A review by musingsfromamandalyn
Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi

4.0

This book was really hard for me. I kept going back and forth between 3 and 5 stars but landed in the middle. I liked the tech, or at least some of it. All self-driving Teslas, drones delivering packages or food, amazing personal assistants that can do whatever you ask, makeup mirrors that give you full tutorials. But then they take it too far with the VR worlds. Not only do you give permission for location, file access, etc. but also your facial features, your exact emotions, and more. Students' clothes are embedded with Bluetooth chips that completely personalizes their experience. Screens change to reflect what they want to see, lockers and doors open automatically, and every movement is monitored. I can't tell if I find that cool or creepy. In some ways, it would make everything so much easier. On the other hand, no privacy ever. In the background of all of this Opal is trying to find her Dad, deal with relationships among her friends, figure out her way in the social media platform WAVE, deal with corporations, and try to get into college. It is so much for a high schooler to deal with. There is also a continual war, including a new president, between technology and Luddites who want all technology gone. Some of the parts made me cheer and other parts ripped my heart out. The truth about her Dad was definitely painful. I also feel like too much happened in the last quarter of the book and it ended way too soon. I need more of this world, I need more of Opal, Moyo, Shane, and Kara, I need to know how they manage the new virtual world that was created. I would love a sequel or a TV show adaptation.