Everyone is stuck in a post-apocalyptic simulation, but Lake is the only one who realizes it. When someone leaves the simulation, they come aboard a ship along with everyone else aware of the sim. The rule is that no one, even if they are awake, should go into the simulation and that the people stuck in the sim must come out on their own. However, no one can leave the ship until every last person is out of the simulation, and Lake wants to help speed that up. She often goes into the simulation and tries to wake up people that are stuck there. One of the people she wakes up is named Taren. He quickly figures out what Lake is doing and offers to help. Together, they take on the post-apocalyptic virtual reality and try to get everyone out before the ship breaks down and they are stuck there forever.
I found this book to be very enjoyable and I really liked that everything about the simulation was well explained and made sense. The concept was really cool and wasn’t like anything I had read before. It was very fast-paced, and the description made it easy to picture the landscape. One thing that I disliked about this book was the fact that there wasn’t much character development. Lake and Taren themselves aren’t often talked about, and what is going on in the sim is the main focus. I like that the story is told from different point of view because it shows how different the characters are, and a better sense of the world they live in. The plot twist at the end was very surprising but it felt a little rushed.
The most memorable part of this book is that it is very high stakes, and that if everyone doesn’t get out of the sim, they are stuck. It made the book much more suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Reviewed by Nainika, Twin Hickory Library
HCPL TeenScene's Read + Review 