounded is probably going to get me super double mega grounded, my ass paddled back into the stone age, and possibly disowned on top of it. Hey writers, just a bit of a heads up, people like spoiled brats just about as much as they like douchebags. STOP MAKING THEM INTO YOUR PROTAGONISTS, WOULD YA!?!?!?! It is INCREDIBLY hard to care about a character that is constantly whining, doing stupid shit, getting in trouble for it, and instead of learning from the mistake, moping around and whining some more. Do you want to read about a character like that? I sure don't. A character that whines about her mistakes rather than learning from them and doing better next time is a character I certainly never need to read another word about so long as I live, thank you very much.

Oh, and obvious bad guy is obvious... TIMES THREE!!! Seriously. THREE obvious bad guys trying to pass themselves off as good guys. Really?

And zombies...? Really? I knocked a star off the rating for that alone. Would everyone just quit beating the walking dead horse already? Zombies aren't cool anymore. They've gone WAY past stale into instahate territory. Sure they're just people with their brains hacked and killing everything in sight, but friggen Dan Wells CALLS THEM ZOMBIES IN THE BOOK!!! NO!!! BAD!!! BAD DAN WELLS!!! NO COOKIE FOR YOU!!! Yeah, and, uh, I played Duex Ex: Human Revolution too... way to jack someone else's ending there, bro. I just gotta say, even if it's unintentional, this book just steals SO MUCH from other pre-existing sources that it's absolutely shameful.

I highly doubt I will read any more of this series when it comes out. I absolutely hate the characters and Wells borrowed far too much plot and worldbuilding from other series that I'm quite familiar with. If I hadn't seen all those shows that this book rips off before hand, I might have enjoyed it a bit more than I did, but, on the other hand, those characters were just absolutely awful, so probably not.

If you're thinking of picking up this book, basically the same story was told in series such as Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (TV series, the movie is a little... well... watch it and see...), Serial Experiments Lain, .Hack//Sign, to some extent Sword Art Online... Go watch those instead. They're way better than this book. They actually have likable, sympathetic characters in them, and know how to use their setting to be entertaining, instead of snore-inducing. If you want to read a good book by Dan Wells, pick up I Am Not A Serial Killer, or Partials instead. Or even Hollow City. I would avoid this one though, it was just not a good book. Not well thought out. Not well plotted. Not really all that well written. Borrows too heavily from other series. And good god, Can Marissa just go away please... forever...? She and her friends are such annoying, whining spoiled little brats that it basically made most scenes unbearable.

Although, I have to admit that I laughed out loud at the line, "It's the internet. They've seen boobs before." But it wasn't worth reading the whole book for that one line.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“It bluescreens you,” said Anja, shooting Omar from his chaise and sitting down in his spot. “An overwhelming sensory rush, an unbelievable high, and then boom. Crash to desktop. Your Djinni goes down and takes your brain with it for, like, ten minutes. It’s the best.”

This is the second time I’ve read this book, and I have to say that I understood it a lot better the second time.

Marisa was a strong character and she was smart too. She also did well to carry on fighting when she was without her prosthetic arm, and without members of her team.

The storyline in this was quite complex, and I totally got why I got confused the first time I read this. Basically, there was a new ‘drug’ available through drug dealers, which was a program called ‘bluescreen’, which gave users a ‘high’ and then crashed their systems (using on-board computers called djinni). What people didn’t know was that bluescreen left a program on djinni, which allowed someone to take control of them remotely and use them as a puppet. This meant that anyone who had ever taken the drug was open to this form of abuse, causing an almost zombie-like problem when everyone was activated at the same time. The pace in this was quite slow though, and it was hard for me to follow what was going on at times.

The ending to this was fairly action packed, and it seemed like everything was fairly well wrapped up until the very end when something happened to disprove that.



6.5 out of 10

[Macarena Yannelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

La nueva novela de Dan Wells me parece que supera lo que hizo en Partials y lo expande al mundo de la tecnología, no se confundan con Ready Player One y los libros de realidad virtual, en este mundo existe pero no el principal tema del libro, intriga, crimen y drogas son lo que rodea el mundo de la protagonista Marisa.
Reseña completa en Gracias a los Libros.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

I didn’t really enjoy this book, and I found it quite disappointing compared to Partials.

This book was about a group of teens in a world in which they had computers in their heads? And they had to plug them in, and played games in a virtual world. And then there was all this stuff about a drug called ‘bluescreen’ which caused people to collapse and fall unconscious, and then some sort of computer virus was getting into their heads whilst they were unconscious. That’s about as much as I understood, and I really didn’t care to be honest.



5 out of 10

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, good job, Mr. Wells.

In the not-that-distant future, everybody has the equivalent of smart phones in their brains. A new digital drug gives people a high by overloading this system -- no physical side effects; totally safe, right? Marisa doesn't trust it from the start, and her investigation uncovers something really sinister.

The world felt real and complete; it was detailed and believable. Marisa has two brothers and two sisters, parents, school, online friends and offline friends. Every aspect of life is shown. I didn't even get confused by the number of characters, which I usually do.

Pacing and buildup is done well. All the storytelling elements tie together well. The writing is tight. Even the editing is almost perfect. The book is left open enough for sequels, but it's still a complete story in itself. Overall, this was very enjoyable. There was never a dull moment.

There is some Spanish and German swearing; no sexual content.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a very futuristic Los Angeles that is all too realistic and believable, this novel is nonstop cyber action that will leave you breathless and in need of more.

In a world run by robots and the cyber world filled with holograms, advanced AI intelligence, and digital chips and enhancers, this newest series from author Dan Wells is sure to please gamers and lovers of fantasy alike. With a world that is more than likely to be in our not too distant future this series was fast paced, action driven and so much fun to read.

*ARC copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review.

I would have given this a 3.5 so naturally I rounded it up. The technology and the world were pretty amazing. Amazing and terrifying because this is a world where I would be scared to live in. There is no way I would want to plug in through my skull like in The Matrix. Having a chip embedded in my brain so I can have access to the Internet? No thank you! And that's not even crossing the line, because as you read, they start to take over the person's body making them do things they would never do. Talk about frightening! There were a lot of computer hacker talk, but it's written in such a way that anyone would be able to decipher what they were saying. But this is the world where Marisa lives in. I loved how detailed everything was. His writing just flows from chapter to chapter. I also love how she's Mexican and how their family dynamics are also in play with the story. Some of their dialogue was in Spanish, so I had fun Googling some of the words, so I can at least learn some of it myself.

One thing that really bothered me was that Marisa was always second guessing herself. She had all of these wonderful supportive friends and family who would do anything for her, but when it came to herself she kept underestimating. But maybe that was where her character arc finally started developing. I didn't like any of the love interests, and I certainly didn't trust any of them either. I thought the romance was unnecessary, maybe because I particularly didn't like any of them. Loved that he was a person of colour as well. YAY FOR DIVERSITY! I just thought the focus on saving the world was a stronger priority than falling in love. The ending left much to be desired, but at least it had a satisfying ending, and has the potential for another book.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this one. It was fast-paced, informative and thrilling all at the same time. For any person who loves science fiction, give this one a try!

RATING 4/5

QUOTES

"You gotta keep your options open. There's too many things on the menu to just order the same one every time, right? And you never know what your favourite is until you've tried them all."

I guess I define happiness as having the right opportunities.

"Achieving things makes people happy."

"Why had she worried so much about what she looked like in the real world, if they were going to spend all their time in this perfected one?"

"I'm awesome in every version of reality."

"I hate being disconnected like this; it's like someone...chopped my brain in half."

"We have no security, no privacy, we have nothing we can rely on. I want to rely on something again, because I can't do this anymore."

"If you want to add more compassion, bring more compassion."

"You hack computers, I hack people. H e likes me because I always show him exactly the kind of young man he wants to see."

"You're going to do what you do best, what you've always done your entire life: you're going to help other people instead of yourself. It's who you are. I think that makes you the best person I know."

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is painfully bad, and I say that as someone who loves sci-fi and enjoyed Dan's other books. I couldn't even force myself to get past the 50% mark, it was just SO terrible. Here's why:

1) The main character reads like a caricature of a Mexican girl. Imagine if a straight white guy who has only seen Mexican people in movies and TV shows wrote a book with every stereotype and random Spanish word he heard, but didn't bother to get a REAL Mexican reader or two to make sure he wasn't being offensive? And then threw in even more offensive stereotypical Mexican gang members? YEP, THAT'S THIS BOOK. Yes, we need diverse books, but we also need them to be GOOD, and to be authentic, and this one is not.

2) Los Angeles is also a caricature and makes me wonder if the author has ever visited it for more than a short trip. Not to mention, the tech in this world is way too advanced for only 34 years later. There's no way LA could have changed that much structurally in that short a time. The city in 2016 is not that much different than it was in the 80s, really. Also, not every Mexican person in LA is involved in a gang or lives in a gang-controlled area, for fuck's sake.

3) It's mind-numbingly slow and full of bad info-dumping. It takes over 100 page for the book to really start! Plus there is SO MUCH exposition about the technology, and it's done in a very beginner way. You'd think after Dan has written so many novels he would find a way to introduce technology without the "As you know, cars are safer when they drive themselves..." scenes, OF WHICH THERE ARE A LOT. Seriously, teens do not talk like that, nor sit around talking about how technology has changed in the last few years. WHY? Because to them it's just how it is - not history. This is just bad writing and exposition, and he should know better.

4) The characters are not interesting, or worse, annoying as hell and stupid. I hated every single one of them, and was about 10 steps ahead of them the entire time.

5) Nothing about it was original. The tech, the plot, the characters all felt like it was stolen from other movies/books/TV shows.

Save yourself the time and don't pick up this book. If you want a good book set in a future Los Angeles with a Mexican character, read FUTURE SHOCK by Elizabeth Briggs and skip this one.

[booknuts_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa. If nothing else, Bluescreen is an ambitious novel. Wells somehow manages to combine futuristic sci-fi technology, gaming, hackers, with Mexican cartels, recreational drugs and questions about the ethics of automation and displaced workers. Sounds like one heck of a story? It is.

The heroine Marisa is a 2nd generation Mexican American living in an L.A. that has sprawled all the way to Tijuana, past the Mexican border. A semi-pro gamer, and brilliant hacker, Mari’s world is upended when Anja, her friend and team member, gets her hands on a new rich-kid drug. Bluescreen plugs into a person’s djinni, a smart device implanted in their head, and delivers a euphoric high before causing the user to blackout. After assuring her friends that bluescreen is safe, Anja begins acting erratically and almost gets herself killed. Marisa and her other friends, Sahara and Bo, discover that bluescreen is infecting people’s cybernetic implants with a virus. (Did I just use the word cybernetic? I did. I’m married to a Trekkie after all.) Things get worse when the local gangs get involved and a drug war ensues.

So did I love the book? Mostly. It was very fast paced, and intense, but sometimes the technobabble might get to be a little much if you aren’t a die hard sci-fi fan. The entire first chapter is set in the online game Mari plays, but she hardly returns to that world the rest of the novel. There is definitely violence and recreational drug use. No sex, or even any kissing to speak of. However, sex slavery and general references to porn are mentioned. It is a little disturbing, though at least they are always portrayed in a negative light.

One last thing… I’ve got to give a shout out to his dedication page… “This book is dedicated to Hedy Lamarr, an actress and mathematician who, in the 1930s, invented some of the Wi-Fi communications technology that make the internet age possible. She was brilliant and inventive, and the fact that most people remember her for just her looks says more about the world than a hundred books could hope to convey. Let’s change that world.”

[Ashley Marie]

Feeling a bit disappointed. It's not that nothing happened in the first fifty pages, it's just that I didn't care. The whole plug-yourself-into-the-internet thing is cool, but the constant vlogging? And blinking can do SO MUCH. Like, how does it know if I want to close my email or if I just have to blink?? Weird. Not quite for me, unfortunately. Wanted to love it for the diverse cast, but alas.

[Tanja (Tanychy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

You didn't have to ruin my ship, Dan Wells. We've just met, dude.
Anyhow this book is all kinds of scary. Even though I really want to know how the future will look like with all the technology, maybe it's better living now.
RTC.

[Zemira Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

YES! YES! YES! New Dan Wells book! I need it! I don't even care what's it about! Just give it to me!

I'm so glad Dan Wells is back with a new series/trilogy(?). I've missed his books, his incredible world-building and diversity.

Bluescreen is an interesting take on the future which is quite possible since everyone's obsessed with technology, including myself. Life without wifi is boring.

I think the story itself was entertaining from the get-go, the only problem I had with the book were the characters. I don't think they are as memorable as Kira and Samm. Will wait for the sequel to see if things change.

I do need to point out Wells knows how to create a whole new world for us and don't misinterpret me giving it 3 stars as something negative. It's a good book, I just didn't 'really like it'.

[ᒪᗴᗩᕼ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cherry Dogs Forever!"

Book Title: Bluescreen
Author: Dan Wells
Narration: Roxanne Hernandez
Source: Audiobook (Library)

Uhmmm…I don't really know, it's the battle cry of Marissa's online gaming team. Sadly, this book didn't inspire me to look further than that. Actually the gaming aspect of this really bored me.

Plot: 3.5/5 --It was good concept, so-so execution. This book moved at a breakneck speed, with a lot of techy talk, but left me feeling meh.
Characters: 3/5 –While they were a very diverse cast of characters, I don’t feel like I know them. Just within Marissa's family alone, there were several different names for each one of her siblings, of which I'm not sure how many siblings she even has. Basically, there is a lot of names to keep track of, and it made it difficult to actually know anyone and difficult to follow the story.
The Feels: 2.5/5
Theme: 4/5
Flow: 3/5 --Too much techno babble, it made it hard for me to enjoy it.
Backdrop (World Building): 4/5 --The most noteworthy component to this story.
Originality: 4/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Sex Factor: None
Narration: 3/5 --This is one of those books, that would have been better for me to read rather than listen, but then the length of it would have done me in. A lot of Spanish terms flying around, that I couldn't follow that quickly. Sometimes I zoned out while listening, and didn't really care.
Ending: 4/5 Cliffhanger: No, but apparently this is a series…

Will I continue the series? Probably not


I'm not computer illiterate but this book made me feel as if I am, at least sort of. This futuristic world that Dan Wells painted is one that seems totally plausible in the coming years. There are some interesting aspects to it. To the djinni, the cars that drive themselves, and the laundry bot. I really wanted to like this a lot more than I did, because I loved the Partials Sequence, but it just wasn't happening. Marissa is no Kira…

[Naty Escucha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro que realmente disfruté y que me mantuvo enganchada, lo leí en solo tres sentadas y no es un libro ligero de verano, tiene sus detalles a los cuales hay que prestarles atención. Si bien ya vengo leyendo bastante seguido libros con mundos de realidad virtual, Wells pudo darle a este libro otro giro con respecto a ese elemento y, por lo menos en este primer libro, no le dio tanta importancia al Supramundo sino a los seres humanos y a los peligros que puede generarle la tecnología tan cerca de sus mentes. En un tiempo me explayaré mejor sobre los aspectos positivos extras que le vi al libro.
Sin embargo, también tuvo sus cosillas, una relación amorosa que no llega a ser amorosa en sí pero realmente me pareció MUY podría decir DEMASIADO podría decir EXCESIVAMENTE carecedora de química o atracción y creo que el desarrollo de la historia, la manera en que estaba recopilada me refiero, estuvo un toque desordenada a mi parecer, en especial creo que el comienzo del libro fue demasiado abrupto para mi gusto. Sobre más quejas me explayaré luego, no es el mejor de los libros de Wells, pero tampoco el peor que he leído, tiene sus fallas, pero tiene más puntos a favor.

Próximamente reseña en el canal ;)

[joey (thoughts and afterthoughts)]

"And it’s Anja who first gets her hands on Bluescreen—a virtual drug that plugs right into a person’s djinni and delivers a massive, non-chemical, completely safe high."



This is euphoric? Blue screens of death are the worst.

Updated thoughts Jan 19/16: what if the eBook featured a book cover screen that was GIF and displayed a BSOD. That'd be hilarious LOL.

(I still want to read it though)

[Lovely Day]

DNFd at 19%

I’m just not feeling it…this YA sci-fi video game story drops you into action and you just have to catch up. I couldn’t completely find a footing with the characters. Some of the tech stuff was fun, but then there seemed to be gang/mob storylines being woven into it (which I don’t care for) and when the one character shows off a tech anomaly that she found, it seems a bit obvious how it will later be used to help the ‘good guys’ beat the ‘bad guys’ … and I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that-I just like a little more unknowns to keep me curious

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prose-wise, this is a bit clunky, but I absolutely do not care because it's tons of fun. Tonnes of fun. Internet! Silly hacking! Little sisters! Lots of languages! Gang war shoot outs that are so intense that they become fun again! Weaponized spam filters! They hack a car, convince it it's a VR headset, and use it as a battering ram!

[Udy Kumra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book was really good. The first half was good on its own, but I was a bit curious about how intense the stakes would get. Without spoilers, let's just say they get intense.

The characters, as always in a Dan Wells book, were the best part. As this is a thriller that takes place over a very short amount of time, there isn't really space in the book for a complete character arc, but what interests me is that this book didn't really need a complete character arc. Marisa Carneseca is an engaging, fun protagonist who is unique not just because of her personality—which is strangely (in a good way) balanced for a YA protagonist, where she's a gamer girl, she's got social skills, she's a really good programmer but also has lots of friends and goes on dates and has good relationships with her family—but also because of her background. Dan Wells could have made this yet another white boy solves crime story (John Cleaver is one of my favorite characters of all time, but…), but no. Marisa is Mexican-American, fluent in Spanish and English and learning Chinese; her brother is in a gang, her father runs a Mexican restaurant and has a feud with a powerful family called the Maldonados, and so much more. She's one of the best fleshed out characters I've EVER read, in large part because we got a lot of things about her in a non-intrusive way that we didn't need for the story to work, but getting those things made the story a thousand times more interesting.

The plot of this book was, in true thriller style, twisty, intense, and awesome. I'm not gonna say much else about this, though, because it's pretty much all spoilers, other than to say the book does take a few chapters to get going. While there are intense things going on in the first 3-4 chapters, things really get rolling at around the 50-60 page mark, I think. I did not find this to be a flaw—I actually really liked it—but it's one thing that takes a bit away from the thriller effect that some people will have a problem with.

The world is one of the coolest cyberpunk worlds that I've read. I don't want to go into too much detail because it's really something you need to experience, but mind chips? Service drones? VR? That stuff put together is all really cool. I loved it, and it works really well into the story. I especially enjoyed how the cyberpunk elements did not wipe out native cultures, and that Marisa's heritage and Latinx culture plays a strong role in the story, particularly with regards to her family and her brother's gang.

I had one small flaw with the book, which is that I did not entirely understand the plan of this book's antagonist by the end. There's a chance that maybe I missed it at some point, or I forgot, or something of the sort, but I don't think I did, so that's why this book is 4.5 instead of 5. But still, this book is really fucking solid and I strongly recommend.

[★MC's Corner★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if I compare it to Partials, which is btw one of my all time fave series. I have to say Bluescreen was a bit disappointing, only if I compare them.
But honestly, I liked it. It’s a good concept and the ‘think forward/ futuristic’ was waaay forward. It’s like the ‘future’ we think/on movies on steroids.

James Dashner’s Eye of Minds meets Alex London’s Proxy. And the dauntless simulation part of Veronica Roth’s Divergent

*MC’s Corner*
Note: Spoilers.

• The Cover is so cool!
At first I really thought that this is one of those cyborg books. The thing is, it is a cyborg book, kinda, but the mood or the way it was written (since it was the future-on-steroids) it felt natural. Just the way they are, the people in the story lived with cyborgs all their lives. I mean they don’t discriminate or make them feel like outcasts. And to be clear the story is not about the cyborgs. It’s just the protagonist.

• Bluescreen –it is some sort of drug but doesn’t really contain any drugs. It is some kind of software that people illegally buy then they inject them into their ‘djinnis,’(which is btw the ‘everything’ for the most people there it’s their phone, computer, credit card, key to their houses and etc.) then they feel ‘an overwhelming sensory rush, an unbelievable high, and then boom.’ That was what Anja said. Little do they know, there is actually a side effect on using these things.

• I just wrote this review like a month after I finished reading Bluescreen. It’s almost like fresh in my head. I read every day and if the book is next to boring I probably would forget it. So this being ‘fresh in my head’ I think, deserves some plus points.

• It’s my gut feel that tells me that most people would probably quit or will not finish reading Bluescreen. It’s kinda long. I mean especially those who are not that massive fan of YA books. I am a fan of Dan Wells and I belive its going to end up good so… I continued reading and finished this thing. Turns out it was really good. And it would be a mistake if you opened this thing and not finish it. BIG MISTAKE.

• My arms are tired right now… *wiggle* *wiggle* *wiggle*

• Memorable scenes… there’s a lot of them. Though I think… well I’m pretty sure my fave one is when they play. It was so cool.

• It was very detailed. It makes it more believable and makes it feel that you are actually in there.
I also liked the ‘control’ between the fantasy and the reality part. There are ‘fantasy’ problems and of course the reality.

• #IWISH there’s some illustrations. I think that would be so kickass! And it will help the reader not to make ‘some assumptions of imagination’ inside their heads.
AND if there is I’m going to give this thing a 10star rating on goodreads. (LOL. )

• The market… I don’t think kids will enjoy it that much, because it’s too long. Teenagers and up is appropriate.
And the SCI/FI would love it too.
ARC provided by Balzer + Bray ( HarperCollins Publishers) & Edelweiss in exchange of honest review. Thank you!

@gleekidMC

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

SERIOUSLY interesting concept!! As a computer nerd I just loved the entire idea. It was so cool to think about.

I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because I felt like it fizzled near the end. Don't get me wrong, it was totally ACTION PACKED, but I feel like my interest in the whole thing waned a little. Maybe it was a "me" problem rather than a book problem, if you know what I mean.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things I really liked:
- lots of ethnic / cultural / racial / linguistic diversity (Mexican, Black, Chinese, German, Russian, Indian, and probably others I'm forgetting; I was actually mistakenly imagining a character who was German as brown for the first part of the book)
- girls who kick ass and code
- girls who are tech savvy versus one of their boyfriends being hot but a dunce about tech--what a great reversal of that trope
- great pacing and fun plot twists (probably detectable to other readers, but not me! I was surprised by a few)
-some mystery left at the end for the rest of the series but also a good resolution of the book's plot as a whole
-some complex interesting characters with flaws, including the girl heroines and people who are villians but not wholy bad
- girl gamers
- fun meditations on the permeation of our lives by technology and the internet--where is this going to lead us?
- the fact that Marisa the main character is totally a player but it's not depicted as a negative thing
-pretty believable 2050 universe in LA
- Marisa eats chilaquiles twice in this book mmmm delicious

Things I didn't like:
-The elaborate descriptions of what the girls were wearing was totally unnecessary. Is that the male author's idea of appealing to female readers??
-I'm not really convinced that smart devices implanted in your brain is where we're gonna be in 25 years--I mean we really know like relatively nothing about how the brain works thus far right?

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was thoroughly confused for a few chapters and then the book started growing on me and I did end up enjoying it. I thought there were way too many supporting characters, but I didn't get them mixed up which is good. The future technology was super neat to read about. I do however hope that the world never turns up like it does in BLUESCREEN.

I thought BLUESCREEN was a good start to Dan Well's new series. If readers can get past the confusion in the beginning I think they will have no problem wanting to read book two.

* This book was provided free of charge from Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Mika_books_]

"Estamos en medio de una enorme multitud y, aún así, estamos alejados de absolutamente todos..."

♡Reseña: Bluescreen.
♡Autor: @authordanwells
♡Páginas: 448.
♡Editorial: @vreditorasya ♡Gracias a: @georgid016 y @vreditorasya
Nuestra historia comienza en Los Ángeles, pleno año 2050, arraigado firmemente en las nuevas tecnologías y los avances científicos al extremo de que el trabajo lo realiza una inteligencia artificial; al no existir las oportunidades laborales... surgen las pandillas, las cuales son formadas exclusivamente por desempleados, ellos se encargan de ofrecer sus servicios remunerados de protección a los barrios o en todo caso su firme palabra de no lastimarlos a cambio de dinero.

Un futuro violento, donde las pandillas se imponen, el empleo apenas existe y las personas sólo intentan sobrevivir.
En ese escenario es donde nos encontramos a Marisa, una joven gamer que posee las habilidades propias de un hacker. Su vida transcurre plácidamente entre campeonatos de realidad virtual, el trabajo en el restaurante su familia y su inexistente asistencia a la escuela; hasta que una de sus amigas consume una droga nueva que es tendencia entre las personas adineradas y herederas de fortunas inmensas. Es una droga virtual que supuestamente no hace daño, pues se conecta al sistema cerebral (protegido por antivirus). Pero esta droga no es como cualquier otra, guarda un fín oscuro... Todo él/la que la consume atenta contra su vida o la de los demás.
Éste es el comienzo de una carrera contra el reloj; Marisa debe descubrir quién está detrás de Bluescreen para salvar a su amiga. ¿Logrará descubrir al titiritero detrás de los hilos de Bluescreen? ¿Acaso esa droga esconde un fin estratégico?
.
RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG *Link en mi bio* Allí adjunto imágenes, gif y mucho más ¡Los espero!

[Leselurch · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Worum geht's?*
Los Angeles im Jahre 2050: Der technische Fortschritt scheint nichts mehr unmöglich zu machen. Immer mehr Arbeiten werden von Robotern erledigt, fehlende Körperteile werden durch widerstandsfähigere Prothesen ersetzt und durch Djinnis, Implantate im eigenen Kopf, ist man nicht nur nonstop online, sondern auch dazu in der Lage, die eigenen Sinne zu überlisten. Für Marisa Carneseca und ihre besten Freundinnen, die sich als Team zusammen im Online-Spiel Overworld an die Spitze der Weltrangliste kämpfen, ist das Leben ohne die modernen Technologien kaum noch vorstellbar. Als jedoch eine Datei in Umlauf gerät, die auf ihre Nutzer wie eine Droge wirkt und die Djinnis beeinflusst, beginnt Marisa an den Vorteilen der Technik zu zweifeln. Denn wenn du 24 Stunden lang im Netz bist, bist du auch 24 Stunden lang für deinen Feind angreifbar …

*Meine Meinung:*
Mit „Bluescreen“ gibt es endlich Lesenachschub von „Partials“-Autor Dan Wells! Auch im Auftakt seiner neuen Serie geht es in die Zukunft, auch wenn seine neue Dystopie futuristischer aufgebaut ist. Im Los Angeles des Jahres 2050 muss sich Protagonistin Marisa nicht mit dem Ende der Menschheit auseinandersetzen, sondern mit den Tücken des modernen Fortschritts. Durch so genannte Djinnis – Implantate, die direkt in den Kopf an das eigene Nervensystem angeknüpft werden – ist man permanent im Netz. Nonstop miteinander verbunden. Es werden im kaum noch Geräte genutzt, um miteinander zu kommunizieren, der Alltag wird durch das Steuern verschiedener Roboter durch bloße Gedanken enorm erleichtert und auch das Spielen wird durch virtuelle Realitäten völlig neu definiert. Nur wenige Menschen haben sich keine Djinnis implantieren lassen. Für Marisa und ihre Freundinnen unverständlich, ist ihnen das wahre Leben doch viel zu langweilig und trist geworden.

Der Einstieg in „Bluescreen“ ist mir aufgrund des hochmodernen Settings alles andere als leichtgefallen. Obwohl mir dank meines Studiums und meiner privaten Interessen so mancher technische Fachbegriff wohlbekannt ist, fühlte ich mich durch den abrupten Start mit Marisas Welt überfordert. Zu Beginn bestimmen viele Gaming-Szenen den Roman, wodurch einem als Leser eindeutig vor Augen geführt wird, wie Marisas Leben mit all den technischen Hilfsmitteln funktioniert. So faszinierend das Setting jedoch wirken mag, ebenso anstrengend und mühselig lesen sich die ersten Kapitel. Bis sich ein Lesefluss einstellt, der nicht der Atmosphäre einer Informatik-Vorlesung gleicht, vergehen etwa hundert Seiten. Das Durchhalten wird allerdings belohnt.

Hat man sich erst einmal an Marisas Lebensstil gewöhnt und die Möglichkeiten, die die Djinnis ihren Trägern ermöglichen, verstanden, gewinnen Neugierde, Faszination und Spannung die Überhand. Dann endlich entpuppt sich der Auftakt als der futuristische Thriller, den man sich von Anfang an erhofft hat. Gut recherchiert und komplex durchdacht, wie man es von Dan Wells kennt, liest sich „Bluescreen“ wie ein wirklichkeitsnaher Blick in unsere Zukunft. Die realistische Darstellung füttert das Bedürfnis, selbst in die Seiten einzutauchen und die virtuellen Realitäten auszuprobieren. Während Marisa wie selbstverständlich mit den modernen Technologien umgeht, genießt man sie als Leser mit einer gehörigen Portion Vorsicht, die auch zwischen Dan Wells‘ Worten allgegenwärtig ist. So sicher das Internet auch sein mag, das Netz ist voller Schlupflöcher … und nach der letzten Seite wird so mancher Leser sicherlich seine Passwörter ändern!

In „Bluescreen“ gibt es keine schwarz-weißen Strukturen, keine eindeutigen Aufteilungen in Gut und Böse. Das merkt man der Technologie, die ihre Vor- und Nachteile mit sich bringt, eindeutig an. Noch deutlicher spürt man es aber an den Charakteren. Weder Protagonistin Marisa noch ihre Freunde sind klassische Helden ohne Fehler und auch die vermeintlichen Antagonisten haben durchaus gute Absichten. Dass Dan Wells mit unterschiedlichen Facetten spielt und seinen Figuren nicht dem typischen Schema entsprechen, macht die Charaktere in „Bluescreen“ interessant, bringt aber auch seine Schattenseiten mit sich: Einen klaren Sympathieträger, mit dem ich emotional mitgefiebert hätte, fand ich zwischen Marisa und ihren Freunden nicht. „Bluescreen“ wurde für mich daher mehr von der spannenden Handlung als von den Charakteren getragen, was sich allerdings nur marginal auf den Lesespaß auswirkte.

Auch wenn „Bluescreen“ im Jahre 2050 angesiedelt ist, kann man Parallelen zu unserem alltäglichen Leben nicht verleugnen. Auch wenn unsere Technologien noch nicht so ausgereift sind, entwickeln sie sich doch ganz klar in diese Richtung. Dan Wells zeigt deutlich, welche Vorteile seine futuristische Weltvorstellung mit sich bringt, sensibilisiert aber auch für mögliche Gefahren und Risiken. Dadurch liest sich „Bluescreen“ nicht nur wie ein mitreißender Sci-Fi-Thriller, der sich ab der zweiten Hälfte als echter Pageturner beweist, der Roman regt auch zum Nachdenken an. Wir sind bereits beinahe 24 Stunden online, dauernd erreichbar, überall auffindbar. Wie viel wollen wir von uns tatsächlich preisgeben? Welchen Luxus sind uns unsere Daten wert? So schwierig der Einstieg in „Bluescreen“ für mich war, so atemlos habe ich das Buch zugeschlagen. Die Fortsetzung der „Mirador“-Saga wird bereits sehnsüchtig erwartet!

*Fazit:*
Mit „Bluescreen“, dem Auftakt der „Mirador“-Saga“, gibt es endlich Lesenachschub von Dan Wells. Auch diesmal nimmt der Autor seine Leser mit in die Zukunft. Atmosphärisch wird es allerdings nicht endzeitlich, sondern durch und durch futuristisch: Im Jahre 2050 besitzt beinahe jeder Mensch ein Djinni, ein Implantat im Kopf, durch das man nonstop online sein kann. Da das Djinni direkt mit dem eigenen Nervensystem verbunden wird, bietet es unfassbare Möglichkeiten – und ebenso viele Gefahren. Protagonistin Marisa muss sich den dunkelsten Abgründen des Netzes stellen, das ihr Leben so maßgeblich geprägt und beeinflusst hat. Nach anfänglichen Startschwierigkeiten beweist sich „Bluescreen“ als packender Sci-Fi-Thriller, der nichts von klassischen Schwarz-Weiß-Strukturen hält. Das macht den Roman so interessant wie faszinierend. Vor allem regt Dan Wells in seinem neuen Buch aber zum Nachdenken an: Welchen Luxus sind uns unsere Daten wert? Wie viel will ich wirklich von mir verraten – und zu welchem Preis? Mit welchen Konsequenzen? Nach diesem Roman habe ich umgehend meine Passwörter geändert … Für „Bluescreen“ vergebe ich schwächelnde 4 Lurche.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bluescreen is clearly a spiritual successor to the cyberpunk of the 80s, but influenced by modern trends in tech and society.

Marissa and her friends are tech savvy teens. They play online games, skip school, and go to clubs. Their biggest worries are pocket-money, relationships, and placing well in an amateur e-sports tournament.

Until their affluent friend Anya tries Bluescreen, a digital "drug" that causes a rush by overloading your implanted computer's sensory interface. It's *not* supposed to make you get up and do strange things while you're high.

Before long, Marissa is in the center of a web of hacking, drug trafficking, and power dealing - and she doesn't even know who the spider is at the center.

The book is pretty good. The vision of future LA is believable but inventive. The themes of man vs. machine, rich vs poor, reality vs virtual reality are all present. The cast is diverse, leaning heavily toward the Mexican denizens of Marissa's neighborhood. The hacking bits are pretty hand-wavy. It's just to be expected - new tech would change things, and real-life hacking is pretty slow and dull most of the time.

I'll check out the second book, Ones and Zeroes , later this year.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars: An exciting, fast paced read with plenty of twists, but the world building lacked detail.

Marissa high fives her friends in the virtual world after their latest online gaming victory. Then it is time to return to the read world to face school. Marissa lives in Los Angeles in the year 2050. LA is a sprawling metropolis, bigger than some of the smallest states. Life here is tough, as there are gangs, crime and drugs. For Marissa, life is all about being connected to the virtual world courtesy of her djinni. A djinni is a smart device implanted right into the brain, allowing the user to be constantly connected to the Internet. Unfortunately, there is a new drug on the street called Bluescreen. At first it appears to be a harmless virtual drug, that gives the user a blissful high without chemicals, but when one of Marissa's closest friends uses the drug, Marissa learns that there are some serious repercussions. Who is behind Bluescreen and what are their intentions?

What I Liked:
*Bluescreen is a book that kept me glued to the pages. I loved the futuristic world, the computer hacking, the action and danger, and the jaw dropping finale with its twists and revelations. If you want a adrenaline packed read full of futuristic tech devices and an exciting plot, this is one to try.
*I liked the futuristic world Mr. Wells created. In 2050, humans have moved beyond carrying smart phones. These days, the Internet is implanted directly into their head with a device called a djinni. That way one can be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. I liked all the tech stuff, and I enjoyed the world.
*Marissa, the main character, is a smart and savvy teen who is a genius when it comes to computers. Marissa can hack practically anything. Marissa has a tight knit group of friends both in the real world and online who come to her aid and her help her when danger strikes. I loved watching the group hack together. I did have some niggles, but for the most part, I liked the characters.
*I liked exploring Bluescreen. In the future, a new drug hits the streets. Instead of users getting a chemical high with a traditional drug, Bluescreen is delivered via a drive which is input into the user's djinni. The Bluescreen drive uploads a quick high, which seems harmless, but of course, there are some sinister consequences. When the truth was revealed about Bluescreen, I was horrified. Scary stuff.
*I loved the quick pace of the book. The story is riveting and it doesn't let up. If you like books with lots of action and danger, this is a read you should try.
*The ending is fast and chaotic with plenty of stunning developments. There were some big surprises, a couple which I didn't see coming. After the dust settles, it seems like everything is going to end in a happy spot, but then there is another revelation that left me eager for more. Not really a cliffhanger, but the author drops a tantalizing lead right at the end for the next book.
And The Not So Much:
*What held this one back for me, was that I felt like the world building was a bit weak. You are thrown into a LA in the year 2050. You get the bare bones of what is going on, such as life isn't so easy, there is crime and poverty. Gangs rule the streets, forcing business owners into a mafia relationship. Beyond that, though, I had little idea of what the world was like. There was mentions that the government was corrupt. What happened to the United States government? Had there been any world conflicts? I wanted a bit more depth and detail as far as the state of the world.
*I was bothered by the whole concept of the djinni. You get this cursory explanation that a djinni is a smart device implanted into the brain, and there are plug ins into the skull, but that is about it. I felt a little lost. I wanted a better understanding of the djinni. How were they implanted into the brain? How did they work? Were they easily accessible? What was the cost? At what age do people get a djinni? I wished that there was more detail on the djinni, especially since they were so important. I also didn't have a clear understanding of what the VR parlors were.
*I was a bit put off by some of the unnecessary details. For instance, the author went into lengthy descriptions. when it came to what the girls were wearing. I could have cared less about their attire. I was more interested in learning more about the world and the djinni.
*Even though I liked the characters, I did struggle a bit with Marrisa's blatant disregard for rules, and I didn't like that she was disrespectful to her parents. She comes off as spoiled. Speaking of spoiled, Anya was the character that I didn't like. She is wealthy, and she takes the Bluescreen without any hesitation. I was annoyed by Sahara as well because she constantly had small robots following her and filming everything she did for a webcast. Ugh!

Bluescreen was a fast paced, futuristic read with plenty of high tech computer stuff. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I struggled a tiny bit with the world building. Still it was a solid read, and I won't hesitate to grab the next book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

[Stefanie Hasse hisandherbooks.de · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inhalt:
Das Los Angeles des Jahres 2050 hat sich zu einer gigantischen Megacity entwickelt, in der rund um die Uhr Nulis herumschweben. Kleine Roboterdrohnen, die so ziemlich alles erledigen, was früher Menschen tun mussten. Genauso sieht es in den Fabriken aus. Auch dort ist alles roboterisiert/automatisiert.

Die Arbeitslosenquote ist in einer Welt, in denen Roboter alles erledigen, gigantisch und die Schule nicht unbedingt ein Weg, der zum Erfolg führt.

Marisa lebt in dieser Welt. 24 Stunden am Tag mit ihren Freunden vernetzt über das implantierte Djinni in ihrem Kopf. Mit ihm steuert man einfach alles, wird von Werbepopups belästigt oder immer und überall aufgespürt.

Doch Marisa ist nicht nur Teil einer Gamer-Gruppe, sie ist auch eine Hackerin. Daher erkennt sie auch ziemlich schnell, dass das, was den Kids als Droge „Blue Screen“ als Möglichkeit zum „Abschalten“ dient, weit mehr ist. Und plötzlich sehen sich Marisa und ihre Freunde einem übermächtigen Gegner gegenüber, der nichts Gutes im Sinn hat.

Meinung:
Der Klappentext versprach ein interessantes Zukunftsszenario, das nicht allzu abwegig klingt. So ist schon Eva Siegmunds „Pandora“ auf denselben Schluss zur Weiterentwicklung des Smartphones (als Implantat) gekommen und in „The Evil Me“ wird ebenfalls genau das thematisiert.

Dennoch liegt der Fokus in jedem dieser Bücher auf einem anderen Part. So auch in der von Dan Wells erschaffenen Welt, die insbesondere von den äußeren Umständen und den enormen Schattenseiten der Technisierung erzählt. Das Stadtbild des Los Angeles‘ der Zukunft wird von fliegenden Robotern, den Nulis, geprägt. Sie machen einfach alles, während die Menschen sich in autonomen Fahrzeugen durch die Gegend kutschieren lassen – sofern sie denn das Geld aufbringen können, ein solches zu besitzen. Denn durch die Automatisierung aller Fabriken gibt es kaum Jobs und Einnahmequellen – außer der ‚Anstellung‘ bei diversen Gangs.

All die Technik wird mit einem Blinzeln und Aktivieren der in den Kopf implantierten „Djinnis“ gesteuert. Gespielt wird in virtuellen Welten, die das Geschehen dank vernetzten Sinnen hautnah miterleben lassen.

Insbesondere am Anfang war mir das ganze Spiele/Gamer-Szenario, Marisas Hobby, etwas zu viel. Ich spiele nicht und daher konnte ich nur hoffen, dass Marisa und ihre Freunde bald weniger Zeit in der Spielwelt verbringen. Und mein Wunsch wurde erhöht.
Als eine neue Droge ins Spiel kommt, die für die Nutzer äußerst gefährlich wird.

Zug um Zug erhöht Dan Wells die Spannung, während seine ausgedachte Welt nebenbei immer detaillierter wird – und schockierender. Rivalisierende Gangs, Schutzgelder wie zu Mafiazeiten und „Familien“, die bis zum Tod hintereinander stehen.
Während der Leser bis zu den letzten Kapiteln nicht wirklich weiß, wer dahintersteckt, gibt der Autor häppchenweise Informationen, mutet der Stadt Zerstörung und seinen Figuren Schmerz und Verlust zu und konnte mich so durchweg bei der Stange halten.

Der Schreibstil ist eher an Jugendlicheren orientiert und ich hatte auch nie das Gefühl, ein Buch für Erwachsene zu lesen. Einzig die vielen spanischen Begriffe und auch Flüche, die man teilweise mangels Erklärung einfach so stehen lassen muss, sind untypisch für ein Jugendbuch. Das Alter der Protagonistin und deren Freunde deuten jedoch ebenfalls darauf hin.

Der erste Band der „Mirador“-Reihe hätte bis kurz vor Schluss als Standalone gelten können, doch mit seinem letzten Kapitel hat Dan Wells noch einmal alles verändert und die Basis für die Fortsetzung geschaffen, auf die ich schon sehr gespannt bin.

Urteil:
Mit „Blue Screen“ schafft Dan Wells ein düsteres und bedrückend realitätsnahes Zukunftsszenario, das zum Nachdenken anregt. Die anfangs durch – für meinen Geschmack – zu viele Gamer-Szenen und –Gespräche etwas zähe Handlung nimmt im Laufe der Geschichte immer mehr an Fahrt auf und wird zu einem gelungenen Kampf gegen die moderne Technik. Sehr gute 4 Bücher für den ersten Band der „Mirador“-Reihe.

Die Reihe:
1. Blue Screen
2. Originaltitel: Ones and Zeros
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[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank Harper Teen for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.

This is my first Dan Wells book. I've seen his name around. And I've seen people really like his stuff. And I'm all about Sci-fi. So I was excited to give this one a try. And it did not disappoint.

The first thing I will point out is how much I loved Wells' writing style. It was fast paced and fun. I never for a moment felt bored or annoyed with the characters or how the plot was progressing. It's always nice to be immersed in a book that keeps your attention.

Moving on to the characters. I really enjoyed them. They were well developed and realistic. And most of all relatable. Also, they were very diverse. Wells really hits all genders and cultures with this crew. So nice to see that in a YA book.

Marisa was hard core no bones. I loved her sass and her determination. And she was super loyal to those she cared for. She did second guess herself at times, but such is the life of a teenager, I would think. She's often so much stronger than she gives herself credit for.

Of course you have her friends who support her throughout. I love how they are connected through gaming at first and then through other technologies later. And there are also those we are not sure we can trust. Thought they seem to have the best interest of the main character in mind, we find in the long run they are really only out for themselves.

Wells does a nice job of world building. I would have liked a bit more backstory as to how the world became the way it did in 2050, but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I'm not a gamer, so I really don't know all the nuances of this world, but I found Wells' descriptions of it really interesting. And I loved all the technology that was introduced. Bluescreen is a technological drug. I can't say I completely understand how something like that would work, but it's slightly terrifying that something such as this might actually come into existence in the future. Where even the thoughts in our heads might become available to others. Most of all I love the fact that Wells tackles the idea of what happens if our world becomes completely dependent on such technology. Marisa's character shows us how hard it is for her to function when the technology she relies on every day is no longer available to her. Also an interesting concept is the fact that we can easily be corrupted through technology without even knowing it's happening.

I did find the teens in this story had too easy of a time not being around adults. I suppose in a world full of technology we tend to forget how important it is to touch base with our children at times. I can see how this happened a bit in this book. Thought the adults are not really as connected as the teens are.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I can see how this will be a series and would definitely read the next book. Lovers of sci-fi books and certainly gaming will most likely enjoy Wells' cyber-thriller where the idea of privacy is null and void.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 Stars

Marisa Carneseca—like everyone else in her time—lives on the internet, where she does everything including going to school, meeting up with her friends, and playing video games. This is all made possible thanks to a smart device implanted in a person's brain—a djinni. When a virtual drug called Bluescreen suddenly begins to spread a terrible virus that puts thousands of lives in danger, Marisa and her friends are determined to put a stop to it.

I enjoyed reading Bluescreen, and I loved the technological elements that were incorporated. Considering the fact that the story takes place in the future, the author did a great job making it feel reasonably realistic. I did have some major issues with this book though. My main problem was most definitely the (in my mind) unnecessarily long technological descriptions and explanations, because they were complicated enough to heavily distract my attention from the actual plot-line. Simply to understand what was going on, I had to read paragraphs upon paragraphs of info dumping, and at certain points, it just became exhausting and I felt strong urges to skim.



In addition, the fact that the book had too many supporting characters was also frustrating and added to my confusion. It's also important to note that every character had a real-world and in-game name. Plus, the side characters were all very similar in personality and lacked distinct voices, so it was difficult to distinguish and remember who was who sometimes. Personally, I'd say that at least three of the characters could have been cut and it would have only helped.




Though it sounds like I have a lot of complaints, I really did love the suspense, the unexpected twists, and especially the action scenes! Though this book's concept isn't exactly groundbreaking, the technological elements feel realistic, despite the story's futuristic setting. I would definitely recommend Bluescreen to people who want an action-filled, futuristic sci-fi novel!



Read my full review of Bluescreen on Brittany's Book Rambles HERE.