My interest in Bluescreen was not only because I love any book that has tech but also because I’ve seen Dan Wells at a signing before. I remember him saying that he wants to know why a dystopic world became dystopic. The backstory of it. It sounds like a weird thing to make an impression but the thought in my head was that this is someone who really thinks about all the angles of what they are writing. Bluescreen did not disappoint.Bluescreen (Mirador #1)
by Dan Wells
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: February 16th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy, Action, Teen
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.
In the beginning I was little confused but I think that was mainly because of the mix of tech and Spanish was overwhelming for me. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t taken a Spanish class in my life (I took French) so I was pretty clueless on the words. As soon as we hit the coding of Bluescreen though my brain woke up and everything else fell into its proper place in my head. I really loved all the tech and how it had a good mix of being simple and complex at the same time. You are not going to be totally lost if you are not an IT pro. Books like this also scare the crap outta me though. You could see this as something that is perfectly possible. Dan Wells’s takes being dependent on technology to the next level. This story has so many components that I don’t want to go into the nitty gritty of each one because that’s the fun of reading but I loved how everything comes together in the end.
Marisa is the main character but her band of friend’s function more as a team. I loved that feeling of having more than one character in the spotlight. Lots of times in thrillers like these you can’t trust anyone because you never know who is going to betray you. I loved that Marisa friend’s had her back and she could rely on them for help. She also exudes confidence in her tech skills but being so connected she loses sight of some of the important things in her life, like her siblings. So we see her character develop in that respect.
The plot is fast paced and keeps you on your toes. You are always looking for the next puzzle piece of how things fit together. I thought the inclusion of gangs and turf was interesting too. This is a neighborhood who has pride in who they are. Even if I was sometimes confused by the Spanish I really liked the inclusion of it. It made the characters feel more three dimensional rather than flat on the page.
I really enjoyed Bluescreen. I think if you are a tech or Sci-Fi lover this is a great book to read. You can get your fix on both things in a setting that’s scarily realistic.
I was going to try to add some Spanish song but when I would like how one sounded I would look up the lyric translation and think well that doesn't make sense.
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.
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