buffywnabe's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so good. So much of it relates to what is going on today, our President, our social media issues, society, mob mentality, all of it. It was really scary and had me gasping even at certain parts. It definitely reminded me of one episode of the show Black Mirror that starred Bryce Dallas Howard, where everyone rated everyone else when they saw them, and how you could take away the little perks and even just ease of every day life by down-voting people. I've also been told there is another episode of the same show where someone is able to control mechanical bees to kill people that have done something on social media. I will have to watch that one. But anyway, the main character Cassie lost her father and had to move to a new school where she doesn't really want to fit in. Her father was a well-known/infamous hacker and her mother is a professor of classics. She doesn't get along with her mother, but misses her father a lot. She finally tries to fit in with a group of girls who are kind of the top of the popular kids. The girls goad her into posting something about the President's grandchild and her tasteless joke backfires in that everyone gets up in arms and all of a sudden she is the one the Hive is after and she runs. We get a lot of the hacker group story in this, which is very interesting, although maybe a little high-techy at times. There's definitely a lot of adventure and suspense and back doors and twists and turns. There are things that the President in the book does or says that totally are like you'd think our actual current President in real life would do.
My only complaint was with the third person type of narration, it was somewhat omniscient in that we got both Cassie and her mother Rachel's thoughts and actions, and sometimes it was confusing because it was within the same page without any separation to tell us we'd changed points of view. Other than that this was such a real book to how things are and how easy it is for people to go so intense over the smallest thing, such as what a person has said.
Review first appeared on Lisa Loves Literature.
My only complaint was with the third person type of narration, it was somewhat omniscient in that we got both Cassie and her mother Rachel's thoughts and actions, and sometimes it was confusing because it was within the same page without any separation to tell us we'd changed points of view. Other than that this was such a real book to how things are and how easy it is for people to go so intense over the smallest thing, such as what a person has said.
Review first appeared on Lisa Loves Literature.
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Lyga's Jasper Dent series so was really excited to see that he's got a new book and how it would compare to them. In this case, it's as though Lyga is channeling Cory Doctorow, and I mean that in a very good way. "The Hive" was founded on the idea that peer pressure/peer justice would get rid of online bullying and shaming (although it's very much about shaming!) and is government run. When someone does or says something online, people can "like" or "condemn" it and when the algorithm shows a bad condemn to like ratio, the group can - in real life, in public - exact some sort of punishment. What could possibly go wrong?
Our heroine is the daughter of a Latin professor (living) and an infamous hacker/programmer (now dead) and the government is convinced that when her father died, he left something behind, something the government wants (what, they're not quite sure, but they know it exists... probably). So when Cassie, in an attempt to fit in with the cool girls at her new school, posts a somewhat questionable joke online, the Hive decides that what she said was unacceptable and that she should be severely punished. No spoilers, but there are some parts that require a suspension of disbelief as she goes on the run, trying to avoid "justice" and repair her reputation. She's kind of like Katniss but with code, not arrows.
What doesn't require that suspension is the existence of the Hive and the idea that an entire society, so addicted to its devices and its desire for likes (or upvoting or whatever the term is on different platforms) could create such a thing and then use it to mete out justice. Or that the government would use it to try to control events and people, becoming more authoritarian in the process.
eARC provided by publisher.
Our heroine is the daughter of a Latin professor (living) and an infamous hacker/programmer (now dead) and the government is convinced that when her father died, he left something behind, something the government wants (what, they're not quite sure, but they know it exists... probably). So when Cassie, in an attempt to fit in with the cool girls at her new school, posts a somewhat questionable joke online, the Hive decides that what she said was unacceptable and that she should be severely punished. No spoilers, but there are some parts that require a suspension of disbelief as she goes on the run, trying to avoid "justice" and repair her reputation. She's kind of like Katniss but with code, not arrows.
What doesn't require that suspension is the existence of the Hive and the idea that an entire society, so addicted to its devices and its desire for likes (or upvoting or whatever the term is on different platforms) could create such a thing and then use it to mete out justice. Or that the government would use it to try to control events and people, becoming more authoritarian in the process.
eARC provided by publisher.
sphinx91's review against another edition
2.0
All in all its not a bad book and I can see why YA may enjoy it. It is well-written, catchy and deals with important topic of social media's influence in our everyday lives and communications.
Story itself is kind of mash up of 'Fahrenheit 451', '1984', Hunger Games and 'The Purge'. It is not fault per se but that's why I think that authors could have tried a bit harder to incorporate the characters and storylines which they created but left hanging after awhile.
Simplicity of the ending made me feel that either book could have been shorter or longer (series for example). As I said, there were characters and storylines which could have been either left out or enforced. For example Trish, Sarah's betrayal, Cassie's dad's death, Alexandra, OHM, Rowan & co, Mom's army (perhaps it was the most pointless in my eyes). Of course those unused storylines offer authors enough material for writing another book but I just wish that authors would have tied up these ends better.
Story itself is kind of mash up of 'Fahrenheit 451', '1984', Hunger Games and 'The Purge'. It is not fault per se but that's why I think that authors could have tried a bit harder to incorporate the characters and storylines which they created but left hanging after awhile.
Simplicity of the ending made me feel that either book could have been shorter or longer (series for example). As I said, there were characters and storylines which could have been either left out or enforced. For example Trish, Sarah's betrayal, Cassie's dad's death, Alexandra, OHM, Rowan & co, Mom's army (perhaps it was the most pointless in my eyes). Of course those unused storylines offer authors enough material for writing another book but I just wish that authors would have tied up these ends better.
aliciakindlereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book had its moments where it was high and then went low. I gave .5 because of the storyline during the end. Listening to the audio helped make me get through this as well. A world where technology is taking over and to watch the citizens become obsessed with the new world was interesting to read about.
snchard's review against another edition
3.0
This was cool in the same way MT Anderson's Feed was cool-- in a terrifyingly prescient sort of way. I didn't want it to be so easy to suspend my disbelief, but IRL Twitter mobs are definitely a thing I could see happening for real. Cassie was an entirely decent character, even if she did the teenage thing where she adores one parent and can't stand the other. Supporting characters were a bit bland, but this was basically a sci-fi action film so I did not mind the lack of development. I could see this plot as a sort of classroom teaching tool about the dangers of mob mentality and social media, but teens might need a push to really put it together and apply to their own lives.
lydiahephzibah's review against another edition
3.0
Somehow an action packed book with an amazing concept fell flat. I never warmed to or cared about any of the characters and at times it felt messy. There was clearly s clever idea in here but the execution wasn't great.
emmreadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the social commentary within this book, but that's about it. And even then, it was a little too on the nose. Cancel culture is a real thing, especially with doxxing, but giving the masses the right to kill someone??
I thought that Cassie made too many dumb decisions - texting the person whose friendship you've been rejecting your EXACT LOCATION and then being surprised when the mobs show up?? - and by the end of the story, seemed to have learned nothing.
Additionally there weren't any real ramifications for the abusers of The Hive. They figured out this grand conspiracy with the bots and, sure they used it to get Cassie out of her punishment, but that was it. Like... the president is allowed to send a manhunt after her for a simple tweet and get away with it?? Ugh.
I thought that Cassie made too many dumb decisions - texting the person whose friendship you've been rejecting your EXACT LOCATION and then being surprised when the mobs show up?? - and by the end of the story, seemed to have learned nothing.
Additionally there weren't any real ramifications for the abusers of The Hive. They figured out this grand conspiracy with the bots and, sure they used it to get Cassie out of her punishment, but that was it. Like... the president is allowed to send a manhunt after her for a simple tweet and get away with it?? Ugh.
debzemanlms's review against another edition
5.0
wow. Wow. WOw. WOWOWOOOW I stayed up realllllly late to finish this one. I couldn’t stop reading. None stop anxiety through the entire story, wondering what was going to happen. The story kept reminding me of The Purge. Get rid of people because of their social media posts. Could this happen some day? With all the negativity and bullying online lately, eventually someone or something all come along and begin to mete out justice. Scary to think this is a possible path society is going down right now. Definitely one for a win! Cassie is scrappy and smart, smarter than people give her credit for. Would love a follow up to see what happens next for her.
julie_ottosen's review against another edition
3.0
Jeg elsker I hunt killers, men den her.. Starten er sgu lidt små kedelig, men så går handlingen i gang og actionen starter.
Jeg er vild med plottet, kommentarerne til sociale medier og flokmentalitet på nettet. Desværre fungerer hovedpersonen ikke for mig. Den ligger op til en toer, og det bliver et nej tak herfra.
Jeg er vild med plottet, kommentarerne til sociale medier og flokmentalitet på nettet. Desværre fungerer hovedpersonen ikke for mig. Den ligger op til en toer, og det bliver et nej tak herfra.